Nakhon Kitchen Locations & Outlets
Nakhon Kitchen started off as a small outfit below a HDB block in Hougang (Kovan) in 2008. Over more than a decade, it has seen its ups and downs. Though it is still operating multiple outlets across Singapore, it has closed three of its outlets in Ang Mo Kio, Tampines and Clementi in recent years. In Thailand, the group also operates one outlet in Udon Thani, a Northeastern province bordering Laos.
The restaurant is wildly popular among diners as it offers delicious and authentic Thai food at hawker centre prices. The restaurant group offers a combination of Northeastern Thai (Issan) cuisine and Bangkok’s street food, and are famous for its Spiced minced pork salad (Laab ลาบหมู), hot & sour pork soup (Tom-saap-moo เล้งแซ่บ), Thai style fried kway teow (Pad-see-ew ผัดซีอิ้ว) and basil pork rice (Pad-kra-pao-moo ผัดกะเพราหมู).
The following is the list of Nakhon Kitchen outlets in Singapore (as of Jan 2022):
- Compass One – (Sengkang) 1 Sengkang Square, #02-30, Singapore 545078
- Kovan – (Kovan) 212 Hougang Street 21, #01-341, Singapore 530212
- Bedok 136 – (Bedok) 136 Bedok North Ave 3, #01-162, Singapore 460136
- Holland Village – (Holland Village) 27A Lor Liput, Singapore 277738
- Vivocity – (Harbourfront) 1 HarbourFront Walk, #B2-23C VivoCity, Singapore 098585
Nakhon Kitchen Menu
Below are its menu items and prices:
Appetizer
- Thai crispy spring roll (6 pcs) – $4.00
- Deep fried boneless chicken wing (2 pcs) – $4.00
- Pandan leaves chicken (4 pcs) – $6.00
- Homemade Thai fish cake (4 pcs) – $6.00
- Homemade Thai prawn cake (4 pcs) – $12.00
Salad
- Thai mango salad – $5.00
- Papaya salad – $5.00
- Spiced minced chicken or pork salad – $6.00
- Thai vermicelli salad with seafood – $6.00
- Papaya salad with seafood – $8.00
- Sotong salad – $10.00
- Prawn salad – $10.00
- Seafood salad – $10.00
Soup
- Tom yam soup (clear / think base) – $6.00
- Prawn
- Seafood
- Chicken
- Tom ka soup (coconut milk) – $6.00
- Prawn
- Seafood
- Chicken
- Tom saap – $6.00
- Chicken
- Pork
- Beancurd and vermicelli seafood soup – $6.00
Curry
- Green curry – $8.00
- Chicken
- Beef
- Prawn
- Red curry – $8.00
- Chicken
- Beef
- Prawn
- Yellow curry chicken – $8.00
Seafood
- Stir-fried mixed seafood with hot basil leaves – $10.00
- Stir-fried squid with hot basil leaves – $10.00
- Deep fried squid with Thai chili sauce – $10.00
- Stir-fried squid with Thai yellow curry powder – $10.00
- Stir-fried clams with sweet basil leaves – $10.00
- Oatmeal prawn – $12.00
- Sweet & sour prawn – $12.00
- Deep fried prawn with garlic – $12.00
- Deep fried prawn with Thai chili paste – $12.00
- Deep fried prawn with Thai chili sauce – $12.00
- Deep fried prawn with Thai tamarind sauce – $12.00
- Stir-fried prawn with Thai yellow curry powder – $12.00
- Deep fried prawn with sweet basil leaves – $12.00
- Deep fried sliced fish fillet with sweet & sour sauce – $15.00
- Crispy grouper topped with Thai chili sauce – $25.00
- Deep fried grouper with sweet & sour sauce – $25.00
Chicken
- Stir-fried minced chicken with hot basil leaves – $6.00
- Stir-fried chicken with cashew nuts – $6.00
- Stir-fried chicken with Thai chili paste – $6.00
- Sweet and sour chicken – $6.00
- Deep fried chicken with garlic – $6.00
- Honey chicken – $6.00
Beef
- Stir-fried minced beef with hot basil leaves – $8.00
- Stir-fried beef with oyster sauce – $8.00
- Stir-fried beef with garlic – $8.00
- Stir-fried beef with Thai chili paste – $8.00
Pork
- Stir-fried minced pork with hot basil leaves – $6.00
- Deep fried pork with garlic – $6.00
- Sweet and sour pork – $6.00
- Stir-fried minced pork with tofu – $6.00
Vegetable
- Stir-fried kang kong belachan – $6.00
- Stir-fried kang kong Thai style – $6.00
- Stir-fried kai lan with mushroom – $6.00
- Stir-fried mixed vegetables – $6.00
- Stir-fried broccoli with mushroom – $8.00
- Stir-fried asparagus with prawns – $8.00
- Stir-fried long beans with salted egg yolk – $8.00
Rice
- Pineapple fried rice – $6.00
- Black olive rice with minced chicken – $6.00
- Seafood fried rice – $6.00
- Oriental fried rice with chicken, beef or pork – $6.00
- Honey chicken rice – $6.00
- Basil chicken rice – $6.00
- Basil beef rice – $6.00
- Basil pork rice – $6.00
- Basil seafood rice – $8.00
- Basil squid rice – $8.00
- Thai fragrant steamed rice – $1.00
Noodle
- Thai style hor fun (kway teow / bee hoon) – $4.00
- Thai style fried kway teow (chicken / pork) – $4.00
- Kway teow soup with beef or pork – $4.00
- Tom yam noodle soup (thick base only) – $5.00
- (rice noodle / bee hoon / tang hoon)
- Phad Thai (rice noodle / tang hoon) – $6.00
- Thai style fried mama noodle – $6.00
- Thai style fried drunken noodle – $6.00
- (kway teow / mama noodle)
- Thai style fried tang hoon – $6.00
- Thai style fried bee hoon – $6.00
Dessert
