Shang Thai Launch Ceremony at Muscat Grand Mall

  What an honor to be invited to the launch of Shang Thai at MGM this evening! (The restaurant had a soft opening on Jan. 22nd but this was the official launch.)  My wife was very excited about heading down to Shang Thai even though we just enjoyed a fabulous Valentine’s Day menu at their Wave branch only 4 days ago!  We receive many invitations and it’s just not physically possible to attend all of them but this was one that my wife insisted that we attend. (Bend my rubber arm ;-)!)    Shang Thai now has 2 branches in Oman: this one in MGM which was moved from Al Khuwair and the other at the Wave (al Mouj).  What a warm welcome!  🙂  My wife didn’t waste any time getting right to the appetizers.  It was a pleasure meeting up with Rajiv Kohli, the Joint Director of Inspired Talents Management Consultancy and Chef Praiwan Sriplai, the Executive Chef of Shang Thai.  Rajiv was a delightful host and we were impressed that he knew about every post we have ever published on Shang Thai.  Chef Praiwan was also very charming and it was fascinating to hear about his experience working as Executive Chef in Oman overseeing both restaurants.  Would you believe they even insisted on offering my wife complimentary cooking lessons with Chef Praiwan?!  The seating on the outside patio is a nice option!  Here’s my wife sitting with the guest of honour, His Excellency Dr. Pornchai Danvivathana, Ambassador of Thailand, and his lovely wife.  We also got to meet Hassan Jaboub, the General Manager of MGM, seen here sitting next to the Ambassador.  A big thanks once again to Rajiv for introducing us and giving us the royal treatment during our evening.  A big thanks to His Excellency as well who declared us to be on his “official friends of Thailand network.” 🙂  It goes without saying, the food was fab! (2 points if you can identify the famous Omani blogger/tweeter in this pic! 😉 )  What would Shang Thai be without its chefs!?  My wife with the Thai dancers just before their Thai Cultural Dance.  This is the current promotion for “Thai Central Region Flavors” at Shang Thai which is only on till February 28th.  It’s a great excuse to check out the new location of Shang Thai in MGM while enjoying some of the best Thai food in Muscat if you haven’t been there yet.

What a lovely night!