Kha is a modern Thai restaurant located in Hort Park. The setting is quite interesting, although I would only recommend the outdoor tables on next to the main entrance.
The menu is actually quite traditional as in any other Thai restaurant, except the "Chef's recommendations" menu, which has a collection of more inventive dishes. Please refer to their website for more information: http://www.kha.sg/
Apologies for the pathetic pictures, but this was a dinner and the ambient light was so dim that producing appetising photos would have been a real challenge.
Please see mu full review at http://foodieah.blogspot.com/2008/09/kha-modern-thai.html

We were served a complimentary starter of rice crackers with a curry sauce for dipping.
As a starter, we chose 'hor muk salmon', described as spicy grilled salmon souffle on lemongrass with pomelo salad and red curry dressing. Although the description sounded quite 'modern', the dish tasted quite authentically Thai. The salmon souffle' was actually a typical salmon fishcake accompanied by a nice foamy sauce.

The second starter was a salad called 'yam nua wagyu' and described as rare grilled red curry rubbed Wagyu beef, papaya salad, yogurt and chili jam. This also tasted quite typically That, with the exception of the Wagyu beef that didn't taste like Wagyu at all. The beef was of average quality and it was nothing like Wagyu beef and didn't look it either. If you forget about the 'Wagyu' bit, then you can probably start appreciating this dish.

The 'pla salmon yang', a grilled salmon fillet served on green mango, ginger, Thai herb salad with citrus oyster sauce dressing was an enticing combination, but a rather disappointing find. On the positive side, the salmon was only lightly seared. Being a sashimi appreciator as I am I can only be pleasantly surprised by that, but I can also imagine lots of un-entertained faces biting into what they expect to be a cooked salmon fillet to actually feel a thick chunk of raw meat as they start chewing. Writing 'seared' on the description might help. There was nothing wrong with the way the dish was cooked, but it just didn't work. Perhaps a different fish would have made this a successful combination, but salmon really didn't work with that set of ingredients.

Finally we had the 'nua moun' - a beef tenderloin wrapped around enoki mushrooms with seasonal vegetables, spicy sour tomato puree' and green leaves. This dish was OK, the beef being not particularly tender, but well marinated into its Thai tasting sauce.
The dessert selection was not incredibly inviting as in any Thai restaurants. I had the 'sung kaya fuk thong', a coconut mousse with poached pumpkin in jasmine syrup. I wasn't particularly impressed by what was actually not a mousse but a coconut pannacotta topped with coconut meat and garnished with caramelised strips of pumpkin.

Overall, I was highly unimpressed by Kha for a number of reasons. Starting from the environment, which looked pretty impressive on picture, while in reality it didn't meet my expectations. The outdoor terrace at the back where I was first seated was very noisy and right next to the roadside, so I asked to be moved inside. The service was rather poor for a restaurant at this price range. There was a continuous storming of waiters coming in and out of the restaurant to serve the outdoor tables. The fact that a couple of waiters kept rushing through the door to suddenly come to a halt only 1 meter next to our table and stand right there in order to take their order using their portable palmtop became rather disturbing after a while, to the extent that I had to communicate it to the manager. After my complaint, the waiters were redirected to the counter in order to complete their orders. My guess is that their palmtops have a very short reception and the waiters are unable to use them outside, so they have to rush into the restaurant and stop as soon as they get reception. Not very well thought, and they'd better sort it out fast considering that they will be loosing customers because of this.
The fact that the dishes weren't accurately described in order to make them sound 'fine dining': a salmon mousse that is actually a fishcake, a coconut mousse that is a pannacotta, a salmon steak that is a raw seared chunk of salmon, a 'Wagyu' beef that is a normal slice of beef. The restaurant is overpriced and it does not deliver the right level of ambiance, service and food to justify the bill.

I can't believe how poorly Kha's overall review score is! Perhaps it's the price? I can't fault the food or service and the ambience, with a few minor exceptions noted below, is fantastic - especially if you like outdoor dining.

Four of us had a delightful meal here on a Saturday night. We ate by the infinity pool set against a wonderful jungle backdrop. The lighting was dim which we prefer.

Here's what we had and what each of us thought:

Drinks:
FM/Hubby: Mojitos ("very good")
DR/Me: Veuve Cliquot champagne ("good/no complaints")

Amuse (House compliments):
Rice cakes with a Thai peanut sauce ("yummy, but wish they would have replenished our mini rice cakes...suppose we could have asked...")

