Bangkok food nomads - 24 to 27 Feb, 2017

Fancy seeing a street banner mentioning Singapore in Pratunam, Bangkok!    Read on the find out why.

All our previous visits for food and makan venues in Bangkok have been to hard-to-find and ageless alley eateries tucked away in some secret street corner somewhere.  We have talked about some of these before, and will also do so here....but for now we will start with some of the modern, cold fusion, tastefully decorated, and well recommended restaurants, where many of the young, educated and well-traveled Thais congregate.

In short, my wife and I became food nomads in Bangkok for the 3 days!

Its important to caution that the traffic jams in central Bangkok are so bad that some of our restaurants choices had to be based on accessibility, and in the Yaowarat (or Chinatown area), we had to resort to taking the MRT and tuk tuk just to get there on time.

Eat Me restaurant @ Silom

Eat Me was a recommendation from one of my wife's adventurous friends.  It is listed as one of Asia's 50 best restaurants.  The address is Soi Pipat 2, off South Sathorn Road in Silom.  We were told that the chef is American and 6-months old, and that the restaurant has been around for 10 years.

We were very happy to have come for dinner at this very modern, cold fusion, and relatively warm and cosy restaurant. The food was yummy and delicious.

The fascade of the restaurant from the road.

Ferns adorned the inside of the entrance. Very tropical!

The bar in the lower/entrance level.

Kitchen at top of stairs, on second floor.

The restaurant bar at the second floor.

Art photos on the restaurant walls.

The restaurant is on the second floor.

Jean-Marc Brocard Chardonay "Petit Chablis" 2015

Grilled Tiger Prawns.

Wagyu Short-Ribs - tomato, pecorino, honeycomb tripe.

Double Spicy Lemongrass Chicken

The chicken was so moist, tender and delicious, we took another photo of the cut piece.

The waitress said that the chicken was seasoned for 5 hours in lemongrass and other herbs. It's very tender and delicious.  I like the texture of the meat - it sort of melts in your mouth.  Reminds me of our Tandori chicken but much more flavorful but yet very different.

The short-ribs were very good (I am always partial to braised short-ribs), but the chicken was even better. Both worth having more.

We shared their lemongrass creme brulee to change our palate, and rounded up the fabulous meal by washing down with our respective favorite teas.

Lemongrass infused soft creme brulee

Chamomille Citron Tea.

Orange Earl Tea

It was a really big dinner, and we couldn't possibly put away anything more! The dinner bill including wine was a decent 5,400 Baht. Not inexpensive but reasonable for the quality of food and service!

Greyhound Cafe @ Siam Paragon

The original Greyhound Cafe is in the mall next door in Siam Center. The Siam Paragon cafe is the newest one that was recommended to us.   Our well known food critic KF Seetoh reviewed the Greyhound cafe in Siam Center and he called the cafe's concept as a "millennials cafe".

When we tried to find the new cafe at the basement of Siam Paragon, we were stumped by the name "a no ther hound" cafe.    It made us walk right past it and when we were staring at it!  

It was not immediately apparent to us that it should be read as "another hound cafe", a playful derivation of it's name. 

 

The cafe is very well concepted -- with blue & white glazed porcelain hanging from ceiling...

......and dark woody feel with modern Parisian motifs panels.

Squid ink bread, a special treat!

Earl Grey Ice lemon tea

Our sparking water - helps "clear" the burps.

Chandon Brut, Australia

Le Cellier Du Pic Chardonay, Saint Hubert, France

Fresh oysters with Thai and traditonal vinegar dressings

Fried chicken wings served with single-bone in each piece. Fried in fish sauce.

"Spaghetti Cha Cha Cha" - black ink pasta with crab fritters and prawns.

The pasta was al dente, and delicious. There was some soup left at the bottom of the pasta instead of just tossed dry, but I guess this must be the way the chef likes it.  We prefer a bit more olive oil in it, but it was nevertheless very tasty.

Crab Bomb with Rice

KF Seetoh gave glowing comments on the Spaghetti Cha Cha Cha and Fried chicken wings. We were not disappointed with both his recommendations.  In fact we also like the fried rice with crab meat. 

