ASIA'S 50 BEST RESTAURANTS 2014

What better way to make my first blog post on Singapore about the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2014. Held at the Capella Singapore yesterday evening, the chef-studded event brought together food-lovers and restaurateurs from all over Asia to witness the announcement of this year's top 50 restaurants in Asia. 

1. NAHM, Bangkok
2. NARISAWA, Tokyo (San Pellegrino BEST RESTAURANT IN JAPAN)
3. GAGGAN, Bangkok
4. AMBER, Hong Kong (San Pellegrino BEST RESTAURANT IN CHINA)
5. NIHONRYORI RYUGIN, Tokyo
6. RESTAURANT ANDRE, Singapore (San Pellegrino BEST RESTAURANT IN SINGAPORE)
7. WAKU GHIN, Singapore
8. ULTRAVIOLET by Paul Pairet, Shanghai
9. LUNG KING HEEN, Hong Kong
10. 8 1/2 OTTO E MEZZO BOMBANA, Hong Kong
11. MR. AND MRS. BUND, Shanghai
12. IGGY'S, Singapore
13. CAPRICE, Hong Kong
14. LES AMIS, Singapore
15. BO INNOVATION, Bangkok
16. ISHIKAWA, Tokyo
17. JAAN, Singapore
18. L'ATELIER DE JOEL ROBUCHON, Hong Kong
19. FOOK LAM MOON, Hong Kong (HIGHEST CLIMBER AWARD by Zacapa Rum from no.48 in 2013)
20. JUNGSIK, Seoul (San Pellegrino BEST RESTAURANT IN KOREA, Highest New Entry Award, first time for Korea)
21. SRA BUA BY KIIN KIIN, Bangkok
22. QUINTESSENCE, Tokyo
23. TIPPLING CLUB, Singapore (new entry)
24. LE MOUT, Taishung (Veuve Clicquot's ASIA'S BEST FEMALE CHEF, San Pellegrino BEST RESTAURANT IN TAIWAN, new entry, first time for Taiwan)
25. L'EFFERVESCENCE, Tokyo (new entry)
26. FU1015, Shanghai
27. BUKHARA, New Delhi
28. BO.LAN, Bangkok
29. INDIAN ACCENT, New Delhi
30. DUM PUKHT, New Delhi
31. ISSAYA SIAMESE CLUB, Bangkok
32. VARQ, New Delhi
33. 28 HUBIN ROAD, Hangzhou
34. TAKAZAWA, Tokyo
35. SHINJI BY KANEZAKA, Singapore
36. WASABI, Mumbai
37. EAT ME, Bangkok
38. SUKIYABASHI JIRO, Tokyo (new entry)
39. ROBUCHON AU DOME, Macau
40. IMPERIAL TREASURE SUPER PEKING DUCK, Singapore
41. SAWADA, Tokyo (new entry)
42. HAJIME, Osaka
43. SUSHI SAITO, Tokyo
44. NIHONBASHI, Colombo (San Pellegrino BEST RESTAURANT IN SRI LANKA)
45. YARDBIRD, Hong Kong
46. FAMIILY LI IMPERIAL CUISINE, Shanghai (Diner's Club LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD)
47. SARONG, Bali (San Pellegrino BEST RESTAURANT IN INDONESIA)
48. FRANCK BISTRO, Shanghai
49. KARAVALLI, Bangalore
50. TENKU RYUGIN, Hong Kong (ONE TO WATCH by Peroni Nastro Azzurro)

A special award was also given to Janice Wong of 2 am:dessert bar for ASIA'S BEST PASTRY CHEF giving Singapore a total of eight entries, making it the third highest in this year's list. China topped the list with 16 entries followed by Japan with 10.

The chefs from Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2014
(photo courtesy of Asia's Best Restaurants website)

Spnsors San Pellegrino, Acqua Panna, Veuve Clicquot and Chocolat Barry

Canapes and after-party food courtesy of the Capella Singapore

THE BEST OF 2011

My Best of the Year post takes time to complete.  I go through all the meals of the past year and make a short list of the places that really impressed me with an unforgettable meal.  It doesn't have to be a fancy restaurant, it's all about the food and the experience.

Since 2011 was a year of travel for me, there were many restaurants to choose from.  New places were discovered - Bangkok and Beijing, some revisited - Sydney and San Francisco, along with the usuals - Singapore, Las Vegas and Manila and of course I explored my island home - Bali - as well.  After much deliberation and elimination, and in no particular order, here are my best gourmet experiences of 2011.

BEST BREAKFAST

No questions about it, my best breakfast this year was at bills in Sydney's Darlinghurst.  From the fantastic flat whites to the amazing ricotta hot-cakes, the delicious sweet corn cake to the homemade oatmeal, the breakfast was amazing and the service friendly.  How I wish there was a bills near me!

