Greeted at the level which Nautilus was situated, we were led past private dining rooms, through a long, dark and ominous passage way, then up a flight of steps before the dining area of Soht and Baay finally came into view. What an elaborate walk just to enjoy a meal. One side of the restaurant had a nice view of Orchard Road facing Shaw and Marriott and the other side was adorned with rows of mini glass Thai Buddhas shelved against a mirror wall. The decor was aimed to look atas, abit too pretentious for my like.

Huffing and puffing up the stairs, the waiter attempted to make small talk only to laugh at his own joke. I applaud him for the weak attempt at humour but that was pretty awkward.

An amuse bouche was served and no one could tell me what it was until a 3rd staff was referred. I’ve pretty much forgotten what it was except that there were shreds of coconut, onions and peanuts arranged on a green leaf and I didn’t like it. I nearly barfed it out only to force myself to swallow it, Sorry for the gross illustration, not a fan of coconut.

Crispy Jasmine Rice Crackers ($16.90) came with Shrimp and Chilli Paste. It was good at the first few chomps, especially paired with the shrimp paste that had absolutely no hint of chilli but law of diminishing marginal utility started to set in from the 3rd piece onward, I’m not quite sure why cos it assayed pretty good to me at first.

Wok Fried Soft Shell Crab with black pepper and kaffir lime leaves ($25.90) was crispy and addictive even though I didn’t like the subtle licorice astringency in the gravy.

Tom Yum soup ($18.90) was flavourful, had an adequate amount of oyster mushrooms and only 1 piece of deshelled jumbo prawn in it. I liked the broth alot but look, patrons usually order a few dishes to share, why only 1 piece of prawn?! I don’t need the prawn to be jumbo size, a few more pieces of fresh prawns would be nice so one does not have to fight tooth and nail over that single crustacean in the soup.

Approbated by the waiter taking our orders, we ordered the Charcoal Grilled Squid ($20.90) with lime, garlic and chilli dip which was bereft of any other flavour other than the grilled charred taste. I guess that’s where the chilli dip comes in, and mine it was spicy hot. I didn’t think much of this dish.

Shredded Morning Glory ($19.90) cooked in sweet basil, garlic and oyster sauce bore a resemblance to jade green noodles but it fell short of glory with its insipidity. It was rather forgettable.

The dutiful waitress came around a few times to top up our respective orders of warm and iced waters. We had an order of rice which we requested to be cancelled but it came anyway. We sent it back only to find it being reflected on the receipt. Well, maybe the operations of the budding restaurant had not fully streamlined yet, hence the breakdown in communications.

One thing I didn’t like about dining here was that there is no toilet to be found within the premise of the spacious restaurant. Imagine we had wanted to go to the washroom at the beginning of the meal and was told to go down the way we came up and use the loos in the shopping mall. Well, we chose to suck it up and wait til the meal is over. Too much of a hassle to walk up and down. :/

For such normal Thai fare at such ritzy prices, I doubt I'd be coming back here.