Rochor Thai @ Novena Regency

Friday evening meet-up with gal pal, and we went for Thai Food. Novena Regency is about 12 minutes walk from the office, so it was pretty convenient. Not a stranger to that area, having frequented Hong Kong Street and Nickeldime Drafthouse.

Made a reservation via Chope the day before, as we weren't sure of the crowd.

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The restaurant was fairly relaxed before 730pm on a Friday evening. The place isn't that big so, might be a good idea to secure a table prior to visiting. The alfresco dining area would be quite humid in our weather, so we opted for the cool indoor air-conditioning and was seated at the counter.

indoor dining

counter top

A good thing about being seated at the counter area? Vantage point where I could watch the chefs. Quite heartened to know that most of the staff there, are Thai natives. It added authenticity to the food that we were about to partake.

young chefs in action

Since there were just the two of us, we ordered three dishes to have with rice. The recommended dish was the cabbage with fish sauce, cashew nut chicken and grilled iberico pork collar. Went with two of the recommended and got ourself tom yum goong as well. Our Thai food experience wouldn't be complete without tom yum soup!

good plates, good food?

The food arrived quite quickly as there weren't many other diners at that time. The ceramic bowl for the tom yum soup was pretty looking. The soup portion was just nice for two pax.

tom yum goong and grilled iberico pork collar

The MSG-free tom yum soup was tasty. One sip and you could already taste the spices, the taste-buds awakening sourish taste plus seafood goodness. Good to the very last sip, but be careful as the bottom of the bowl seemed to have all the spices congregated. Having that glass of iced-water nearby would be helpful. Oh, and the manager revealed that this version of soup that we were having, was already the toned-down version. Oh my, can't imagine how fiery it would be, if we were to have the original!

Tom Yum Goong ทอมยำกุ้ง @$14++

 The best dish of the night was certainly, the tender yet enjoyably bouncy chewy Grilled Iberico Pork Collar. So tasty on its own but superb with the magic sauce. This plate of meat, goes very well with a pint of Kronenbourg Blanc draft.

Grilled Iberico Pork Collar (KorMoo Yang คอหมูย่ำง) @$19++

Cabbage with Fish Sauce (KalumPad Nampla กะหล่าผัดน้าปลา) @$12++

On the other hand, the cabbage with fish sauce, which its menu touted as the 'Best in Singapore', was just ok for us. I think my father does a very good rendition of stir fried cabbage though minus the fish sauce. Nevertheless, glad we had a healthy dose of vegetables.

We spent $30 per pax for the above meal. On the average, do expect to spend about $40++ per pax for dinner, plus a drink (half pint) or a shared dessert.