Nakhon Kitchen is a hidden gem in the Kovan neighborhood in the North-eastern corner of Singapore that serves authentic Thai cuisine in a friendly and kooky Thai atmosphere. Once you step into the shop, you'd be transported to the back alleys of Bangkok with all that upbeat Thai pop tempo, mouthwatering waft of hot delicious food and the friendly smiles and eager to please faces of the servers. Since i was sharing on my Bangkok travels, i thought it is only right to provide some great Thai food options here in Singapore. :)
I've been patronising this stall since a long time ago, before they got really famous, before they were picked up by foodies, before the queue started forming before 6pm, before they opened a branch in Bedok, before... Sharing is caring, but when my favorite food haunts are packed to the brim and the hungry me has to stand in the queue for eons while the stomach rumbles on, i kinda wish they aren't that popular. Anyhoo, this was the queue at 7.30pm. There i was happily thinking that if we show at 8pm there wouldn't be a queue. Wrong again. The queue was there the whole night. There were still people queuing when we left.
So what's so good about Nakhon that makes it worth queueing for? 1.Food 2.Service 3.Price. Even though the queue can snake down the corridor, the wait isn't that unpleasant. One takes time to pour over the pretty extensive menu of standard Thai dishes and your order is taken prior to being seated. Within moments of resting your feet, the food will be served. How awesome is that for hungry souls?
S & i finally convinced our group to move away from Holland V and town to visit this off the beaten path (for our friends) eatery and they were pleasantly surprised by the quality of food (what do you expect when you have foodies as friends right?).
Our dishes for the night. Looks a lot yea? Actually it was not enough! We ordered another set of this plus 2 other plates of rice. I would consider the side dishes to be small plates (good for 3pax).
Before you start eating, get an iced drink first. Trust me, this is definitely required to douse the fire from the spices later. The Thai iced Lemongrass (S$3) is a light and refreshing drink with a lingering fragrance. Those with a sweet tooth would love the Thai iced tea (S$3) which is packed full of caffeine. The caffeine addict in me endorses this one.
The Pineapple Fried Rice (S$6) is a standard dish that i would order here. The sweetness of the pork floss goes perfectly with the slightly curried Thai rice which is slightly fluffy and chewy. I like that it is not too dry. The rice is fried with shrimps, cashew nuts and raisins and best eaten with Green curry! Almost every table had an order of this. Nakhon used to serve this in a pineapple but i guess it was too troublesome for them.
The Black Olive Fried Rice with minced chicken (S$6) was a little too oily IMO. I couldn't really taste much of the olives and the rice was a little harder because there isn't the additional pineapples to give it the extra moisture.
A Thai meal is never complete without Tom Yam Soup and Nakhon has 2 different types, 1 thick base and 1 clear, with the option of Seafood, Shrimp or Chicken (S$6). The milky base is the less spicy option with some tomatoes added to neutralize the acidity. I personally prefer the clear base. It looks innocuous enough but boy that chili padi in the soup can kill. It's a clean and sweet taste with tartness to it in your first mouthful. Amazingly addictive but u may feel that acid biting into your stomach after.
Unlike Tom Yum, it's easy to go wrong with Green Curry. The curry- a blend of Kaffir lime leaves, basil, lemongrass and cumin- when mixed in a random proportion will give you something that tastes funky. Nakhon's Green Curry Chicken (S$8) has just the right amount of minty flavor in it and the texture is creamy due to the addition of thick coconut milk. I actually had overly minty and cool green curry in Bangkok recently. Nasty thing. Plus green isn't the most appetizing color as well so that didn't go down at all.
Other side dishes were ordered and we found out that you can't go wrong ordering anything from their menu. It's the first time we tried the Stir fried minced Pork with hot Basil leaves (S$8) and the dish hit the right note of sweetness and saltiness. I noticed that Thais are quite generous with their sugar. Most Thai dishes (not just at Nakhon) were a little sweet, if not very sweet. I could taste the slight sweetness in the pork. The meat is very juicy and it's great with the rice too.
Stir fried Chicken with Cashew Nuts (S$6) was well liked by the group. The chicken slices were chunky and they were fried to a nice crisp on the exterior. The sauce has a nice soy base and i like the crunchiness the nuts bring to the dish.
Stir fried Kang Kong Belachan (S$6) was palatable to most. This isn't like our usual Sambal Kang Kong, being the less spicy version. I thought this was a little high on the sodium content though. Not a bad dish though. Perhaps you could ask for less salt? I'm sure they would accommodate.
