Red Curry Chicken at Kaffir Thai

Juan and I have a small addiction to eating out, every once in a while.

It’s some sort of weakness that we have – the need to be outside, enjoying dinner at a nice restaurant (or humble corner food cart). It’s a little bright spark to light up the weekend, to have a nice occasion to dress up for, put on our nice shoes and pretty clothes. It makes us feel alive, like a breath of fresh air to complete the weekend, and a push of energy to help us get through the next working week.

We always attempt to explore different dining out options, trying not to repeat the same restaurant more than once, unless it was incredibly good and makes us itch to return.

Last night, we wanted some Southeast Asian punch – something spicy and intense – so we settled for Thai food, and began an online search for a good Thai restaurant.

The Buenos Aires food guide, Guia Oleo, had pretty good reviews for Kaffir Thai, a restaurant in the city center situated at Tres Sargentos 427, a few blocks away from Juan’s office. We decided to give it a shot, although it looked a little pricey.

Kaffir Thai is more suitable for a romantic dinner with your partner as opposed to a place for a friends’ night out.

At the entrace, you are greeted by two majestic elephants on the walls, imponently impressive, as they stretch from floor to ceiling, beckoning you to come right in. Next to them, are two comfortable light green chairs, in a very royal living room arrangement. You feel like you’ve walked right into the movie of Anna and the King. It transforms your mood instantaneously, and suddenly you feel like a princess dining with your prince.

Its dim lighting, made just a little brighter with table candles, creates a charmingly intimate ambience, with pretty crystal lights mounted on its jade green walls, more of decoration than to provide lighting.

After settling in a cosy corner booth, we flipped through the menu excitedly, anticipating a delicious meal to come.

There were the usual famous Thai dishes – pad thai, green curries, and red curries, with a small list of desserts and a large cocktail menu. However, having already had our eye on curries, we zoomed right on to the target.

I wanted the spiciest of the curries available, and ordered Gaeng Kiawan Nua O Kai, which was red curry chicken in coconut milk with pumpkin and thai basil, along with a side of rice. Juan ordered Gaeng Massaman, which was massaman curry with beef, potatoes, cinnamon and peanuts.

Before eating our main course, we ordered flour-covered deep fried prawn rolls, which were served with a mixture of soy sauce and garlic. These were good, although I would have liked a stronger, more intensely-flavored sauce to go with them.

Between the two of us, we agreed that my red chicken curry was more authentically Thai and far more delicious- it was spicy, but also sweet because of the characteristically sweet pumpkin taste, and had a hint of lime, whose tangy sourness made the curry very addictive – so much so that I greedily ordered another side of plain white rice to accompany the curry, and kept on eating even while feeling I was going to explode. For being so addictive, I’d give it a 9/10.

The desserts looked great, but we were too full to eat another bite.

Although it was pricey (as we had expected at 150 pesos per person), we were very pleased with our food and ended our meal pleased as possums. It was probably one of the more regal Thai food experiences I’ve had in Buenos Aires, and I’m definitely recommending it for a date night out.