Appetizers:
FM: salmon souffle ("disappointing - not at all like a souffle")
DR: deep-fried prawns in pepper leaf with tempura sauce ("great")
Me: crab and prawn cakes ("excellent")
Hubby: yum plamuk salad ("amazing")

Main:
FM: beef cheek ("ok")
DR: Chicken pumpkin curry ("good, but not spicy enough")
Me: Beef pumpkin curry ("delicious, tender meat and savory pumpkin with a wonderful portion size")
Hubby: King prawns in vermicelli ("amazing"

It should be noted that Mr. FM is self-admittedly a gourmand and difficult to please:) For me, I'm not a Thai food conniesseur; if I were perhaps I'd have some issues with exactly how the food was spiced and whether or not Kha had ventured too far off-track with it's modern direction. Instead I simply love Thai food that is flavorful and in good portions and we got that in spades at Kha.

The service was fine, not because the staff were professional, but because they were plentiful and easy to flag down. Since we were happy to relax and enjoy a long meal, it wasn't a problem at all. And they were very nice. A nice touch also is how they serve the rice. Two servers bring both brown and white rice by in a large steamer basket.

As for atmosphere, well we love outdoor dining and this will be a welcome addition to our stable of favorites - as long as it's not raining as there was no overhead cover near the pool (a plus on a clear day!). But there is covered al fresco dining on the other side of the restaurant which is nice enough.

One complaint that I had was that a wedding was going somewhere close by - I think downstairs in the the courtyard hall. They restaurant speakers (at least outside) were connected to the same sound system and while were were spared an emcee making cheesy remarks, we weren't spared the onslaught of 70s/80s music such as "99 red balloons" or "like a prayer" or "tragedy" (and kudos to you if you can name these artists). It wasn't overwhelmingly distracting, but it wasn't ideal. Based on this, I would recommend two things to management:

1. Put some plants against the courtyard fence because the activity and the flourescent light from the downstairs meeting room was a bit distracting.
2. Disconnect the speakers from the event hall - instead, pipe in mellower music such as jazz or new age. 80s wedding music is far from ideal.
And, another minor suggestion:
3. Provide pillows for the soft outdoor dining benches as they are a bit too deep.

Without wine our dinner and including a pre-dinner drink we paid $160/couple. Pricey, but we felt it was definitely worth it. We'll definitely return to Kha - we'll simply ask if there is a wedding or function on first!

I wish to rescue this restaurant from the dismal reviews so far...
I went there on a weeknight and it was very quiet.
Hort park's tranquil greenery was a beautiful haunting backdrop for this restaurant that is run by the people who brought us Graze at One Rochester. So some standard in interior decor was met and definitely outdone itself. Wooden panels alternating with glass between, and a gorgeous huge water feature outside embanked the outdoor dining area. The water feature dropped down to the lush HortiPark at a lower level. The effect was breathtaking. Since the offices were mostly closed for the day, the place was really very quiet and restful. Parking was easy and cheap, as not too many people have discovered the place yet.

The drinks list was impressive. Lots of cocktails created by the house. For example my strawberry martini was delicious and textured with chunks of fresh sweet strawberries. My date's passion fruit freeze was refreshing and tangy.

Food was decidedly Modern Thai. We started with grilled chicken skewers with special sauce. The chicken was tender, juicy and the sauce was amazing. Another starter which we devoured with gusto was the Tom Yam soup. The benchmark for Thai restaurants, I feel, is their Tom Yam. Kha's tom yam was heavily flavoured with spices and lemongrass, tangy and the right amount of spice. It was truly mouthwatering and addictive. It came with a huge tiger prawn.
Our mains were the grilled tiger prawn sauteed with sweet and sour sauce. It was well sauteed, with the fragrance of the spices penetrating through. The prawn, however, was overcooked, probably from cooking twice. We also tried the soft shell crab curry. Although it was listed under the 'curry' section, we couldn't find enough fluid to even dab our rice with. I suppose such are the liberties of addind 'Modern' to the menu. Anything goes. If you disagree, then you are 'not modern' enough. The soft shell crab was fried tempura style. Although the gravy was tasty and not spicy, i felt the tempura batter was slightly thick.

Overall, I'd return coz the restaurant created an impression. I'd try the other dishes on the menu. The food was above average, but of course, there's room for improvement. But then again, I haven't exactly found a truly excellent Thai restaurant in Singapore.

The combination of H. on reservist and me having a relatively easy time at work means that we can actually (i) have dinner at a decent time and (ii) try out new places on relatively less crowded weekday evenings. We were at Relish yesterday night and today we headed to HortPark (off Alexandra Road) for dinner at Kha.



Kha is located at HortPark, which is across the road (and up) from Gillman. HortPark is a new gardening hub developed by NParks, and there are apparently gardening classes organised for those with green fingers. There is also a Far East Flora outlet there, although by the time we arrived, my feet hurt from being in heels the whole day and I didn't fancy mooching around.

