Hole In The Wall Thai Restaurant - Thai Dara
Thai Dara is a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant located off Gilmore (or Granda St, it's now called i think) street in the boundaries of Greenhills, San Juan and Quezon City which boats of serving street food style dishes from Bangkok. It has been around for quite some time but I just recently got a chance to try it because it's located somewhat out of the way from where we usually pass.
The place is tiny with a maximum seating capacity of about 20 diners (I'm guessing), but every inch is kept clean and interesting with various Thai ornaments and trinkets.
Their staff is very attentive and friendly. Even the owners will refill your water glass. An important trait I found with their servers is that they are knowledgeable about their dishes, this comes in handy especially when ordering in a restaurant with foreign terms and unfamiliar dishes.
Thai Dara has been visited by numerous celebrities as seen on their "autograph wall":
Now down to the food...everything was delicious! I find their prices to be quite reasonable as well. If you are familiar with Som's, they are in the same price range.
We ordered their Bagoong Rice which was of course, good! hehe =) The cucumbers added a pop of freshness to every bite getting rid of the "umay" factor completely. The bits of roasted garlic sprinkled on top give this dish a very distinct character as well.
Pad Thai is one of my most favorite Thai dishes and I always have to order it when I'm in a Thai restaurant. Som's used to be number 1 on my list for cheap Pad Thai but Thai Dara has managed to bump off Som's from the number 1 spot to number 2 on my list. Thai Dara's pad thai has just the right amount of everything in it except for shrimp, I only got 1 piece but that was compensated with the abundance of chicken strips. What took it home for me was the sauce, it had just the right amount and wasn't overly sweet, tangy or oily like how it sometimes tends to be with other Thai restaurants.
I'm not much of a Spring Roll fan but these Spring Rolls are to die for! The only way I can describe them is that they are the freshest feeling spring rolls I have ever had. They remind me of freshly cut grass or the smell of a garden after a rain fall. If you ever chance upon Thai Dara, please order the Spring Rolls.
The place is tiny with a maximum seating capacity of about 20 diners (I'm guessing), but every inch is kept clean and interesting with various Thai ornaments and trinkets.
Their staff is very attentive and friendly. Even the owners will refill your water glass. An important trait I found with their servers is that they are knowledgeable about their dishes, this comes in handy especially when ordering in a restaurant with foreign terms and unfamiliar dishes.
Thai Dara has been visited by numerous celebrities as seen on their "autograph wall":
Now down to the food...everything was delicious! I find their prices to be quite reasonable as well. If you are familiar with Som's, they are in the same price range.
We ordered their Bagoong Rice which was of course, good! hehe =) The cucumbers added a pop of freshness to every bite getting rid of the "umay" factor completely. The bits of roasted garlic sprinkled on top give this dish a very distinct character as well.
Pad Thai is one of my most favorite Thai dishes and I always have to order it when I'm in a Thai restaurant. Som's used to be number 1 on my list for cheap Pad Thai but Thai Dara has managed to bump off Som's from the number 1 spot to number 2 on my list. Thai Dara's pad thai has just the right amount of everything in it except for shrimp, I only got 1 piece but that was compensated with the abundance of chicken strips. What took it home for me was the sauce, it had just the right amount and wasn't overly sweet, tangy or oily like how it sometimes tends to be with other Thai restaurants.
I'm not much of a Spring Roll fan but these Spring Rolls are to die for! The only way I can describe them is that they are the freshest feeling spring rolls I have ever had. They remind me of freshly cut grass or the smell of a garden after a rain fall. If you ever chance upon Thai Dara, please order the Spring Rolls.
Comments