The Unlawyer

At the corner of Santolan Road and Granada Street in Barangay Valencia, Quezon City heading towards the northwest is a row of townhouses called Villa Ortigas, which is home to a number of restaurants: the Mien San noodle house which serves Taiwanese cuisine and is probably the oldest eatery at this location, the Happy Valley Hong Kong-style cha chaan teng [I think - Ed.], and the Cucina Gayuma restaurant as well.

Now, a newcomer joins this bunch: the ThaiDara restaurant which serves Thai cuisine, or what its billboard advertises as Bangkok street food.

Mrs. Unlawyer was the one who first noticed this restaurant and decided that we give it a try, after dining at the Ristras Mexican restaurant in nearby San Juan several weeks in a row at my behest. So we paid this eatery a visit Saturday night and after reviewing its menu decided to settle on a meat-free dinner:

Pictured at the top of this entry is the Tamarind Fish, the house version of what the Thais call pla tod sam rod – a deep-fried, breaded fish fillet doused with a not-too-sweet-but-not-too-sour tamarind-based sauce and topped with cliantro leaves. This was easily the winner of the night’s dinner; the fillet was light and didn’t taste soggy at all. It was clearly prepared by a chef who knew his way around hot oil.

Next was the kangkong – I forgot what the restaurant called this dish but it must be their version of stir-fried morning glory: pak boong fai daeng.

Next was the sauteed shrimp.

A southeast Asian meal would never be complete, as far as we were concerned, without rice. In this case, we opted for what the menu called a Threesome – a fried rice dish with fresh tomatoes, chicken breast slices, and pineapples.

The total cost of all four dishes, plus a can of soda and a glass of Thai iced tea was about PHP 850.

After dining on these viands, Mrs. Unlawyer and I agreed that these dishes fell short of what we expected Thai street food to be: strongly flavored and spicy. With the exception of the Tamarind Fish, the rest of the meal was, shall we say, deficient in taste. We relayed our observations to the Thai proprietor who explained that he deliberately had to reduce the spice content of his dishes to suit his clientele. He assured us, however, that his kitchen staff could prepare our orders as spicy and hot as if it was served in the heart of Bangkok if we so desired.

It’s an offer that we will most likely take up.

At any rate, Anton says that ThaiDara’s best-selling dish is its tom yum seafood soup.

The ThaiDara restaurant is at the Villa Ortigas, 56 Granada Street, Quezon City. It’s a cash-only joint. Phone: (02) 515-0469 or (02) 568-0651. Parking may be tight right in front of and beside this restaurant but you can do so across the street at the RCBC bank parking lot.