Thai Time

A review from journalist and avid foodie, Lincoln Tan 

One of the most famous Thai culinary exports must surely be pad thai - the sweet sour flavours from sugar, lime juice, tamarind and fish sauce finding favour worldwide. But personally, I’m not a big fan. 

What I am a huge fan of however is pad thai’s less famous cousin - pad see ew. Made with wide, flat fresh rice noodles built around the umami of soy sauce and the good ones are cooked with plenty of wok hei. I guess part of the reason I love this is also because of its similarity to my ultimate comfort food, Singapore’s char kwey teow or the Cantonese beef chow hor fun.

The best pad see ew you’ll ever eat in the city centre will be at a Thai stall inside a food court on Albert Street that few know even existed. Operating mostly under the radar, Thai Time is a hidden gem operated by 35-year-old Kra Taii (Poonsup), and for quite a few years since it opened in 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic, was the only food stall operating in the Park Central Food Court.

Originally from Yasothon, central northeastern Thailand, Taii said she started the eatery to follow her dream of sharing “the best flavours of Thailand” with New Zealanders. “Thai food is just not pad thai and green curry, I wanted to introduce special dishes like boat noodles, Thai-style chicken rice and also create some of our own fusion dishes like crab paste noodles,” Taii said.

For me, the stand out has to be the pad see ew - where you get to choose your protein (I’d go with the jumbo prawns anytime). Taii’s version is full-bodied, savoury and filled with glorious smokey flavours you would expect from this dish. Don’t think there’s been a time when I didn’t wipe my plate clean. Another dish from Thai Time worth getting into the city for in the Hainanese chicken rice, or to be more precise Thai-style Hainanese chicken rice.

“We use our own secret ingredients and spices for the chicken, so you’ll find a very unique taste,” Taii said.
The version here however uses crispy fried chicken tenderloin instead of the more usual poached chicken used at most restaurants elsewhere, and is just a pure joy to eat. The crispy chicken goes so well with the “cooked-in-chicken-broth” flavoured rice. But the real magic of the dish has to be the potent, zesty chilli dipping sauce served on the side - so addictive.