Tree Monkey; In the Jungle or On the Tree?

It's been a long time that I wish to visit 'Tree Monkey'... Finally, Here I go for a lunch on a relaxing holiday. It has been a fine sunny day; to sit there for a nice meal and letting the wind to blow over the ears. It's a quiet place to keep us away from the noise of busy city life.

Tree Monkey is located beside the Tropical Spice Garden. I guess they're from the same owner, with the similar concept to bring the guests into the nature; surrounded by the trees and looking to the ocean view that seems to be faraway yet so near. Every single tables and chairs here are made from the wood. You can choose to sit nearby the sea view, inside the big wooden house or preferably the small hut that you can have your own private time.

They serve mainly Thai food here; with more varieties over the Asian food other than some Western dishes or BBQ meals over the weekend. We've started our meal with the Thai Tapas as our appetizer. They provide a large selection of the 'finger-bites' food and I've decided to go for the 8pcs plate that consists of Money Bag, Prawn Sarong, Lemongrass Stick and Darling Crab. Wrapping with the blended fish meat and some vegetable inside the Popiah skin, this is our Money Bag that I don't really fancy over the oiliness. The Prawn Sarong is in fact circling the noodles over the fresh prawn before it's being fried till golden brown color. I love the freshness of the prawn whereby it's still tender and feeling so lively with the juiciness of the meat to spread inside the mouth. About the Lemongrass Stick, it's actually the blended fish meat with vegetables to coat on the Lemongrass Stick before it's being grilled. The taste of the lemongrass is absorbed into the fish meat, leaving behind a nice aroma when biting. However, some people may dislike the strong lemongrass smell. The last dish in our Thai Tapas is the Darling Crab that means also baking the mixture of blended seafood and vegetable inside the half crab shell. The seafood mixture is soft and juicy yet with a slight crusty surface.

For our main dishes, I've ordered a Pineapple Fried Rice that is really being served inside a big pineapple. The rice smells nice from the Thai curry powder or spice that has created a delicious taste as well. The chef has generously put in a lot of chicken meat and some cashew nuts as the decorations; goes well with the Sambal that is not too spicy except a little too salty for me. But, it's weird... I've found only one small cube of pineapple inside my fried rice?!! My boyfriend has chosen the Fried Beef with Cashew Nuts and both of us give a 'Thumbs Up' compliment to this dish. The beef is fried with the sweet and sour sauce, with some dried chili to give it a little spiciness; that has completely stimulated our appetite to ask for more. The beef is so tender that it's just nice to be cut in the mouth.

We've ended our meal with the recommended desserts of Ice Water Chestnut with Red Ruby and the Thai Coconut Ice-Cream. The red ruby is a common Thai dessert whereby the water chestnut is coated with red-coloured Sago flour and being boiled to cook before pouring in the coconut milk; with the sago flour to create some chewiness opposing the crispy chestnut. I don't really like this dessert here as the coconut milk is too thin as I prefer it to be thicker for a stronger coconut taste. Personally, the Ice-Cream is refreshing whereby it's in fact the nutty vanilla ice-cream being poured with the creamy coconut milk and thick condensed milk.

Oh ya, not to forgotten my drink that I've ordered the Mixed Fruit Juice of Orange, Carrot and Lime. I like this refreshing drink that is so colourful and with such a strong lime taste; to minimize the greasiness that I've had over my meal.

Not only the environment, we've indeed enjoyed the food also. Having a delicious meal with such cozy ambient is really a life satisfaction. We'll definitely visit here again...