The cafe has also great ambience and the full glass walls offer a very bright and delightful cheer to the whole place.

After You dessert @ Siam Paragon

This dessert joint was also a recommendation from a good friend.  The friend said that she can have all her 3 meals in a day here!   It's that good.

The entrance fascade (near the Greyhound cafe).

Take a number and wait for it to be flashed on overscreen

Free-flowing fragrant Thai tea

Latte

Their signature honey french toast

But as we had limited time and tummy capacity, we settled for the #1 item on the dessert menu, the Shibuya Honey Toast.   It was a good choice!

Khua Kling+Pak Sod restaurant @ Thong Lo

We were recommended to try this traditional Southern Thai cuisine restaurant by a good friend.  It was hard to get there.  Because it was a Friday evening traffic conditions (in fact traffic in Bangkok is bad everyday), we decided to take the BTS train from Asoke (where our hotel was), and go two stops away to Thong Lo.     The address is Thong Lo Soi 5, Sukhumvit.   We dropped off at Thong Lo station and walk about 1.5km through bad pavements and fairly badly litted streets....but it's worth it if you like authentic southern Thai cuisine.  The service was good and ordering in English was not a problem.   Please note that only cash is accepted.

Khua Kling+Pak Sod was also recommended in Singapore's Business Times Weekend Food "Destination Dining Bangkok" on March 4-5, 2017.

The name of restaurant on the dark street! The restaurant is on the right.

The entrance is where the street umbrella is.

History of the restaurant.

"Moo Hong" - the braised pork belly is my absolute favorite!

" Khua Kling Moo Sab" - very spicy fried pork

"Gaeng Pu Bai Cha Plu" - green curry in crab meat.

Rice noodles goes with the crab curry.

"Pla Tod Kamin" - fried fish dressed in crispy garlic flakes.  

Pak Tai - too sweet for my taste...!

Condiments of the "Kao Yum Pak Tai"

"Sala in Sugar Syrup with Ice" - a dessert.

Young coconut pudding - very cool!

The braised pork belly and the fried fish were my favorites. Their desserts were delightful too, and of course, I like my young coconut pudding best of all.  The total bill was not expensive, about 2,100 Baht.   The restaurant helped us get a taxi back.

Tang Jia Yoo restaurant @ Yaowarat

We have been to Tang Jia Yoo restaurant before and it was worth coming back again. Terms are cash but the quality and value of the food is without parallel.  Tang Jia Yoo is located in Chinatown or Yaowarat.

Tang Jai Yoo is in an side road Yaowa Phanit, facing our ever popular Hua Seng Hong restaurant on the main Yaowarat street.  A good landmark to remember is the UOB Yaowarat Branch which is situated just before the turning into Tang Jai Yoo's alley.

Fresh crabs all tied up!

The queue of customers waiting for their turn to be called in.

Pat booked Tang Jia Yoo calling from Singapore and speaking in Teochew.  When we arrived our booking was on record, but still have to wait for tables to be cleared.

Sharks' fins

"Hae Cho" - lots of prawns inside.

Braised goose web - we were surprised that it came with noodles!

Fish maw soup - a must-have in any authentic Teochew restaurant

The obligatory or-luak - another must-have !  The oysters are huge!

The food at Tang Jia Yoo remains just as fabulous as when we were last here.  For all of the above plus a plate of spinach, the total bill came up to less that 2,000 Baht, or < SGD80.  Of course, due to obvious limitations (only 2 of us) we didn't order their other signature dishes like the stir-fried crab and the steam fish....!  That would have been a feast for 5 people at least!

Because Tang Jia Yoo is in Yaowarat, it was not possible to take a taxi from our hotel within the one hour we had.  We took the underground MRT from Sukhumvit (our hotel) to Hua Lampong (Yaowarat station), about 6 stops away. The Hua Lampong station is a stone's throw away from the main railway station.  From the Hua Lampong station, we hailed a tuk tuk for 100 Baht to Tang Jia Yoo.   Taking the same mode of transport back, the whole trip costs 312 Baht in total for both of us.

Rossano's Italian restaurant @ Asoke

We were recommended and had booked Luce restaurant @ Eastin Grand Hotel on South Sathon, for lunch.  But no taxis were available to take us to Luce in time for our booking.

