The Dead Cockroach: Sisaket Thai Food - Basil Chicken, Green Mango Salad & Tom Yum Soup @ Maxwell Food Centre

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I am exploring Maxwell Food Centre this week and after walking through the rows of food stalls several times, I still could not make up my mind as I am bored with having the usual local fare.

Eventually, I narrowed down my choice to a stall named Sisaket Thai Food. Well, Thai cuisine sounds good to me as I have been yearning for something more exotic lately to arouse my already dormant taste buds.

A search online revealed that the stall is started by a Thai national, Ms Viparat Saibua who owns two other locations at Telok Blangah and Bukit Merah.

As I stood in front of the stall studying the menu, I was impressed to hear a staff (or perhaps it is lao ban niang herself) conversing in fluent Mandarin with a customer.

I ordered the basil chicken with rice ($5) and topped up $2.50 for a green mango salad and a bowl of tom yum soup which is pretty worthwhile.

I actually preferred pork but there are only chicken and beef options. In fact, there are no signs of any pork dishes on the menu. I am not particularly sure if the stall is Muslim-friendly but I did not notice any Halal certification.

Cooked upon order, it did not take long for my order to be ready.

When the staff brought out my order of basil chicken with rice from the kitchen, the size of the plate made my jaw drop.

I thought it would be just a regular sized plate, but this one is huge, which is a striking contrast to what I had envisioned in my mind.

To give you some perspective, the length of the plate is the width of the tray it sits on.

The serving of basil chicken is pretty generous. Stir fried with long beans and aromatics such as shallots, garlic, chili and basil, the dish was infused with a irresistible wok hei.

Mix some of that delicious gravy with the rice and it is sure to whet your appetite.

The larger-than-average portion had me bursting at the seams towards the end of lunch.

I had expected the green mango salad to come in a very small serving but on the contrary, it looked like a full portion instead.

The refreshingly crunchy shredded green mango were tossed in a dressing of lime juice and fish sauce. The mingling of sweet, sour, spicy, and salty notes hits the spot for me.

When I had tom yum soup in Thailand, I recalled it was so spicy that I sweat buckets and had to gulp litres of iced water to appease my burning lips.

The tom yum soup here is so much tamer that I do not even need a sip of water. It is still spicy though, just not as insanely spicy compared to what I had in Thailand. The spice level give just enough kick without me breaking into a sweat.

If you are up to the challenge, perhaps you can request to have your soup spicier?

My only gripe is that other than a wedge of tomato, there are no other ingredients in the soup - no prawn, no sotong, no fish slice.

I have read reviews commenting that the food here is not authentic enough. I guess there are factors contributing to this; the stall might be unable to get certain key ingredients that are only available in Thailand and, they might have toned down the taste to suit our local palette but either way, that is not to say the food here is any less delish.

All in all, I find the menu at Sisaket Thai Food value for money and the food not that bad. I am already making mental notes to come back for their pineapple fried rice and to have a proper bowl of tom yum soup with ingredients next!