Thai Caipng (Asia Square Food Garden)

Whilst Thai-style Economic Rice hadn’t been quite a thing in the not-so-recent past, it seems that it has become quite a trend in the local F&B scene of the late. Following the likes of Mak Nom Nom at International Plaza, Baan Khao Gaeng at Perennial Business City and Sabaicy at People’s Park Food Centre, there seems to be yet another F&B establishment that is located in the Central Business District that is serving up Thai-style Economic Rice. Enter Thai Cai Png; a newly-opened Thai-style Economic Rice concept that had just started operations within the Food Garden food court that is located in Asia Square. The stall which Thai Cai Png occupied should be fairly easy to locate, considering how the stall is situated just right beside Chuan Tai Zi Mala Tang that is along the same row of stalls that Kopi & Tarts also occupies. Being a stall that primarily operates as a concept serving economic rice, the dishes which Thai Cai Png has to offer are being displayed prominently behind the viewing panel they segregates the patrons from the counter — these would comprise of some very familiar Thai dishes such as that of Basil Minced Pork, Green Curry Vegetables and even Pandan Chicken. That being said, aside from Thai-style economic rice, it does seem that Thai Cai Png does offer an ala-carte menu featuring some meat / seafood dishes — all of these being mentioned on the television screen that runs through the menu at the back of the counter.

Visiting Thai Cai Png during weekday lunch service, it is interesting to note that Thai Cai Png does offer two different types of rice for patrons to choose from. Apart from the usual white rice, Thai Cai Png offers a rotational menu of rice as well — the other rice option that was served up during the day which we made our visit was a Seafood Pineapple Fried Rice. Since we made our visit to Thai Cai Png slightly ahead of the lunch crowd on that day, it was evident that they were still preparing some dishes to be served for the day — this explained the slightly limited selection of the items that we can opt for during our visit. Glancing through the variety of dishes which are available, we decided to go for the Basil Minced Pork, Green Curry Chicken and the Sambal Kang Kong to go along with our choice of Seafood Pineapple Fried Rice. On first look, the Seafood Pineapple Fried Rice came with a yellow hue that is typical of such pineapple fried rice; there were clearly shreds of omelette that is being stir-fried into the fried rice, whilst it also came with pineapple chunks for a slight zing and a piece of well-sized shrimp that provided a good bite and a natural sweetness. Between the various dishes that we had went for, the Sambal Kang Kong was the one which we liked the most — it comes all savoury with a manageable level to spiciness that should work well for those whom are tolerable to lower levels of heat; the Kang Kong carrying a soft crunch while the addition of dried shrimp added a slight umami-ness that was an interesting contrast. On the other hand, the Green Curry was decent; not too thick and rich, but carried a light sweetness without being too creamy — we liked how they were quite generous with the portion of chicken chunks here. Less impressive would be the Basil Minced Pork; there seems to be a lack of basil leaves they would have provided much of the fragrance of the dish as we had expected — the dish seemingly being powered with the savoury flavours of fish sauce and the crunch of long beans instead. Overall, we did feel that some of the elements in the dishes served at Thai Cai Png can be better executed; still an interesting option ar Food Garden, though one that is priced rather similarly to other offerings from the various stalls at the food court (our order being charged at $9.50).