BEST IN THE PHILIPPINES

Since I'm from Manila, I had to include two restaurants that really impressed me back home: Antonio's and Cafe Juanita.  Antonio's is a no-brainer and on most foodies best list.  It made the drive up to Tagaytay worth it and their fine dining and Colonial atmosphere is just the right mix of fancy and simple.  Cafe Juanita is a bit off the beaten track but also worth the drive to Pasig for home-cooked Filipino food.  This is the kind of food I crave while living abroad.  It felt like I was back at my lola's (grandmother's) house having one of those long leisurely Sunday lunches.

BEST IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

Here in Bali, a restaurant that that's a favorite for local food is Cafe Degan for classic Javanese cuisine in a classic wooden joglo (wooden house).  Simple food and friendly service.  They also have half their menu dedicated to Thai dishes as the chef used to work in Thailand.  Whether you order from the Thai side of the menu or the Javanese side, you won't be disappointed.

In Singapore, where I was almost every six weeks, my cousin took me to Ippudo where we had a fantastic noodle lunch - flavorful broth, al dente ramen, chunky pork belly - everything was good.

Two new places we visited this year were Bangkok and Beijing.  In Bangkok, I had my first taste of the real flavors of Thai cuisine.  I tried many types of Thai food and enjoyed most of them but it was chef David Thompson's fine dining take on classic Thai street food at Nahm that left me with a clear idea of how sophisticated Thai food is.

In Beijing, we had the best Beijing duck (aka Peking duck) I've ever tasted at Made in China  - extra crispy non-fatty skin with either sugar for dipping (a novelty!) or the traditional Hoisin-pancake-scallion-cucumber roll.  And it wasn't just the duck, the other dishes were also outstanding and it was the best Chinese meal I'd had all year.

BEST IN THE AMERICAS

In the Americas, we start down South where we made our usual pilgrimage to Buenos Aires and where surprisingly, we didn't eat at our favorite El Mirasol as often as we usually do.  Instead, we rediscovered a Recoleta classic - Munich (or as the locals call it - "el munitch") where we had dinner almost every night and never got tired of their repertoire of classic dishes - a perfectly grilled matambre (pork steak), crispy papas paille (shoestring fries), a simple green salad, the retro Chicken Maryland and Chicken Kiev plus lots of other home-style dishes from the past and the impeccable service from the white-jacketed old-timers just added to the atmosphere.

Finally to North America, first at our usual stop in Las Vegas where we had a superb tapas meal at Jaleo where it felt like we were back in Spain.  It was great to see the quality of Spanish food so lovingly recreated at chef Jose Andres' hip and happening tapas restaurant.  We also revisited our favorite city - San Francisco - so many lovely memories from past visits and so long since our last encounter in 2004.  Dinner at RN74 was impressive - cool concept, fantastic Burgundy wines, packed with a mixed crowd and best of all, the food was really good - simple classic dishes made of incredible ingredients which is what San Francisco is all about.

Last but not least, we go back to breakfast where I just have to mention the best coffee I've had all year (lots of close seconds - Sambalatte in Las Vegas, bills in Sydney and Liberica in Jakarta) but this one topped my list and made my mornings better - Blue Bottle Coffee.  The coffee was prepared with so much love and they took their time getting it right which just goes to show that after all these years, San Francisco's foodie ways haven't changed, it's only gotten better.  And with that I look forward to another year of eating and traveling.  I hope that 2012 will be as food-filled as 2011 was.  Happy Gourmet Travels!

Travel 2011

2011 has been my year of travel.  I have never been on a plane this much ever.  There were trips to new places - Bangkok and Beijing, a trip to my favorite city - Paris, trips to visit family - Buenos Aires and Las Vegas, several trips to see the doctor - Singapore, trips to do renew our passports - Jakarta and quick trips on a stopover - Sydney.

November, though, is going to be the busiest travel month for me, with a week in Manila from today (to finish unpacking boxes that have been in storage for several years) then a week in Osaka and Tokyo (my first trip to Japan) and finally, two weeks during Thanksgiving in Laguna Beach, Las Vegas and San Francisco, before I head back home to Bali just in time for the children's holidays and Christmas.  And there are still so many places I haven't been to and hope to visit in 2012.  So bear with me and my erratic posting.  I promise there will be lots to read very soon with my Buenos Aires posts coming out, slowly but surely, and with more gourmet travel write-ups soon.

HYDE & SEEK

When I go on a trip, especially to a place I have never been, I trawl through the Internet searching on websites, blogs and even on Twitter for travel tips and suggestions for places to go and restaurants to try.  I wouldn't have found Hyde & Seek if it wasn't for @DeeSeeBeaucoup - a friend of a friend who always tweets me his favorites. 

Hyde & Seek is dubbed as a gastro-bar and it is exactly that - a combination of bistro/bar that has an extensive cocktail list and a limited yet varied menu of what they call comfort food.  We went on a Thursday evening for dinner at 8:00 p.m. and were surprised with how full the place was - the bar stools were all taken, indoor tables were reserved and most of the tables on the outdoor deck were starting to fill up as well.

