Restraint is rarely the first word associated with Thai food, which makes As I Am by Chef Ton such a pleasing surprise. Presented as Malaysia’s first modern Thai fine dining restaurant, it offers refinement, balance and emotion in place of excess or theatrics.
The Chef and the Room
Chef Thitid Tassanakajohn, known as Chef Ton, is the first Thai chef with two of his own restaurants on Asia’s 50 Best list. His Bangkok restaurant Le Du earned Michelin recognition for its contemporary approach to Thai cooking. At As I Am, the touch is gentler and more delicate, with each course keeping traces of traditional Thai identity while using modern technique and polished plating.
The restaurant sits in central Kuala Lumpur with a view of Merdeka 118, described as the world’s second-tallest building. Lighting is warm, tables are generously spaced, and the service team is attentive and friendly, leaving the cooking to take center stage. It is elegant without ever feeling intimidating.
That tower is worth a long look from the window. Merdeka 118 rises 118 stories to a height of 678.9 meters, about 2,227 feet, which places it second only to the Burj Khalifa among the world’s tallest buildings. Its name means independence in Malay, a nod to the nearby Stadium Merdeka. For a diner, the view does something quietly useful: it reminds you that you are in a modern, ambitious capital, and that a kitchen devoted to the careful, heritage-minded cooking of a neighboring country has found a natural home here.
What Samrub Means
The name of the menu is worth a moment. In Thai dining, samrub translates as a set, and in a restaurant it refers to a set menu, much like the French prix fixe. Chef Ian Kittichai has described it as a progression of dishes, from smaller snacks, dips and bites through soups, salads, curries, meats and seafood. Twelve courses at As I Am follow that same arc, which gives the evening a clear narrative: bright and cool at the start, deeper and richer in the middle, then soft and sweet at the close.
It is also a generous way to understand Thai cooking. Rather than ordering a single dish and a bowl of rice, you move through textures and temperatures in a deliberate sequence, with each plate answering the one before it. Crisp gives way to silky, smoky to fresh, and the occasional palate reset keeps the pace lively.
Twelve Courses, Start to Finish
The Samrub menu opens with sweet botan ebi salad, chili galangal dressing, ikura, rice cracker and betel leaf. Next comes a thin Thai crepe holding king crab over yellow curry, finished with caviar, followed by smoky southern grilled squid tentacle with golae curry, coconut cream and calamansi.
Kanom jeen nam prik poo is a highlight: fermented rice noodles with crab, banana blossom and Thai acacia. A glazed kaffir lime granita then resets the palate before the richer middle courses. The Isan beef consomme, made with A4 Miyazaki beef, toasted rice and sawtooth coriander, is among the most comforting plates, and nam prik long rua balances shrimp paste, crispy fish, salted egg and sweet prawn with rose apple.
Red curry duck is softened with coconut cream and longan, while braised squid in squid ink is lifted by young ginger and Chinese celery. A pennywort salad with scallops gains brightness from grilled pineapple and dried prawn, and stir-fried palm heart with prawn oil and coriander root proves that simple dishes, carefully made, can be the most memorable. The finale is smoked coconut ice cream with duck egg custard, taro and candied lotus root.
Many of the aromatics on this menu are the everyday building blocks of the Thai pantry: galangal, kaffir lime, coriander root, shrimp paste and coconut cream. What stands out is the proportion. Each is used with a light hand, so that sweetness, sourness, salt and heat stay in conversation rather than competing, which is the balance that traditional Thai cooking has always sought.
Planning the Evening
A twelve-course tasting is best treated as the whole evening rather than a stop on the way to somewhere else. Arrive with an appetite, allow a leisurely pace, and let the team know about any dietary needs when you reserve so that the kitchen has time to plan. Window tables with a view of the tower are worth requesting when booking, though it is wise to confirm what can be arranged.
For travelers, the restaurant also makes a thoughtful counterpoint to Kuala Lumpur’s better-known tables. Malaysia’s own food culture is rich and varied, and a meal that looks across the border to Thailand, through the lens of one of its most acclaimed chefs, adds another chapter to a city that already rewards curiosity at every mealtime.
The Verdict
Familiar flavors, rooted in heritage and recast with confidence, make this one of Kuala Lumpur’s most polished dining experiences. Prices, reservations and opening hours were not available, so contact the restaurant before planning an evening.
