Minus Onion

Bangkok: Fabio Steak House

2011-12-25T21:36:00.004+07:00

Merry X'mas and Happy Boxing Day to all my readers out there who celebrated it. Hope you all have a great day!

Last Friday, I went out for dinner with P, my oldest friend ever. We've been friends since primary school and always kept in touch though we went to different high school and uni etc. Amazingly we never lost touch at all and we happen to live in the same neighbourhood too! We supposed to meet up way way before but then the flood came and so on, we only were able to reschedule our meeting now. I suggested we should have Italian at Fabio Steak House which isn't far from our homes.

X'mas decoration

This place is like a hidden gem because their food is very good but not in swanky area like in Sukhumvit or Silom. I was introduced to this place by my uni friend, MM, who also lives close-by to me. We always came here for food when she or I were still in Bangkok. Now she's in the US. I heard she's coming back soon so maybe I can arrange a luncheon or dinner with her here for old time's sake!

baked mashed potato with spinach and bacon

spicy shrimp salad

For starters, P ordered the baked mashed potato with spinach and bacon while I recommended the spicy shrimp salad. The potato was nice and a good way to start the meal, though P said it was quite creamy/buttery but still nice. The salad was my and many's favourite. It was mixing between Western style mayo dressing and Thai style spicy and sour dressing. It sounded gross but it turned out very nice. This is the dish to order no matter you can stand the heat or not. It's a must!

We ordered their spaghetti with sauages in pesto sauce to share. Personally, I think this place made the best non-creamy pasta, say aglio olio, pesto or even tomato-based. This dish wasn't disappointing at all. The pesto wasn't too heavy to overpower other taste in the dish. Very nice.

I was craving pizza so bad so we ordered one to share. I can't remember the exact name but something that has mushroom, ham and black olives coz I love the black olives! I love the original thin slices pizza so much. The crispiness makes everything perfect. Their portion wasn't too which made us able to eat other stuffs too - that's what I also like about this place.

I told to P to spare her tummy for dessert coz this place's Crêpe Suzette is like the bomb! They would made it in front of you with the Flambé and stuffs so if you are on a date or with children, it's highly recommended dish. They served it with peach slices and vanilla ice cream and orange sauce. Very yummy.

I really love this place and everyone whom I introduced this place to also love them. Definitely on the top list of my fave restaurant!

Fabio Steak House
4 Soi Thesabalrangsarit Tai Prachaniwet 1,
Latyao, Chatuchak Bangkok 10900
Tel. 02-9544194

ดู Fabio Steak House View in Map

Bangkok: Din Tai Fung (ติง ไท่ ฟง)

2011-12-22T19:54:00.006+07:00

I have been incredibly slow for this post since Tee has ordered published her version quite some time ago. My excuses are that I'm sick with cold since last week as the weather in Bangkok had cooled down a bit (but now hot again anyway - hence I'm still sick with the change of weather) and also that I'm lazy, I admit. Anyhow, I gotta tell you, having sore throat and blocked nose are not fun at all when it comes to food tasting.

Well, back to our entry. Me and Tee met up some time ago for our dine out date. I suggested Din Tai Fung as I was curious about their food and taste if it would be any difference from what I have tried in Singapore or KL.

While we were about to order stuff, their staff came to suggest this cold starter. I think it was spicy seaweed salad. We decided to give it a go. It was quite good actually but we bet nobody would order that if the staff wasn't around to recommend to clients.

I suggested we should order this spicy cucumber as my friend who used to study in Taipei said Din Tai Fung's spicy cucumber here is better than the one in Taiwan. It was cool and spicy, refreshing if you ask me. Though it seems to be too spicy for Tee so I guess it's not for those who aren't into spicy stuff.

We ordered the must of Din Tai Fung, xiao long bao. Truth to be told. The piece was so small and not as juicy as what I had in Crystal Jade. Same taste as in KL but the difference is the price. In KL for 6 pieces of xiao long bao are 9 ringgit or about Baht90 but in Bangkok, they are about Baht120 or 130 if I remember correctly. That's quite expensive.

