Muang Thai

I consider Muang Thai as a hidden haven in Banawe Street.  No one will actually notice the restaurant as it is squeezed between numerous car repair shops in the busy street of Banawe in Quezon City.  The design and signage don’t help either, not being as eye-catching as those of most other restaurants are.

But hey, diners who have tried Muang Thai have only nice words to say about the Thai Restaurant.  When I suggested to Christina and Wendy to have our lunch there, they hadn’t heard of it and had to ask for directions.  When we started eating our food though, everyone was so happy to be eating at Muang Thai.  The place was small and simple but the food was just so worth it.

Muang Thai is just a small restaurant but it has ample space as it has 2 floors.  On that day that we had lunch, there weren’t many people so we stayed downstairs.  I feel worried though that they may closed down because not a lot of people know about the place.  So this is me, sharing with you our secret Thai place in Banawe area.  It’s nice and good that I want them to be successful so we can always dine there when we crave for Thai dishes in our area.

The three of us love to eat and you can well believe that we have huge appetites!  So even if there’s just the three of us, we always order food good for 4-5 people hahaha!  Well, eating is a good activity, we shouldn’t feel guilty at all! 🙂

Main Dishes

• Crispy Catfish Salad (Php 205)

Muang Thai’s crispy catfish salad was the best I’ve ever eaten so far!  The serving was generous, it was definitely tasty and most of all, even if it looked dry, it didn’t taste that way.  It was basically crispy catfish flakes topped with shredded green mango salad in sweet and sour lime dressing.  I highly recommend this dish and I’ll definitely blame you when I learn that you didn’t order it while in Muang Thai.

• Muang Thai Fried Rice (Php 205)

This was a bit of a surprise for me.  This homemade fried rice has almost all the ingredients you can think of.  There were shrimps, beef, pork, chicken, egg strips and assorted vegetables.  You can actually feel too full when you eat much of this.  One whole order is at Php 205) while half order is at Php 110.

• Stir-fried Vegetables with Pork (Php 185)

While I love Muang Thai, I cannot say the same for their stir-fried vegetables with pork.  I hated it.  I wish they cut the pork more thinly.  It just didn’t work for me.

• Grilled Prawns (Php 235)

We saw the pictures of the grilled dishes in Muang Thai’s menu.  So we tried out the prawns.  The presentation was really good.  However, the taste was just normal.  The prawns were served skewered with bell pepper and pineapple and was served served in a hot plate, with special sweet sauce, fried garlic, and sweet and sour vinegar dip.

The other grilled dishes were beef, chicken, pork and squid.

• Fish Fillet with Garlic Sauce (Php 215)

Deep fried red snapper fillet topped with stir-fried basil, bell pepper, onions, chilies, tomatoes, coriander and minced garlic in light sweet soy sauce.

Another favorite Muang Thai dish for me is their fish fillet with garlic sauce.  I somehow felt that they put a secret ingredient to it.  Because their description in the menu actually doesn’t match the taste that I had.  It was so good!  They may have put peanuts in it.  I was like trying to taste it over and over that I ended up finishing the dish!  Sorry to my friends who I was with if you read this! hahaha!

• Muang Thai Drinks – Thai Iced Coffee (Php 55)/Buko Juice (Php 45)

Of course, Thai signature drink – Milk Coffee won’t be missing in the restaurant’s menu.  However, I was more interested in the buko pandan juice as they made it fresh.  However, they didn’t have the pandan available that day so I opted for having the buko juice without it.

Desserts

We were already too full but any meal won’t be complete without desserts.  There were only three desserts available in Muang Thai so we ordered them all!  Yeah!  As I told you earlier, we’re an eating machine!

• Thai Halo-halo (Php 65)

Want to know Thailand’s version of halo-halo?  Here it is: a bowl of Tapioca coated chestnuts, gelatin, banana, corn, camote, langka and topped with coconut milk & crushed ice.  It was light and refreshing.  Perfect to have during summer seasons.

• Takho (Php 65)

Good thing one order of Takho has 3 pieces, it was perfect for the three of us!  Among the 3 desserts that we tried out, the takho was my favorite.  I guess the gelatin with corn and coconut cream in banana leaves played well with my taste palate.

• Sticky Rice with Ripe Mango (Php 70)

Last, but definitely not the least, was the sticky rice and ripe mango.  When this dessert arrived in our table, I realized we ordered too much! haha!  The steamed glutinous rice with coconut milk and sugar and ripe mango topped with roasted sesame seeds are good for sharing (unless you’re still very hungry).

I appreciate the warmness of the staff.  They gamely took our pictures even if we requested for several takes (sorry, camwhores LOLz!).  Good food and good service, such a good combination.  Muang Thai will always have a special place in every diner’s heart.  Hope to see more people discover this place 🙂

——————–
Muang Thai Authentic Thai Cuisine
494 Banawe Ave. Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
63 (2) 741-8696