Review: Rama V, KL

No. 5 Jalan U-Thant, Kuala Lumpur
Tel#: +603 2143 2428 / +603 2143 2663

http://www.ramav.com.my/

If you are looking for Thai fine dining, this is the place to head to. Obviously, the words fine dining should also give you an inkling of an idea of how much it'll cost. If you are too frugal but still want to impress your date, give their buffet a shot instead. At RM 59.90++, you get your moneys worth and hopefully, the girl. Not that I've tried the buffet before. Maybe I can be that girl? ;)

Located off one of the busier KL roads, it is nestled inside the smaller road which is quite deceiving.
One minute I was trying to nudge my way in. The next, I am in this private little sanctuary. What traffic? What car?

You'd be at peace like him too when you are here. Of course, it does help when you are literally the first customer. So early that they were still having a briefing =_=

There are chalets that you can book for a more private group dining. I wouldn't recommend it for two because the chalets are big.

I saw this little kitten in the chalet with its momma just outside the door. Initially, the momma looked quite ferocious.

Turned out kitty can fend for itself as it ~~purred~~ roared and threatened to strike me with its little furry paws.

See what I meant by it being a wee bit big? Unless you like the notion of shouting over dinner. In that case, please go to your local mamak.

Although dinner was slated for 6.30pm, I reached there around 6pm after braving the traffic from Cyberjaya. Actually, most of the jam was upon reaching downtown KL. True to Malaysian fashion, the party only trickled in at 7pm.

Thus, it left me with quite a lot of time to explore the place. There are lots of photo opportunities.... if you can work with the low light.

We had the window by the garden seat.

True to any fine dining except for the lack of the multiple cutlery sets.

There were about 20odd in our company for dinner that night. To be honest, they were all participants in a workshop that my team wasn't a part of. Hence, the dinner invitation came as a surprise. I accepted the invitation, absentmindedly thinking that the entire dept was invited. Alas, that turned out to be one of those times I really should have scanned through the attendee list properly.

The place has a nice glow to it at night. Don't worry about mosquitoes or the heat as it's all indoor dining with a view of the garden and the air-conditioning is optimal. Or maybe that's because it just rained hours before.

Perhaps its the sheer size of our company. Maybe even the presence of the gwailos. Or Rama V has rather good staff who remained cheerful throughout the night as we got them to get us this and that, most of which involves alcohol.

Rice crackers with chicken salad.

At first, we were unsure of how to eat this and had the waiter explain to us.
Top the cracker with the slightly creamy chicken and take a bite. The cracker itself has a very light saltiness but the salad is what really shone through. Not quite western with mayo, it has an Asian touch. A good start to dinner.

Mango salad. Not your typical som tam, this is Thai salad has definitely been given the local twist as it's not as sour but more spicy. I love the cashew nuts and the julienned red chilli for extra heat.

Fish cake. Wish I could say more about this but it was just not too memorable. Except for the chilli sauce.

Tom yum goong.

Going into a Thai restaurant and not order their famous soup? Blasphemy.
Their seafood version has a sweetness courtesy of the coconut so it isn't as sour. You can taste the sweetness of the seafood in the soup too. But is it the best tom yum I've had? Well, not really but it's a good interpretation.

Pandan chicken was a letdown. Instead of using whole chicken meat, it was as though they took different bites and mashed it together into the leaf. You end up with quite a mushy meat that is neither tough nor dry or smooth. Confused? So was my tongue.

Stir fried kai lan. Given how much we BS on a daily basis, it's only right that we replenish our fiber for a good digestion. Lest we get constipation. This was fresh and crunchy, nothing remotely Thai but still good.

Deep fried soft shell crab.

Another major disappointment of the night. I was expecting it to be crunchy but it was more mushy. In fact, even the claws had no crunch at all =(

Red curry with duck and vegetable. You know that your company don't eat much when they are trying to guess what meat it is. Initial guess was chicken but it was slightly gamey so duck it was. Surprisingly, this vegetable curry was good with the rice. Almost like those Chinese vegetarian curry with lots of coconut milk. So satisfying.