ENGLEHAM 31 THAI FOOD & BBQ: THAI DELICACIES

Here in Kuching, we have plenty of restaurants that sell international delicacies such as Chinese, Japanese, Vietnam, Indonesian, Korean, Malay, Nyonya, Western and Thai. You can pretty much get all sorts of international cuisines here in Sarawak and today, we’ll be adventuring into one of these international cuisines which is; yes, you guessed it, Thai.



Located at the heart of Kuching, Engleham 31 is one place you would definitely want to go to for a fusion of Thai food and BBQ (as the signboard suggests). I like how they give a different concept to others by adding BBQ to the normal Thai menu concept you get. This thai and bbq can definitely be spotted as you’re passing by. There are just so many cars parked just outside it. If you’re planning to park there, be prepared to wait or, park somewhere else and take a few minutes stroll to this place.

Upon entering engleham, you would be able to see the divided sections of this eatery from the outside. One, the non-smoking section which is air-conditioned, and the other, the smoking section which was non air-conditioned. When we entered, the whole bistro was full, but we managed to get a table at the non air-conditioned section after a few minutes.

In terms of looks, I would say this place has a fun, happy, joyful theme to it, perfect for people to hold birthday parties, family gatherings and special occasions here. We also couldn’t really find any Thai elements in their deco, this was more of a fun, warm, inviting setting, rather than a typical Thai restaurant setting.

Their menu had interesting choices of Thai food, and also other bbq items such as hot plate oysters, seafood and so on.

Because there were a lot of people, we had to wait for quite a long time for our orders to be served. Also, the staffs were going up and down asking each table whether car plate numbers belong to them. Yes, the parking there was really bad so cars upon cars were definitely blocking each others’ exits.

Ok, enough of the parking issues. Where is our food?

I was getting hungry

Our first item was Sambal Thai Petai. I was really craving for Petai as it has been awhile since I last ate them. The thai petai used in this dish had a different texture compared to our local petai. It was much crispier but hard at the same time. The sambal sauce was really spicy and if taken too much, would overpower this dish with heat. However, it had a really strong sambal-belachan taste and smell to it.

Next up was the prawn omelette. 

You should be able to find this dish in any Thai restaurant. I like how the omelette had a nice fluffy consistency and it was still juicy on the inside with flavours from the prawn. This dish was also served with their homemade chilly dipping sauce. The egg was well seasoned, and when cut into, the moist texture of the omelette can still be seen. Really fragrant, lovely dish and you can taste those bits of prawns in every bite.

Moving on, Thai green curry. 

Another typical order at any Thai restaurant. This curry has lots of unusual ingredients in which you wouldn’t put into your normal curry.

It actually had many different types of fruit in it. Some in which I’ve never seen before. Besides those unusual ingredients, there were your usual coconut milk, potatoes, chicken, mint leaves, chilli and spices. Overall, it had a mild spiciness to it, good flavours from each ingredients in it, balanced with the richness of the coconut milk. Those fruits definitely lifted this dish and made it something special and different.

Here we have the Pandan Chicken. This dish, I would definitely order at any Thai restaurant I go to. It’s actually pieces of chicken (size varies depending on different restaurants), marinated and then wrapped around Pandan leaves and then grilled, bbq-ed or sometimes pan-fried.

Here, this dish was served with Thai chilli sauce. It was really fragrant and was really juicy as well upon unwrapping the Pandan leaves. You could still see the juices around the meat.

 It had a really nice grilled savoury flavor to it and was marinated really well.

It was also soft and tender, making you want even more after each bite. It also went well with the Thai chilli sauce. However, I would prefer eating it on its own. It was flavourful on its own, no condiments needed.

This is sizzling oyster omelette. Not the typical o-jien you get at seafood restaurants, this is more of a teochew style oyster omelette. This was served on a hot sizzling plate along with a handful of chives on it and chilli dipping sauce to go with it. Indeed, the whole thing really looked appetizing. Sizzling appetizing. They really didn’t skimp on the oysters as well. The oysters were really juicy and when eaten with the sizzling hot omelette, some chives, dipped in the spicy citrus chilli sauce -  just indescribably delicious. It really had me wanting more. The textures of the juicy oysters, semi crispy semi soggy omelette made this dish incredible. This, is really a must have and you would definitely want to give this a try the next time you make a visit here.

I really love some of the orders we had from engleham 31 and would definitely make a visit again to eat those. Do give this place a try too. 

Engleham 31 Thai Food and BBQ is opened daily except Wednesdays from 11.30am to 2.30pm and 6pm to 10pm.

Engleham 31

47 Jalan Tabuan,

Kuching 93100,

Malaysia.

Contact no. : 082 253131

This is Jolynn signing off this week's episode on The Makan Post. Stay tuned for more.

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