AsiaOne Diva: Tete-A-Tete

Lerk Thai Restaurant

From an established restaurant comes a brand new palette of dishes to tempt your tastebuds. Lerk Thai Restaurant now offers fusion creations that are clever spins on familiar Thai favourites.

New executive Thai chef Mr Sompran Saengard, who has experience working in restaurants and hotels across Europe and Asia, combines his knowledge to create fusion dishes. There are also familiar local Thai favourites to choose from as well.

This is a family-friendly restaurant which both children and parents will enjoy. The young ones get to choose from three set menus, all featuring Thai food that is not too spicy, on a kids menu cum placemat that also provides colouring and maze activities for them to enjoy. The casual-chic restaurant has plenty of space, with large, round tables for bigger families, and smaller tables if you have a smaller party of three to four people.

Not to be missed are the fusion treats that present typical Thai ingredients in a new way. And if you think all Thai dishes are just too spicy for your palette, the chef's new dishes such as Spaghetti Nuer Puey (spaghetti tossed with braised beef hunks, S$13.90), and Tod Man Kung (Special Prawn Cake, S$9.90), retain an authentic Thai flavour without taxing your tolerance for spice.

Contact details
176 Orchard Road
#01-59-62 The Centrepoint
Tel: 6735 2292

Opening hours
Daily: 11am - 10pm

Cuisine
Thai streetfare as well as fusion cuisine.

Portions
Big enough for families to share. So be sure to bring along the relatives and enjoy more dishes if you are planning on taste-testing.

Setting
Modern and casual - perfect for an afternoon respite, yet comfortable enough if you decide to hold your family dinner here.

Must-tries
• Yun Hait Gai Krob, a dish made of shimeiji, golden and straw mushrooms mixed in a mild spicy dressing with crispy chicken strips. This is a warm salad that is a perfect appetizer. (S$9.90)
• Gor Tor Mor, or crispy minced chicken and shrimp pancake deep-fried with sesame. We fell in love with this tasty dish that was garnished with fried kailan. The pancake was well-flavoured and fried to perfection, with sesame to give it an extra dimension. Everyone couldn't stop picking away at the kailan, which looked like seaweed at first sight. (S$13.90)
• The dessert selection. While most of the desserts such as Thai tapioca with coconut cream will be familiar, what makes this special is that you can opt for the dessert combination platter which offers 3 types of desserts that are served to you as bite-sized portions. This way, you can enjoy more of the sweets, but not worry about over-stuffing yourself. (S$5.50)

Price factor
S$60 - $100 for a party of four, or about S$25 per person.

Things you didn't know
Lerk Thai occasionally offers in-house cooking demonstrations which feature how-to workshops on some of the restaurant's signature dishes. Call the restaurant if you are keen to attend one of these.

Verdict
Thai food fans will appreciate the variety on the menu. An overall family-friendly place that adds more options to Singaporeans who love dining out.