Tee said a lot of people raved about their pork chop so we ordered that and it was really good. I really like it but come to think about the price to pay (Baht200something I think) - that's pricey.

Lastly, we ordered breasted beef noodle coz I really like this menu from KL's Din Tai Fung. It was about the same however the meat in KL was more tender.

If anyone ask, I would have to be honest and say I actually like Crystal Jade more since the menu is more variety and the taste of xiao long bao is more juicy. If I'm going to pay this much for food, I would have gone for something that suits my taste bud. I guess Din Tai Fung is not for me. Service was good anyhow, staff was very attentive.

Din Tai Fung (ติง ไท่ ฟง)
6th floor,
Central World

Kuala Lumpur: EAT!

2011-12-03T15:05:00.000+07:00

Two weeks ago, I was sent to Kuala Lumpur for work-do on behalf of my boss. That was like during the peak of flood crisis so in a way, KL trip was like stress-relief trip. It's good to go away from all the flood information and the fear. I stayed in KL for almost a week and when people know I'm from Bangkok, there is no one that wouldn't ask me about the situation; hotel staffs, chefs, taxi drivers, colleagues. That's how big the flood is to other countries' eyes, I suppose.

Anyway, I did keep track of what I ate as much as possible. Some were pretty same old boring stuffs - I'm boring like that. So let me recap a bit;

Madam Kwan's

First meal in KL was a re-visit to Madam Kwan's at Pavilion. I was still Teh Tarik (tea with condensed milk) addicted as usual. Never would I thought I had enough of Teh Tarik, whether it's cold or hot, I can have any day.

You could never say you are in Malaysia unless you eat Nasi Lemak so I ordered my first Nasi Lemak of this trip. Madam Kwan's Nasi Lemak is quite a plate-full (if that's an actual word for it). It's rice cooked coconut milk with chicken curry (the chicken was tender - so much love from me), hard boiled egg, dried shrimp floss (very tasty!), spicy ikan bilis (dried anchovies), cucumber, and some pickled vegetables. You might wonder how to eat this, should I mix them altogether? Trust me, I have wondered about the proper way to eat it. My Malaysian friend said the proper way to eat Nasi Lemak is that eat whatever you like, however you like it. So you can eat curry with egg or ikan bilis with pickled vegetables. It doesn't matter as long you enjoy it.

I would say Madam Kwan's is quite pricy for Nasi Lemak (I think I paid 18 RM for that) 'coz you can actually get decent Nasi Lemak with only 5 RM. But if you have the money to spare, then it's quite worth it. They also served many authentic Malaysian food and Western dishes.

Food Republic

How would a trip to KL be completed if I missed Food Republic at Pavilion! It's like my food heaven coz when I have no idea of what to eat, I would just go there, walking around to see what I want.

Call me boring but I did go for some old favourite that didn't have in Bangkok. Char kway teow and yong tau foo.

Char kway teow is actually a lot like Thai's Pad See-Ew but more spicy somehow. I got my Char kway teow from Thye Hong stall at Food Republic. You can find them in Food Republic in both KL and Singapore. Though it was very oily but the taste was great. Love the spicy sauce they provided as well since it got along well with the noodle. It never fail to satisfy me.

On the other hand, Yong Tau Foo wasn't as pleasant as before. Somehow it moved the stall (from what I recalled last year). The soup wasn't as nice as before. I don't know what was wrong, it's just not as nice as before. That was rather sad coz I love Yong Tau Foo so much.

Food Court in Subang Jaya

After a site visit one day, K, our colleague from KL, took us to dinner to Subang Jaya which is little bit outside of KL. We had some bonding session during the traffic jam of KL which was as bad as Bangkok. K took us to this big food court-like place close to Taylor's College. I don't know the name of that place but I guess people around the area would know where I mean. K helped us picking up seafood dishes to try then we just sat back and waited for food.

told you I could never get enough of teh tarik

Satay came first. I think we had beef, chicken and lamb satay with rice bun thing that would eat along. In Thailand, you would find satay coming with a bread instead. The peanut sauce in Malaysia is more chunky than in Thailand which puree everything. Taste wise was similar though.