The concept is well-thought of and details are noticed from their logo with the ampersand made into a profile of a seated person to the menus which are covered in line drawings (e.g. Dinner has cooking utensils on it's cover).  The menu is more modern bistro than comfort food for me.  Bar snacks are simple yet creative like peanuts fried in duck fat and flavored with rosemary and coriander, and starters and main courses are twisted versions of the original like salmon carpaccio with Konbu (kelp) and sherry vinegar jelly or a Macaroni and cheese made with truffled bacon and Gruyere.  Cocktails though are classics like Negroni and Manhatttan done the old-fashioned way in large glasses and with  lots of alcohol and they also have a pretty good wine list.

After a week of Thai food at almost every meal, we were ready for some bistro fare.  For appetizers, I  had the Fines de Claire sampler (ordered either in threes or sixes) from the bar snacks and A had the salmon carpaccio from the starters.  The oysters came  on a bed of ice with three different preparations - one lukewarm with some herb-flavored green foam, another topped with crispy leeks and a third that had something cold and jelly-like on top.  They were good but I wouldn't have minded them just cold with some mignonette.  A's salmon carpaccio was surprisingly thick slices (not really carpaccio-thin) of salmon topped with the vinegar jelly and something else that we couldn't figure out.  Needless to say, this twist on the original salmon carpaccio didn't really work on the plate.

For our mains, we both ordered Steak frites described on the menu as Wagyu rump steak, maître d'hôtel butter, and shoestring fries and a side dish of paper-thin fried onion rings with Cajun spices to share.  The rump steak arrived perfectly-cooked and melt-in-the-mouth tender but disappointingly glazed and smothered in a greenish sauce with some powdered substance on the side which tasted like cheese (could that have been powdered aioli?).  On the other hand, the fries and onion rings were crisp, hot and exactly what they were supposed to be.  For dessert, we shared a NY cheesecake which came with a bit of red-fruit coulis and was fine, and finished off our dinner with some Thai brand Boncafe espressos.

Hyde & Seek is a gastro-bar that's fun and different.  They've got the sexy atmosphere down, the right mix of locals and farangs (foreigners), and a comprehensive and creative cocktail list.  The only thing they need to work on is their menu of supposedly comfort food which has somehow gotten lost in the mix.  If they get back to basics and serve proper bistro fare with maybe just a slight cheeky twist, then it'll be just right.

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Hyde & Seek

65/1 Athenee Residence, Soi Ruamrudee

Wireless Road, Lumpini, Pathumwan

Bangkok 10330, Thailand

Telephone: +66 2168 5152

*Open daily for lunch and dinner from 11:00 a.m. till late.  Kitchen closes at midnight and brunch is 

LA TAVOLA

Inside the one-year old Renaissance Ratchaprasong hotel, are several restaurants.  One of them is La Tavola, a restaurant with a large wine bar and modern interiors serving simple Italian cuisine made with exceptional ingredients.  We had dinner there twice during our stay in the hotel and were pleasantly surprised by the food.

Pizza bread is served with extra-virgin olive oil and aged Balsamic - hot, crispy and chewy at the same time and perfect dipped into the accompanying tangy oil and syrupy-sweet vinegar.  On our first meal, I had the mixed salad topped with slivers of Parmesan followed by the Bucatini Amatriciana - a thicker hollow noodle similar to spaghetti with a rich tomato sauce flavored with pancetta.  A had the beef carpaccio and the Fetuccini with mushrooms, cream and truffles.  We each had a glass of red wine to round off our simple yet delicious dinner.

On our last evening in Bangkok, we went back once more to La Tavola for an early dinner.  Since we enjoyed our last meal so much, we had the same dishes but flipped the order meaning that this time, A had the salad and Bucatini while I had the carpaccio and the Fettucini.  La Tavola is the type of restaurant that is consistently good at serving authentic Italian cuisine, perfect for those nights when one wants a quiet dinner and Italian-style comfort food.

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La Tavola

Renaissance Ratchaprasong Hotel

518/8 Ploenchit Road

Bangkok

Telephone: +66 2 125 5000

Open daily for lunch and dinner.

ERAWAN TEA ROOM

A  hidden-away tea room in the small Erawan shopping mall, the Erawan Tea Room is an oasis of calm with its' colonial-style interiors and shelves filled with a display of ceramics, teas and other goodies for sale.   Dark tables are set with green plates shaped like lily pad leaves similar to the traditional Portuguese Faience lettuce plates.  Music, oddly is sixties pop which might have been intentional in keeping with the "old-style" theme but was a bit strange considering the chic surroundings.

