MILLIE: I love Thai food and so does Karla. When she was a kid, we used to frequent a resto called Flavours & Spices owned by Add Lim, which used to be across from the old Plaza Building at Greenbelt. These days, when we crave for catfish with green mango salad, what always comes to mind is People’s Palace. And it never fails us. It’s always consistently good. The pleasant surprise is, Dad likes it, too! In fact, for a long time, it was his flavor of the month until he discovered Tao Yuan Restaurant on Gen. Malvar street in Malate. But that’s another story.
KARLA: The first time I visited Bangkok, Thailand, was back in 1995 when my Lolo Joe joined a golf tournament. Of course, Lola and Mom accompanied him for the shopping and I, well, to get away from school. (Laughs) I remember going to the crocodile and elephant farm with my Mom and was totally amazed at the elephant show. You see, Mom and I have a collection of elephants with their trunks up. It is said to signify good luck and I, being the usual copy-cat, started collecting just like my mommy. My collection ranges from elephant erasers, coasters, and little trinkets to an unused elephant toothbrush.
During that trip, I remember my introduction to Thai food via tom yum goong, which is similar to our native sinigang but is spicy. In fact, everything we ate was spicy and that was probably how I acquired a liking for spicy food.
While Mom and Lola went shopping, Lolo and I had a sightseeing date and we went to the floating market and I recall people in small boats coming up to us, selling Thai sweet cakes, fruits and souvenir stuff. Although I don’t remember the restaurants we ate at during the trip, I remember growing up to Flavours and Spices. Luckily, Mom and I still find our favorites at People’s Palace, conveniently located at the ground floor of Greenbelt 3.
One of my favorite dishes is the chicken pandan with sesame seed sauce and sweet chili sauce. There are many versions of this dish, which is actually boneless chicken cuts marinated and wrapped in pandan leaves and sprinkled with sesame seeds-then deep- fried. The marinade consists of Thai patis or fish sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce, garlic and some add coconut milk or vinegar. It’s actually an appetizer but I like to eat it as a main dish with some bagoong rice or what People’s Palace calls Kapi fried rice with sweet pork garnishes. We normally have a toss-up between ordering the bagoong rice and the pad Thai. Pad Thai wins most of the time since People’s Palace has really good steamed white jasmin rice anyway, and it’s bottomless, too. So when we have more people to join us for dinner, that’s when we can actually order both.
MILLIE: My first visit to People’s Palace was in 2005 when they first opened in Greenbelt. The original resto was in Malate some 10 years ago. Over lunch with friends Mario Katigbak and Marilou Magsaysay, we sampled many delightful dishes that continue to be stored in my memory bank and taste buds. I wish I could have a bite or two of all those dishes each time I go. (Laughs) Like pigging out!
My personal forever favorites are the crispy catfish with green mango salad, the flaked catfish wound in a spool and deep fried to a golden crispiness and served with slivers of green mango and red onions. I adore the roast duck curry that’s oh, so great eaten with a heaping mound of steamed jasmine rice. By the way, they are one of the few restaurants serving organic brown rice. The mussaman curry of lamb pot with peanuts and shallots is my friend Dr. Larry’s favorite.
My Dad is usually content with his bowl of kao soi gai, which is crispy noodles with pieces of boneless chicken bits in yellow curry. Just last week, Dad ordered and enjoyed the green curry with seafood, long beans and baby corn, which was the specialty of the day. His other recent find is the lapu-lapu fillets with red curry and basil, a deliciously exotic dish.
Other recommended dishes are the prawn spring roll served with a light chili sauce. It is a perfect appe-teaser, great to nibble on as you wait for the rest of your dining companions to arrive. The crispy squid with tamarind relish and the tod maan pla, which are Thai fishcakes with sweet chili sauce, are also exceptional.
KARLA: I like the chicken stir-fry with holy basil and the morning glory with crispy yellow beans, garlic and chili. The panaeng curry of beef with peanuts is another yummy dish and so is the stir-fry chicken with cashew nuts.
My Mom can finish off a whole serving of five sticks of the chicken or beef satay with curry peanut sauce. If we have any space left for dessert, we order tako, a coconut pudding. This used to be my super, super favorite at Flavours and Spices, which came in cute little pandan cups. Mom and I used to have at least one order each, meaning four tiny tako cups. It is also available at People’s Palace as a large two layer pudding good enough for four or more people. The first layer is made of coconut milk and the second, made of pandan jelly and corn kernels. If I do get to spend some time in Thailand, I’d definitely want to learn how to make this. But, whether or not we still have space in our tummies, we always must order the mango with sticky rice with extra coconut milk. It is Lolo’s favorite. There was even a time where he would just have one whole order to himself, as if he didn’t have enough to eat.
But more than anything, Mom and I are pleased with the overall ambience of the place. The restaurant is frequented by at least a 50-percent expat clientele. The food is a bit pricey but awesome. Service is fast, efficient and impeccable. The waiters are polite and cheerful, very accommodating and can anticipate a diner’s needs for condiments and dining must haves. Food comes in a jiffy, one never has to wait long. And since I usually take care of getting us a table most of the time, reserving a table is always just a convenient phone call away. The reservations clerks are usually very accommodating and easy to talk to but it is rather difficult to reserve a table and one normally has to wait. Unless, of course, you are brave enough to sit outside where smokers are. On cooler evenings, it is a pleasant place to be. The wash rooms are also kept very clean despite the volume of business.
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People’s Palace is located at: G/F Garden side Greenbelt 3, Ayala Center Makati City, Metro Manila. For reservations, call 729-2888 or fax 728-4812. For more information, you may log on to http://www.peoplespalacethai.com/.
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Send e-mail to milliereyes.foodforthought@gmail.com and karla@swizzlemobilebar.com. Find us on Facebook: Food for Thought by Millie & Karla Reyes.