E San Thai Kitchen, Ara Damansara

Diha who stayed in Ara Damansara spoke of E San many times last year- that the food is good. But I kept delaying my visit as it is halal Thai cuisine- I'll rather have some porky feast :p.

However, I was reminded of E San recently(reading Joe's post) and I finally decided to pop by after all.

It was a raining heavily when we reached, a perfect way to enjoy spicy food :)

I always thought that E San sounded familiar, and finally understood that it meant the same as Isan cuisine, something I've tried in Bangkok before. Basically Isan/ Esan refers to the North Eastern part of Thailand.

E San's menu was rather extensive, but with some recommended dishes from Diha in mind, we soon decided on what to eat..

E San's tom yum (RM35) was the right soup to warm our cold tummies..

The soup was rather clear looking, but dont be deceived. It was spicy, sour and sweet; the flavours awakening our sleepy tastebuds in full force. The ingredients were fresh and generous, we were very pleased with this soup.
The Crispy fried rice(RM12) was next..

We thought it was rather pricey as it was only a plate of rice with 4 prawns. Though lacking in ingredients, the taste was definitely not lacking- the aroma of crisp rice (something like those you get from the base of claypot), fluffy rice and fish sauce was evident and got us lapping it up.

From then on, the dishes kept coming so quickly, I had a hard time taking pictures and trying to keep my friends from eating! hahaha
The Egg Salad/ Kerabu (RM12) looks so plain..

But this dish got all our votes. The best dish of the night! The sides of the eggs were crisp, while the yolks were still runny. Mix it with the fresh greens and tangy sauce, we could not stop eating this. So, so delicious!
The Crispy kangkung(RM12) was something new to me..

Alas, it sounds and looks special, but taste wise, it was average. In fact, I find it rather oily after letting it sit for a while. The tangy chilli sauce was interesting though.

The Green Curry Chicken(RM18)

My first impression was 'a very diluted looking curry'. I was already rather disappointed before even trying it. hehehe. But after drenching my white rice with the curry, I take whatever gripe I had back. It was actually very scrumptious. I'm actually happy for this version of curry, at least it's not thick and rich, yet it retained all the wonderful flavours that a green curry should have.

The one sinful dish of the night was the Otak Otak Coconut(RM25)

Filled with lots of prawns and squids, the otak otak was not the usual steamed, tofuish version but a otak otak sauce version. Too rich for me, I only took one serving. Nice thick sauce, but I'm not a fan.
When they placed the Steamed Siakap with lime (RM48)in front of us, I was rather worried..

It was a large fish, and there were only 6 of us ladies...hmmm, wondered if we can finish this? And as usual, I worried for nothing...the fish was sweet and fresh, the soup was very spicy and sour, which woman wont like this? hehehe...Well, it did have some lingering sweetness in the soup, which I will remind them to tone down on the sugar on my next visit.

We were darn stuffed by the time they serve the Grilled Beef Salad (RM28)

This was the least popular dish, I'm not sure if it's because the ladies were full or the taste were rather..erm..interesting. The beef was sourish (from lime?) and a nutty aftertaste. It gets spicier as I took more of it. I find this dish ok..

Thats when we raised our white flag and finally finished our meal :p

But E San then served us with some complimentary desserts..Hey, we womenfolk always have a separate section in our stomach for desserts, no?

We polished this off in 1 minute :p. Refreshing and a perfect way to end a wonderful meal.

E San Thai Kitchen is located at G-G-3A& 5, Block G, Jalan PJU 1A/3, Taipan 2, Ara Damansara, 47301 Petaling Jaya.