The menu is exclusively Thai with several specials (seafood was highlighted that month) and has several pages of traditional Thai dishes offered in both small and large portions.  On my first meal there, M and I had dinner -  yellow chicken curry for her and the stir-fried greens with crispy pork for me.   A few days later, A and I stopped by for a late lunch and tried some new dishes and drinks.  Fresh pink lemonade for A and the Pandan-flavored iced tea for me followed by several dishes to share: laarb (chopped pork sauteed in basil, chili and lime), stir-fried greens, Pad Thai prawn noodles which came wrapped in an omelet and steamed rice.  The Erawan Tea Room is a perfect lunch or afternoon tea stop after a day of shopping and an ideal place for either a girl's lunch or even a solo meal.  

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Erawan Tea Room

(managed by the Grand Hyatt)

2nd floor, Erawan Mall

494 Ploenchit Road

Bangkok

Telephone: +662 250 7777

Open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. straight for morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner.

CAFE CHILLI

Siam square and all the malls that surround it has become the new center for shopping in Bangkok.  There are several shopping malls one after another - the older Siam Discovery Center and Siam Center (of which their third floor is exclusive to young and upcoming Thai designers), MBK Center or Mah Boon Krong (for designer handbag copies) and the new Siam Paragon, opened in 2005 which is the largest shopping mall in the city.

A family friend who is also a California wine representative and long-time Bangkok resident, J, invited M and I to a mid-week lunch and took us to the Gourmet Paradise level of Siam Paragon mall where we went to Cafe Chilli.  This is one of J's favorite Thai restaurants and they specialize in Northeastern Thai cuisine or E-sarn (also know as Issan) style street food.

J ordered many different dishes for us to try: spicy papaya salad with soft shell crab, tom yum soup, grilled chicken with the sweet and spicy Jaew dip, grilled pork which came with little baskets of sticky rice in different flavors (black, pandan and plain), spicy pork dumplings, crispy fried catfish and deep-fried vegetables.  In typical Thai style, all the food came at the same time and was served family-style so we dug in and shared everything.  We started off with the clear soup which was sinus-clearingly spicy but delicious.  The dumplings were probably the spiciest dish on the table while the pork and chicken were simply grilled and served with their own dips.  The crispy vegetables and refreshingly tangy papaya salad helped ease the chili heat.  After a long lunch spent catching up (the last time J and I saw each other was in 2000 at the VinExpo in Bordeaux), we said goodbye to J and M & I decided to wander around the shopping mall a bit longer, walking off our large lunch.

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Cafe Chilli

Ground floor (Gourmet Paradise)

Siam Paragon mall

991 Rama I Road

Bangkok

Telephone: +66 2 610 9877

JIM THOMPSON HOUSE

Another Bangkok spot worth visiting is the former residence of American, Jim Thompson, who revived the Thai silk industry with his designs and textile coloring.   Born in 1906, from Greenville, Delaware, Jim Thompson joined the US army and moved permanently to Bangkok at the end of World War II.  He built his home out of six traditional Thai teak houses which were combined to form his house filled with Asian antiquities and surrounded by lush gardens and moved in in 1959.  In 1967, Jim Thompson went on a trip to the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia and disappeared. The mystery surrounding his disappearance has never been solved and no remains were ever found.  The house also has a small cafe and an adjacent shop with many beautiful things created using Thai silk and textiles.

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Jim Thompson House

6 Soi Kasemsan 2, Rama 1 Road

Bangkok, Thailand

Telephone: +66 2 216 7368

Open daily from 9:00 to 5:00.  Compulsory guided tours only and no photos allowed inside the house.

Bangkok Backstreet Shopping

Bangkok is a large sprawling city with the old town close to the Chao Phraya river and the new business district further away from the river and in the center of the city.  A friend and I decided to go on a shopping expedition and armed just with the Bangkok LUXE guide, comfortable shoes and a bottle of water, M and I set off right after breakfast and took the Skytrain to the riverside station at Saphan Taksin.  We deviated from the shopping route in our guide and started off by the river instead of by the Oriental hotel and worked our way through several of Bangkok's backstreets before we finally made it to the river.

The hot and humid walk gave us a taste of the real Bangkok as opposed to the sanitized streets near our hotel.  There were many sights, sounds and smells - from street vendors hawking fruit and flowers, to tiny street side restaurants with just a few plastic chairs and tables alongside a large wok and one person cooking everything to order - smoky meat on the grill or stir-fried spicy noodles.  After several stops to ask for directions, we ended up twisting and turning through the tiny backstreets then started to see many boutiques lined up one after another on the busy main road.

We started to stop and look in several boutiques and ended up purchasing quite a few things.  Worth a look are the exotic leather goods made of stingray, python, crocodile, alligator and ostrich from a tiny place with the not-so-original name of Thailand Shoes Shop (great for ballet flats, loafers and flat sandals) and it's sister store further up the road for bags and wallets called Phoenix Shop.  We couldn't walk out without ordering a couple of sandals each in alligator and python.

