Review: Restaurant Chedi captures the right spirit of contemporary Thai cuisine 

Contemporary Thai cuisine can be a hit or miss affair in Singapore — some places misconstrue it as repackaging dishes in dainty portions or more refined plating, while others have turn anything curry or tom yum into espuma. But once in a while, a gem comes a long, as refreshing as chancing upon an empty side street in the hustle and bustle of Bangkok. 

Contemporary Thai restaurant Restaurant Chedi manages to toe the fine line well by presenting Thai flavours  in a contemporary lens without forsaking the original and pushes the realms of imagination.

The restaurant, which has been opened for two months, stands out from the motley melange of eateries and budget hotels along Hamilton Road in Jalan Besar, which is on a steady path to gentrification. The most Thai elements of the 36-seat restaurant are a portrait of King Rama V (the grandfather of the much-loved and late King Bhumibol Adulyadej), who was a royal foodie and folk art wall murals.

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Not a word of Thai is heard from the open-concept kitchen, which serves views of flame-licked woks and sizzling sounds. That is not entirely surprising given that Restaurant Chedi is run by chef-owner K-Jin Lim, an oil and gas professional-turned-chef, who ran a Thai restaurant/social enterprise in Chiang Mai for eight years before returning home. Lim, who is also assisted by head chef Miller Mai (who has worked at Ding Dong and Tippling Club), puts everything he knows about Thai cuisine, including an obsession with cured salted threadfin, into the tasting menu ($148++). 

My palate got to a rousing awakening with the first course of miang kham, a smartly-presented wild betel leaf wrap, which is a popular dish in Chiang Mai. Cradled in the leaf are rayong dried shrimps, lime, palm sugar, peanuts and ikura roe. Each bite presents a different dimension of flavour, from caramel-like sweetness, sourness to a rash of saltiness and spicines . Wash the flavour bomb down with an accompanying shot of sour tamarind and soda water, which makes a great ice-cooler drink on its own.

The tongue continues to tingle for the next two courses — an unabashedly funky and pungent quenelle of nami prik gai (shrimp paste relish), which is fermented in house, is the star of this unassuming dish. While I enjoy savouring the intense, onion-filled sauce on its own, condiments such as cucumber slices, tiger shrimps tempura and tender broccolini also makes the dish a joy to dig into.

At this point, the heat in my mouth is rising to a crescendo and it doesn’t help that I am looking at neon-pink lit shelves in the kitchen, which seems to make my mouth pucker more. 

Thankfully, the heat factor subsides for the rest of the meal. The gaeng som fak thong is a harmonious marriage of sour Thai orange curry, with its heat tempered with sweetness from the Japanese pumpkin puree. The soup curry dish is a delicate balance of spiciness, sweetness and sourness in each spoonful. And the best part is the crunchy golden cloud of house-made fried  tilapia fish floss, which acts like a float for the slice of Chilean seabass. 

The Tom Kha Gai looks nothing like the original spicy and sour coconut chicken soup. Instead, it is re-interpreted as baked chicken wings stuffed with foie gras-infused glutinous rice and a coconut espuma that requires one’s imagination to be stretched. The side of light coconut milk espuma offsets the spice-laden chicken wing that is served piping hot.

The refreshing take on Som Tam takes some time to get used to as tropical fruit such as pomelo, guava and arugula leaves are tossed in a sweet and tangy lime-spiked fish sauce. The absence of the sour green mango strips is somewhat made up with the crunchy pomelo pulps that erupts with acidity.

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My favourite dish of the night is the Kor Muu Yang, inspired by the grilled Issan-style pork skewers. It is the trip of sauces that elevates the platter of tender grilled iberico secreto (pork neck). The sweetness from the caramelised pork marinade melds well with the spiciness from the green chilli sauce and with the Thai soy dipping sauce. 

Throughout my meal, I was drawn by wok clanging sounds from the kitchen and much it had to do with the signature dish of fried rice topped with six-month-cured salted threadfin and crabmeat. The threadfin is such a special ingredient for chef Lim that it is hung in an ageing cabinet in a prime spot of the restaurant. Biting into the well-camouflaged bits of salted dish gives the same joy as chancing upon cubes of lard hidden in a plate of Hokkien mee. The tiny bit of salted fish erupts with a deep and smoky saltiness that accentuates the wok hei of the fried rice. 

Restaurant Chedi’s dishes have strong and distinct flavours that gives diners a glimpse into the chef’s likings and possibilities that Thai cuisine can offer without the need for all that jazz and an overdose of story-telling.

Restaurant Chedi is at 15 Hamilton Road.