This is the Food Place food court, located at Pavilion Mall. The food court is located beside the Oriental Kopi Restaurant. I will introduce you to another food from another stall.
This time I ordered a Garlic Fried Pork Neck on rice from the Siam Taste stall, which cost RM18.90 per plate.
The meal is made with slices of pork neck, fried until golden and crispy on the outside yet tender and juicy inside. The meat is generously topped with fried garlic, adding both aroma and crunch. It’s paired with plain white rice, refreshing cucumber slices, and a small side of pickled vegetables (shredded carrot and cabbage) for balance. The dish also comes with a clear soup, lightly seasoned with coriander, which helps refresh the palate.
What really elevates the meal is the tamarind dipping sauce. It carries a harmonious blend of sweet and sour flavours with notes of lemongrass, chilli, and garlic—classic Thai seasoning that stimulates appetite. Even when you don’t feel hungry, the sauce has a way of cutting through the richness of the fried pork, making each bite addictive and satisfying.
Garlic fried pork (known in Thai as Moo Tod Kratiem Prik Thai) is a beloved street food dish in Thailand. It is simple yet deeply flavorful, often eaten with rice as a quick and affordable meal. Pork neck is a popular cut because of its marbling—leaner than pork belly but more tender and juicy than pork loin. The fried garlic topping is a hallmark of Thai cuisine, used not only for its taste but also for its aroma.
The tamarind-based dipping sauce has roots in traditional Thai cuisine, where tamarind has long been used to bring sourness to dishes before lime became widely available. Lemongrass and chilli are classic additions, tying the sauce to Thailand’s balance of sweet, sour, salty, and spicy flavours.
When brought into a modern food court like Pavilion Mall, this humble street food is presented in a cleaner, restaurant-style plating. Still, it retains the essence of its street-side origins—comforting, hearty, and irresistibly appetising.
