JJ Thai Cuisine opens a year ago at 8 Jalan Legundi, Sembawang, at the Victory 8 Building & initially occupied just one unit #01-10 but quickly took over another unit at #01-05 that was vacated by an ice cream parlour.
The Ownership
JJ Thai Cuisine's owner Mr Han started his flagship Thai Food stall at Blk 115 Bukit Merah View #01-01, Bukit Merah Food Centre, Singapore 151115 after returning to Singapore & having completed his stint as a Restaurant Manager managing a Thai restaurant in Thailand.
Because of the merchant & supplier network he had established in his capacity as Restaurant Manager in Thailand, he was able to import authentic ingredients direct from Thailand for use at his Bukit Merah Stall as well as his current JJ Thai Cuisine at 8 Jalan Legundi, Victory 8 Building at Sembawang.
The Cuisine & The Signature Dishes
The cuisine served here is Thai with key signatures such as Pandan Leaf chicken, Tom Yum Soup, Thai Fish cake, Thai Prawn cake, Thai Green Curry, Thai Red Curry, Fried Fish. JJ Thai cuisine serves lunch, dinner & drinks.
1. Signature Thai Prawn cake (donut shaped)
If you are really very hungry & have a lot of room, I suggest you try out their Thai Prawn cakes (below*) that serves 4 pieces for a reasonable price of S$10.00.
How it is prepared - The native Thai Chef handmakes these Thai Prawn cakes by mincing the fresh prawns & squid into a paste then shaped them like a donut.
The chef then coats the Thai Prawn cakes with Japanese bread crumbs & deep fries them in oil at high heat.
The end result is Thai Prawn cakes that are donut shaped & measures 3 inches in diameter with a thickness of about 1.5 inch. Priced at S$2.50 per piece this Thai Prawn cake is really a steal.
Tasting Notes - One thing to note is that the ingredients used here at JJ Thai Cuisine is really fresh. The native Chef uses fresh prawns in this recipe and mixes it with some fresh squid paste, then kneads it thoroughly to give it a springy consistency.
Interspersed between the prawn & squid paste are tiny bite size portions of the fresh prawn. The native Thai Chef uses Japanese bread crumbs to coat the Thai Prawn cake & to seal the natural flavors of the prawn & squid within the donut shaped Thai Prawn cake.
The end result is the inner core prawn & squid meat is juicy sweet tender springy, the outer Japanese bread crumb layer is not oily any bit but lends a crispy bite & aroma to the Prawn cake.
It helps that the Thai native Chef serves this dish with the tangy citrus sweet spicy Thai Chili sauce that pairs so delightfully well with the Thai Prawn Cake. IMHO I am so going to order this same dish on my second, third & forever visits to JJ Thai Cuisine. Ssh....Shh.....don't tell anyone !
2. Signature Sweet & Sour Pork(at S$10 per serving)
The Thai native Chef uses core ingredients - pork sliced in thin strips, red & green & yellow capsicums sliced in thin strips, cucumber in slices, onions diced, cabbage in strips to garnish as base.
Sweet & sour pork happens to be Bob's must try dish, those that we are so used to eating at most Zhi Char stalls are usually diced & coated with a generous dose of flour & deep fried till crisp.
How it is prepared - Here at JJ Thai Cuisine, the Thai chef prefers to cut the pork in strips then coats them with flour & deep fried for use later. He then stir fries the capsicum strips, with the cucumber & onions & adds the fried pork strips & stirs in the ketchup & tomato sauce with a dash of sugar to lend a sweetness to the sauce.
Tasting Notes - I must confess upfront I never crave anything cooked in ketchup as I have never loved ketchup, don't ask me why, but I simply dislike tomato & ketchup. But the Thai Chef manage to whip up a modestly passable Sweet & Sour Pork for me. The capsicums lends a fair amount of mild peppery flavor with a crunchy bite. The caramelized ketchup tomato sauce glistens in the cozy spotlight & gives the sweet & sour pork strips an appetizing glaze.
3. Signature Red Curry Chicken (priced at S$8 per seving)
As with most Thai restaurants the curry gravy are usually prepared way ahead, & the meat ordered added to the curry & then served. Here at JJ Thai Cuisine, the native Thai Chef had already prepared the red curry at the start of the day's operation.
So when Bob & I ordered the Red Curry Chicken the Thai Chef simply added the chicken cubes into the red curry gravy, cooked the chicken pieces in the gravy till they are done, then served warm.
Tasting Notes - If Mr Han has a chance to read this post I hope he will take IMHO in a positive light & strive to do better for this dish. IMHO I felt that the portion of chicken pieces in this dish served on the night of our visit was simply way too little - there was only like 4 to 5 pieces of chicken meat swimming in the red curry gravy.
The chicken meat used here is likely to be fresh chicken as the meat is rather tender. The red curry gravy is flavorful, mildly spicy with a tinge of sweetness. Generally Thai curry gravy are a tad on the sweeter level unlike Nasi Padang Curry which tend to be more spicy. The Red Curry gravy is pretty lemak & goes very well with the white rice served.
4. Signature Seafood Tang Hoon Salad
This is one dish you can never feel guilty about eating because you are never gonna get fat eating it & yet it is so fulfilling, stomach-wise. I am talking about the humble Seafood Tang Hoon Salad.
So what do you get when you mix fresh large prawns, fresh large squid rings, Tang Hoon, onions, chives, onions, carrot strips, chili, dried shrimps, together with a dash of fish sauce, citrus lime juice? The result is a deliciously appetizing salad rich in Omega-3 guaranteed to tickle your palate.
This has to be one of my must haves at any Thai restaurant & is the core dishes I use to access whether the Thai restaurant is up to standard. For this dish JJ Thai Cuisine managed to win me over with the use of fresh ingredients in large portions. The tangy citrus spicy flavors in this salad combined with the myriad textures from the Tang Hoon & seafood used in this recipe makes this dish a voluptrously enticing dish to savor.
JJ Thai Cuisine is conveniently located at :
8 Jalan Legundi, Unit #01-10,
Victory 8 Building, Singapore
Tel : 64844110
www.facebook.com/JJThaiCuisine
www.jjthaicuisine.com.sg
Opening Hours :
11.30 am to 10.30 pm ( Tuesday to Sundays )
Closed on Mondays
Offers Delivery, Catering, Take-Outs.
Accepts Cash only.
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