- Red ruby – $3.00
- Sweet tapioca served with coconut milk – $3.00
- Mango sticky rice served with coconut milk – $5.00
Beverages
- Soft drinks – $2.00
- Coca-cola
- Sprite
- F&N Fanta Red
- F&N Fanta Green
- F&N Fanta Orange
- Thai iced tea (Red / Green) – $3.00
- Thai iced lemongrass – $3.00
- Thai soy milk – $3.00
- Fresh coconut – $5.00
- Chang beer – $6.00
Nakhon Kitchen Review (Compass One)
Nakhon Kitchen at Compass One is located on Level 2 of the shopping mall. The mall is connected to the Sengkang MRT station and Sengkang Bus Interchange so there is no worry visiting the restaurant on rainy days. However, it is important to note that the restaurant does not offer phone bookings nor has any tie up with reservation platforms like Eatigo or Chope. Patrons will have to queue outside the restaurant if it is fully occupied (it happens most of the time). Its peak hours are from 12pm to 2pm and from 5pm to 7pm, and waiting time can range from 10 minutes to an hour.
We visited the outlet on a Sunday afternoon at around 1:30pm and the restaurant was full. There were two groups of people in front of us, one group of five and another group of three. We joined the queue as we thought it was still acceptable. Upon joining the queue, a service staff came over to take our order. Though we have visited 3 of their outlets more than 10 times times over the years, we were keen to check out their menu to see if there were new additions or whether there were changes in prices. We requested for the menu with the crew and were handed the physical menu. We were also informed that we could browse their digital menu by scanning the QR code on the table at the entrance.
After browsing their menu for two minutes, we find that the items and prices are unchanged from our last visit a few months ago. Despite being content with their existing menu items, being Thai food lovers, we thought it would be better for the restaurant chain if famous Issan dishes like Issan Grilled Chicken (Gai Yang ไก่ย่าง) and Issan Sausage (Sai-krok Isan ไส้กรอกอีสาน) are added to their menu. That said, we proceeded with ordering our favourite dishes: Thai crispy spring roll ($4.00), Spiced minced pork salad (Laab ลาบหมู) ($6.00), Pineapple fried rice (Khao-pad-sapparod ข้าวผัดสัปปะรด) ($6.00), Thai style fried kway teow pork (Pad-see-ew ผัดซีอิ้ว) ($4.00), and Thai style fried tang hoon (Pad-woon-sen ผัดวุ้นเส้น) ($6.00).
After we have placed our order, we continued on our queue and waited for about 20 minutes before a table was finally vacated for our group. Our first dish – Thai crispy spring rolls – was served in 5 minutes after getting seated. The hot and crunchy spring rolls were served fresh from the wok and were good appetizers prepping us for our mains. The second dish served was Spiced minced pork salad. This is a Northeastern Thai dish and is commonly eaten with plain rice or glutinous rice. It is also a popular breakfast item in Bangkok where locals buy them from hawkers peddling at the side of the roads.
Nakhon Kitchen’s rendition of the Spiced minced pork salad (or Laab as we call it in Thai) has toned down a little over the years. Compared to what we had a few years back, the Laab we had for this review was less spicy and less flavourful. It was perhaps to accommodate to the Singaporean taste. Also different from Laab in Thailand, the minced meat used here comprised of more lean meat than fats, while in Thailand it is the reverse. That said, the dish was still a great appetizer that is highly recommended.
The remaining mains arrived in another 5 minutes. Their Thai style fried kway teow pork (or Pad-see-ew moo) is a dish we would always order whenever we visit Nakhon Kitchen. Its taste is very authentic and savory, and for its price of $4.00, it is even cheaper than hawker stalls selling the same dish in Maxwell Food Centre and Amoy Food Centre. It’s a must-try!
Their Pineapple fried rice (or Khao-pad-sapparod) was also good with a couple of prawns, a slice of pineapple and generous amount of pork floss. The only pity was that they used frozen prawns instead of fresh ones. The thai style fried tang hoon (Thai style fried glass noodle or Pad-woon-sen) was a little tasteless though it came with prawns, squid and bits of fried egg. For the price of $6.00, we did not feel this dish was not worth it.
In all, we had a great lunch and would recommend Nakhon Kitchen to anyone seeking authentic Thai food in Singapore. We would give its food quality a 4/5, its value-for-money a 4.5/5, its service a 3.5/5, and environment a 4/5. While their service staffs were courteous and friendly, they need to work on their operations to reduce the time patrons have to queue and wait for their food. The waiting time is putting us off in patronising them more frequently.