Next was spicy squid with wing beans. It was different kind of spicy than Thai. It was pleasant though.

Next was steamed calms with ginger. It smelled so good, very gingerly. The soup that came out from calms tasted amazing. I love this!

K then ordered this shellfish thing which I have no idea what it was. You have to suck the meat out off the shell. The sauce was spicy kind. I think a bit like the squid dish but more thick.

Last one was sambal sting ray which was my choice. The fish was grilled with sambal (I think it's chilli paste?) paste. It was quite tasty, not too spicy.

The sitting area was opened air so it was really nice to sit down and enjoy food with friends. We did talk of so many things and even cross-country gossiping. It's amazing what happened in Thailand can also be known in Malaysia. This world is so small.

Madam Kwan’s Restaurant
Pavilion KL,
Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur

Food Republic
Pavilion KL,
Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur

Bangkok: Gab Khao Gab Pla (กับข้าวกับปลา)

2011-11-23T16:00:00.001+07:00

I know, I know. It has been forever since I was blogging. I would say it was due to the flood and maybe a little bit of my laziness that made me so quiet. The flood actually affected Foodies in Bangkok since some of the food missed out on shelf, esp. bottle water. It wasn't a pleasant time to go out and dine out anyway when you have to worry whether your house will be flooded or not. Alas, I'm safe now so I shall bring you more food!

Had a luncheon with my friends last Sunday coz it has been a while since we last met. We met up at our usual spot of Central World. While deciding what we should eat, someone mentioned we should try Gab Khao Gab Pla by Iberry coz their food is quite nice. I have read some reviews about this place before and actually quite skeptical coz they seem to have problem with their services (i.e. lack of staff, food slow etc.) but decided to give them a chance anyway.

Pandanus drink was popular among us. I didn't taste it though so I didn't know if it was sweet or not but I guess not since no one complained.

Starter we had crispy somtam and peking duck roll. The crispy somtam is basically deep fried papaya toping with spicy dressing. It was good, really kicked my taste buds. The duck roll which was similar to general Peking Duck was okay. Nothing to rave about really.

Caesar salad was actually quite nice. It wasn't too soggy and dressing wasn't overpower the vegetable. So nice.

Two spaghetti dishes we ordered; the first one was spicy bacon and next was cabonara. The first one tasted very strong and spicy. It was a pleasant spicy if you asked. So when cabonara came, we found that it tasted so weak. We assumed coz the first one was so strong already. I would recommend the spicy bacon one.

For dessert, we chose waffle with ice creams. I like their waffle, it was crispy outside yet soft inside. Very yummy and a nice way to end the meal.

Now talk about what I was skeptical about, their services. They really do have problem with it. Fortunately that we didn't encounter much of slow serving food since we were there just before the lunch time but they seem to lack of staffs. The one who took our order seemed to blur out from so many things he had to do. I guess if you come during their busy hours, you might face with some hiccups.

Gab Khao Gab Pla(กับข้าวกับปลา)
6th floor Central World
Bangkok
BTS: Siam

Bangkok: Grand San Yod (แกรนด์แสนยอด)

2011-10-23T14:05:00.000+07:00

It's been a while since I last updated. To be honest, I have been pretty much glued to the news about the flood in Thailand. It has got to the point where it gets on my nerve now as I feel like we all are living in fear, whether the flood will hit Bangkok/our house or not.

Anyhow, on other notes, I went out to see my friends last week to pick up some stuffs at Central World so we decided to try new restaurant. Grand San Yod (แกรนด์แสนยอด) is not new restaurant but somehow we never set foot in. Their specialty is Chinese food which I was craving a bit.

We first ordered fried fish with chilli sauce. It was a good mixture of sweet, tangy and spicy taste. It would go so well with hot rice.

