The hype surrounding Ta-ling Pling is hot; unfortunately the food is not, literally. This two-story restaurant impresses with colorful contemporary décor. Vivid red and orange walls contrast nicely with black-and-white photos and dark wooden tables. Reservations are highly recommended because, even on our Monday night visit, the dining area was swollen with Thai diners and their foreign guests. But one thing we’ve learned from visiting a popular restaurant like this is to keep our expectations low so that we are not too disappointed. Farang-friendly Thai fare, indifferent service, steep prices: we were prepared for the worst. But there is no excuse for any restaurant, let alone the one that got rave reviews like this, to dish out cold food. Our orders arrived amazingly fast even though they had a full house to feed. Actually, it took us longer to order from the extensive menu (which covers everything Thai plus a few pasta dishes) than it did for the chef to cook. Still, every dish arrived cold and seemed to be pre-cooked so it lacked that much-needed freshness. This was particularly evident with the matcha chom suan (deep-fried snake-head fish with herb salad, B255), in which the fish was so cold and overcooked we couldn’t really taste its sweetness. The kaeng lieng prik khee nuu sod (mixed vegetable soup with chilies, B120) also reached our table cold, bland and boring. Tod mun thong muan (deep-fried fish cake wrapped with thin omelet sheets, B90) was a signature starter marked on the menu as a recommendation by both McDang and Shell Chuan Chim. But our pleasure was serevely diminished by the coldness of the first bite. That said, there are plenty of nice finds hidden in the menu. Yum pla salid Ta-ling Pling (B90) was pleasant (probably because it didn’t have to be served hot) thanks to the tangy sauce, which was balanced by the crispy salted fish. Also tasty was braised tenderloin in kaffir lime sauce (B120) that impressed with tender beef strips. Ironically, what a restaurant known for authentic Thai cuisine does best is dessert. Ta-ling Pling offers various traditional delights along with a good range of cakes. We loved a refreshing combination of Thai-style young coconut ice cream and gluay chuam (poached banana in syrup, B60). Crepe L’Orange (B100) was our ultimate dish of the night mainly because it was the first, and only, thing that arrived hot. Finally! Though Ta-ling Pling struggled to meet our (low) expectations, the surrounding farang diners seemed to be having one of their best meals ever. So it’s a good place to treat your visiting friends for Thai Food 101. Plus the prices are pretty reasonable: a dinner for two usually comes under B1,000 unless you really splurge. Just be sure that, if you send your foreign friends alone, make sure they know how to say “reheat” in Thai.