Nakhon Kitchen

Finally a decent and affordable Thai eatery in Kovan area (Hougang St 21/Hougang Ave 1). It might seem like a strange location to set up a Thai food place in the heartland, but I guess it is no different than those Western food stalls set up by "ang mohs" (caucasians, whites, expats) in HDB food coffee shops or hawker centers.

Good Thai food is hard to come by and Nakhon Kitchen serves Thai food which is pretty yummy and at affordable prices. The pricing is similar to A-Loy Thai at Shaw Tower though A-Loy Thai is still much cheaper, especially for a restaurant in the city area.

Pandan chicken which came piping hot, with tender chicken infused with the pandan flavor and various spices. It was easy to remove the crispy pandan leaves too.

Basil chicken which was good. On another occasion, I ordered the basil chicken rice which came with a fried over-easy egg.

Green curry chicken with an addictive gravy that went so well over rice that you would finish up the entire plate of rice. The gravy was rich and with subtle hints of spices though it was not spicy hot.

Tom yum seafood soup. We chose the clear soup which packed a punch. Spicy, sour and so delicious with pieces of squids, prawns and fish and mushrooms and lemongrass. Another version was with coconut which we did not try.

Pineapple fried rice with request of extra pork floss. I thought this was quite standard. I did not particularly fancy it.

Olive fried rice. It was a bit too salty for my liking, probably due to the bits of olives in the rice. Yhing Thai over at Purvis Street still serves the best olive rice in my book.

I have been to Nakhon Kitchen 3 times in 2 weeks. Twice for lunch and once for dinner. The place is usually packed, so be patient. The wait is usually for the servers (probably Thais) to take your order and for a table. The food is served very quickly once order is placed.

It is not a place to chit-chat with friends or for big groups as the place is small. It can probably seat 40-60 people with tables spilling outdoors. Reservations are not taken so go early or just wait for a table.

Location

Nakhon Kitchen

Blk 212 Hougang St 21 #01-341 (near the corner, where the traffic light T-junction is)

Tel: 6286 8785

Call for the opening hours as they seemed to be open for only lunch and dinner.