Read the full review at http://thehungrybunnie.blogspot.com/2012/04/bali-thai-novena-square.html

This is a place you go to for run-of-the-mill, cheap and fairly good Thai and Indonesian cze char fare.

We had:

1) Tao Hoo Talay ($12.50) beancurd with seafood, which is also known as hotplate beancurd in cze char places. This was a very no-fuss, standard dish, with a garlicky eggy oyster sauce based gravy slathered over the silky beancurd and the requisite prawns, squid and fish slices.

2) Gai Phad Bai Krapow ($10.80) stir-fried chicken with basil leaves was also no-fuss, spicy and fragrant, with baby corn and long beans lending texture and fibre to the dish

3) Satay Madura ($9.80 for half dozen): skewered chicken from the Indonesian menu - tender and moist, with a chunky peanut sauce for dipping

4) Belinjau crackers ($3) were paired with a watery sour-ish but potent chilli sauce

Were on our way to Lerk Thai but we took a wrong turn and ended at Velocity instead. Decided to try Bali Thai since we really had a craving for some Tom Yum. Was quite tempted to try their ala-carte buffet at $29.90+ per pax. Thank goodness The Man stopped me in time.

Thai Iced Coffee was the worst I ever had, super diluted with no taste of coffee.

Tom Yum Seafood soup was warmed over a tiny little fire, which did not help to keep it warm. The soup itself was served mildly warm, not hot. Fried egg beancurd was okay, tasted the way it should (as confirmed by The Man).

Pineapple rice was also barely warm, some part of the rice were in chunks (like the kind of overnight rice) and I don't taste any pineapple. Meat floss were added sparingly. I heard that some thai restaurants re-use the pineapple "shell" and I highly suspect this was the case for our meal, cos there were little flies which started bugging us after the pineapple rice was served.

The food were served super fast, like within 10 minutes after we placed our orders. Service was okay, the only frown we had was when we had to remind them 3 times for our dessert (Mango glutinous rice).

Mainstream Thai restaurants like Thai Express and Lerk Thai serves way better thai food.

We've never been to Novena and was passing through around dinner time so decided to find a place to eat, settling on Bali Thai. We were hungry and welcomed the crackers. However they were quite plain tasting and the chilli also was too sharp for me, but something to nibble on while waiting.

For our meals we chose the seafood hotplate and ayam pangang (indonesian grilled chicken). The seafood hotplate ($12.50++) was disappointing, with only a solitary prawn and a few pieces of squid. Also the vegetables looked like a frozen pea/corn/diced carrot mix. Taste is okay, but seems a bit basic. The ayam pangang ($7.50++) was an improvement, it's quite tasty but I was hoping for more of a BBQ grilled flavour through it.

So far things were quite average so we were hoping for a good dessert. We order mango sticky rice ($4.80++) and durian sticky rice ($5.80++), and it proved to be the highlight. What a fantastic combination of mango, sticky rice and coconut milk! It almost redeemed the meal, and at least we left on a high. Service is good with frequent water top-ups and the food brought out promptly. Amibience is ok, I like the background music and views from the window. However some of the furntiture and decorations are starting to show their age. Overall I'm left feeling indifferent and doubt I'll return here, except perhaps for dessert!