(shanghai daily)
Updated: 2006-11-10 09:53

For many visitors to Shanghai, the city represents a first taste of Asia. In contrast, a large number of travelers have seen further reaches of the Far East and have tasted its many delicacies.

In modern Shanghai, many Southeast Asians are now calling the city home and have brought with them their secrets and traditions. As such, this explains the popularity of the spate of non-Chinese Asian restaurants from around the region that have popped up lately.

The latest, opened just a fortnight ago, is Baan Thai on Fuxing Road M. The restaurant is undergoing a relatively low-key soft opening, but already signs are promising.

Run by the same outfit behind Colours in Ruijing Guest House, Ban Thai shows the same simple elegance and focus on the food as its counterpart.

The premises are set in a lovely French villa with a large alfresco terrace with Southeast-Asian style lighting and furniture. Although it may be a little bit chilly at the moment, the outdoor dining area should prove to be large draw come springtime.

The three-story house is what you would expect of a refurbished villa. Freshly painted walls and varnished floors may sound plain on paper, but combined with the sparse lighting gives a real impression of an authentic eating place in the developing world.

Of course with Thai being the cuisine du jour of 2006, the standard of fare is a very important factor. In this regard, Baan Thai proves to be pleasant.

Portions are of a decent size. The appetizer assortment for two (78 yuan/US$9.75) comes with two pieces each of vegetable spring rolls, prawn cakes, fish cakes and deep-fried chicken wrapped in pandan leaves. The fish cake had a strong fishy smell, indicating it was made not that long ago from real bits instead of being factory produced; the same was applied to the prawn cake. The use of spice was restrained and sufficient to impart a pleasant lingering aftertaste.

The soup came served in single portions. Tom yam goong (sweet and sour seafood soup) is always an indicator of a kitchen's competency, and the dish here (45 yuan) demonstrated that it suited a wide variety of tastes. What should also prove appealing to some is the lack of crunchy bits in the soup, a far-cry from the chunky, unstrained soups found in lesser establishments.

Another must-try dish at any Thai restaurant, the gaeng khiaowan gai (green curry chicken), was reasonably priced at 58 yuan and offered a nice mix of herbs and spices. For those unaccustomed to spicy food, the curry is balanced out with a healthy dose of sugar, making the dish sweet tasting.

Any Southeast Asian restaurant worth its salt must be able to do pineapple fried rice properly, and the version served at Baan Thai did not miss the mark. The portion of rice, for 55 yuan, was enough for two, and had a dash of pork floss sprinkled on top. The yellow rice was neither too oily nor dry, and the flavor of the pineapple was successfully imparted to the grain.

The best-selling desserts were also the most recommended. According to manager Elvis Yuan, the coconut cake and deep-fried banana were the most popular.

Address: 1479 Fuxing Road M.
Tel: 6433-6955