Their clay pot tofu was also good with seafood in it. It's very hearty dish - love the tofu!

I ordered Jelly fish salad when waitress asked if I wanted the Chinese style (with sesame oil) or Thai style (spicy sauce), I decided to go for Chinese and it wasn't disappointing. I feel the jelly fish is more chunky than the one at Crystal Jade. Taste wise is as good as Crystal Jade.

Overall, their food is good and definitely there will be next time for me.

Grand San Yod (แกรนด์แสนยอด)
6th Floor
Central World
Bangkok
BTS: Siam

Tokyo: Seibu Depachika

2011-10-03T15:00:00.000+07:00

It is as if I have abandoned this blog for good. I am sorry about this but lack of updates happened due to my responsibility in conducting regional workshop, advisory committee meeting and regional seminar of my office.

Anyhow, I'm back now and will clear my Tokyo posts (which only one left!). This entry, I'm bringing you to visit one of my most favourite place in Tokyo - Depachika or food hall of Seibu Ikebukuro Department Store. Depa is shorten from Depato or Department Store and Chika means underground so it means basement level of department store which is Japan, they usually sell food. Seibu Ikebukuro's Depachika must have been one of the best places for food shopping since it has massive choices of food you can choose to buy for take home or eat there. They also separated into savoury section and sweet section. I gotta be honest that most of my time there, I spent most of my time in savoury section.

Aside from stalls selling food, there are small restaurant with no more than 8 seats available for hungry soul. I made a stop to try Soba from Mukoujima sumida (向島すみ多). Everyone was going for original cold soba set but I decided to go for my favourite soba soup with duck meat.

sitting at the counter watching them cook freshly made food for you

The smell of duck was a little stronger than the one I had at Gonpachi. However, it was heaven sent dish. The soba was freshly made and it was perfectly done. They have some lemon zest as condiment to add in the soup which made the dish very refreshing and summer-ish.

in the hot dipping soup with leeks & duck meat

Half way through eating, obachan handed me the Soba's boiled water - now that's authentic Japanese way of eating soba! I think it was about 1350yen for this meal. It might not be the best but quite worth the money.

Then next day, I decided to try Hayashi rice from Taimeiken which I was originally going to visit their original branch for Omurice but didn't coz of my tight schedule.

Hayashi rice is probably best to describe as stew rice. It wasn't spicy and quite buttery - by the time I finished this I quite wanted something spicy and tangy as it was too buttery for me. However, the beef in hayashi was amazing. When people said the meat melt in their mouths, I never quite get it coz I never experience it. But after eating this Hayashi rice from Taimeiken, I so know what they mean! The meat was tender and melt in your mouth. I wasn't expecting this coz the meat was like small and shredded so you would have thought they didn't use much of good quality meat. I was wrong. Definitely urge you to try or even visit Taimeiken main branch for their omurice and steak. Next time, I so won't miss it!

I made some purchases for sushi at their take home stall. They are fresh so people don't worry about getting low quality food. I don't think low quality food is existed in Japanese Department Store's dictionary.

I bought this 4 pieces of ikura gunkan for 300 yen - dirt cheap, so cheap that I want to live in that country forever.

This Toro set is only 1,300yen with Otoro, Chutoro, negitoro and makuro. I used to say toro wasn't my favourite thing. Well, I take it back coz I never had fresh stuff like this and it's cheap too. I want to eat this again, worth every single yen I paid for.

It would not be a good entry if I didn't have any sweet to show. Since I was in Tokyo during summer, they have this shop from Nikko selling their famous shaved ice.

What makes their shaved ice special is the ice they used is made from water in Nikko area that claimed to be natural with good taste. I know this shop before from watching Japanese TV show, Himistu no Arashi-chan when they had a special episode filming in Nikko couple years ago. So I sorta know how they made their ice and store them through out Winter/Spring in order to have enough ice for summer. It was quite cool to actually get to try stuff you see on TV!

