Thai Baiyok Restaurant @ Heritage Club House, Penang.

*Thai Baiyok has ceased its operation since then.*

I am pretty sure that most of us Penangites have at least passed by this Heritage Club House (Opposite Penang Sports Club and right beside Wisma Penyayang) in Penang. However, many of us are not aware that there is actually a Thai restaurant situated right inside the Club itself. They do not serve pork in Thai Baiyok (Halal), so its definitely friendly to our Muslim friends. The parking can be quite easy too since there are ample free parking lots provided and they are opened to public, in other words, you do not have to be a member of Heritage Club House in order to get into the parking place. I was also told that the chefs were originated from Thailand but from what we have tried, most of the dishes seemed to be localized and to suit Penangites' taste buds. Prices wise, are average, but an additional 10% of service charge will be added to the bill. The restaurant has a wide variety of choices to offer to their customers, 

There were a total of 8 types of beverages served to us, the one I had was honey lemon juice, it was more to the sour side and was very refreshing.

This was their Miang Pla Kraphong (Rm18 for big, Rm12 for small). Basically its something similar to Miang Kam (traditional tidbits from Thailand). Deep fried sea-bass was added which it was something that would not be found in Miang Kam.The appropriate way of enjoying this dish is to wrap everything using the wild betel leaves (daun kaduk).  The sweet and sour taste complemented well with the crisply deep fried sea-bass, the dish makes a very good start for the meal.

Yum Yok Maphrau (coconut shoot salad, Rm15), the salad was quite spicy and sour, it has a good mix with some seafood such as squids, prawns and chicken meat. However, I was not too used to the texture of the coconut shoot, it was something similar to chinese turnips (sengkuang in malay) but lack of the sweetness.

The following dish was their Tomyam Talay (seafood tomyam, Rm35 for family size, Rm25 for big, Rm18 for small). There were quite a generous amount of seafood used, from the ginormous meaty prawns and squids. The use of milk has added more creaminess and smoothness to the texture. The tomyam soup was flavorful as well but it was more to the sweeter side, I would definitely prefer a more spicy and sour tomyam, but it was decent after all.

Pla Rad Makhaam (deep-fried fish topped with tamarind sauce, Rm45). The fish was deep fried to perfection and has successfully maintained the crispiness during the time the fish was served. The tamarind sauce was more to salty side in my opinion.

This was one of my favorite dishes of the meal, Pla Meuk Neung Manao (Steamed squid with lime juice, Rm25 for big, Rm18 for small). The fresh and succulent squid was unbelievably tender and juicy as it was not easy to handle squids, over-cooking them might result in rough and hard texture. The squid complemented well with the sauce as well, it was a very hot and spicy sauce with a bit of sourness blended. The squid was then topped with a large amount of chopped chilies and garlic. Simple yet very appetizing indeed. Recommended.

Deep-fried prawns topped with "Choo Chii" sauce (Goong Choo Chii, Rm4-6 each depending on the size, the prawns were priced at Rm5 each during our visit). Choo Chii basically refers to red curry, so the prawns were deep fried to perfection and topped with Choo Chii sauce. The Choo Chii sauce was ordinary and does not possess a very distinctive flavor to me, but I must praise on the freshness of the prawns used. The freshness of the prawns was beyond words, as in the natural sweetness of the prawns can be tasted very well.

Again one of my favorite dishes of the meal, Barbecue Chicken with dipping sauce (Kai Yang, Rm12 for small). The chicken was very juicy and the skin of the chicken was beautifully char. The chicken was very good to be taken alone as the sauce was rather disappointing as it does not possess a distinctive taste (as in sweet/salty/sour). The chicken was very good to be taken together with white rice.

Hor Mok Talay (Seafood otak-otak, Rm 16). Another impressive dish by the restaurant, the otak-otak was  loaded with chunks seafood, sliced fish, squids and prawns. The otak-otak was reasonably flavor and the creaminess was just right to the amount. The dish was more to the sweeter side compared to the ordinary otak-otak found in other places. It can be a very good dish to go with white rice.

Goong Khai Daeng (deep fried bread with prawns and salted egg, Rm18 for big, Rm12 for small). The bread was rather oily to my preference. The overall taste was okay but the sauce was rather insincere as they were just serving the ordinary plum sauce though having the bread alone was good enough. Improvements on the dipping sauce is definitely needed to increase the flavor.

Their stir-fried broccoli with Thai belacan (Brogcoli Phat Kapit, Rm12 for big and Rm9 for small) was salty to me, and the belacan flavor was too strong and maybe some people might find it a bit hard to accept but they have still successfully maintained the crunchiness of the broccoli.

One of the desserts that being offered in most of the Thai restaurants, Thap Thim Krop (Water chestnut and jackfruit in coconut milk, Rm4.50 each). The dessert was rather sweet to me but it was okay after they have added a couple of ice cubes onto the dessert. One unique and special ingredients which normally would not be found was shredded coconut meat. Although it does not add much effect on the taste but it does add an additional crunchiness to the over all texture of the dessert. The water chestnut was impressive either, crunchy but not too starchy at the same time.

Ratings:

Taste: 7.5/10 (1-3 horrible, 4-7 average, 8-10 delicious)

Price: 6.5/10 (1-3 expensive, 4-7 average, 8-10 cheap)

Service: 8.5/10 (1-3 bad service, 4-7 average, 8-10 good service)

Parking: 9.5/10 (1-3 hard to find parking, 4-7 average, 8-10 easy to find parking)

Service Charge: Yes, 10%.

Government Tax: No

Additional Information:

Address: No.2, Scotland Road, 10450, Penang. (Inside Heritage Club House, Penang.)

Business Hour: 11:30am to 10pm, daily.

Contact Number: 604- 227 8308/ 6012- 478 5656

Email: thaibaiyok@gmail.com

Website: www.thaibaiyok.webs.com

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