Thai Express was one of the first restaurants I cleared as Gluten Free friendly when I arrived. I found out early on that I was able to eat the curries as they prepare the curry paste themselves and do not add any thickeners. Though more of the Newtown Thai Two than the Thai Pothong calibre, for those who are familiar with Sydney's King St, Thai express make a passable curry at a reasonable price. I have been dying to try a laksa since arrival in Singapore, but with the local laksas at the hawker centers out of bounds due to pre-mixing of the soup with Tau Pok (tofu with gluten skin), I hadn't had the chance until a Malaysian-Australian friend came over from Sydney and walked me through some local names for ingredients whilst at Thai express. This is where I learned the name for Tau Pok, also that I can eat Tau Foo which generally means firm tofu. My friend also ran me through the words for the various types of noodles, which was my other area of gluten worry as no one I've asked seemed to know what laksa noodles were made of - they were just 'laksa noodles, la'. They are, in fact, rice noodles in the shape of spaghetti (which I think was the main reason for my initial concern as I'm used to noodles in laksa being flat as they are in Sydney). Incidentally, the flat rice noodles are called Kiwi Tiao and are safe. Stay away from Mee - these look like laksa noodles/spaghetti but are egg noodles and contain wheat. Vermicelli is called either Mee Hoon or Bee Hoon and are made from rice flour.
After clearing this up, we ordered a laksa and pineapple rice to share. The pineapple rice is a local dish and whilst the version at Thai Express had no soy sauce,t I was warned always to check for this elsewhere as different places will use slightly different recipes. I am now dying to try pineapple rice in a hawker center as Thai express serve it on a plate but apparently it is traditionally served in a hollowed out half-pineapple, yum!
Pineapple Rice,
Thai Express
Raffles City B2
