Khun De Thai, Jelutong – Spicy Authentic Thai Food

It has been sometime since I reviewed Thai food after the wave of Thai food review in Pulau Tikus back in May. Finally my crave for Thai food was fulfilled when I was invited to the review of a Thai Restaurant in Jelutong. Besides Pulau Tikus, there are not many Thai food in Jelutong area and Khun De Thai is one of the very few of them.

The location of Khun De Thai is not difficult to locate. If you know Lam Wah Ee Hospital, the road in front of that hospital is called Jalan Tan Sri Teh Ewe Lim. Follow the way down where Lam Wah Ee Hospital is on your right, drive straight for about 150 meters and you will see a traffic light in front of you. Keep driving for another 50 meters you will see Khun De Thai is on your left. For those who love outdoors, there are 4 small huts available for diners. Dining at such outdoor huts, the disadvantages are there will be a lot of mosquitoes and also the time of service will be delayed.

As for the indoor, there are 2 dining areas. The main dining area can cater for 40 pax.

Whereas the other side of the dining area will be more private and secluded. This place can cater for another 30 pax.

Miang Pa – RM14, Regular, Miang Pa is a dish which has the same ingredients as Miang Kam. Miang Pa or Miang Kam are the so-called the Thai Salad. Both of them contain onion slices, lemon slices, ginger cube and dory fish slices. Instead of serving fresh, these ingredients are mixed and pan fried. It is served with Chaphlu leave and optional with bird eyes chili.

This is a very unique dish. The usual Thai restaurant only serves Miang Kam but not Miang Pa. The sauce which was used to pan fry is similar to the sauce used in Miang Kam which made the dish more appetizing. This is an excellent appetizer.

Prawn Sashimi with Spicy Sauce – RM18, this dish was made with fresh prawns, covered with homemade sourish and spicy sauce. The dish was garnished with slices of bitter gourds.

The preparation of this dish is very simple. The most important thing of this dish is the freshness of the prawns. The next is the hot, spicy and sourish sauce. This taste of the sauce was so spicy that my tongue has turned numb. I prefer the sauce to be milder.

Bomb Nugget – RM15, Regular. The meat balls were made from minced pork, shrimps and stuffed with salted duck egg yolk. The meatballs were battered and deep fried. They were served together with their homemade sweet, sour and spicy sauce and some slices of cucumbers.

The spiciness level of the sauce compared to sashimi prawn is much better. The texture of the meat ball was crispy and full of seafood aroma. It ended with a delightful salted duck egg yolk. The combination of the bomb nugget went well with the spicy and sour sauce.

Prawn Nugget – RM3/ piece, minimum order of 2 pieces, the prawns were chopped and mashed, then mixed with flour and deep fried until golden and crispy. It was served together with slices of veggie.

The texture of the nugget was like the fish fillet nugget, just that it was more chewy and full of prawn aroma.

Tom Yum Goong/ Prawns (Large – RM30, Small – RM19), the red hot tomyam was cooked with mushroom, lemon grass, tomato, crab sticks, prawns and some touch of coriander.

This was a very hot and spicy soup. The taste of the tomyam soup was very thick and appetizing. However, to me the soup was more on the salty side. It would be perfect if it is not that salty.

Deep Fried Fish with Mango Kerabu (prices vary depending on market rate, ranging from approximately RM35 to RM48). The red snapper was deep fried and it was topped with mango kerabu and some cashew nuts.

Personally I find that the mango kerabu was nice and juicy. However, the red snapper was too dry and oily. This method of deep fried had actually covered the freshness and tenderness of the fish. It is not my cup of tea.

Fried Egg Otak Seafood, RM12- Regular. The stir fried egg was cooked with some seafood ingredients as well as added with some mushroom cubes and some kaffir leaves.

The taste of the fried omelette was rich and creamy. It was full of seafood aroma. The addition of curry leaves and kaffir leaves made this dish even mouth-watering. Eating this dish with Thai style chili sauce is the best combination.

Choo Chi Squid, RM15 – Small, RM25 – Large. Squids were cut into cube sizes, then battered and deep fried. It was served with homemade Choo Chi sauce was sourish and spicy. It was also served with some fresh greens and topped with slices of red chlli and kaffir leaves.

The homemade Choo Chi sauce tasted great. However, this dish was too oily.

Thai Green Curry Chicken (RM14 – Small, RM20 – Large). The curry was cooked with coconut milk, egg plants, red chili, meat slices and some ulam leaves.

The boiling hot curry made the spiciness of this green curry even spicier. The richness of the coconut milk and the ulam leaves made dish more aromatic. The description of this dish is spicy, spicy and SPICY. For those who love spicy food this is your choice of dish.

Thai Pumpkin Custard/ Sankaya (RM3 per slice), the custard like jelly was made of coconut milk and stuffed inside the pumpkin. When served, the pumpkin was cut into slices with the custard on top.

This is a cooling dessert and did not taste too sweet. It is my kind of dessert.

Nangka Dessert/ Tab Tim Krob – RM4.50 per bowl. The coconut milk was cooked with sago slices, jelly and nangka slices. That is why the name is called nangka/ jackfruit dessert.

This dish is quite common and you can find it in any Thai restaurants. To me the taste of the coconut milk had overwhelmed the rest of the ingredients. If the taste of the coconut milk could be milder, this dish would be a perfect dish.

Overall, most of the food here are nice. However, there are few dishes still have room for improvement. There are some parking lots available in front of the restaurant but once this restaurant is packed it will be very hard to find a parking space. For spicy food lovers, this is the place that you should not miss out.

Editor’s Review (5 Stars Rank):

Taste
Price (the more the cheaper)
Food Presentation
Service
Overall

Quick Facts:

Family Friendly
Parking (limited)
Pork Free
Alcohol (beer)
Credit Card
Smoking
Reservation
Private Room
WIFI Available

Operation hours: 11:30am – 2:30pm; 5:30pm – 11:00pm (Open Daily)
Contact: 04-282 9690
Address: 80-C, Jalan Tan Sri Teh Ewe Lim, 11600, Penang.
GPS: 5° 39′ 23.17″ N, 100° 30′ 94.66″ E