I had melon shaved ice. The ice itself was very fluffy. I can't comment on good taste thing since I think ice taste probably the same like water but It was good esp. for summer. I read that this stall was only going to be in Seibu til mid September so they may come back again in Summer next year. Please look out for them.

Depachika

B1 level

Seibu Ikebukuro

View Larger Map

Review & cooking: Peninsula Hotel's moon cake and sausage bun at home

2011-09-08T21:47:00.007+07:00

I know that I have been quiet, partly coz I lack of motivation to blog and I still have one last post on Japan waiting! That was until I met up with Tee from Passports and Postcards last Wednesday. I asked her if we could meet up at Siam Paragon as they are having moon cake festival there and I wanted to buy moon cakes from the Peninsula hotel, she was kind and agreed to meet me there.

I must tell you, I am not Chinese so moon cake and me doesn't have that close-knit relationship. I only know moon cakes that produce for the mass, like those chestnut moon cake from S&P. Recently, I found out that original moon cake is actually made with custard filling and one of the best is by Oriental Hotel which you have to make reservation in order to buy it (and even now, reservation is closed coz the orders are more than their capacity to produce). I did some research and found that one suggested that the one from Peninsula hotel here is also good. So I set my eyes on Peninsula's one but was gonna browse around first before buying. However, when I got there and got to taste their moon cake, I decided to buy it right away!

the package

There were 8 small moon cakes inside their sophisticated box. This box costs Baht520 which is quite pricey if you compare that to S&P and other mass brand one (which is about Baht95 for one big moon cake). However, taste wise, it cannot be compared, AT ALL.

It was custard filling mixing with salted egg yolk. The taste was just right, sweet enough. It was a happy buy for me, though expensive. But let's look that I would only get it once a year so that's not a big deal, isn't it?

Now on to the cooking bit. I was reading through Yumeko-san's blog, A Dream of Tokyo, and she has shared Bacon and Cheese bread roll by rice cooker recipe so I decided to make some adjustment by making it "Sausage Bun" instead. For her original recipe, please go to http://bittenbefore.com/tokyolife/2011/08/30/rice-cooker-recipe-cheese-bacon-bread-rolls/.

Ingredients:
150g pancake mix
60ml milk
15g melted unsalted butter
sausages
salt to taste

I simply mixed pancake mix, milk, butter and salt together until it formed into a dough. Then I spreaded them out and put sausage on top of the dough and rolled it up.

After that, I just put it into my rice cooker bowl and just pressed "cook". You don't have to worry about it getting burned or anything. Just let the rice cooker do everything for you.

The outcome bread is whiter than general bread. The texture is more heavy, not my liking. Taste wise was okay. I think it is easy way to cook bun if you are craving but I would find the recipe for more lighter texture next time.

Tokyo: Hitsumabushi Bincho, Ginza Branch (ひつまぶし名古屋備長銀座店)

2011-08-30T21:35:00.001+07:00

As I mentioned that meeting friends was one on priority list for this Tokyo trip, I arranged meeting with my classmate during my postgrad year in Ginza. It was Saturday's afternoon and the street on Ginza was closed so people can freely roaming around the street. It was pretty cool to see car empty street but as soon as the clock ticked 6 pm, the cars were back on street again.

We met up around 6 pm and R decided to take me to eat unagi at "somewhere" around Ginza. He said he hasn't been in Ginza for 2 years now so hopefully it's still there (He was working in Kosovo for 2 years and only got back to Tokyo for 6 months). With a little of hesitation, we finally found the place we were going to dine at - "Hitsumabushi Bincho" (ひつまぶし名古屋備長銀座店)

Hitsumabushi is actually Nagoya style of eating grilled eel. I quoted this from Time Out Tokyo website as it's good to describe what is hitsumabushi quite well:

"Hitsumabushi involves eating your unagi in stages: first as it is, then mixed with a selection of seasonings, and lastly in an ochazuke style, with a dashi broth poured over the top. It's a meal that bears the hallmarks of Japanese tradition – as much a ritual as as a refreshment – and, as far as we're concerned, it's all the better for it."

