Maeklong Kitchen

The Rail Mall is perhaps known for its slightly far-flung location within the Upper Bukit Timah area — whilst the “mall” is easily accessible via bus and train, it does require some walk from the nearest MRT station, which is Hillview MRT Station on the Downtown Line. There has been quite a number of changes in the tenancy of the shop units at The Rail Mall in recent times — this also saw establishments like Maeklong Kitchen moving into The Rail Mall in the past couple of months. Maeklong Kitchen is located in the row of shophouses where Bakersfield & Co (yes, this is a revival of that same Bakersfield Sandwich Bar & Patisserie in Innovis @ Fusionopolis 2 several years ago; you might read about it if we ever get to it). Maeklong Kitchen does carry the vibe of a casual Thai eatery; apart from several statues that form the eatery’s interior decor facing the street at the entrance, the eatery can be said as rather simply decorated — so much that we did observe a little bit of difference between the seating area to the left of the space as compared to the seating area to the right of the space. One side sees tables lined with gold-coloured table cloth and cushioned seats, while the the other side consists of simple wooden tables and chairs; there is also a peculiar food preparation area at the back of the shop before the kitchen that felt a little out of place within the dining hall. Just like most Thai establishments out there, Maeklong Kitchen serves up Thai fare that would work well in a communal setting thought there are also dishes suited for the individual diner — the menu is being split up into sections dedicated to Starters, Salad, Meat Dishes, Seafood, Soup & Curry, Omelette, Vegetables, Rice, Noodles and Drinks. The selection of drinks available at Maeklong Kitchen includes the usual including items like Iced Lemongrass and Thai Milk Tea, though there are also more interesting concoctions such as the Kumquat Sparkling and Red Plum Sparkling Drink as well.

We visited Maeklong Kitchen in a party of two pax, and it was clear from the get-go that we would only be able to give a limited number of dishes at Maeklong Kitchen a try since much of its menu is suited for a communal setting. It does seem to be quite obvious that we have been ordering the Basil Pork Rice with Fried Egg quite regularly at different Thai establishments these days, but one thing we would lie to comment about the one from Maeklong Thai was how close this rendition felt to the one which we regularly had a couple of years ago from a Thai food stall that operated out of a food court in a shopping centre in the North — something that we actually looked forward to having if we were to be dining at the food court until its closure a few years back. On first look, the Basil Pork Rice with Fried Egg comes with all the components that we would typically find in such a dish; this would include elements such as that of a sunny side-up, white rice and the stir-fried basil pork — the dish does has a colourful aesthetic, considering how there were specks of green and red amidst the brown here. Digging into the Basil Pork Rice with Fried Egg e, we already liked how there was some sauce from the meat that goes especially well when had with the rice — savoury enough to flavour up and provide the rice with enough moisture, yet making the dish excessively wet at the same time; all that whilst the sunny side-up that accompanies it comes with a molten egg yolk that eagerly bursts as one pokes it using a fork. The stir-fried basil pork was undoubtedly the star of the show here; while the minced pork itself didn’t feel too dry nor tough — easy to chew, while it came with a great balance of flavours and textures as well. The long beans added helped to create a crunch that provides a textural contrast, all that while the stir-fried basil pork came with a good balance of savouriness from the fish sauce, spiciness for the chili padi and fragrance from the basil leaves that went into the dish — the kick of spiciness being quite manageable for those whom are tolerable to moderate levels of heat; a very well-balanced and executed version of the Basil Pork Rice with Fried Egg that we enjoyed thoroughly.

Given how the Bukit Timah neighbourhood does not have many options when it comes to Thai cuisine, Maeklong Kitchen is probably one of our favourites when it comes to Thai cuisine in the neighbourhood that is is being situated in. The Basil Pork Rice with Fried Egg was one that we can definitely resonate to; it was surprisingly similar to the one that we have had and loved several years ago — a flavour that we did not expect to find after the demise of the establishment several years ago. We have also given some of the other items at Maeklong Kitchen a try too — this also includes items such as their Meaty Thai Green Curry in which we opted for the variant that came with chicken (there is also a pork version), as well as the Ruby Red; their rendition of the Red Ruby that we typically find at other establishments. These dishes were actually pretty good in their own right, surpassing that of some other Thai establishments that we have been to previously — that being said, there were some minor details that could make a further difference to the dishes. In the case of the Meaty Thai Green Curry, the Green Curry was sufficiently rich and creamy without being overly sweet; we did feel that there was a lack of contrast of flavours since there wasn’t much of a hint of basil around. It also featured strips of local eggplants rather than Thai eggplants. For the Ruby Red, we did wish that the ice was crushed a bit more finer so that the flavours of the coconut milk and the red rubies can be absorbed by the ice as well. Prices of the dishes at Maeklong Kitchen generally falls under $15 – this is irregardless of the dishes being of a communal nature or not; the only exception to this would be the items from the Seafood section which starts from $15.90 to $27.90. Maeklong Kitchen has pretty much impressed us with their take on Thai food; their Thai food are pretty tasty and hits the spot, though it would be great if they can make further refinements to some of the dishes to give it an extra punch — certainly a spot that we would look forward to coming back if we were to be in the area again!