Grabpandaroo is an integral part of our lives and provides around 20% of our meals every month. Given how convenient they are, it’s easy to get addicted and increasingly rely on these apps to get food delivered to our doorstep.
We’ve instituted a simple system to track and manage the number of orders we make each month, using two shot glasses and used ice cream sticks (Mini Magnums, to be precise).
On the first day of the month, all the sticks are moved to the shot glass on the right, and every time we use any of the the food delivery apps, one stick gets moved to the left. When we run out of sticks, we delete the apps from our phones.
Well, it’s not quite that drastic.
The apps remain on the phones, but we stop using them until we get a fresh quota the following month.
In the beninging, there were 12 ice cream sticks. And then we went down to 10. Now we’re at 8, and some months, we even have sticks left over.
If you’re trying to wean yourself off food delivery (or anything else, for that matter) and are struggling to stay the course, you might want to give this method a try. Be careful with the Mini Magnums though, they’re a totally different type of addiction.
Over time, we’ve found ourselves ordering very frequently from a small set of restaurants. The undisputed champion is Pok Pok Thai Kitchen, a neighbourhood eatery located in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10 run by friendly Thai folks.
Coming in second place is The Nasi Padang by Butterscotch in Sin Ming, followed closely by Lao San Kway Chap in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3.
We’ve been to Pok Pok Thai’s physical store several times, and even though it’s quite close to where we live, it still requires one change of bus to get there. So, nowadays it’s grabpandaroo to the rescue.
The prices quoted on the apps are marked up from their in-store prices, but the regular discount codes available usually negate the markup, and we end up just paying extra for delivery costs.
We haven’t quite tried everything on their menu, but we have made significant progress. Here are some of our favourite dishes.
Two dishes that we always, and I mean always, end up ordering are the Basil Pork and Papaya Salad.
Scoop some home-cooked rice into a bowl, and you have a complete meal with meat, vegetables, carbs and chilli.
Yes, chilli is a basic food group. Well, at least for me it is.
Drizzle the sauce from the pork onto rice, and top it off with a big scoop of the spicy and salty stir-fry, making sure to include Thai basil and red chillies in every bite.
Alternate with spoonfuls of the refreshingly sour salad, which looks perfectly innocent but packs an even bigger punch than the pork.
One of the spiciest things in the world is pounded cili padi, especially its tiny capsaicin-loaded seeds floating in the salad dressing.
Another two dishes that make a regular appearance are the Fish Cake and Red Curry Pork.
The fish cake is springy, chunky and studded with herbs and crunchy bits of long beans. It’s great on its own, but even better with dipped in the separately-packed sweet chilli sauce.
I’m always a bit disturbed by the red curry pork, because it doesn’t look red at all. Yes, I know that it’s named as such because of the red curry paste used, which turns yellow after the addition of coconut milk. Why can’t they call it Yellow Curry Pork instead?
Other than that, it’s a wonderfully rich, creamy and tasty curry that goes well with rice. Or even better, kept overnight and heated up with beehoon and crunchy dou miao, for a hot and hearty lunch.
Besides the fish cake, the other appetisers that we often order are the Fried Chicken Skin and Pandan Chicken.
The deep-fried chicken skin tastes exactly like how you’d expect it to taste and, like the fish cake, tastes better when dipped in some sweet chilli sauce.
Just watch out for the occasional piece with small remnants of hair, which I think are perfectly fine to eat since everything is deep-fried to death anyway, but grosses out The Wife whenever she sees them.
The pandan-wrapped chicken don’t provide the same surprise, and hence is less exciting to eat, but is no less aroi mak mak with it’s juicy and well-marinated thigh pieces. Though removing the oily pandan leaf outer wrapper can be a bit of a hassle.
The rich flavours of the dishes go well with plain rice, but we always add either the Drunken Noodle or Tom Yum Fried Rice, or sometimes both, to our order. Not to eat immediately, but to heat up for lunch another day.
I don’t know how drunken noodles got its name, since there’s no hint of alcohol in them, but the oily and spicy noodles studded with chicken pieces would be great supper food after a heavy night of drinking.
There’s also another version called Drunken Mama, which uses the famous Mama-brand instant noodles available throughout Thailand, but we’ve never ordered it before.
The tom yum fried rice takes the spice level up a few notches, and gives the papaya salad a run for its money.
Even before taking a bite, you can already see and smell how potent it will be. The kaffir lime leaves sprinkled throughout add a strong citrus note to the already heady aroma. This is my second favourite dish from Pok Pok Thai, after the basil pork.
Once in a while, when we feel like indulging ourselves a bit, we’ll order the Claypot Vermicelli Prawn and the Sweet Tapioca dessert.
The downside of getting the vermicelli prawn delivered is that it doesn’t come in a claypot, which does detract from the whole experience. When you dine-in at the restaurant, it’s served piping hot and the claypot keeps the dish warm throughout the meal.
The vermicelli noodles that come into contact with the claypot also get wonderfully charred, as do the garlic cloves that are fried with the noodles. Sesame oil, soy sauce and black pepper are the dominant flavours, and they go well with the small-ish but juicy prawns.
The same dish is offered in other Thai eateries, but the oil used in the dish tends to taste a bit stale, leaving an unpleasant aftertaste. The version from Pok Pok Thai doesn’t have this problem, making it one of the better versions we’ve had.
We don’t usually order dessert from them, but among the options available, the sweet tapioca is probably one of the better choices. The tapioca is cooked to the right consistency and pairs well with the sweet and salty evaporated milk.
On a particularly good day, the spice level of the dishes will be at what I like to call “native Thai” level. Which, for me, translates to sweating at the back of my neck and on top of my head, with the added bonus of a runny nose.
For someone who loves spicy food as much as I do, this is what keeps me coming back to Pok Pok Thai time and again. It’s an addiction, for sure, but oh what a lovely addiction it is.
All of these dishes sound positively delightful! I, too, love some excruciatingly spicy food, and always order my dishes “Thai Hot” (usually with a side comment of, “hurt me, please” or “do your worst”). I never got to any Thai restaurants in the times I have visited Singapore, but if I get to go back, I’m glad to have your recommendations.
We usually fly over to Thailand once a year or so, and no surprises that the food there is even more amazing. Haven’t been there for the past two years because of Coldermort, but thankfully we have Pok Pok Thai.