R was being kind and asked for English menu for me. When I said to him I didn't need it as I can read some basic kanji and Japanese, he was surprised and asked me to read things on menu to show him I was really okay. He asked if I can still speak Russian which I also asked him the same. Neither of us no longer speak the language we got degrees on - I guess it has been too long since we last met which so many things have happened between us!

before opening the pot

We ordered Jo-hitsumabushi (上ひつまぶ) which I think has more meat than just normal hitsumabushi. The unagi was grilled very crispy outside. The sauce tasted absolutely wonderful. It didn't have smell of soil like what you usually find in unagi in Thailand.

Unfortunately the lightening in the restaurant was quite poor and I didn't feel like using my flash to disturb people around. Only one picture from hitsumabushi came out - The one with dashi soup. I gotta be honest, it was my first time eating it like ochazuke. It was an experience but not my kind. I would prefer eating the unagi just the original way, as it is, the most.

It was such a delightful meal to catch up with old friend over nice decent food. R was also being so kind to treat me for my dinner which I told him to come visit me again soon so I can pay for his meal in Thailand. He said he will, let's see if he will actually come or not.

Hitsumabushi Bincho, Ginza Branch (ひつまぶし名古屋備長銀座店)

14th floor, Marronnier Gate

東京都中央区銀座２丁目２−１４
website: http://www.hitsumabushi.co.jp/tenpo_ginza.html

大きな地図で見る

Tokyo: Grom

2011-08-29T16:54:00.000+07:00

Super short post as I am in a bit of hurry now. I was in Harajuku and planning to eat some crepe but got distracted as soon as I saw "GROM" shop on the street. I have heard about Grom from friends who recently spent their honeymoon in Italy, praising how tasty their gelato is so I thought I shouldn't miss it. I was early by 5 minutes as the shop opens at noon so I just stood there and waiting for the opening.

Got myself melon and bitter chocolate flavour (sorry that you can't see the picture well). Their melon tasted not too sweet, you can tell it is not artificial flavour which gives out a very fresh taste in our mouth. It's more sorbet like than gelato, for Melon. While bitter chocolate is very adult taste as it wasn't sweet much and really have that bitter. Wish I could have time to taste more flavours as all seem to be very yummy and perfect for hot summer days in Tokyo!

GROM
6-31-15, Mansion31 1F,
Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

View Larger Map

Tokyo: Toraya (とらや)

2011-08-28T10:00:00.000+07:00

Meeting old friends was one of the top priorities for this Tokyo trip. I managed to arrange a meeting with M, a Japanese who was my flatmate when I studied my postgrad in UK, for a meeting. It has been 6 years now since we last saw each other in Birmingham. You gotta thank Facebook for keeping us in contact and reuniting us!

I pitched in the idea of wanting to try "shaved ice" as it seems like a signature dish for Japan's summer. M knows a good place so we arranged to meet up at Akasaka. She took me to Toraya (とらや) which sells traditional Japanese sweets on first floor and in underground floor has cafe/restaurant that sells Japanese sweets with matcha and shaved ice.

M ordered herself shaved ice with apicot (氷あんず) which is one of the traditional flavours of shaved ice of toraya. I had one bite to taste and it wasn't too sweet. Very fresh and light.

see the red bean paste?

I ordered myself matcha shaved ice with red bean paste (宇治金時). The matcha syrup gave out very fresh taste and it mixed well with red bean paste. It wasn't too sweet. I gotta confess that by the time I finished this bowl, I was kinda freezing inside. I guess the ice really cool down your body temperature.

I'm glad that M took me there. Good experience with shaved ice, classic place for Japanese dessert and to catch up with her, that's priceless!

Toraya Akasaka Branch (とらや赤坂本店)
東京都港区赤坂4-9-22
Website: http://www.toraya-group.co.jp/shops/sho04.html

View Larger Map

Tokyo: Gyu-tan Rikyu (牛たん炭焼利久)

2011-08-26T02:00:00.000+07:00

I came across this place on website when I was browsing of shopping malls in Ikebukuro area. At Esola, which is located next to JR Ikebukuro on the east side has many restaurants on their dinning floors. One shop caught my eyes right away, it was gyu-tan or cow tongue place. I read and found that their main branch is located in Sendai which is famous for gyu-tan so I planned to give this place a go.

