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Gai-tord Je Keey (Polo Fried Chicken)
Je Keey's gai-tord (fried chicken), somtum (raw papaya spicy salad) and Issan food are decent northeastern gourmet serve in Bangkok C.B.D.
It was almost 10 years ago I sampled Je Keey's fried chicken and raw papaya spicy salad, at that time in her non-air-conditioned shop. A revisit to Je Keey yesterday found that Je Keey had moved few meters closer to the main road (still on Soi Polo) in a modern decorated shop house, this time with air-conditioning facility.
Taste was very different in comparison to ten years ago. The yum (spicy salad) and soup (namely tom-zaap the Issan style spicy and sour soup) were not as spicy as before. Somtum pla ra (raw papaya spicy salad with fermented fish and crab, Baht 60) was decent but not outstanding. The gai tord (fried chicken, Baht 80 for half chicken) of which made Gai Tord Je Keey appears on Lonely Planet and a few foreign tour books, was a little disappointed on our table. The once frozen AA fryer chicken was well marinated on the skin, crispy, but loose in texture and no taste in its meat. We ate with Je Keey house sauce (pretty good, though) to enhance the taste of that bland chicken meat. Our dessert, lod-chong (green glutinous rice flour stripe in coconut milk, Baht 30) was not better than the fried chicken. No taste, no texture, just powder mixed with water and coloring.However, all the yum dishes (Baht 50-80) were pretty good although heat index laying on the mild side but all ingredients and seasonings held a good balance to taste. The tom-zaap (Baht 60) was on the acceptable sour side though not too spicy, good to lift our appetite, and good for beginners. We will avoid fried chicken and concentrate on yum dishes if we shall return to Je Keey in the future!Je Keey (Polo) Fried Chicken ***137/1-2 Soi Polooff Wireless RoadLumpini, Bangkok 10330Tel.: 02.655.8489Open daily 7am - 10pmPay (food only for two): around THB 500(Delivery available)
