Simply Asia: re-defining Thai cuisine for me
When I first met the husband, his friends loved meeting at
their favourite Thai restaurant. At that time, I already knew that I was pretty
much the only person in the world who didn’t like Thai food. So I would look
through the menu for a tried and tested dish I could stomach: crispy duck with
some stir fry veggies and maybe pad thai.
Of course, his friends would be super amazed by the food,
each person boasting that their food was tastier than anyone else’s. And so, in
true Thai style, everyone would share each other’s food and I’d dread it cos it
really didn’t taste that great to me.
Fast forward to a few years later when I suspected that I actually
just didn’t like the taste of coconut milk. That explained why I hated those
dreaded Thai dishes I tried. I had pretty much written off Thai food from my
palate repertoire. That was until Simply Asia opened up close to home in
Kyalami. The husband insisted that we go as it used to be his favourite
restaurant when he lived in Cape Town. He also maintained that this restaurant
would get me to like Thai food.
And how right he was! From the first time we went there, I
loved every dish I tried. Since I know that the curries are all coconut
milk-based, I steered away from that and tried anything else off the menu. I
loved it so much that I pretty much go there at least once every two weeks. But
it’s more than just the food that I like.
The staff are really friendly and I really like that they
help you decide what to eat. They’ll often point out the specials or tell you
what their popular desserts are. And if you pick a meal that is slightly out of
the usual Thai dish expectations, they tell you so that you know, e.g. if I
dish is prepared very dry and isn’t saucy. I’ve also overheard them advising
customers on what heat level to choose which is so important to being able to
enjoy your meal instead of burning your taste buds off. While I can handle hot,
I find medium a lot more enjoyable.
If you fancy yourself a vegetarian dish, they have quite a
few veggie options but you can pick any meal and they will transform it to
vegetarian for you by substituting the meat for tofu or soya. It’s so handy
when you’re fasting. I also like that they cook with loads of veggies so I feel
like I’m eating healthily.
I wouldn’t recommend any specific dishes (since I like them
all) but a dessert you should definitely try is the mini chocolate spring
rolls. Decadent chocolate encased in light spring rolls served with a huge
dollop of vanilla ice-cream. It’s a lot lighter than it sounds…so you’ll
definitely have space for it. But don’t just take my word for it, try it…I know
you’ll like it.
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