The shop opened at 11 am sharp. I was a little bit earlier so had to browse around since they wouldn't let anyone enter the floors where restaurants locate until 11 am. I saw few people were waiting already so I was glad that it wasn't only me who was early. Once the clock ticked 11 am, we all were allowed up to restaurant floors. I was wondering where were all the people dine at. Turned out, they all were at Rikyu! This was definitely a great sign that I made the right decision to eat there.

their set menu

their general menu

I was welcomed inside and after a quick browse of what to order, I decided to go for Gyu-tan don set (牛たん丼定食) which is grilled cow tongue on top of rice.

sauces and chopsticks

I waited for 10 minutes and then my food came. In a set, there were a bowl of gyu-tan don, soft boiled egg (so you can eat with the grilled gyu-tan), pickled and oxtail soup. As oolong tea, I ordered that seperately. They served Japanese tea for free anyway so there is no need to order drink unless you want when eating in Japan.

The gyu-tan was sliced into a think layer and grilled just perfectly. The sauce was really nice as well and since there was slice cabbage under the meat on top of the rice, that prevent the rice from getting soggy so I love it! I mixed egg with the meat and it went well together.

The oxtail soup looked so bland but never ever let that fool you coz it tasted so wonderful!!!!!!!!! To be honest, I actually wasn't gonna order the set coz I think the soup would be tasteless but I would so regret it if I didn't get to taste this wonderful soup.

In summary, I was super happy to find this place and eat this meal. It was probably the best meal of this trip!

Gyu-tan Rikyu (牛たん炭焼利久)
7th floor, Esola, Ikebukuro
〒171-0021 東京都豊島区西池袋1-12-1 ESOLA池袋7F
Website: http://www.rikyu-gyutan.co.jp/
Gourmet Navi: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/e159701/

View Larger Map

Tokyo: Qu'il fait bon

2011-08-25T10:00:00.001+07:00

On first day of my trip, after meeting L-san, I planned to walk around Daikanyama. I think it's quite up-scaled shopping area right in the middle of residence area. There were so many little shops so if you are into small shops and not overcrowded like in Shibuya or Harajuku. This could be the place for you. I was planning to check out Paul Smith but it closed that day so I just kept strolling around under Tokyo's sun, which was very hot if you ask me, until I got to my destination before going back to hotel - Qu'il fait bon.

Qu'il fait bon is famous tart and cake shop which have many branches in Japan. Their specialitie is of course the tart, all kind of it. They decorated the shop like those suburb cute French pastry shop which is very charming for me. Some branches have cafe and sitting are to eat at their shops, like in Daikanyama and Ginza, while the rest only have take-home stuff.

I placed my order for take home coz I didn't feel like having any. They asked how long would it take me to get to my destination and gave me the ice pouch to keep my tart at cooling temperature.

I love their package, it's so cute that their box is actually looking like parcel box so you can actually buy this for friend and give to them and they feel it is cute and special. Every little detail is always being considered in this country, you gotta love Japan for this!

I ordered Berry Fruit Tart (赤いフルーツのタルト) and cream cheese tart (ブルターニュ産 “ルガール”クリームチーズのタルト).

Cream cheese tart was the real winner here. Though it was rich in taste but it wasn't too heavy while eating at all. I can taste the cream cheese in it and it wasn't overpower by anything. I really love this one.

The berry one was pretty medicore. It was okay but not that special. I think the strawberry one I had last Autumn was much better than this one.

This place is definitely worth a visit if you love tart. I would highly recommended to anyone who visit Tokyo to try.