Red Ruby is my choice of Thai dessert anytime but it sells out really quickly at Nakhon. By the time we were done with our 2 rounds of food, it was swept off the shelves. BOO. We settled for the Mango sticky rice served with coconut milk (S$5). Again, really rich and viscous coconut milk with sweet juicy mango slices and glutinous rice. I don't really know the standard of this dish since i don't eat it much. Mich thought the rice wasn't sticky enough and V preferred it to be more al dente? I'm not sure if sticky rice should be done al dente though.. But overall i thought it was edible? (weird choice of descriptor i know but i really can't gauge!)
So here it is, the secret but not so secret hearty and down to earth Thai food in the heartlands. Let me have it for the weeknights and you guys can have the weekends alright? :)
Verdict- Recommended!
Food: 5/5 My go to place for Thai in Singapore
Service: 4/5 Extremely efficient!
Ambience: 5/5 Full marks for the Thai atmosphere. I thought i was in Chatuchak market having dinner!
Nakhon Kitchen
212 Hougang Street 21, #01-341
Tel: +65 6286 8785
Daily: 12pm–3pm, 5.30pm–10pm
During the day, the place is a chic white tower that is majestic and grand with the vast canopy of greenery surrounding it. It's a summer palace fit for the royalty. At night however, she reveals the sensual and intimate side which draws couples in for romantic first dates. The versatility of the place also makes it a romantic place for wedding events, and a dramatic place to hold private events.
First up was the Crispy Duck Foie Gras with caramelized onion, beer and cherry relish ($28). There is an interesting crust on the exterior of the liver which was actually a crisp layer of polenta flour. Call me traditional but i prefer my Foie Gras pan seared. The texture was not the buttery and melt in your mouth sort. Quite unacceptable for something that costs this much? I've had better ones even at little cafes like La Petite, 
The hype that surrounded the Veal Ravioli with porcini mushroom cream sauce scented with white truffle (S$26) had Jess set on ordering it. However, the dish was served lukewarm! I was appalled by the coldness of the dish. It was as though it had been sitting there for a good 10mins before the rest of the mains were ready. Cold food is always a bad thing, no matter how they taste. Could hardly taste any veal because it was almost non existent? Did i mention how pathetic the portion is as well? Jess was considering ordering another main because there were only a few pieces of ravioli. Tsktsk. Would i pay $26 for synthetic truffle oil? Never.
I was charmed by the promise of black truffle sauce in the Grilled beef tenderloin served with Kenya beans($38). Turns out that i was sorely disappointed and then annoyed. Firstly, my medium rare order was served medium well. I would expect a fine dining establishment to do better than this. Again, the steak was luke warm. How is that possible? So food was sent back and the 2nd steak didn't turn out to be much better (once again luke warm). Do they flash freeze the food before serving? The pan-seared mashed potato was dry and powdery. That was flour. Or powdered mash. Or something synthetic and unknown. And what black truffle sauce? I didn't even taste any.
You would think that the evening couldn't get worse but it hit rock bottom with the desserts. We ordered 5 desserts for sharing. From the top and clockwise- Tiramisu, Chocolate Lava, Lavender Creme Bruelee, Semifreddo and Panna Cotta.
In comparison, the Thai Style Beancurd (6pcs for S$6) appears to be bland. This dish is better as an appetizer but we had it at the end of our meal because Melissa wanted more food. Haha! This is plain toufu that is purchased from the market and then deep fried and served with the thai sauce. I thought the sauce was too sweet and lacked the supposed punch of the Thai Chili.
We finally concluded our meal with Black Glutinous with Ice Cream (S$4) and Ice Jelly with Lime. The Black Glutinous rice isn't very sweet and i thought the texture is quite perfect (not too hard) or too gooey. Instead of coconut milk, a vanilla ice cream was used to lightly sweeten the dish. Healthier version! The ice jelly with lime and little agar agar balls was very refreshing and helped us wash down all that food. Phew.
I really enjoyed the dinner at Gu Ma Jia Food Pot. The food was mouthwatering and scrumptious. I still can't believe we ate 12 dishes (13 if you include the ice jelly)! Would like to thank the boss Ms Gwen and Gu Ma for inviting all of us. I will definitely be back with my family to enjoy the food. There is a function room on the 2nd storey which is available for booking of private functions. There is also a karaoke set! Perfect for huge family gatherings. :)
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