Friday October 9, 2009
By JADE CHAN
SIRIWAN THAI SEAFOOD RESTAURANT,
Lot G-04, Sri Acappella Serviced Apartments,
Jalan Lompat Tinggi 13/33, Seksyen 13,
40100 Shah Alam.
Tel: 03-5511 5993.
Business hours: Daily; Lunch, 11am-3pm; Dinner 6pm-11pm.
Pork free.
DO NOT let its simple and unpretentious ambience deceive you, for it is Siriwan Thai Seafood Restaurant’s kitchen that keeps diners and regulars coming back for more of its authentic Thai cuisine.
“What sets us apart from other restaurants are that our dishes are authentically prepared and cooked by my wife, Rawiya, 49, and several chefs who come from Thailand,” said restaurant director Wong Lam King, 52.
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Unpretentious:
Siriwan Thai
Seafood
Restaurant in
Section 13, Shah
Alam |
“We also travel to Thailand a few times a year to visit mum’s family and explore the many eating outlets there,” chipped in Wong’s son, Ken, 20.
Wong said they adapted the Southern Thai region’s spicy and hot flavours and Central Thai region’s sweet taste to the palate that Malaysians were familiar with.
To ensure authenticity, some of Siriwan’s ingredients are imported from Thailand, while all pastes and sauces are homemade.
Ken noted that Siriwan has a number of popular favourites like Pandan Chicken and Prawn Tom Yam that, despite being readily available at other Thai restaurants, taste distinctly different at Siriwan.
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Not available elsewhere: Deep Fried Sotong Garlic Pepper. |
“The meat in our Pandan Chicken is juicy, and marinated with a lot of herbs like garlic, coriander and palm sugar,” he said.
“We also have several dishes that are not available elsewhere, like the Deep Fried Sotong Garlic Pepper and Omelette Otak.”
The Deep Fried Sotong Garlic Pepper is a rather addictive dish that has a unique story of how it was incorporated into Siriwan’s menu.
“We had a group of German regulars who frequently travelled to Pattaya, and asked us if they could recreate this dish that they had there,” said Wong.
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Succulent meat: Pandan Chicken |
“We whipped up the item based purely on their description, and it was placed permanently in our menu after being well-received by other diners.”
The Omelette Otak is a dish inspired from Southern Thailand that has eggs fried with seafood and herbs.
The Crispy Crab, which features soft shell crab coated with flour and a blend of spices and fried comes recommended by the Wongs, as does the Steamed Lemon Fish for those who crave something healthy with a spicy kick.
While the Three-Flavour Prawn and Three-Flavour Fish offer similar “flavours” of sweet, spicy and sour, the preparation and cooking methods differ.
Siriwan has over time included special dishes that are introduced on promotion as permanent items in their menu.
The Wong family opened their first two outlets in Penang (first Seberang Jaya in 1996, followed by Bayan Lepas in 2003), before venturing to the Klang Valley in 2006.
Since they have had a history of their restaurants doing well in industrial locations, Siriwan is located in such a site in Shah Alam.
It is popular among the corporate clientele on weekdays and families on weekends.
Siriwan can seat about 260 diners, and has hosted numerous corporate and family functions, and a couple of Malay weddings.
The Wongs picked the name “siriwan”, which means “golden” in Thai, for the catchiness and ease in remembering the restaurant’s name.
This is the writer’s personal observation.
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