Bites With Kimberly: Tai Man Guan, Exotic and Beautiful of the Thai

Tai Man Guan Thai Cuisine sits on the seventh floor of the Tee-Mall in Guangzhou's Tianhe CBD. At the entrance you are greeted with a four-faced golden Buddha and majestic wooden elephants. Waitresses fitted with traditional Thai dresses usher you in with a Thai hello,“Sawadi Kah."

Entrance with a four-faced golden Buddha aside.
[Click here for more pictures of Kim's visit and ambience of the restaurant]

As you enter you see a spin on the traditional Thai style. Staying true to form the restaurant is covered with brightly colored mosaic glass pieces. Golden and brass Buddhas decorate the walls as well as large reliefs of Buddhas that rest behind tables. Elephants line the walkway and cover every seat in the house. The restaurant is host to many partitioned rooms that appear with the sliding of the wall. These rooms are decorated like the rest of the restaurant but also include glass cabinets that are stuffed with different sized bric-a-brac.

Look through a huge fish-tank glass partition.
[Click here for more pictures of Kim's visit and ambience of the restaurant]

During our tasty visit we are seated in one of the private rooms. Famous kings' photos rest on the wall behind us. At the large round table the meal begins with a glass of cold Thai tea. At first brown in color, after stirring in the accompanying sugar and milk, it almost becomes reddish and leaves my tongue tingling with earthy spices- beyond delicious! As soon as one dish is tasted another miraculously appears on the table next to it.

Having Seafood Pomelo Salad with my Chinese friends aside.
 [Click here for more pictures of Kim's visit and ambience of the restaurant]

The first dish is a spicy and sour seafood pomelo salad. It is a mixture of grapefruit, shrimp, onions, squid and a bit of lime. The dish looks fantastic and is garnished with flowers. It's fresh tasting and the grapefruit pieces burst in your mouth balancing the saltiness of the baby shrimp, surprisingly quite yum. Stuffed chicken wings follow. I'm extremely taken by this dish, as it has no bones. The wings are de-boned, stuffed with a yellow sticky rice and are accompanied by a sweet and sour sauce. The meat is well cooked and falls apart in your mouth though the outside has a slight crunch. Deep fried preserved eggs are brought out and placed on our rotating table. The eggs are covered in a minced shrimp pork paste and fried. The taste is not quite as pungent as I would have imagined but rather light and the texture is soft and smooth.

Tai Man Guan's menu has an abundance of dishes to choose from. Each unique with many varying flavors. My recommended dishes are: Mussomen Curry --- a slight coconut flavor, fantastically soft potato pieces and a dash of peanuts, Birds Nest Vegatables --- a little salty and a little sweet, this dish is beautiful in it's nest of potato strings, Sauteed Beef with sweet and hot sauce- the strips of meat are extremely tender and are cooked in a Northern Thai style, and of course the 1,000 layered pudding for dessert- warm, coconut flavored and beautiful, a perfect ending to an exotic meal.

Sauteed Beef.
 [Click here for more pictures of food of the restaurant]

Overall Tai Man Guan Thai Cuisine proves itself to be a good dinner host. The staff service is friendly and attentive. The menu has something for everyone. Presentation of food is beautiful with flowers of radish and carrots adorning the dishes.

Tai Man Guan Thai Cuisine is fairly priced and located in the middle of a shopping complex. So next time you find yourself at the Tee-Mall or just hungry for something a bit more exotic stop by and give it a try. This is a good place to dine with a bunch of friends and the music is surprisingly not too loud!

As we dine we're informed that Shenzhen also hosts a branch of this restaurant. Though the Shenzhen restaurant and the one in Guangzhou share the same name and dishes there is a difference in taste. Guangzhou's, Tai Man Guan, boasts a lighter taste which is more suited to the Cantonese palate.

Add: Shop 701, 7F, Tower North East, Teemall, 208 Tian He Road, Guangzhou
Tel:  (86-20) 8559 1080
         (86-20) 8559 1800

(Written by Kimberly Barteau)

Source: www.lifeofguangzhou.com

Editor: Ronald Li