Rainy night at Awet Thai Garden

It was a rainy night when we were heading out for dinner, eager to try out a new Thai Restaurant we were told about and to enjoy an evening dining with the family.

Awet Thai Garden, located in Sg Chua, Kajang is an interesting name for a Thai restaurant, but the pond nearby provided a setting for the restaurant to arrange for a platform overlooking the pond to be built which gave the restaurant a rather unique environment.
However, to our disappointment that night, we did not get to try out the dining environment nor had any view of the pond as it was raining cats and dogs and we were advised against sitting near the pond to avoid the furious patters of the rain coming in on us.

It was raining heavily and while we were pondering on how we could get out of our cars, we need not think further as the helpful staffs of the restaurant rushed out and directed our cars to drive into the main entrance pathway which was shaded to drop off the passengers in our car.
Then he followed the driver out in the rain with an umbrella to shelter the driver of the car from the rain as he gets out of the car.
Bravo for the extremely great service; the best that I have seen and this is what I call going beyond the bars for service. We were really touched and impressed on our first time here, and it's a thumbs-up for the service.





As we sat down at our tables, another waiter came forward with a jug of water, which had the pleasant fragrance of panda leaves in it, to serve us while handing us the menus.
(I originally thought this was complimentary since we were not asked if we wanted it, as they just served it directly. However, turns out, it was charged to the bill at MYR0.80 per pax.
I personally think this could be improved by confirming with the customer, and not assuming that the customer would want the water. It is not the matter of the price to pay for water, but just courtesy).




Service was rather prompt and we did not have a long wait for our food to arrive, after ordering from an extensive menu with a wide variety of selection and recommendations from a helpful waiter.

Stir fried Paku pakis with belacan (chili shrimp paste) (MYR12.00)
This is a crunchy and rare vegetable which is seldom found in most restaurants. The vegetable was well tossed with the right amount of chili paste which lent it the flavor though the portion was slightly smaller.




Kerabu Seafood (MYR12.00)
The sight of the huge and juicy squids already tempted us even before the plate was placed down on the table and the dish certainly did not disappoint.
They were generous with the seafood; and the squids and prawns were juicy and succulent, just satisfying our tastes all the way.





(Decided to turn off the flash and took the photos under the restaurant's dim lighting)


Tomyam Seafood (MYR18.00)
Priced at MYR9.00 per pax, the waiter recommended a portion for two pax for us.
The tom yam soup had the right amount of spices, tamarind and lemongrass which made it just perfect in its blend of tastes of sour and spicy at the same time, and again, with the generous portions of seafood and oyster mushrooms.



We are all extremely picky with the tastes of tom yam soup, where some tends to be too spicy to the point of numbness, or some too creamy and lacking that right percentage where everything is well-balanced to give the soup rightfully its title. We found this fits the bill, and it was just the perfect soup for a cold rainy night.
(No photos of the ingredients as I was taken away discussing about the tastes of the soup with my family).

Fried prawns with eggs (MYR15.00) 
We opted for this, since it looked unique on the menu, passing over on fish cakes.
It was like prawn omelette from its appearance, but the egg batter was well-fried with the right amount of energy from the wok (wok hei) to result in this complex omelette weaving a generous amount of prawns in it.
(According to my mum, it is not an easy task to produce eggs batter while frying in this style).

This definitely did not disappoint and we were pleased with our choice, though we will definitely order the fish cakes the next round.


Steamed Tilapia in Thai style (MYR31.40)
The fish was weighed and charged according to its weight upon its selection from the aquarium where they bred the different types of fish.
This was a recommended style by the waiter, which had a rather unique taste and it was not too spicy.


While there was an assortment of ginger, lemongrass, spring onions, and a handful of chilies in it, the broth was not really spicy. The unique part was the fish was also served with minced meat as part of accompanying broth, and it is rare to me.



We wanted to order the desserts as they were tempting us with the widest selection I have ever seen in a Thai restaurant menu, and everything looks and sounds so enticing that it was really hard to resist to order. However, to our disappointment, most of the desserts ran out that night and we had to just abide by fate to just keep a watch on the waistlines and overindulgence.

Overall, the food was good and the service, was as mentioned above, impressive.
Even the restaurant's owner was rushing about to serve the customers, and yet he had the time for a quick banter with each of his customers to ensure the satisfaction.
The meal above costs approximately MYR20++ per pax, and is rather reasonable although some of the servings tend to be smaller than expected. However, they were definitely not stingy with their ingredients.

So, desserts maybe in our next visit, along with fish cakes, and the other dishes....I think I need to make a list...