Taste Of Thailand: Unique Pad Thai With Gravy & Other Affordable Thai Dishes In Sin Ming

I love Thai food, but there isn’t always time to make a trip over to Bangkok for some cheap and good grub.

Located in The Canteen at Midview City in Sin Ming, Taste Of Thailand is one of my go-to places for Thai food in Singapore. Like most zi char stall with a range of food items, this eatery serves up a selection of Thai-inspired dishes.

Despite its ulu location, you can often see office workers from nearby business hubs eating from Taste Of Thailand during lunch hour.

The owner Mr Ang, picked up cooking with Thai influence in Chiang Mai, where he has relatives. He started Taste Of Thailand 31 years ago in Sembawang and recently shifted it to Sin Ming three years ago.

His stall is so popular that regulars from the original Sembawang outlet have followed Mr Ang to Sin Ming, and continued to give him their support.

Every time I’m here, I’ll always order their Thai Deep Fried Fish Delight 泰式三味鱼 (S$18 for small, S$22 for medium, S$25 for large). The deep-fried grouper had thin and crispy skin that gave a delightful crunch.

The irresistibly silky and flaky fish and mildly spicy chilli dip contrasted well with the crispy skin. This dish was so good that I would have finished that entire fish by myself if I wasn’t going to try anything else.

Instead of plain ol’ white rice, I usually go for their Pineapple Rice 黄梨炒饭 (S$5 for small, S$9 for medium, S$13 for large).

Sprinkled with pork floss, the mountain of rice on each plate came with shrimp, scrambled egg, slices of lap cheong (Chinese sausage) and diced pineapple.

Each spoonful of rice came with a decent amount of fluffy and sweet pork floss, which dissolved quickly in my mouth.

That said, unfortunately, we found the fried rice dish lacklustre as it lacked a strong wok hei flavour.

The next dish was the Lao Po Soup老婆汤 (market price), which really surprised us with its massive portion. Chockful of seafood ingredients, the dish reminded me of a seafood pen cai.

I decided to ask the owner for the story behind the dish’s intriguing name.

Mr Ang recalled that he first cooked this soup many years ago for his wife, she liked it so much that she asked him to prepare it for her friends. It became so popular that he decided to put it on his menu, where it has stayed ever since.

Unfortunately, we didn’t really enjoy the briny flavours of the seafood. There were too many ingredients in the soup, and they didn’t complement one another well.

Since Taste Of Thailand is a Thai eatery, we simply had to try their take on the ever-popular pad thai.

Served with lots of zhup (gravy), their Thai Style Fried Kway Teow 泰式炒粿条 (S$5 for small, S$9 for medium, S$13 for large) looked very different from what we expected.

Unlike most pad thai dishes that tend to have more of a yellow hue, the dish actually resembled a plate of Hokkien mee, complete with the strong seafood flavours.

The dish came with generous amounts of prawns, sotongs and clams. No wonder the seafood flavour was exceptionally prominent in the peppery gravy!

This showstopping dish was our favourite from Taste Of Thailand, even though it wasn’t what we’d usually expect of pad thai.

Mr Ang explained that his customers at Sin Ming actually preferred it cooked this way. He has stuck to this way of cooking ever since, and this one-of-a-kind pad thai is now his speciality.

Besides pad thai, a bowl of Tom Yam Soup 冬炎汤 (S$7 for small, S$11 for medium, S$16 for large) is definitely necessary for an authentic Thai meal.

It might look bland, but the soup had an unexpected refreshing tanginess. I especially appreciated that it wasn’t very spicy, since I love tom yum but can’t take spice that well.

Just like the other dishes, we found a bounty of seafood in the soup, including sotong pieces, prawns and sliced fish.

It was definitely a strong contender against their version of pad thai.

We tried a few of the other dishes, but they tasted rather average. Perhaps Taste Of Thailand can consider adding more unique twists to their dishes, as they did for their version of pad thai. Their pad thai with generous amounts of zhup is truly one-of-a-kind.

Since the location is rather inaccessible, we probably wouldn’t travel all the way there. However, if you’re in the area, you can drop by for an affordable meal.

Expected Damage: S$5 – S$36 per pax