Lotus Thai Restaurant (Paya Lebar Square)

Besides their usual set menu promotions, Lotus Thai has been running a Thai Fish Head Curry promo on weekday evenings and weekends.

For $29.90 (usual: $38), you get an entire meaty fish head braised in coconut milk curry and other aromatics. We love that it comes full of various ingredients such as eggplant, okra and tau pok. The Assam-style curry comes piping hot and is tangy and piquant. It is excellent over rice and just perfect for a rainy evening.

Lotus Thai's signature dish is their Thai style crab meat stewed vermicelli in a claypot. The dish can be an ala carte item or as part of their non-spicy value meal.

We love that each of these claypots comes generously topped with dollops of crab meat. Considering the price point, the quality of the crab was good - moist and subtly sweet. We also loved that the stewed vermicelli was moist and absorbed the sweet and savoury flavours of the braising stew.

I am not one to rave about greens usually but Lotus Thai really does theirs well. Their kang kong is stir-fried to perfection with a nice hint of wokhey. We also love that it comes with chunk of yummy and subtly sweet garlic. But a word of warning though as the chilli is really spicy!

Lotus Thai's garlic pork was highly recommended by several Burpplers who have made earlier visits.

We liked that they used thicker and bigger pieces of pork instead of small tiny chunks. The pork was tender and juicy on the inside with a crispy crust on the outside. There is also a nice subtle hint of garlic in the battered crust. I personally like the deep fried garlic bits sprinkled on top of the dish. The only problem is that it tendered to get stuck in between your teeth and sometimes you get a hard rogue piece which can be a pain in the teeth.

Located at the corner on the 2nd floor of Paya Lebar Square, Lotus Thai seems to attract a crowd even though the mall itself suffers from a lower footfall compared to its larger and more glamorous neighbours. We had walked by the Thai eatery on several occasions for Lau Wang next door and decided to check it out one evening when the line was relatively short.

Besides the ala carte dishes, Lotus Thai seems a variety of combo sets at a range of prices and pax. Besides the fixed combos, they also have an awesome pick and mix combo wherein you get a curry/soup, meat, vegetable, rice and drinks for 2 pax at only $33++. We have done the math for you. Basically, your drinks (which is rather pricey at $4 for a Thai milk tea) comes free with their combo sets!

Their Thai green curry seafood seems to be the pick of most tables. It comes served with an assortment of prawns, fish and sotong in a lovely creamy green curry gravy that is perfect over rice. Depending on the cook, it may get a tad too spicy on certain days. The portion is also rather generous for 2 pax!

Tom yum seafood clear soup ($11): this comes with slices fish, prawns, squid and mushrooms! Super love the fragrant tom yum spicy and sour taste!