Dinner at Diandin Leluk, Singapore
Every time I return to Singapore, we have a cousin outing, which generally means going somewhere and having dinner all together. Not having had Thai food yet during this trip and really wanting to have some before I left, I suggested that we go to Diandin Leluk, in Golden Mile Complex. Golden Mile houses a lot of Thai eateries as well as stores selling Thai items. I had never been to this place before, but last year at the Thai Festival at the Thai Embassy they had a stall and my mum tried some of their food and thought it was probably some of the best Thai food we'd eaten in Singapore. So this seemed like the perfect chance to test out whether the food at their restaurant was as good.
The first dish to arrive was the Pineapple Fried Rice, served in a pineapple. I think the presentation was quite nice, although the portion of rice was quite small for its price. Also I think it should've had more of the sausage and pineapple, since the rice was quite plain. The pineapple taste was also not very detectable.
Whenever I'm eating Thai, I always order the famous Thai Salads. The first of the two salads was the Som Tam - Papaya Salad 'Thai Style'. This salad was incredibly hot, and all of us had tears in our eyes from eating it. Having been to Bangkok in January and eaten it there, I knew that they had made it far too hot. I know it's supposed to be spicy, but not that spicy that it just kills of your palate.
Our second option was a far better choice. Som Tum Mamuang - Green Mango Salad with Crispy Catfish. Green mango salad is anyways usually my favorite between the two. This salad was perfectly balanced and as tangy as it should be. We did start a discussion about the catfish, since we weren't sure how it was supposed to be like and thought it could've been egg instead of fish. But after some additional inquiries we realized that it was supposed to be like that. Not sure though if it's actually worth it, so I think the next time I'll just order the plain green mango salad.
Another classic dish, the Pandan Chicken. These pieces of chicken were wonderfully tender and succulent. A must-order.
Of course we also wanted our vegetables, so we ordered Kailan with Garlic. My brother and I said that we should order the large one, which we did, although the rest were somewhat hesitant at first. Luckily we did, since this was finished without any problems and we probably could've ordered more.
We had the Clear Seafood Tom Yum Soup, which was nicely balanced. It was a good tom yum, but it wasn't anything to really rave about.
A dish that still fascinates me is the Stuffed Chicken Wings, I'm never too sure how they do it, but I love the fact that there's no bone and you don't have to chew around it. The filling was nice and moist and hadn't dried out. Another must-order.
We tend to always order a whole fish. So we got the Steamed Seabass in Spicy Lime and Chilli. At first we didn't want to order a steamed fish, and rather the fried one, because we didn't know whether the fish would be fresh enough. We decided to try it anyways, and luckily we did since it was fresh and the lime and chilli sauce was very refreshing.
I always have or make room for my favorite Asian dessert, so we ordered the Mango with Sticky Rice. When I had this at the fair it was very good, but after tasting this I was kind of disappointed. It was a mediocre rendition of the dish. One the mangos was slightly overripe, the rice wasn't cooked soft enough and there was enough of the coconut sauce to eat it with. I guess it was sufficient for the taste, but not enough to really call it a good mango with sticky rice.
Overall the food here was pretty good, especially the two chicken dishes and the green mango salad were delicious. I think it's a good place for reasonably priced authentic Thai food in Singapore, so will be heading back here when I want my next Thai fix.