Opened on Dec 15, Tai Er, the restaurant famous for suan cai yu or spicy and sour fish with pickled mustard greens, has opened its first Thai branch on the seventh floor of CentralWorld on Rama I Road.
This is the latest addition to its 500-plus branches in China and is near the escalator that goes up to CentralWorld Live.
Tai Er follows the same black-and-white coloured interior as its Chinese restaurants with an open concept. Guests will be greeted enthusiastically in Mandarin and ushered to their table. Orders are via QR code.
While waiting for your order, you can pour yourself tea and flavour it with dried orange peel and roselle at the tea station. Or open a shallow drawer at your table to retrieve utensils and even a cable to charge your phone.
Tai Er's signature, suan cai yu comes in two portions to be shared between two people or for up to four people. The hot and sour fish with pickled mustard greens arrives impressively in a big bowl complete with chilli, chilli peppers and chrysanthemum petals for an appetising colour combo. The generous pieces of tilapia soak in the aromatic and spicy soup while the pickled mustard greens (suan cai) add a pleasing sourness to the mix. Its numbing effect slowly creeps in on your palate but it isn't overwhelming. There's siam si can at the table for you try your luck when you enjoy the fish soup, too.
Trying to live up to its position as the ambassador of Sichuan cuisine, Tai Er menu also includes a variety of classic dishes of the regional cuisine, such as Mapo tofu, Poached sliced beef in hot chilli oil and Tripes and blood curds with chilli sauce.
There are also several savoury dishes served cold such as Chongqing cold spicy chicken, Pork slices with mashed garlic sauce and Cold spicy squid while Lemongrass spicy chicken is served here exclusively. The chicken is deep-fried until it turns crispy on the outside and remains tender on the inside.
After spicy dishes, you have dessert choices such as Ice jelly with coconut milk, Chilled mango sago cream with pomelo and Coconut flavoured ching bo leung to calm your palate.