For flatware and one-of-a-kind hammered metal objects (vases, pitchers, trays, buckets), we stopped at Maison des Arts where I went back a few days later to buy a whole set of horn-handled flatware for a very reasonable price.  There were also beautiful sculptural pieces - large curved bowls and huge wine and champagne buckets.  A few doors up was a tiny store with an attractive window display of linen clothing and small accessories - From Siam with Love.   Next up was a large storefront with displays of tailor-made dresses at World Group (Chanel style wool boucle jackets and dresses plus men's suits and shirts), where I also returned a few days later to order a shirt dress for myself and several bespoke shirts for A which were delivered to our hotel in less than 24 hours.

Finally turning into Soi Charoenkrung 40, which dead ends into the river, many more shops lined the road and we made several stops.  There are two that are worth more than a quick look - Lin Oriental Gems where we found fantastic sterling silver designs copied from Hermes and Tiffany and Thai Home Industries which is housed in an old wooden Thai house stocked from floor to ceiling with an interesting mess of antique baskets (not for sale) and all sorts of interesting finds made in Thailand - horn napkin rings, Thai painted ceramic teapots with brass handles, brass and metal bowls, brass and metal flatware and a selection of multi-colored Thai cotton pajamas.

We finally reached our original destination, the Oriental (actually a Mandarin Oriental hotel) where we met S for a very late lunch on the large deck of the Verandah restaurant overlooking the busy Chao Phraya.  After our leisurely meal, it was already rush hour and as we didn't want to get stuck in a typical Bangkok traffic jam, we walked back up the road and stopped by the State Tower building to go up to The Dome on the 63rd floor and have a glass of wine at Distil's outdoor terrace overlooking the lights of Bangkok.

In the week I spent in Bangkok, I returned to that area of small streets off Chareonkrung road once more for shopping and exploring and finished off the morning again at the Veranda for lunch.  It's a super shopping itinerary which could either start or end at the Oriental hotel which makes the bargain-hunting worth it.

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• Thailand Shop - shoes and sandals and Phoenix Shop - bags and small leather goods
• #1370 Charoenkrung road (Telephone: +66 2 233 6254)

• Maison des Arts - flatware and hammered metal objects
• #1334 Charoenkrung road (Telephone: +66 2 233 6297)

• From Siam with Love - simple but stylish linen clothing and accessories
• #1328 Charoenkrung road (Telephone: +66 2 235 4513)

• World Group - bespoke clothing for men and women 
• #1302 Chareonkrung road (Telephone: +66 2 235 2828)

• Lin Oriental Gems - sterling silver jewelry and small silver objects
• #14/7 Oriental Avenue (Soi Charoenkrung 40) (Telephone: +66 2 233 0904)

• Thai Home Industries - baskets, ceramics, metal objects, flatware, cutlery, pajamas
• 35 Oriental Avenue (Telephone: +66 2 234 1736)

• The Oriental
• 48 Oriental Avenue (Telephone:+66 2 659 9000)

• Scirocco
• Sky Bar
• Distil
• The Dome at the Lebua Hotel
• State Tower Bangkok,
• 1055 Silom Road (Telephone:+66 2 2624 9555)

NAHM at The Metropolitan

Chef David Thompson's Thai restaurant Nahm first opened several years ago in London at The Halkin hotel to rave reviews and a foodie following.  Recently, he opened a second outpost in Bangkok at another COMO hotel, The Metropolitan.  Most Thais were skeptical that a farang (foreigner in Thai) would be able to make Thai street food in a formal setting but since opening, the controversy has turned to awe as picky diners and foodies arrive doubtful and leave pleasantly surprised with the refined yet authentic Thai cuisine served here.

I have to say that I had read many rave reviews and studied other blogger's meals at Nahm and had booked a table via email a month in advance to be sure that I wouldn't leave Bangkok without having dinner there.    We arrived for our 7:30 reservation slightly early and were led to a front room table for two - simple unadorned wood tables sans tablecloth with just one perfect orchid in a square glass vase making the setting subdued but not formal.

The a la carte menu is divided into different sections: canape, salad, soup, relish, curry and finally stir-fried steamed and grilled.  There is also the option to have the set menu (1500 THB) which is composed of several dishes - canapes, a dish from each section of the menu and dessert.  The portions are adjusted depending on the number of people ordering the set menu and is served family-style.  As there were several dishes we wanted to try but were reluctant to order from each section, it made much more sense for us to both order the set menu and have a real taste of what Nahm had to offer.  Along with our menus, we ordered a glass each of white wine - Riesling for me and Sancerre for A.

Our wines were served along with the amuse-bouche - a tiny triangle of pineapple topped with a sweet palm sugar and nut ball which was a sweet-sour burst of sticky flavor in the mouth.  The canapes came next and were served all together: southern-style grilled mussels with a cooling cucumber salad along with three cold canapes - pomelo and grilled prawns with toasted coconut, peanuts, palm sugar on betel leaves, shredded blue swimmer crab on rice cakes and a chili relish with pork scratching on quail eggs.   They were delicious and bite-sized, except for the skewered mussel, so all we had to do was pop them in our mouths.  The freshness of the grilled mussels were perfectly hot-sweet-smoky and the tiny version of the traditional pomelo and prawn salad on betel leaves were a sour-sweet-crisp version.  Thai cuisine is characterized by the mix of sweet, sour, salty and spicy flavors and in most, if not all, dishes these flavors come up. 

