Very Thai, The Starling

This restaurant opened not too long ago and of course I had to check it out. I heard that the food here is better than Mr Tuk Tuk's. Hah!

It is quite popular (being new and all) and I dropped in just before noon. At the time, there were still plenty of vacant seats. Before long, more and more people came in and almost all the tables were taken.

Looking at the menu, there was not much choices for me due to the abundance of dishes served with either rice or noodles. Of course lah, right? Carbohydrate is a staple of (our delicious) Asian cuisine.

There are also loads of salads (kerabu) and they appear to be fiery what with all those pesky cili padi.

There was also a selection of noodles.

Soups.

Rice dishes.

More rice dishes.

Seafood.

Main dishes.

Beverages. Oh! Got Coconut Shake with Ice Cream, something I used to enjoy in the distant past at Nasi Kukus Lejen which unfortunately closed down.

And of course desserts.

Oh, and I forgot the appetizers. And that's what I ordered since all I eat is meat.

I definitely avoided the deep fried meatballs because those usually contain a fair amount of fillers/binders in the form of starch.

My orders were - Grilled Pork Neck, Crispy Pork (Siew Yoke) and Moo Ping. Unfortunately, the Moo Ping was unavailable. So my only other choices were Deep Fried Chicken Tendons or Deep Fried Fish Cake. With fish cake, it's the same with meatballs, they contain lots of fillers, usually more starch than meat. So I went with the Deep Fried Chicken Tendons.

First up, Crispy Pork (Siew Yoke).

Of course I was not expecting the siew yoke to taste like the ones at Donald's shop, and it didn't. It had a much different flavor profile and unfortunately the skin was more hard than crispy.

The dish was served with a green chili dip that was spicy hot but unremarkable. I don't know what those sprinkles are and they did not taste like much, so I did not eat them.

Next up was the Deep Fried Chicken Tendons. Now, I know what tendons are, but being more familiar with beef tendons, I tried to imagine chicken tendons.

These tiny deep fried morsels made good finger food and they were rather tasty EXCEPT that there were a few pieces that had a strong chicken smell/taste which is associated with chicken that is not fresh.

That spoiled the experience as you never know which piece might taste nasty. I reckon they mixed some old (expired) stock from the freezer with fresher ones. So I would be reluctant to order this one in future.

This dish was served with two types of dip - the very familiar Thai chili sauce and another one that was more pungent (had a belacan kind of taste). I did not like the latter.

And then there was the Grilled Pork Neck. And this was outstanding. It was smoky, well seasoned and very tender. But look at the portion size.

Definitely not enough for sharing and I am glad I could have this all to myself. And even then, not enough because it was so good. 

This Grilled Pork Neck I would consider ordering again because it was the best tasting of the whole lot.

Now you see it.

Now you don't.

And as usual, my container went home clean and empty hee..hee...

Tomorrow is Merdeka Day and I believe most of you are already on leave or taking Friday off to have yourselves a long weekend. I am not in holiday mood, just feeling somber. As of the time of writing, my dad is warded at the hospital again.

So the best thing for me in such a mood is to do stuff to distract myself. Yes, mopping the floor (my house hasn't been cleaned in weeks LOL!), tidying up, laundry and oh dear, washing my cats' litter boxes.

So happy holiday to all and hope you enjoy your time off!