Curry Seafood in Young Coconut One of the Thai establishments that we had visited in the last year which we were quite impressed with was a spot within Bijou near Pasir Panjang MRT Station that is named Lebua Thai. Had been wanting to drop by Lebua Thai to give some or their dishes a go yet again for quite a while, and it came as a surprise to us when the folks behind Lebua Thai had announced the opening of their newest location within CHIJMES. Their space at CHIJMES is located near where dough and Duomo Ristorante are situated within CHIJMES; the shop unit in which that Lebua Thai has occupied can be said as one that is pretty spacious in general. Given its location, it is needless to say that Lebua Thai does have quite a fair number of outdoor seating that would cater to most of those whom dine at CHIJMES. For those seated indoors, the interior of the space is decked out rather simply but in a way that is rustic with a Southeast-Asian flair mainly from the wooden furniture and fittings that are used in the restaurant — all that matched against white and grey walls with a stone-esque flooring. Despite the simplicity in the design, the interior still exudes an upscale flair whilst at it. With the larger space at their CHIJMES outlet, Lebua Thai does serve up a wider variety of dishes here as well; the food menu at their CHIJMES outlet is split into categories such as Rice Dish, Noodles, Appetisers, Egg, Pork, Chicken, Soup, Seafood, Squid, Seabass, River Prawns, Tiger Prawns, Oysters, Flower Crab, Soft Shell Crab, Vegetables, Vegetarians, Salad Yum and Dessert.
The Curry Seafood in Young Coconut was a dish that we had previously ordered whilst visiting Lebua Thai at their location at BIJOU as well; the dish was one that we enjoyed, though also one that is still relatively hard to find even at most Thai dining establishments around the island to-date. The menu at Lebua Thai does not describe the elements that would come with each dish; that being said, the Curry Seafood in Young Coconut is a dish that comprises of a red curry, coconut cream, mussels, prawns, squid, fish, kaffir lime, basil leaves and other greens all served with scooped-out coconut flesh — all that served in a young coconut husk. The portion of the Curry Seafood in Young Coconut is rather large, and is one that could be easily shared between three pax even. All the various seafood elements were fresh; either carrying a good bounce or still coming moist and with the natural sweetness that they carry; the curry seafood paste here does carry some sort of likeness to Thai-style Otah with its prominent note of spices and the fragrance of coconut milk, while the basil leaves and kaffir lime added further elements of aromatics to the entire dish. The coconut flesh were soft and jelly-like, adding a slight saltishness as well. Meanwhile, we did notice that the Curry Seafood in Young Coconut does seem to come a little wetter than what we recalled it to be, though this does make it a dish that would work well with a plate of white rice on the side. During the same visit, we had also shared the Omelet with Crab Meat across the table. As what one would expect out of Thai-style omelettes, the Omelet here comes immensely crisp especially on the sides, yet coming fluffy towards the middle. The crab meat variant sees chunks of crab meat placed on the top of the omelette in the middle; it also comes with a chili dip on the side which we found to be tangy and came with a rather manageable hint of spiciness that goes along well with the omelette itself.
Apart from the Omelet with Crab Meat and the Curry Seafood in Young Coconut, we had also went with the Rice Balls in Coconut Milk to end off our meal at Lebua Thai. The Rice Balls in Coconut Milk sees the coconut milk being sweetened and reduced into a texture that is a little denser and stickier — a little bit similar to that of condensed milk in terms of its consistency, while one could also detect a hint of pandan fragrance from within as well. The glutinous rice balls does come with a bouncy mouthfeel that is less sticky and chewy as compared to the Chinese-style Tang Yuan which we are more used to. Lebua Thai is one of those names that we really had quite a good impression on when we had first made a visit to their Pasir Panjang location; we do find the execution of the food to be pretty on-point — also one of those establishments serving up Thai fare that didn’t feel like a copious amount of MSG was added to the food for flavour as well. Prices of the food at their CHIJMES outlet does seemed to be higher for the same dishes as compared to their Pasir Panjang outlet though; understandably so considering the bigger space that they occupy and how the overheads they are incurring (especially in terms of rent in in this locality). Lebua Thai does seemingly kept a somewhat consistent quality of food at its CHIJMES location to what we had experienced at Pasir Panjang; some patience does need to be exercised with the service here since the outlet is understaffed during the lead up to their grand opening – it also does take quite a bit of effort to get the attention of their wait staff due to how busy things can get as well in the space. Overall, still a spot worthy to check out for some good Thai food in the City Hall neighbourhood!
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