Baan Kun Ya in Centrepoint, Bandar Utama is fast gaining popularity with diners around its neighbourhood simply for its comforting and delicious Thai fares. If you have read my earlier review here, you’d know that the food at Baan Kun Ya is meticulously prepared by Thai chefs using authentic ingredients from Thailand with no efforts spared in getting the right tastes that any Thai national would be proud of. Yes, it’s much like eating in a Thai matriarch’s house.
The chefs have recently come up with more new dishes and now with the Muslim fasting month in full force, it’s the perfect time to introduce them with special Buka Puasa Sets.
There are set dinners for 4, 6 and 8 pax priced at RM120, RM200 and RM280 respectively. The Set for 4 comprises 6 menu items while the 6 and 8 pax sets have 9 menu items.
A typical Set for 4 pax (RM120) would have dishes like:
Thai Spring Rolls
Clear/Spicy Seafood Tomyum
Fried Chicken with Sambal
Thai-style Omelette with Onions
Stir-fry Vegetables Paprik with Seafood
Dessert of the day
Refreshing Thai Spring Rolls
A Set for 6 pax (RM200) would have the above 5 dishes (excluding the Chicken Sambal) and additional items like Thai Seafood Vermicelli Salad, Green Curry Chicken and Deep-fried Seabass with Black Pepper Sauce.
The Set for 8 pax (RM280) will feature specials like Mieng Kam, Baan Kun Ya Steamed Seabass, Seafood Otak-otak and Green Curry Chicken.
We also checked out some of their new dishes which can be ordered a la carte. Start with some pretty appetizers like the Fresh Spring Rolls (RM18/6 pieces) and the Ka Tong Thong (RM15/5pieces). The latter are cute-looking golden crispy pastry cups filled with stir-fried minced chicken and diced vegetables like carrots, green beans and corn. Much like the nyonya pie-tee, these one-bite morsels disappear pretty quickly!
Ka Tong Thong
Instead of the usual tomyum, try the clear Gaeng Liang Goong Sod (RM38), a local Thai peppery soup with a delicious prawny base as Thai dried shrimps are used in the broth. Pumpkin, baby corn, mushrooms and angled loofah make up the ingredients and believe me when I tell you I drank every single drop of this soup.
Gaeng Liang Goong Sod
The Crabmeat with Pineapples Curry (RM45) is a visual delight even before you eat it. Who can resist a mound of freshly peeled crabmeat sitting in a pool of creamy spicy curry with a tangy kick, thanks to the slices of fresh pineapples in it? If there’s one curry you have to order in Baan Kun Ya, this is it.
Crabmeat Curry
The Stewed Beef Curry (RM42) has all the facets of an authentic Thai curry – lots of miniature Thai round eggplants and Thai basil leaves for that distinctive flavor. The chunky beef pieces in it were tender enough.
Stewed Beef Curry
Talking about basil, another must-try dish is their well-executed Basil Chicken (RM28). Looking deceptively simple, the minced chicken packs punchy flavours from the basil and fish sauce gravy, so mind the rice – you’ll need quite a bit of that!
Basil Chicken
Sambal Chicken
As this is the Ramadhan period, the chefs at Baan Kun Ya came up with a few dishes with some local twists, like the Sambal Chicken (RM35) and the Paku-Pakis Curry with Anchovies (RM28). The sambal topping over fried chicken was much like the regular nasi lemak sambal, kinda sweet and wasn’t very impressive. I love paku pakis and would almost always order that if I spot it on any menu. Baan Kun Ya’s version here is much like the Malay masak lemak-style but it lacks a depth of flavour which the bland anchovies couldn’t quite deliver.
Paku-Pakis Curry with Anchovies
Stir-fry Sweet Leaves (sayur manis) with Egg (RM20)
Stir-fry Vegetables Paprik with Seafood (RM28)
A couple more hits with us … Steamed Squids with Lemon Sauce (RM39) tossed with chilli padi, onions, lemongrass and coriander leaves. Very well-balanced flavours and so addictive!
Our all-time favourite: Crabmeat Omelette (RM32) with the killer green sambal!
Baan Kun Ya has a rather extensive list of desserts (some of them were featured in my earlier blog post here). This time round, we got to taste a few new ones and some which we missed the last time. We absolutely loved the Khanom Ba Bin (RM15/3 pieces) – warm squares of chewy tapioca and coconut cake that’s so good we almost wanted to order a 2nd plate! If tapioca and coconut are not your favourite things, then this may not be your cup of tea.
Khanom Ba Bin
Not many Thai restaurants here offer “look choop” as it’s a tedious affair making those miniature fruits and vegetables as lots of skills and patience are needed. The chefs at Baan Kun Ya make beautiful look choop and they’re really too pretty to eat! Eventually we did eat them though and they were delicious.
Look Choop (RM24/12 pieces)
Look Choop Jelly (RM16/8 pieces)
For something straightforward and tasty, check out their Coconut Ice-cream (RM18). You can have it with all the extras or just a plain scoop at RM8/scoop.
Coconut Ice-cream with all the trimmings!
So, if you are looking for a Thai meal to break fast during this holy month, Baan Kun Ya is worth a visit. We can’t wait to go back – there are still so many items we haven’t tried yet!
BAAN KUN YA
No.3 Lebuh Bandar Utama
1st Floor Centrepoint
Bandar Utama
47800 Petaling Jaya
Tel: 03-7733-3337
Open daily from11.30am to 11.00pm