Spicy Thai at The Line, Shangri-la Hotel Singapore

For a few hours last night, it felt like Paul and I rode on a magical jet that transported us to Thailand for dinner and back to Singapore right after. In reality, we just had another visit back to Shangri-la Hotel Singapore to join a couple of online writers and bloggers for their media preview of the upcoming Spicy Thai Festival happening at The Line from May 17 (Friday) to 26 (Sunday), 2013.

If you remember, a month ago, Paul and I were lucky enough to be given the chance to have a fun weekend staycation at the Shangri-la Hotel Singapore. During this time, we were also able to have a hearty Sunday brunch at The Line, the hotel's interactive international buffet restaurant.

This time we're back to experience the new dishes that resident Thai Chef Ratree has in store for all The Line dinner customers from Friday onwards.  

Let me share with you the dishes that we were able to try during our 6 course dinner last night: 

Our dinner began with a very familiar appetizer called Miang Kam. I was so happy to be able to try this again as I enjoyed this tremendously in Thai Bistro in Manila. However, I was spoiled back home as the Miang Kam was already topped with the fillings and all I had to do was to roll it up and to eat it in one go. Here, it's a deconstructed version where the ingredients are laid out in front of you and it's really up to you how you want your Miang Kam to go. Want it more sour? Add more lime! Want it spicy, load up on the chili. It was still delicious nonetheless and a lot of fun mixing and matching the fillings. 

We also had the Khaotang Nga Thong which was one of my favourites for the night. It's another fun DIY starter where you have a good amount of crispy rice crackers and an assortment of Thai chutneys beside it. I particularly liked the one at the left as it's made of pork and had a sweet, creamy taste. The one beside it had salted egg and the dark brown chutney is made of chili paste. All were good and I wish we had more rice crackers to spread these chutneys on. During the buffet though, you'll surely be able to get all the rice crackers that you want just make sure you're getting just what you can consume.

Following the delicious rice crackers, we had a trio of more appetizers -- Yam Som O, Lab Gai and Yam Woon Sen. 

The Yam Som O is very popular in Manila as this is the traditional Thai Pomelo Salad. It tasted just like how it does back home only it had a spicier kick. 

The Lab Gai is minced chicken with ground rice and mint leaf. They have also incorporated chopped red chili into it making it really fiery hot. Wrapped in cucumber, I really like how the cucumber leaves a refreshing and soothing after taste. 

Lastly, the Yam Woon Sen is spicy glass noodles (think -- sotanghon) with poached prawns. I really like this a lot but I couldn't finish it because it was once again too spicy for me. 

At this point, I took a break and checked out the buffet spread. Amazing! they even had a huge Roasted Turkey available that evening. I had to resist from trying this as we still had three more courses to go. However, I couldn't resist the fresh sashimi and sushi plus a couple of soft cheese slices. These were able to soothe my burning tongue. *phew* 

After enjoying my buffet plate, we had the Tom Yam Goong which is yet another popular dish back home. This can be found in every Thai restaurant in Manila and it would come in different varieties such as plain soup, seafood or chicken. I love how the prawns stayed crisp even after being incorporated into the soup. I happily scooped up all the delicious and juicy prawns and mushrooms. However, this soup was once again too spicy for me. I decided to just take a few sips and moved on to my next plate. 

Before the main dishes arrive, Paul and I checked out the buffet spread once again and this time I got more soft cheeses, baked polenta (the only thing made with corn that I can eat) and some Apricot Salmon which was sooooo good. I loved this! 

For our main course, we had it family-style. We had the Kaeng Kheiw Wan Gai (Green Chicken Curry). Another popular Thai dish worldwide, I first had green chicken curry at Soms in Makati and this has been my favorite kind of curry eversince. Never mind that it's the most spicy of them all, I somehow love the sweet-spicy flavor and the extra creamy consistency compared to the yellow or the red. The chicken was very tender and I love the strong herb aroma this dish has. Ooohhlala! 

The Phad Graprao Moo (Wok-fried Minced Pork with Garlic and Holy Basil) was so delicious. I even heard my tablemate Yang mentioned that he loved it, he can have lots of this! I got to agree with him, with just a bowl of rice and this, I would definitely consider that a great meal! 

Our last main dish was the Phad Phak Kanah (Stir-fried Kale). Thank goodness we had a vegetable dish that evening, I was actually contemplating of getting a plate of fresh salad from the buffet spread this time. The kale was well-cooked as it had maintained its slight crunchy bite and the leaves stayed firm with no soggy bits at all. 

What's meal without dessert. I remember back in 2008 when Pan and I went to Bangkok for a quick vacation, we spent every single meal having Pad Thai, Thai Iced Tea and some Ta-koh. It was only when I got back to Manila that I realized that I missed out on one thing -- the Sticky Rice with Mango. Drat! Of all things, how can I forget that? I'm glad though that Thai Bistro opened last year and I was finally able to try the famous dessert. I liked it! After all, what's not to love? Sticky rice which reminds me of our native suman and sweet mangoes all covered with creamy coconut sauce. 

The version at The Line was pretty good! I was surprised that the mangoes were very sweet despite not being too yellow. The sticky rice ball had a good texture too. 

The other dessert that we had was the Kluay Thod Nga Khao which is deep-fried banan fritter with sesame seed. Between this or the Khao Niew Mamuang (Sticky Rice with Mango), I have to admit that I prefer the former. 

We partied that evening by having some Tom Yum Mojitos to go with our delicious Thai dinner. Guess what, I love this citrusy mojito with a mean spicy kick. 

Spicy Thai Buffet Rates: (all dinner)

Monday, Wednesday and Sunday : S$72++

Friday and Saturday : S$78++

Tuesday and Thursday: S$92++

Kid's rate: S$36++

Check out the Spicy Thai Festival at The Line in Shangri-la Hotel, Orange Grove Road, Singapore. Call them at +65 6213-4275.