Baan Aa Haan Thai (BAHT)

July 2010

Thai food in Kuala Lumpur seems to veer between extremes: it’s either served by really grubby street vendors with questionable hygiene standards or in sanitised eateries in shopping malls, with rare standalone exceptions scattered few and far between. Enter BAHT, which falls into none of the aforementioned categories and for (more than) that reason alone, is worth visiting. Tucked away in the sleepy enclave of Lorong Kurau where time, apparently, has stood still, BAHT’s decor is imbued with a quaintly charming DIY feel, but it’s the vivacious staff, tasty food and cheap prices that grab your attention.

From the bog standard green curry chicken and four-angle bean salad to kale with garlic and tom yam soup, the menu makes up in taste what it lacks in creativity. The characteristic OTT fiery, savoury notes of Thai cuisine are present here in spades, but it’s the fried marinated beef studded with cracked pepper that deserves star billing. Neither overly tenderised nor excessively chewy, the texture of the meat is spot on and made all the more irresistible by a peppery marinade. The main complaint? One (serving) just isn’t quite enough. For the tight-of-fist, there are great value set lunches at just RM11 – the crispy chilli fish rice with soup, fruit and lemongrass drink is a good example.

Apart from a rather garrulous – albeit friendly – lady owner who will attempt invariably to foist sandwiches onto you (a residual habit no doubt from her days as the concession holder of Oliver’s Super Sandwiches), BAHT is wonderfully peaceful and a superb venue in which to dine if you’re feeling hermitish and/or leery of the air kisses of the Bangsar set, but don’t want to venture too far away from the mothership. Fay Khoo