The restaurant

Amazingly despite it being a Tuesday evening, the restaurant was full and we had to wait about 45 minutes for a table. In the meantime, we opted to have drinks by the infinity pool (not the swimming kind), which had a gorgeous view of the sunset.

When we eventually got into the restaurant, I was quite pleased with the warm wood furniture/decor and lighting. While the outdoor bar area was a tad too dim, the restaurant itself was nicely lit - bright enough so that we could actually see what we were eating, but intimate enough so that we didn't feel like we were in full view of every other diner. Oh, the stone buddha at the entrance and the lemongrass & orchid table flowers were nice touch.

Food & drink

Kha serves "modern Thai food" - the addition of the word in front of any type of cuisine automatically makes me suspicious. Despite exuding a very chi-chi vibe, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food.

We had:-

* Goong sarong ($16): King prawns wrapped in rice vermicelli and fried, served with a honey mustard dipping sauce. The prawns were very fresh (albeit a bit on the small side despite being "king" prawns) and went well with the semi-sweet dipping sauce.

* Tom yum goong ($15): Instead of the classic tangy-sour clear tom yum soup soup, Kha's version was a thicker broth that had a bit more sweet than it was tangy. A bit too Westernised/modernised for my taste. While the soup portion was big enough for two (it comes chock full of spices and mushroom), there was only one king prawn in the large-ish bowl.

* Pla gao rad prik ($28): Deep fried grouper fillets with chilli sauce. This is a staple at most Thai restaurants. The version at Kha was crispy and hot and tasty, although I would have like the chilli sauce to be slightly spicier instead of sweet. This was still good nonetheless.

Two dishes which we ordered, which I think are the current chef's specials:

* Grilled squid stuffed with sour mince pork and chilli padi: I really enjoyed this - 5 pieces of squid stuffed to the brim with sour mince pork (essentially mince pork with vinegar) and chilli padi. This dish had a very peasant-y taste, which we attributed to the pork. The vinegar in the pork went well with the slightly fatty pork and the grilled squid pieces. Served with Thai mango slices.

* Grilled mango cheeks served with passionfruit sorbet: We both enjoyed this despite being stuffed from the rest of the food. Sweet Thai mangos are grilled until caramelised and served with very tangy passionfruit sorbet. An excellent mix of sweet and sour.

While the Kha wine selection was not spectacular, the cocktail selection is definitely worth a try. The Kha Strawberry and Basil Martini was sweet with strawberry bits and fresh basil leaves. H. had the blackberry mojito, which was filled with blackberry bits, crushed ice and mint and perfectly muddled. H. also had the Rosellita, which was a ginger based martini.

Non-alcoholics would enjoy the Smooth Operator, which is a lighter version of an avocado shake: the avocado is mixed with strawberry, lime and lychee juice, which gives the drink a very fresh and lighter taste.

Service

The service was excellent. The staff were attentive, friendly and polite - service with a smile appeared to be their motto. I found out from one of the waitresses that the chef, as well as a number of the service staff, were Thai, which may well explain the quality of service. My only complaint is that the bar was quite slow when preparing drinks.

Overall

Dinner was $208 for 2 of us, inclusive of 4 drinks. A little pricey given the size of the servings, but the quality of the food and drinks, and the excellent service made up for it.

Set in the spacious HortPark compound, Kha came across as an inviting place to dine and relax amidst beautiful views. Yes, you can sit by the deck and enjoy cascading water with lush greenery all round. But for my night visit with another couple, this could not be appreciated much.

Nevertheless, our expectation of the food was high given that this place is owned by a certain Ms Yenn. Our orders were

Appetizer: King Prawn wrapped with rice vermicelli
- Tiny prawns wrapped with vermicelli 4/10

Salad: Spicy pomelo salad with prawn, chicken
- Bug chunks of pomelo, looks disorganised 5/10

Soup: Tom Yum soup
- As per any thai restaurant 6/10

: Tom Ka Gai (chicken, tumeric in coconut milk)
- Not bad. Good blend of taste, enough for 2 7/10

Mains: Steamed seabass with lime and chilli
- Freshwater bred fish with muddy taste. Even the lime and chilli cannot save it. For $30... 3/10
: Phad thai
- As per any thai restaurant. Generous amount 6/10

Desserts: Deep fried bananan fritters
- The coconut syrup made it taste better than on its own 7/10

: Mango tart
- Sour mangoes. The coconut ice cream was good 6/10

Overall, the place is crowded and as we sat indoors, the noise level was too high until we have to raise our voices considerably, like going to a club. The food is so-so, nothing in particular stood out. However, I must praise the staff for their good service standards. In the end, I left quite disappointed but yet will give this place a chance when the Sun brunch starts.