A Taste of Thailand - Papaya

It was a cloudy Saturday evening as I picked up bae from his work to have dinner. He had no idea what to eat, and bae was so hungry. Afraid that we might go wrong, I decided to show him one of my favorite thai restaurant that I know in Berlin, Papaya. It took around 7-10 minutes walk from S-bahn station Savignyplatz. I was kinda afraid that we won't get seat because it is usually full and bae was in a grumpy mood (because he was tired after work and he was hungry). Lucky us, this evening we could find a table for two.

The decoration of the restaurant was pretty simple, dominated by the light green colour. Even they put light green seat pillow on the wooden chair. The tables were decorated with candle light and orchid.

Why go?

Friendly service and the choices of the menu is wide! Less than 5 minutes that we sat there, there was a waiter brought us two menus. The menus they're offering are authentic thai food. You know it is serious because they do not serve sushi like any other asian restaurant in Berlin. 😆

Even though it is not the first time I go there, this time is different. I usually eat catfish salad there, but not this time. My bae speaks thai so he did order for us and let me surprised with the chosen dishes. Yes, in thai language! For you who do not speak thai, don't worry. The menu is written in thai, german, and english. The waiters speak both of those three languages and they offer a lot of guidance so you won't get any trouble in ordering even when you are a tourist.

A moment later, the waiter came out and brought us the drink. He got me oliang tea, and thai tea for himself. Oliang tea is one of my favorite thai drink. Well, based on my knowledge, I can not really call it a tea because this oliang is a drink made of coffee mixed with seeds and other ingredients. They can be soybean, corn, or sesame. But I think there's the brewing process in it so maybe that's why they call it as a tea. Compared with an oliang tea that I have tasted before in Thai Park, the version that papaya has was sweeter. My bae also claimed the same. But it was still rewarding.

Oliang tea (behind) and thai tea

Few moment after that, the foods came out. I was so confused because I did not think that we would order that much. But he did! I did not have any idea what food did he order. They look like mistery dishes to me, except one. My pad thai gai. He ordered two kind of menus with noodles (one of them was my pad thai), one kind of sausages menu (I think it should be as a snack) and one dish with beef and dipping sauce.

Pad Thai Gai

As I wanted to start eating my pad thai, bae sliced the misterious grilled sausage dish and handed it to me. I took a bite. The skin which I think from pork collon has a light crunch and shiny with fat. The transparent crunchy sausage skin was filled with soft minced pork and seasoned with strong herbs, chili and I think curry sauce too. The taste is perfect. Even though for some of people it is too spicy. For example for me, from the scale from 1 to 10, it was level 3; but for bae it was level 6. Later on I know that the name of the dish is Sai Ua. It is served as appetizer ot snack.

The next misterious dish was Suea Rong Hai that is served as salad. It is a grilled beef with basil leaves and chilli dipping sauce. "Try this", bae told me as he took one stripe of beef and dipped it in chilli sauce to show me how to eat that. I tugged a piece of smaller cut of beef. It was tender, moist, juicy and flavorful. The chemistry of this deliciousness? I am pretty sure that they infuse the beef with a kind of sauce (maybe a mixture of fish sauce, soy sauce, pepper and coriander) and then grill it so it has amazing smoky and salty flavor with caramel brown colour.

Like many people I have been crazy for pad thai for as long as i can remember. It is one of my obsession and real deal. It is a stir fried thin noodle ala thailand with tasty egg, crunchy soybean sprouts and any kind of meat or shrimp that you can choose. But today I had it with chicken breast. The taste is a mixture of wonderful sweet, salty and savory that I can not describe. Just great!

Sai Ua and Suea Rong Hai

The portion was generous and my stomach was so full. But my bae did not stop there. He ordered dessert, mango sticky rice. The mango radiate fresh yellow colour, the sticky rice peeking out underneath glossy sliced mango. How it tastes? The mango is especially sweet and smooth, the sticky rice was combined with coconut milk gives creamy and velvet texture. It is extraordinarily delicious!

Mango sticky rice

Savvy loves... Suea Rong Hai!

Savvy tips... Try their catfish salad, I promise you won't regret it.

I think I will never forget this dinner. Because they have good taste and authenticity. But maybe also because I was accompanied by my bae who graciously introduced me to new thai dishes and instructed me how to eat it. But I believe that the secret of excellence dinner is the balance of those factors. 😏

For a while I forget that I am not in Europe. The exquisite dinner today let me find a taste of Thailand in Berlin.