Thai-style dining is always done family-style so the next few dishes, on from each section of the menu, arrived all at the same time and were set down on the table for A and I to share.  There was the salad of lemongrass, prawns, crispy squid and pork and toasted coconut, the clear soup of roast duck with Thai basil and young coconut, the relish of shrimp paste and catfish simmered in coconut cream which came with two separate side dishes of deep-fried soft shell crab and fresh vegetables, the green curry of salted beef ribs with Thai eggplants and basil and finally the stir-fried bean curd with prawns and pork.  We were served steamed jasmine rice to go along with the food which we dug into with gusto.  The trick to eating Thai food is to have a little bit of each dish and then alternate between the flavors, from very spicy (the relish) to cooling (the salad), or from hot and creamy (the curry) to hot and sweet (the soup).  The green curry which we thought would be very spicy was not and the relish which we thought would be mild, was extremely spicy.  The stir-fried bean curd and prawns was delicious and helped to alleviate the spiciness of the other dishes.

Halfway through our meal when our mouths were on fire from the relish, we had to ask the server to bring us something to cool our tongues down which he promptly did - a few slices of rose apple and dollops of palm sugar.  Apparently the way to get rid of the spicy flavor is to eat something sweet so we took alternating bites of the crisp rose apple, similar in crunch to a pear or radish, along with a pinch of palm sugar and it worked fine but neither of us touched the relish again for the rest of the meal, although we did polish off the soft-shell crab. 

By the time dessert had to be chosen, we were both slightly sweaty from the chili and ready for something sweet.  I had the black sticky rice with slices of young coconut in coconut cream and was served with an interesting jumble of corn kernels, black sesame seeds, shredded coconut on a crispy sticky cake and A had the sapodilla, a tropical fruit that looks like a sweet potato, with coconut cream and a yellow bean and cashew nut pudding.  Along with my lemon tang infusion and A's espresso, we were also each served a tiny glass bowl with four Thai-style petits-fours - a crispy rice ball, a soft and gooey coconut bite, a slice of banana and a crumbly oblong-shaped cookie.

Our meal at Nahm was extraordinarily delicious and beautifully-presented - a taste of authentic Thai food in elegant surroundings and at 1500 Thai Baht (around US$50) for the set menu, it's not cheap but  it was worth it and I would gladly go back to Bangkok just to be able to eat my way through Nahm's menu.

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Nahm

The Metropolitan Hotel

South Sathorn Road
Tungmahamek, Sathorn

Bangkok 10120 Thailand

Telephone: +66 2 325 3388

Email reservations to:   res.bkk@nahm.como.bz

Open daily for dinner only.  Reservations recommended.

GREYHOUND CAFE

GREYHOUND CAFE

After our hot and tiring morning of sightseeing and tuktuk riding, we took a taxi to the Central Chidlom department store and went straight up to the 4th floor to the Greyhound Cafe.  Several friends had recommended Greyhound Cafe as a cool place for lunch so I was looking forward to seeing it and trying their continental/Thai menu.

We arrived at around 3:00 p.m. on a Saturday and expected the place to be empty but it was packed with shoppers whiling away their afternoon and enjoying a long lunch.  After a quick look at their menu, we decided to share a tomato bruschetta (120 THB) to start then A chose the classic Pad Thai (160 THB) and a lemon soda while I had the fried chicken noodle (140 THB) with an iced lemon tea.

Lunch at the Greyhound Cafe in Central Chidlom Department Store

The drinks were served right away.  I was pleasantly surprised with my iced lemon tea as it came with iced tea cubes which kept it cold and not watered down.  The tomato topped toasted bread came rubbed with garlic and sprinkled with fresh pepper, basil and grated Parmesan - we finished the half dozen pieces pretty quick.  Next up were the noodles which came served with a condiment tray of sugar, dried chili flakes, fish sauce and chopped chilies in vinegar.  We were supposed to add one or all to our noodles and make them as sweet or spicy or salty as we wanted.  (This condiment tray was something that we saw at almost every Thai restaurant we ate in during our stay in Bangkok).  The Pad Thai noodles were delicious, came steaming hot and with crunchy peanuts and fresh shrimp.  My chicken noodles came with dried pieces of squid that weren't chewy at all and flat rice noodles, although it needed a lot more help from the condiments tray than the Pad Thai.  After our simple and tasty lunch, we walked back to the hotel which was a few blocks away and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon in the chilled confines of our room.

