Let’s Kinn THAI Review: XL Seafood Mama Pot And Affordable Oysters In CBD

Let’s Kinn THAI has XL seafood mama pot in the CBD

We heard that Let’s Kinn THAI serves legit Thai food that has that kind of quality to leave you craving more. More specifically, we heard they offer a seriously huge seafood mama pot, and that intrigued us enough to head down and check it out.

Located in the corner of Tanjong Pagar Plaza, this eatery is a hidden gem that gets rather crowded during lunch. They’ve also opened a second outlet earlier this year in Bukit Timah called Let’s Kinn Bro, if you want to enjoy your meal in peace without having to fight the CBD lunch crowd. Anyway, let’s get into the offerings at the Tanjong Pagar branch.

Food at Let’s Kinn Thai

We’d originally come for their Fresh River Prawn Seafood Mama Pot ($42.90++/$64.90++), available in small and medium. There being two of us, we simply went for the small option that’s said to feed two to three people. The pot came loaded with an intimidating amount of ingredients, such as prawns, sotong, shellfish, veggies, egg yolks, and a giant river prawn.

The star of the show here was obviously the giant river prawn sitting prettily in the centre of the pot. With its larger stature and long, unwieldy arms, we were struggling to pick it up without causing a splash. Nevertheless, the effort was worth it, yielding tender and meaty flesh and a generous amount of head butter. 

You also get quite a number of regular old prawns too, though it’s probably advisable to take your share out of the pot the moment they’re cooked—the prawns we left to simmer in the broth for later turned rather tough due to our inattentiveness and got pretty hard to remove from the shell. 

Other notable ingredients included a whole load of lala clams and mussels. I’m personally not a shellfish expert by any means, but they did taste and appear rather fresh. With the amount included in the small pot, shellfish people wouldn’t leave unsatisfied. 

Personally, I felt that it was a pretty loaded pot overall, especially considering that this was meant for two to three people. One gripe I did have, however, was that I felt the soup could afford to pack more flavour. It leaned a bit too salty for my taste and was lacking in the tang and spice department, things that the cuisine famous for tom yum soup and spicy Thai curries have led me to expect.

Continuing the seafood theme, we decided to get their Fresh Oysters with Thai Sauces ($21.90++), which got us three fresh oysters on ice, with lemons, sweet Thai chilli sauce, and shallots. 

The staff also recommended we add the spicy chilli condiments located in the containers on our table. We passed on the chilli padi, but included the Thai dipping sauce, aka nam pla prik. 

This elevated the simple oyster to the next level– the sweet chilli jam, sour lemon, and spicy, tangy dipping sauce complemented the brininess of the oyster well, while the shallots added a welcome bit of texture, making for a pretty good mouthful of complex flavours. 

As a palate-cleanser after all the spice, we got drinks. My colleague went with a refreshing Thai Red Soda with Lime ($2.50++), while I went with a basic Thai Milk Tea ($2.50++) that was thankfully not cloyingly sweet.

Finally, we got dessert: the classic Mango Sticky Rice ($9.90++), with blue peaflower glutinous rice alongside the golden-yellow mango for a pop of flavour. 

This version brought me back to the streets of Bangkok. The mango was sweet, the glutinous rice was soft, and the savoury coconut cream tied it all together. 

Ambience at Let’s Kinn Thai

Let’s Kinn THAI is located in Tanjong Pagar Plaza, a short six-minute walk away from Tanjong Pagar MRT Station. There’s the option of an air-conditioned seating area or a smaller outdoor area that’s good for larger parties. We chose to sit outdoors, and found the area to be well-ventilated and not stuffy at all.

The verdict

The portion of the mama pot was incredible even with the small option —its definitely worth getting if you’re in a larger group and wanting to find some good food in the CBD. As a bonus, the oysters with Thai sauces were simple but ingenious, and I love the mango sticky rice here. Still, while the portions make the price affordable in the CBD, the total bill showed us that this isn’t the cheapest meal out there, so I’d save this for those days after you get that paycheck.  

For more legit Thai food around, check out Thailand Street Food, a wallet-friendly Thai bistro bar in Macpherson! And if that’s a bit too far for you, there’s the popular boat noodle stall Tha Chang Noodle Bar, which has recently made the move to Telok Ayer after Golden Mile’s closure. 

Address: 1 Tanjong Pagar Plaza, #02-30, Singapore 082001
Opening hours: Mon-Sat 11am to 11pm
Tel: 8918 8462
Website
Let’s Kinn THAI is not a halal-certified eatery.

Photos taken by Tan Jia Hui
This was an independent visit by Eatbook.sg.