Taste the Best of Thai Flavours at Krung Thep

This post was written by EatDrink Brand Ambassador Aashna Sehgal.

Nestled in the quiet but tasteful neighbourhood of Bukit Damansara, within the newly refurbished Republik Damansara building lies the newest Thai addition in the KL food scene – Krung Thep. The restaurant has an airy outdoor area overlooking the highly colonially influenced building which almost makes you forget that you are still in KL. Careful lighting and lots of plants make for an extremely classy setting. Once you enter the restaurant, you are met with the smell of incense sticks, private dining corners, mellow music, and an open kitchen. The restaurant is carefully curated to feel authentic and yet, surprisingly modern and cosmopolitan – a juxtaposition that screamed New York or London’s SOHO.

Krung Thep simply means Bangkok, an ode to the capital city of Thailand. With this, the restaurant aims to deep dive into the rich culinary traditions of the country, beyond popularised Thai cuisine as we know it. In the words of the founder, Tan Boon Wy, “The flavours of Thai cuisine originates from a strong sense of tradition, cultivated by the spirit of modernity and progress through generations of stories.” This sense of wanting diners to experience all aspects of Thai cuisine from different regions of the country is apparent in the menu offerings at Krung Thep.

All diners are started off with crispy fried chicken skin and three homemade sauces – sriracha, aubergine, and tamarind. They also provide a basket of raw snacking vegetables that is traditionally used to nibble on to combat the spiciness of Thai cuisine throughout the meal. For drinks, we tried the Cha Yen (Thai Milk Tea) and Gafae Yen (Thai Coffee). Both these drinks were really authentic, rich, and cooling – great to balance with the food.

We started off the tapas tasting with the Miang Kam (betel leaves containing shrimp & coconut paste, ginger, toasted coconut and shallots), Pla Merk Go Lek (grilled baby squid with a thai curry) and the Larp Bpet (minced duck salad, lime and fish sauce). What I enjoyed throughout the first round of dishes was that neither of these were one-dimensional in the way they tasted. The Miang Kam was loud and flavourful, the Larp Bpet was spicy and dense and the squid used in the Pla Merk Go Lek was very fresh. The concept of small plates in this context allowed for a wide array of flavours that complimented each other really well.

Next, we were treated to the Gai Yang Kao Suan Kwang (grilled chicken, lemongrass and chilli-tamarind), Pad Ga Lam Phi (white cabbage, prawn oil, and garlic), Phu Gup Goong Pad Pong Garee (flower crab, Ming prawn and coconut milk) and the Tom Yam Pla Insee (kingfish soup with turmeric, mint, and coriander). This was hands down the most enjoyable part of the meal, and Krung Thep’s intention to highlight all of the country’s distinctive flavours really came through with these selection of dishes. The chicken was grilled to perfection, while the soup was refreshingly different to the Tom Yam soup that we associate with Thai cuisine (this version was clear with the coriander and lemongrass really shining through). My favorite dish was the flower crab, owing to the richness from the coconut milk coupled with prawn and crab meat.

Finally, the Pad Ga Lam Phi was great to balance out the meats, and the simplicity of the garlic and and prawn oil made it a gorgeous dish to pull the rest of the meal together.

For dessert, we had the Thai Milk Tea ice cream topped with croutons and fried mushroom, a pairing I never would’ve conventionally imagined on a dessert menu. The savouriness from the fried mushroom combined with the sweetness of the ice cream made this extremely memorable, and the crunchiness of the croutons added texture to the entire dish that was absolutely beautiful. Restaurants that place an emphasis on the experience of food rather than just its taste, are always a delight, and this is exactly what Krung Thep manages to achieve.