Thai Seafood Otah in Coconut There has definitely been an abundance of Thai dining establishments that had opened their doors all across island in recent years; Happy Thai Food is one of the newer entrants to the scene as compared to some of the more established brands around. With that being said, these folks had expanded quite a fair bit from when they had first started; they currently do have outlets operating at Victory8 along Jalan Legundi in Sembawang, the food court at Giant Tampines, as well as at Loyang Point — these folks had however opened their fourth location not too long ago at myVillage @ Serangoon Gardens. Situated in the basement of myVillage @ Serangoon Gardens, Happy Thai Food can be found right beside the outlet of Rokus a.g.b. There — Happy Thai Food itself occupying a rather small-sized shop unit that is simply-decked with the wall being plastered with its menu; a very practical set-up overall. Dine-in seating comprises of stools and tables arranged in a way that seats groups of twos (2) or fours (4); there is also an area with high table that faces the wall as well. Being a Thai establishment that primarily caters to communal dining, the dishes are split into sections such as Appetisers, Salad, Egg & Tofu, Soup, Curry, Vegetables, Meat, Seafood and Dessert — individual diners can however also find rice and noodle dishes well-sized for one (1) pax in the Rice Dishes, Fried Rice, Noodles — Dry, and Noodles — Soup section of the menu. Beverages available at Happy Thai Food include teas such as Ice Lemon Tea, Green Tea, Vitamilk, Lemongrass, Fresh Coconut etc.
What really got us intrigued enough to decide to make a trip to Happy Thai Food was us chancing upon the availability of the Thai Seafood Otah in Coconut on the menu. Whilst we did notice that there has been an increase in the number of Thai establishments carrying this item on their menu in recent times, the dish still remains to be a rather uncommon dish to find in general. Happy Thai Food does not describe on the elements that is featured in their rendition of the Thai Seafood Otah in Coconut; that being said, we did notice how the dish comes with seafood such as Sotong, fish, prawns — all that with coconut flesh as well as basil leaves. The Thai Seafood Otah in Coconut does come with familiar fragrance of coconut milk as well as notes almost akin to the red curry but less rich; removing the two pieces of prawns on the top and digging into the coconut, one can find a soft and moist paste that laces around all of the seafood elements such as the Sotong and fish — definitely something which would go especially well with rice even though it is already good enough to have on its own. The pieces of seafood were pretty fresh; the Sotong in particular was also not rubbery, while the fish was void of any muddy flavour — the prawns also carried a hint of natural sweetness typical of crustaceans. When one gets the chunks of coconut flesh, the coconut flesh was smooth and provided a bit of a jelly-like bite that was also a little bit firm; the basil also provided quite a fair bit of contrast to the curry-like notes of the dish as well. We also note that the dish wasn’t particularly spicy and should do just about fine even for those whom have spice tolerance levels that is below average.
During our visit to Happy Thai Food, we also managed to give their Phad Thai a go. Available in two (2) variants (being chicken and seafood), we opted for the chicken version of the dish since we were already going for the Thai Seafood Otah in Coconut. It is interesting to note that the Phad Thai here does come with chopped peanuts but doesn’t come with the chili powder that would typically be served with the dish at other establishments; patrons whom wish to go for that would have to help themselves to the chili powder at the self-service station. Considering so, the Phad Thai Chicken was actually rather decent; one that comes sufficiently moist with the strands of noodles having absorbed all the flavours of the sauces and condiments that went into the dish during the cooking process — the Phad Thai Chicken was not only slurpy, but we especially like the balance of sweetness and tanginess that made it quite the best of both worlds. We also like how the chicken chunks were tender and sufficiently moist without the veiny parts unlike some that we had tried. We also managed to try the Stuffed Chicken Wings (3 pcs) from the Appetisers section of the menu — this sees chicken wings being fried with a crispy, golden-brown panko crumb batter with the chicken drumlets being stuffed with something almost akin to a meatball; one can definitely observe some bits of carrots that is seemingly included for an added crunch factor amidst the bounciness and crispness. Overall, we did feel that Happy Thai Food does seem to serve up some fairly interesting Thai fare that isn’t particularly common elsewhere — case-in-point would be the Stuffed Chicken Wings (3 pcs) and the Thai Seafood Otah in Coconut which does provide patrons with a wider exposure to Thai cuisine outside of the few commonly-found dishes that are favourites for most. Prices are fairly reasonable for most dishes; all items on the menu are actually priced below $20 with the exception of the Seabass items on the Seafood section of the menu. Considering so, Happy Thai Food does seem like a spot that we will gladly patronise if there is one that is situated in close proximity to us.
