Jai Thai (East Coast)

I passed by Jai Thai when I went on a trail at Katong and decided to come back here yesterday (because the restaurant we wanted to eat at was closed). "Jai" means heart in Thai and Jai Thai has been in Singapore since 1999. 

It's a no-frills place, which reminded me somewhat of a Thai food restaurant in Boston, Nud Pob Thai cuisine, except that it's more spacious. If Singapore had winter, here's where I would head to for a relatively good and cheap fix of piping hot Thai food.

I chose the Tom Yum Noodle Set ($6.80, with 10% service charge). I was offered the choice of either clear broth or coconut milk base. I opted for the clear broth. Suitably spicy with lots of fresh seafood. The prawns were very bouncy and fresh, albeit a little salty. There was also sotong, fish and mushrooms in it. The fish were also fresh although I found them cooked for perhaps too long and too big a chunk.

My friend ordered the Pad Thai. This is what she says: "I think the phad thai at jai thai was a bit sour even without adding the lime, but the noodle was quite chewy. The jelly that came along with the set was really like agar agar, not something exceptional. Price wise it was really affordable. The only downside was the environment was quite noisy and i had to talk louder than them. Of course it may just be an once off occurrence and it just have to be the day i am there."

Our sets came with a drink and dessert of the day. I chose lime juice and the dessert of the day was konnyaku jelly with bits of nata de coco in it.

Service was decent, with the food being served pretty fast. It's not that often that I get to meet this very good friend of mine, so I was glad they didn't chase us away despite being there for 2 hours. But the best thing about this place is that it's really value for money! Jai Thai also has outlets at Clover Way and Purvis Street.

Jai Thai 
205 East Coast Road
Tel: 6346 4940