Was on our way to Alexandra Village for lunch when I spotted an eatery called "Joe's Kitchen-Thai Cuisine". The place looked odd- squashed with a beauty parlour, motorcycle repair shop and SKP type plastic wares shop.

So I said, "Mum, there's a thai place at that row of shophouses, want to try?" Mum, being game with exploring new things, said, "Ok. let's take a look".

We literally "took a look" by assessing their photo menu scotch-taped to the glass panels at the front of the eatery. Since it was very hard to tell how good the eatery was from the photo, we decided that the prices were low (risk) enough to try the place once. So we got a table for two.

We ordered:
1) TOM YUM SLICED FISH SOUP($4.50 for small) - Definitely NOT from bottled paste. The soup was served to us in a non-threatening and seemingly chilli-less orange color. But, I tell you, the taste was so authentic! Sour and chilli-spicy at the same time. It was one of the best tom yum soups I had in Singapore (and I'm not even comparing that to the rubbish that some hawkers pass off as "Tom Yum")

2) MANGO SALAD ($6.50) - Again, it was authentic to the "T" but to really bring out the contrast of the "sour/sweet/spicy" flavours, it had some deep fried crunchy "sotong" (cuttlefish) shreds. Really good stuff!

3) FRIED PRAWN CAKE ($2 per piece) - Crispy on the outside, chock-ful of freshly minced prawn meat on the inside. There was no undertones of rancid/overly used oil that I could usually taste in prawn cakes, say at an eatery like Diandin Leluk at Golden Mile Shopping Complex.

4) FRIED FISH CAKE ($1.50 per piece) - Not too chewy, not too musy. It was just nice. It had a "otak" sort of taste but the curry leaves in the fish cake lifted it to the "thai" level. Yum.

5)FRIED STUFFED CHICKEN WING ($2 per piece) - This particular item reminded me of "home cooked food" because in their minced mix that they stuffed the wing with, it had whole kernals of corn. When I see "whole" pieces of "things", I tend to think of the word "generous" - which you can only get at home. The wing was fried just nice. Meat was nice and so was the wing skin....so sinful...

6) FRIED TUNG HOON AKA PHAD WOON SEN ($4.50 for small) - Mum commented that this was better than the ones she had in Bangkok's restaurants. Not only was it tasty, it had non of the oiliness that usually came with frying the Tung Hoon (green bean vermicelli).

7) GLUTINOUS RICE WITH FRESH MANGO ($4.50) - I've got to say this - YUM YUM YUM! I was surprised that the presentation was so professional as I was expecting a lump of rice (hand scooped) drizzled haphazaardly with coconut juice. NOOOOOOO>.......this was not the case. Good to look at as it was good to eat.

As we were so impressed with the food, we ended up talking to the Chef's (who is Joe and also a Thai) wife - Jamie - who informed us that they are very busy on Saturdays and Sundays from 6-8pm. For those who hate crowds (like me), the best time to visit is lunch and dinner times on weekdays and lunch on week ends.

Opening hours: Wednesdays to Mondays (off on Tuesday): 11am - 3pm; 5pm- (I think) 9pm

Don't say I never warn you....

Overall, I'd say, come and try. For the value you get, it's really worth every effort.

Why you must visit:
1) Price is affordable.
2) Portions are generous
3) Food is freshly prepared
4) Can't get more authentically Thai tasting than here
5) Clean and without the Diandin Leluk "smell"
6) Satisfaction - this place....will give that to you...especially when you see the bill