MK Krua Teerak, Pandan Indah

For an authentic Thai experience that's totally Muslim-friendly,  MK Krua Teerak offers the mouth-watering cooking of a Bangkok-born Thai chef who inherited her recipes from her grandmother, also a chef. She runs this restaurant (whose name loosely translates into 'lover's kitchen') with her Malaysian husband, coming up with everything from its logo to its adorable, animal-loving decor.

If you've been missing Thai steamboats that bubble with excitement and barbecues that sizzle with thrills, MK Krua Teerak might bring a satisfied grin to your face, especially at a time when a trip to the Land of Smiles might still be months away.

Convenient sets for steamboats are available, whether you're dining in pairs or ordering for larger groups of up to eight persons. 

We sampled their set for four persons, a veritable banquet that includes all the protein we could crave, from chicken, chicken balls, hot dogs and eggs to a seafood feast of prawns, white squid, green mussels, fish balls, crab sticks and seafood tofu, plus mushrooms, sweet corn, vegetables and bee hoon - at RM54.90 for four persons, it's a genuine bargain.

The restaurant's recommendation: Have this for your steamboat with a tom yum-based broth, to warm you up on a cold, stormy evening. The soup is rich and but not too spicy, tangy enough for a perky uplift without overpowering the original flavour of the ingredients, so you can still taste the crustacean sweetness of the prawns, for example.

If you prefer to choose your own ingredients, you can skip the set menu and select from more than 40 different varieties of meat, seafood, vegetables and other individual ingredients to mix and match as you wish. There's certainly something for everyone to dip and dunk into your soulful steamboat soup or to grill for your BBQ.

Special mention must be made for the Rib Eye Slice (RM10) and Lamb Slice (RM10), both flown in from New Zealand, as smooth and succulent as red meat should be, slicked up with oyster sauce for extra umami. 

Other separate choices include Prawns (RM15), Scallops (RM12), Salmon (RM16), Ring Rolls (RM7; featuring bean curd skin), Enoki Mushrooms (RM6), Big Head Mushrooms (RM6), Chilli Peppers (RM3), Cheese (RM7), Yee Mee (RM3), Egg (RM1.50) and much, much more. The produce is fresh, easily meeting the mark for an enjoyable steamboat.

If you want to savour both steamboat and BBQ in one sitting, that's possible for a very worthwhile price - order a set for the steamboat, then add on the BBQ for only RM10. 

Be your own chef and unleash your creativity for the BBQ - we buttered up our grill and gave ourselves some gorgeous eggs (sunny-side-up, of course), garlanded with vividly colourful peppers, followed by a heap of tenderly juicy beef that goes gloriously with the grill for a smoky carnivorous sensation. 

Both the steamboat and BBQ are best paired with MK Krua Teerak's three house-made sauces: its naturally deep-flavoured BBQ sauce, a zesty green chilli sauce, and the suki sauce, a Thai chilli sauce that's sweet and earthy but still packs plenty of heat.

Cheese lovers, head here to stretch your culinary imagination with a mix of melted mozzarella that blends beautifully with prawns and egg. Lip-smacking to the max.

Beyond steamboat and BBQ, MK Krua Teerak also showcases many other staples of the Thai cookbook, including soulful noodles in sultry preparations.

Handmade duck egg noodles make for slurp-worthy strands, a notch above regular noodles for both flavour and smooth texture - try them in the Ba-Mi Khai Ped Tom Yam, with a generous serving of notably large prawns, eggs and fish balls in broth that's noticeably thicker and creamier than most tom yum, but with its quintessential zing intact (RM17.90).

The Ba-Mi Khai Nam Ya Poo relies on a curry-based broth that evokes the Malay kuah masak lemak, potent in its santan-rich spiciness, crowned with no less than 50 grams of fresh, fleshy crab meat (a super-reasonable RM19.90; complete with duck egg noodles, egg and fish balls). 

Prefer rice? One of MK Krua Teerak's most interesting rice platters is the Kra Pao Hoy, with stir-fried scallops that pair perfectly with lots and lots of sweet basil (RM19.90). It's not often we see scallops with rice in a Thai restaurant, so try this for a change from the conventional.

If you want the most well-balanced and nourishing rice platter, try the Khao Kluk Kapi, tasty fried rice with a wide range of sides, including sweet chicken, mango, lime, red chillies, onion, long beans, cucumber, carrots and omelette (RM14.90) - a fuss-free, fulfilling lunch or dinner.

For a starter or extra side dish, the popular Pandan Chicken is supple-textured and punchy-tasting in all the right ways, ideal with a lovely Thai chilli sauce (RM18.90 for five pieces). 

Last but far from least is the live steamed fish, a star dish that's worth visiting MK Krua Teerak for on its own. The tilapia is from the open aquarium at the restaurant's front, so you can be assured of the ultimate freshness. The result is a clean-tasting, flaky-moist fish that the entire table will relish, gently complemented by a zesty, moderately spicy lime sauce (RM49.90 for a fish of about 700-800 grams). 

With a meal as fired up as this, you'll need thirst-quenchers. The multi-hued Milk Teas will do the trick (RM5.90), including Thai Iced Milk Tea, Thai Iced Milk Green Tea, Thai Iced Lime Tea, and Thai Iced Pinky Milk (reminiscent of sirap bandung). If you prefer a lighter, livelier beverage, sip on the Lemongrass juice, served with sugar syrup on the side (RM3.90).

All in all, MK Krua Teerak is a solid destination for fans of Thai fare, whipping up interesting, well-executed offerings at very fair prices. Fun fact: It originally began last year as a delivery service, so pretty much its entire menu can be delivered, except the Steamboat and BBQ items for now. MK Krua Teerak also expects to launch another outlet in Sri Petaling early this year. 

Many thanks to MK Krua Teerak for having us here.

MK Krua Teerak

63-G, Jalan Pandan Indah 4/3A, Pandan Indah, Kuala Lumpur.
Daily, 11am-10pm. Tel: 011-2849 4788
Delivery available at kruateerakexpress.oddle.me/en_MY

For every online order purchased, all riders will be given one free drink by MK Krua Teerak in appreciation of their hard work.

This post first appeared on eatdrinkkl.com