Restaurant review: Mak Mak - a taste of Thailand in Central’s Landmark mall

At first glance, Mak Mak looks like one of the ubiquitous upmarket coffee stands that do a brisk takeaway business in shopping malls. Upon closer examination, you’ll see that shelves normally displaying baked goods are loaded with Thai products and that the coffee kiosk is actually a fully stocked bar.

The restaurant itself is well designed and a little dim, but not so dark that you can’t read the menu (or almost more importantly, take pictures). The menu seems long, but then you notice that a good portion of it is meat- and seafood-free, which means that vegetarians have ample choice.

The first item served was the deep-fried king prawns wrapped in rice vermicelli (HK$128), and it was the only disappointing dish of the meal. The prawns were small and overcooked, and the honey mustard dipping sauce tasted like straight-from-the-bottle Kewpie mayonnaise, with no other flavourings.

Spicy pomelo salad with prawns and chicken (HK$138) was the best dish of the night. The juicy pomelo pieces weren’t too small, and the combination was refreshing, with a sweet-tart dressing.

Another salad, wing bean with grilled prawn and minced pork (HK$158) was a much richer dish, with a complex, peanut-based dressing. Fried soft shell crab (HK$198) still managed to maintain a gentle crispness, despite its mild yellow curry sauce enriched with egg.

The waitress recommended the wok-fried minced chicken (minced pork is the other option) with Thai holy basil (HK$158) and although it was a little oily, the intense flavours were enjoyable (although we should have had it with steamed rice). The Thai sukiyaki (HK$138) – described as “Thai-style suki sauce” with prawns, squid and glass noodles, was a great combination of flavours, but because it was served mid-meal, the noodles stuck together and became hard to separate by the time we started eating it.