Food Review: Aroi Thai @ Paradigm Mall, Kelana Jaya, Petaling Jaya, Selangor

We currently live near Paradigm Mall, which has frequently become our haunting ground when it comes to food. As of late, Paradigm Mall seems to be undergoing renovation with new tenants and food vendors, which earns a much needed thumbs up from me! The latest F&B to join their family was AROI THAI, a Thai food joint.

Store front. You can see the occupants to the left and right are opening soon.

From the menu, you can see that the prices are very affordable. The Boat Noodle, Boat Selection and Street Selections are bite-sized and very affordable, at RM 1.90 each, and they also have the BIG Meal for regular portions.

You can also opt for the Set Meal, which comes with a drink and dessert at a reasonable RM 13.90.

The lunch crowd and interior is very clean. There are bamboo logs and kite-type fabric hanging from the ceiling for an authentic look and feel. They have also placed lemongrass stalks randomly on every other table for extra decor.

As the food court facing the restaurant has yet to open, there was a slight somber feeling.

Condiments such as chili flakes, sugar, soya sauce (or fish sauce?) and chilli sauce to help zing up your meal!

We ordered the bite-sized Boat Selection of Hot Basil Minced Chicken - Pad Kra Pow Kai - and Green Curry Chicken on Rice, each bowl for RM 1.90. To be honest the colour of the Green Curry didn't excite me - the colour was quite light. Tastewise, I had hope to be hit by a powerful spice kick, but it was quite mild in flavour. The Pad Kraw Pow Kai looks a bit more exciting in terms of colour. Tastewise it didn't taste as fresh as I had hoped; I barely taste the basil, but I felt a slightly fieriness of chilli.

Pad Thai and Red chestnuts dessert. Traditionally, the jackfruit is served with this dessert, instead they had topped it with mango. They had also drizzled the dessert with rose syrup taste, so taste-wise the dessert had an unusual taste compared that we're used to. To me, the Pad Thai had the most flavorful taste out of all the dishes served. It had a vibrant taste based on a squeeze of lime juice, sweetness from the nuts and palm sugar, and a spicy kick thanks to the chilli flakes. There were crunchy elements thanks to the raw beansprouts.

Beef Glass Noodle, which tasted almost the same as Boat Noodle franchise. To me, the soup taste is generally not to my liking (it has a very strong and pungent beefy taste, and the stock is quite sweet).

Crispy wanton skin and fried spinach leaves. Both were fried to golden crispy perfection, but I wished they had strained the fried items on kitchen towel, as the oil residue was still quite strong on the food.

My Thai Fried Squid Ring special which they forgot about. The batter was quite thick. A disappointment.

Rating:

• Variety: 5/5
Definitely lots of options to choose from, from bite-sized, to regular plating, to noodles, rice dishes, or sides, with wide variety of drinks and dessert to choose from.

• Taste: 2/5
I was really disappointed with most of the dish tastes, which tastes watery, bland or imperfect texture. To me, the redeeming dish was the Pad Thai.

• Value for Money: 5/5
Price-wise, even for a F&B the price is very low. The dishes are quite affordable.

• Cleanliness: 5/5
As a new restaurant, everything was definitely spotless. The only thing I noticed was that the menu seemed oddly battered, for a new establishment.

• Service 4/5
Friendly staff, unfortunately they forgot my menu item, which they had even printed a copy of the receipt after we ordered.

• Ambiance: 4/5
Love the vibe with the hanging bamboo logs.

• Overall: 2/5
It's a shame the food quality was not up to far, however I do hope the taste factor was attributed due to the fact that it was just recently opened. I would give it a bit more time and visit again to try other dishes, to see if there have been improvements. Watch this space!

Aroi Thai,

LG, Paradigm Mall, 47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor

(Next To Penang Teochew Chendol)