ANOTHER HOUND CAFE

Another Hound Cafe at the Siam Paragon Mall

The following day which was a Sunday, we spent most of the morning window-shopping at the Siam Paragon, Bangkok's largest shopping mall.  After wandering around several floors and hitting the huge Kinokuniya bookstore and buying the kids a few presents, we were looking around for a place to eat and were happy to see another Greyhound cafe called what else?  Another Hound Cafe which was on the 1st floor across from the Greyhound clothing boutique.

The interiors of this cafe are darker with black walls and floors and sparkly chandeliers making it more of a proper restaurant than a cafe.  Their Thai-Italian menu, a curious combination but one that we were eager to try, was varied with both pastas and noodles and a few other Thai dishes.  They call it "Italian gourmet with a spicy Thai twist" and strangely enough, it seemed to work as there was a mix of locals and expats enjoying the modern cuisine.

This time, we decided to have dishes from both sides of the menu.  To start, A had the rocket salad with cherry tomatoes, olives, fresh Parmesan and the Balsamic dressing (240 THB) and I had their much raved about Greyhound's famous fried chicken wings (100 THB).  Usual iced teas with iced tea cubes (I could get used to this!) to accompany our meal.   For our main course, A had the spaghetti with Thai-style pork balls and tomato sauce (180 THB) and this time, I chose the Pad Thai with shrimps (190 THB).  The pasta dish was good with the pork meat balls adding a spicy twist to the tomato sauce while my Pad Thai noodles were a larger portion than the one at Greyhound Cafe and came mixed in already with fresh shrimps and crushed peanuts.

SWEET HOUND

For dessert, we chose parfaits which are freshly-made ice cream concotions from the next-door Sweet Hound dessert bar, specializing in sweets from waffles, cakes and crepes, parfaits, Thai desserts and ice creams.  The parfaits are glasses stuffed with all sorts of goodies and topped with ice cream.  I had the Thai-inspired Temple Flair (small size at 125 THB) which was a mixture of coconut jelly, dried banana, fresh mango and mixed berry sauce topped with raspberry ice cream and A had a scoop of chocolate ice cream.  An enjoyable and filling meal, slightly more expensive than Greyhound Cafe but with a bit more ambiance and a more creative menu.

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Greyhound Cafe

4th floor, men's department at Central Chidlom department store

BTS stop: Chit Lom

Telephone: +66 2

Open daily, all day long

Several other branches in central Bangkok

Another Hound Cafe

1st floor, Siam Paragon mall

BTS stop: Siam

Telephone: +66 2 129 4409 or 129 4410

Open daily, all day long

Sweet Hound

alongside Another Hound Cafe

1st floor, Siam Paragon mall

BTS stop: Siam

Tel: +66 2 129 4409

Open daily, all day long

Main outlet in Thong Lor

First day in Bangkok

Riding in a tuktuk in Bangkok's traffic-clogged roads

On our first day in Bangkok, we set off right after breakfast and took a taxi straight to the Grand Palace.  After a half hour ride, we were dropped off in front of the main entrance and were about to queue up for tickets when we were told that the palace was closed for a Buddhist ceremony and would only reopen at 1:30 p.m.  As it was only 11:30, we were at a loss as to what to do when an enterprising (or so we thought) tuktuk driver offered to take us to another minor temple that was open then bring us back to the grand palace right on time for when they open to the public.  It seemed like a good idea and offered a chance to ride a tuktuk, a motorized rickshaw that is typical transportation in Bangkok.  We agreed on a price of 20 Thai Baht (less than US$1) for the ride.  We set off and weaved in and out of traffic and were deposited in front of a nondescript entrance and told to have a look while he waited for us in the parking lot.

We walked through a small courtyard and saw several white structures topped with pointy roofs.  The entrance to the first one was up a small flight of stairs, at the top of which several shoe sand sandals were placed.  We sat down and removed our shoes (When visiting a temple in Thailand, one has to be dressed appropriately, meaning no shorts or short skirts, no sleeveless or see-through tops and no shoes in order to enter all temples or sacred places.  Travel tip#1 is to wear shoes easy to slip on and off.  I made the mistake of wearing gladiator sandals which had several straps and spent lots of time buckling  and unbuckling those stylish straps).  This temple had a small front hall where a seated Buddha was then behind, a larger hall with a standing Buddha and several intricately carved gold wooden shutters.  There were several people praying and an orange-garbed Buddhist monk placing flower offerings and paper requests at the foot of the Buddha.

The next-door temple had a larger indoor courtyard where several monks were seated to one side washing metal bowls and had many seated Buddhas lining the three sides of the courtyard.  Through the main entrance was a larger temple whose walls and ceiling were completely painted with murals in red and gold with a seated golden Buddha at the center.  Again, there were several people seated on the ground at prayer so we walked quietly through and just had a look at the detailed murals.

