SANTHAI - KOTA KASABLANKA

First of all, loving the catchy name of this newly opened Thai restaurant in Kota Kasablanka that I visited a couple of days ago. Don't be too serious, just SANTHAI.

Santhai is located at LG level of Kota Kasablanka next to Wing Stop, I arrived during lunch time and man the restaurant's almost full house! The exterior of the restaurant has this pop-youthful vibe to it thanks to the dominating teal color and expect to find a touch of industrial to the interior design from the pink "Hello Gorgeous" neon lights, mural and basically the overall vibe of the design. 

As the name suggests, the restaurant focuses in serving various Thai cuisine with a modern touch and presentation like never before. They have a lot of food options here and they all look so good which will maybe cost you some time to decide what you're gonna get. One thing that I need to highlight is the pricing! I was pleasantly surprised that when I scanned the menu the prices were reasonable and affordable. Price range for food is around IDR 30k-200k (for the fish dishes) and their Instagenic drinks reasonably priced around IDR 10k-30k.

Lunch spread, OMG I have so many to talk about!

The drinks here are presented on the cute floats like the followings: unicorn, coconut tree, pineapple, etc. I'm not sure since I didn't do any request but I think you can request for specific floats for the drinks that you ordered, like the Thai Tea on the Unicorn float.

Apparently, not only the drink, certain food can also be presented with the float like the fried rice in the coconut shell on the right aka Coconut Fried Rice (IDR 55k), by the way the fried rice was fragrant and tasty!

Legend Curry Soft Shell Crab - IDR 80k

A legit must try! The fresh soft shell crab was beautifully cooked while still being a little crunchy even after being dressed with the generous curry sauce. The texture of the curry sauce was thick and had this hint of spicy which I found perfect (maybe for some of you it's a tad too spicy or some can even go spicier) but one thing for sure I just can't have this without the rice as it's best paired with it.

Thai Beef Salad - IDR 70k
Beautiful blend of sweet and sour with hint of savory aroma and flavor from the stir-fry beef.

Bangkok Beef - IDR 90k
Another menu from Santhai that's really worth trying has to be their Bangkok Beef, again, it's a stir fry beef with generous seasoning and ingredient to reach that flavor intensity. The beef was so tender and juicy altogether with the proper amount of spicy, delicious fragrance (mainly from the curry leaves too), just pure addicting and don't forget the rice too!

Left: Tajima Wagyu Satay (IDR 60k), Right: Chicken Satay (IDR 45k) - per 3 pieces

I don't think I've ever been the biggest fan of skewers/satay since I was little but theirs were well seasoned, tender and the peanut base dipping sauce was spot on tasty. They belong to one another.

Amazing Pineapple Fried Rice - IDR 55k

Thank goodness their pineapple fried rice wasn't one of those which leans more to the sweeter side because quite frankly I NEVER really like sweet fried rice, well they still have the sweet flavor from the pineapple infused but mainly savory along with that little wokhei aroma and flavor that I like.

Pad Thai - IDR 60k

You will mainly find the sweetness of this Pad Thai from the tamarind pulp, but on the right amount as I can still sense the savory flavor. The glass noodle was beautifully cooked as it could be pretty tricky and soggy which I will spontaneously dislike. Just like how it's normally paired and serve, you'll find roasted peanut, chili powder, chili flake, and fresh garlic chives & bean sprouts. Not correlated but I hope they would put Pad See Ew on their menu.

Peking Duck Sandwich - IDR 70k/3 pieces

This was one of those menus that I was skeptical at first but turned out to be pretty memorable! The buns were fragrant and properly firm, the duck was beautifully seasoned, overall seasoning was also pretty darn tasty! Anyway gotta give plus point given for the unique presentation!

Salmon Head with Tom Yum Soup - IDR 99k

Ohmygoodness THIS! This is probably my favorite menu from the lunch date that day for it has everything that I like: fresh fish, spicy bold tom yum broth and came in such generous portion that's perfect for sharing! The broth was so flavorful, so tasty and spicy (but not too much for me), the fried fish head was fresh and meaty if you challenge me I could honestly finish the whole thing by myself. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this cost around IDR 99k (well IDR 100k) as you can really share this for 3-4 people. If you fancy the classic ones they also have the good old Tom Yum Goong and more!

I am typing this post at night that this fish head is seriously the most evil thing on my goddamn screen right now I am so coming back for this!

Santhai Steamed Fish - IDR 190k
If you want something that's also flavorful but slightly lighter in overall, this might be the perfect option! The bumbu kuning was this beauitful mix of tangy and spicy that's tasty, and paired with

Aside from the two mentioned, they also have Lime and Garlic Steamed Fish, Blackbean Steamed Fish and Aromatic Soy Steamed Fish, all priced at IDR 190k.

DESSERTS!
They have quite a few dessert options and I love how they keep majority of the options classic like the followings:

Thai Ice Mixed Bowl - IDR 35k
If you fancy something not too fulfilling (well depend on what you order) and quite refreshing for the full blown bold lunch, then go for this Thai Ice Mixed Bowl, it's very smiliar to our very own Es Merah Delima, the coconut milk wasn't overwhelming and the sweetness was perfect.

Mango Sticky Rice - IDR 39k
I didn't ask and not sure where they're getting the mangoes from (whether local/imported), the sticky rice was beautifully dense with that creamy coconut milk dressing. Delicious, but might not be the best one that I've had because I've had better ones from the origin country, Thailand!

Anyway APPRECIATE the affordable price tag IDR 39k is a good pricing damnit!

Spring Rolls Durian - IDR 35k

The spring roll dessert is served hot aka fresh from the deep fried cooking process and this has a bit of molecular gastronomy presentation to it from the syringe with homemade Durian sauce, to the cage! Talk about unique presentation without losing what's important: the taste of the dish. I am a classic cold dessert person, but to be frank this was pretty good: sweetness and flavor were just right.

It's the beginning of the year and I am honestly thrilled to find out that most new places that I went to for the past two weeks have been pretty impressive in terms of quality of the food and Santhai is definitely one of them. I would say that this is head to head with another favorite of mine, which is LARB in Pantai Indah Kapuk but somehow Santhai had this more kekinian vibe (and way more options) while LARB is all about classics, but both are equally good, equally bold I can't decide.

Santhai

Kota Kasablanka Mall - LG fl.

Jalan Casablanca No. 88

Tebet, Jakarta Selatan 12870

021 - 2946 5137

Opening hours: 10 AM-10 PM

Average spending for two: IDR 250k

Dresscode: none

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