ronnycakes reviews: Baan 26, Changkat Bukit Bintang

Changkat Bukit Bintang houses a horde of charming pre-war colonial buildings that have been converted into restaurants and nightspots, including the highly acclaimed fine dining place, Frangipani; and the Spanish place that Wil keeps raving on about, El Cerdo.
There are so many little restaurants in the Changkat Bukit Bintang stretch that it is sometimes easy to overlook some of them and one of these is Baan 26, which serves Thai cuisine reputedly served up by chefs from the land of Siam.

The bright exterior (yes that’s me yawning in the front *extremely shy*).

Baan 26 is a bar-cum-restaurant located right opposite from Frangipani and next to The Magnificent Fish and Chips (which attracted a lot of expats and Caucasians so we’re guessing it should be quite good).

Deco is reminiscent of alley-style casual Thai restaurants, all wood and bright yellows and reds.

The bar area with air-conditioned dining area all the way inside.

Wooden tables, chairs, and fences lining the alfresco dining section.

Thai Iced Tea (RM 8) to quench ourselves on a particularly hot day.

For starters, we had a Thai Mango Salad (RM8), which is a spicy mixture of unripe mangoes, roasted peanuts, dried shrimps and chili. I personally find that mango salad I’ve tried at other Thai places have difficulty getting it just right, it’s either too spicy or too sour or too bland. Here at Baan 26, the spiciness is just right but it could be a little more sour to be spot on perfect.

Mounds of rice (RM1.30 per portion) for our mains.

What’s a Thai meal without Seafood Tom Yam Soup (RM29)?
Baan 26’s version was the creamy red style and boy was it spicy (but in a good way). You can probably gauge how spicy a dish is judging by how red the soup is. :p

Ingredients in the tom yam were abundant: straw mushrooms (my favourite type!!) large fresh prawns and fish fillet meat. I loved how the prawn meat fell off the shell easily and were deveined properly.
The soup was just the right degree of sour and spice, and incredibly fragrant; one of the better tom yam soup’s we have tried. Even though the weather was so hot and we were sweating buckets, we couldn’t resist slurping up bowl after bowl.

Last up is another well-known Thai dish, Green Curry Chicken (RM21); pieces of tender chicken drumstick and brinjals cooked in a mildly spicy gravy with coconut milk, lime leaves, chili and spices. Green curry goes great with rice but for me this version was not mind-blowing, average compared to what I’ve tried in other places before. Nonetheless, it was still easy on the taste buds!

Wil took copious amounts of gravy with his rice hehe.

To end the meal and quench our numbed tongues, we had a classic dessert (one of my favourites as well) Red Rubies (RM12). Water chestnut with shaved ice in coconut milk and slices of jackfruit.

Food at Baan 26 was surprisingly good considering how low profile it is (not extensively reviewed by other food bloggers) but the only downside is that prices are a little steep considering the portion that you are paying for. Then again, service is friendly and food served is authentic, prepared by chefs from Thailand so it should probably be worth the steeper price.
Parking is a small problem as the nearest parking lot costs RM7 per entry whilst hotel parking lot which is a bit further (which is also slightly dodgy) is RM2.50 per hour if you’re willing to walk.

Note: Baan 26 does not serve pork but offers alcohol on its menu.

Address:
No. 26, Changkat Bukit Bintang,
50200 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03 2142 8878

Map *here*