After seeing this temple, the tuktuk driver asked if we would like to see a few shops for jewelry, silks and Thai handicrafts as the Grand Palace was still closed to the public.  Since it was only noon and getting quite hot and humid, we agreed to visit a few shops to kill time before heading back.  This shopping foray took forever as he proceeded to take us to several shops (at least seven), some filled with tourists and some completely empty but all selling the same stuff - jewelry, suits made-to-order, silk material.  As we had no intention to buy anything so at the first few places, we would walk around for a few minutes and leave.  When we asked him to take us back to the Grand Palace, he started to explain that he needed to bring us to all these places so he could get a stamp on this card and get a free full tank of petrol for his tuktuk.  At this point, we were hot, sweaty and grimy from having ridden in this rickshaw through Bangkok traffic for over an hour and insisted that he return to the Grand Palace, which he grudgingly did.  We got there, paid him and jumped out.  That was the first and last time we rode a tuktuk in Bangkok. (Travel tip#2: Get ready for the unexpected.  In this case, we got a fun ride on a tuktuk which was longer than we expected.)

We arrived at the Grand Palace almost at 2:00 p..m. and just didn't have the energy to go through the whole palace grounds so we went straight to the royal monastery of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Kaew), one of the most holy places in Thailand.  The entry was packed and to get into the main hall there was a constantly moving throng of tourists jostling for a look of the emerald Buddha which is amazingly carved from a single piece of green jade discovered in 1434.  It was initially covered in plaster until an abbot noticed the bit of green, which he though was emerald (hence the name), peeping out from underneath some chipped plaster.  It was worth it to have a peek and since photos aren't allowed inside, I took one from outside the main window.  After that, we walked through the palace grounds a bit but decided that we would have to come back another time to meander through the 218,000 square meter walled area that makes up the grounds and buildings of the Grand Palace. From there, we took a taxi back to the central business district on Sukhumvit road where our hotel was located for a late lunch at a local cafe nearby.
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The Grand Palace
Overlooking the Chao Phraya river

Telephone: +66 2 623 5500 Ext. 1124, 3100

Open daily from 8.30 a.m. to 16.30 p.m.
Tickets sold until 15.30 p.m.

SOUL FOOD MAHANAKORN

Our first night in Bangkok.  After sitting in traffic from the airport to the hotel, we checked-in, unpacked, changed some money and rushed off to dinner.  The roads were still gridlocked so we decided to hop on on very conveniently located Chit Lom station (right in front of the hotel) Sky Train several stops on the light green line to Thong Lo.  When we got there, we walked around a bit until we finally found our way to the tiny unobtrusive entryway of Soul Food Mahanakorn.

I had read about this little restaurant from several websites on Bangkok and a few blogs and was curious about an authentic Thai restaurant run by a farang (Thai for foreigner) ex-food critic.  The place is cozy with a few tables on the ground floor and a bar off to one side where the restaurant's famous cocktails are concocted.  Luckily, we had booked as it was Friday evening and the place was filling up at 7:00 p.m.  Unluckily, they seated us upstairs in restaurant Siberia, despite the fact that we had booked several weeks in advance, where there was a longer banquette, several more tables and just the two of us.  Well, I guess you could call it romantic.

The menu is not that long but have several interesting things on it, plus at Soul Food Mahanakorn, the rice is organic, the meats free-range and the ingredients sourced from farms in the northeast of Thailand.

As we were starving, we went ahead and ordered several items along with lime sodas and waited for the food to come.  And it did, all at the same time.  We had forgotten that Thai food is always served family-style so our tiny table was soon full of assorted dishes - grilled smoky sweet pork skewers,  Khao Soi, the traditional Thai curry noodles with  slow-simmered beef lime and pickled mustard and shallot;  Gaeng Hang Lay, braised pork belly in a Burmese-style curry made from dried spices, pickled garlic and ginger and crab fried rice.  They had forgotten one of the dishes we ordered, so the grilled chicken wings were served much later.  The food was simply prepared and quite good but as we learned the hard way, the one spicy dish (the Khao soi) burned our tongues and after that, we couldn't really taste what we were eating.  Good thing they had some watermelon pickle and cucumber salad to help cool our mouths down.  I finished off my dinner with a scoop of lychee sorbet which helped keep my tongue cool as well.  By the time we left the restaurant, the downstairs area was packed with expats and a Thai couple were being led upstairs to sit all alone just like we did.

Soul Food Mahanakorn is what the Thai's call a farang-friendly place with exotic cocktails, retro music, cozy interiors and pretty good Thai dishes.  Prices are reasonable (about US$50 for two with no alcohol) and service is courteous and efficient.  It was a good introduction to Thai food for our first night in bustling Bangkok.

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Soul Food Mahanakorn

56/10 Sukhumvit Soi 55 (Soi Thong Lor)

Bangkok, Thailand 10110

Telephone: +66 8590 42691

Email: eat@soulfoodmahanakorn.com

BTS stop: Thong Lo on the light green line

Open daily for dinner from 6:30 pm till late