Entree Kibbles: Ruen Thai Restaurant near Patong Beach @ Phuket Island [Thailand]

It's 4.22 pm at Thailand and more than seven hours since our last meal in Singapore; hence, i didn't waste any time in seeking out the Ruen Thai restaurant near Swissotel Resort (Patong Beach).

Thankfully, i managed to squeeze in a bit of research before my trip and although it doesn't command a high rank on Tripadvisor (numbering about 50 out of 569 restaurants in Patong); the above 4 rating from over 200 reviewers is still commendable.

Note: it's non-air-conditioned but most, if not all, travellers to Phuket are beach goers and i wouldn't expect people to drop by in suits and ties for a meal! Interior design is more like an English pub than a Thai restaurant although it's a versatile eatery that served both Thai and Western cuisine.

See the number of condiments reserved for Western food like mustard, ketchup, sea salt, HP sauce and Tabasco sauce. Oh well, we have no use for them and i placed higher importance on the WiFi username and password!

Upon taking out seats, we were each given a piece of cold wet tissue to cool our bodies down! Not that we needed it even though it's a nice gesture that drew praises even from my dad.

Now, i have been accustomed to long waits at restaurants in most Southeast Asian countries and i found Ruen Thai to be bold and honest in telling their diners to expect a wait of "15 to 40 minutes for your order"!

Strawberry Shake - this came within ten minutes and was an order by Alex; i took a sip and found it thirst quenching for the beach weather. Ice blended, the sweetness was just right and you can still feel the many strawberry seeds!

Good enough for us to order two more!

Pad Thai with Shrimp - the kind of traditional Thai fried noodles i enjoy; smooth in slurping down my throat, sweet yet rich in the wok hei that's similar yet different from the Chinese kind. Strangely, i tasted a hint of tomato sauce that luckily didn't adversely affect the flavour.

Omelette with Shrimp - a good omelette must have two key features; oily and fluffy! This didn't disappoint although the shrimps tasted bland and didn't contribute much to differentiate it from a good, old plain omelette.

Baked Rice with Chicken in Pineapple - i honestly thought i ordered pineapple fried rice but as the name suggested, it's baked rice with tons of ingredients like cherry tomatoes, nuts, yellow pepper, chicken meat, raisins and pineapples!

It didn't taste oily (thanks to the rice being baked i guess) and each bite was an interesting mouthful of satisfaction as i got a bit of freshness, nuttiness, sweetness and zestiness; all amalgamated as one! Personally, i like this better than our usual pineapple fried rice!

Deep Fried Shrimp Cake - this came more than 30 minutes later when we were about done with our meal and faced with a super stuffed tummy...

Served scalding hot, the shrimps didn't create much of an impact once again and i thought it tasted more like fish fillets for which i actually need the accompanied sauces to improve their palatability, in view of my full stomach.

=====

Location