Fortunately we took concierge's advice and the hotel tuk tuk to Rossano's at soi 19 in Asoke, which is nearby.

Apparently Rossano's has been around since 1984.  Rossano the owner used to run another Italian restaurant called L'Opera in Bangkok. 

We like Rossano's very much for its earthy Italian style both in terms of the setting of the restaurant as well in the rustic cuisines. Very refreshing after so many days of local food.

The door is guarded by a man-sized pig holding a de-boning knife!

Bread basket

Massolino Nebbiolo Langhe (an unclassified wine from vicinity of Barolo in Piedmont)

The metal frame chandelier - its absolutely rustic.

Fried calamari - mouth-watering good!

Sauteed mussels - the white wine sauce could have been better if less salty

Braised lamb - very nicely done!

Bottarga (salted, cured fish roe) pasta.  Done very al dente, excellento!

The lunch bill came up to 4,500 Baht including wine. Good value!

Soi 19 Wan Ton Noodles @ Pratunam

This wan ton noodle shop at Soi 19 Pratunam was the rave at my last visit and I had to come again.

I am aware of another wanton noodle shop in Singapore called Soi 19, but didn't expect to see this.......

Banner reads (cryptically): "No Branch in Singapore".

Knowing that the queue at the wan ton shop is going to be long, we came early...actually one hour earlier at 8am. The restaurant opens at 9am.  So we had lots of time to wander around the place to catch the sights and sounds (and smells!).

Seems like the Soi 19 and its adjoining lanes are full of clothing shops....and many buyers come with huge bags to take away their purchases.   Looks like a big wholesale center for clothes.

As the top of the hour approaches, the crowd which had been patiently waiting across the wanton noodle shop 9am opening suddenly surged forward, and crossed the street.   They bunch together and stood in front of the wanton noodle shop (stopping traffic even).

The staff at the restaurant abruptly hand gesticulated "line up, line up!" and point to one side.....

See the queue suddenly formed in front of the restaurant

This was chaotic as some of us had gone there way before the hour, and other had just walked in!?   When we finally got in, which was about >25 people later, we shared table with group of friendly Malaysians.

After we settled down at our table, we ordered the wanton noodle, the kuay chap condiments (fatty pork and pig innards) and wan ton soup.   The bill was 620 Baht.

The pork and pig innards are fatty and there's quite a lot of oil floating around. But it's nice to eat.

The wanton noodles was done too dry and it came together in a clump.  Not very nice compared to last time I was here. Its like they forgot something! So we only took photo of the kuay chap condiments comprising of pork slices and pig innards, which was good as it was mainly made up of  trotters.  Pictured above!

Note the "No Branch in Singapore" sign inside the restaurant.

It's curious why there is all this publicity about having "no branch in Singapore", unless they are planning to change that soon....!?   We welcome a real branch here soon!

Thinking aloud - having to take the trouble to come eat here and the considering the quality of the food (pig's trotters excepted!), we should  just settle for the Soi 19 in Block 151 Ang Mo Kio, which is just as crowded but definitely more readily accessible (and we suffer no queue jumpers!!!).

Update - 2 weeks later on 17 March, we happened to visit Block 151 Ang Mo Kio, and had wan ton noodle there. We met the proprietor Alex Ng who was sporting this T-shirt:

T-shirt reads "19 Thai Wanton Mee - No Branch in Bangkok"! They are all friends, we gather.

Breakfast at our hotel @ soi sip-ha

We were content with a simple hotel breakfast on the Sunday.

The Rugby 10's were in town and some of them had breakfast here.  These are the Brigalow Bushwackers - and today is their Finals against a local team Nak Suu Tigers.

Bangkok traffic jams are legendary and very real. It's not quite a parking-lot like Manila at peak hours, but still quite show stopper.  It's inconceivable to travel across town within 1 hour, and 2-3 hours need to be budgeted even for distances that appear near on the map.

This Bangkok holiday was as much shopping, as it was eating.  Luckily the mega shopping malls of Siam Paragon, Central, Platinum Fashion, Emporium are not too far from each other and that helps shoppers in a big way, as they hop from mall to mall!!