Street Food Warms Your Heart: Charcoal Thai at 7 Simon Road

The Beginnings

Ownership - Charcoal Thai owner Angus Ang & his wife Zelene Yong love Thai BBQ & Steamboat (known as "Mookata") & Thai Cuisine, and decided to bring their passion for Thai Cuisine closer home to the delight of Singapore food lovers - hence they started Charcoal Thai in 2011. Angus Ang comes from the IT Industry & Property Facility Industry, and bring with him 4 years of F&B experience.

Expansion Plans - Charcoal Thai is a casual dining concept, Angus Ang shared this is not a Franchise brand, but a brand that he took over recently from the previous restaurant operator who was too busy to manage it full-time. Currently Angus Ang is the sole owner of Charcoal Thai, and is passionate about expanding & growing the Charcoal Thai brand, with plans to open a second outlet at Golden Mile Tower in April 2014. Besides this two outlets, Angus Ang is looking to open another two more outlets in Quarter Two 2014, as well as manage other brands once Charcoal Thai is more established in the market.

Menu Planning - is currently done by Zelene Yong (Mrs Angus Ang) & Executive Thai Chef Sitthinon Charoenphirapamom (Chef Pinon) with Menu Expansion taking place every 3 to 6 months. To date more than 100 items are available on the menu. For full menu, please refer to http://www.charcoalthai.com.sg/menu.html

Kitchen Staff & Training - Charcoal Thai has to date about 3 to 4 Kitchen Staff to prepare the food, with all kitchen staff trained in Thailand as well as in Singapore. Charcoal Thai has talented Executive native Thai Chef Pinon who helms the kitchen and brings with him more than 25 years' culinary experience in serving Thai Cuisine.

Food Ingredients - Charcoal Thai has no central kitchen and each outlet's kitchen prepares the food ingredients such as marinates, pastes, sauces, dressings, etc. Chef Pinon gets the raw core food ingredients: sauces, spices, herbs, condiments, marinates, meat, seafood, poultry & vegetables mainly from the market vendors & food suppliers daily in upholding restaurant's policy of "Freshness & Quality". Majority of food ingredients are sourced locally with about 80% sourced locally and 20% sourced overseas. The restaurant uses fresh meat, seafood, poultry, and marinates them overnight to allow the meats to be infused with the marinate. The food are prepare ala minute.

Slogan & Mission Statement - "We aim to provide a wide variety of tasty, fresh food at affordable pricing in a clean hygienic environment."

Uniqueness of Charcoal Thai - The restaurant uses Charcoal for the Thai BBQ & Steamboat with personal hood for each table, presents a cozy soothing ambience & great dining experience & uses secret recipe in the chili sauce for dipping as well as marination of the meats.

Ordering - Using Table-service.

Payment made using - Credit Cards (VISA, Mastercard) or Cash.

Catering Services - Yes & available.

Booking of venue (for Private events such as Birthdays, Anniversaries, Corporate events) - Yes & Available

Takeaway Service - Available & no minimum order required.

Delivery Vendor - Restaurant uses Gourmet to go as their Delivery Vendor.

Promotion Programs - Currently the restaurant do have promotion program with Banks.

Loyalty Programmes are currently in place to reward loyal Diners.

Merchandise on Sale - Restaurant do have plans to include Thai themed Merchandise (e.g. Mugs, Souvenirs, T-Shirts, In house sauces/ dressings/ marinates ) on sale at the restaurant.

Target market & audience - Includes those who love good food, and those who love Thai BBQ & Steamboat ("Mookata") & Thai Cuisine.

Seating Capacity - about 60, with 2 tables for al fresco seating.

Signature Items on the Ala Carte Menu - Tom Yum Soap, Thai Green Curry Chicken, Salted Egg Soft Shelled Crab, Sea Bass, Thai Mango Salad, Special Thai Prawn Cake, Thai Tang Hoon (Glass Vermicelli), Tom Yum Fried Rice, Thai Olive Fried Rice & many more.

Charcoal Thai has been featured in various media & magazines :8 Days, Cleo Magazine, Teenage Magazine, and reviewed by many bloggers.

The Ambience

Charcoal Thai is located at 7 Simon Road, with the nearest MRT being Kovan MRT.

The entrance is decorated on the left & right with two wooden statutes of Thai women with their hands clasped in front of their chests in Thai greeting.

Prominently displayed on the wall is a framed photo of Thai Royalty in acknowledging the supremacy of the Thai Monarchy in their influence of the Thai style of living on the Thai people.

Charcoal Thai's concept of Good Food & Great Fun all under one roof is very much depicted in the installation of TV screens on the left & right walls in the restaurant.

Karaoke songs in various languages are played all day and all night long each with the lyrics displayed on the screen, perfect for the occasional songbird to take a breather from the lunch (dinner) table and pick up the microphone to belt out his or her favorite song to entertain the audience.

Charcoal Thai BBQ & Steamboat uses Charcoal to provide the heat to cook the meats, and the restaurant is well equipped to deal with the possible carbon monoxide gas emission from the hotpot with the installation of these hoods right above the hotpots to suck up these carbon monoxide gas.

These are lunchtime moments I captured of satisfied and happy customers at Charcoal Thai tucking into delicious Thai BBQ & Steamboat.

Another notable distinctive decor feature of Charcoal Thai are these gigantic cylindrical shaped lamps hollow in the centre, equipped with 6 bulbs each to provide a romantic shade of light giving a cozy ambience to the otherwise dimly lit restaurant.

Come dinnertime and the restaurant is packed to the full with easily more than 35 diners sitting indoors to tuck into the delicious Thai BBQ & Steamboat.