Qu'il fait bon Daikanyama(キルフェボン代官山)

東京都渋谷区恵比寿西2-18-2
Website: http://www.quil-fait-bon.com/

View Larger Map

Omiya: Sanwa Tonkatsu (とんかつグリル三和)

2011-08-23T21:41:00.006+07:00

I'm finally back from 5 days holiday in Tokyo. To be honest, I wasn't really ready to go home. I felt like I haven't eaten all the things I planned for yet. I know there will be next time for me but what am I suppose to do with all the craving!?

First meal of this trip happened in Omiya in Saitama Prefecture which is about 30 minutes train-ride from Tokyo. I was meeting up with my good friend, L-san and her daughter, A-chan, who kindly took me to a nice lunch in this really small Tonkatsu shop called Sanwa (とんかつグリル三和). The shop was located on the underground floor or B1F and when I said it is small, it is REALLY small. They have 2 four seats tables and 6 seats on counter. We got there around 1.30pm and there were people who still waiting for table. I assumed this place must be good then.

Lunch Menu

Menu

Their lunch menu was very friendly to your wallet. A set of deep fried pork of your choice with rice, pickled and soup only cost around 750 yen. They only deep fried the pork when you order and there was only one chef which I assumed is the owner who was doing it. The wife would take your order, serve your food and take care of your bill. This is definitely family's restaurant.

I ordered Lunch set C which is 2 cream croquettes and a piece of hire katsu. Hire katsu is basically deep fried pork tenderloin which is very tender like its name. Cream croquettes were very creamy but not too soggy. Both pork and croquette were perfectly fried; crispy outside and soft inside. I'm telling you, a great way to welcome me to Japan!

Tonkatsu Grill Sanwa (とんかつグリル)
〒330-0854 埼玉県さいたま市
大宮区桜木町１丁目１−５
(Japanese address in case you want to print out to ask people for the location)
Tabelog: http://r.tabelog.com/saitama/A1101/A110101/11003739/

View Larger Map

Bangkok: Espresso

2011-08-06T14:51:00.009+07:00

It has been almost 5 years since I last met L, my good friend from postgrad days in Birmingham. So to learn that she came back to Thailand for a short visit from Canada, where she lives now, me and P arranged a dinner with L to catch up the good ol' wicked days. L suggested that we should dine at Espresso in Intercontinental Hotel for their seafood night. It was Baht1500++ per person so after browsing some reviews around the web, I was looking forward to their food.

As soon as we entered the restaurant, we were greeted with a long line of food. I only managed to snap the seafood bit of the line and as you can see; prawns, oysters, mussles and crabs are waiting for you!

I started off with some small plate starters. Clockwise from the Top left; their hummus was rather dry and bland. The thing was I couldn't find anything to dip it with. No carrot or cucumber sticks, not even pita bread. Quite disappointing. Next is shrimp cocktail. It was good and interesting since they have cocktail sauce in that small tube. Next are seared scallop with potato salad and jelly fish with sesame oil. I like these two.

Interesting thing about Japanese sashimi & sushi line here is that they didn't cut the fish and put on plate for you to take. You have to ask the chef what fish you want and they will cut them for you. I think this is a great way to preserve the freshness of sashimi and sushi. Pure love for this one.

Their hot and sour soup is quite up-scaled as they put some shark fin in it. Taste wise is good but this is hard for me who actually made up my mind that i won't eat shark fin anymore. So last night, the shark must forgive me for consuming that.

Finally, my cold seafood plate. Oysters were incredibly fresh so having that with Thai spicy seafood sauce was pure bliss. Mussle and crab were okay. I think I finally learn that I love fresh crab more than those boiled and frozen crabs even though they were Alaska King Crab. The sweetness of crab wasn't there.

I made a visit to grilling station and picked lamb, salmon patty, seabass on skew and rock lobster for grilling. Lamb was the winner of the night. No smell or after taste, very tender and very well seasoned. I love their mint jelly too, always prefer mint jelly over mint sauce. So good that I went back for another two. I should have eaten just lamb last night - seriously good.

Chinese and Thai corner was okay. Roasted duck was okay. Soft shell crab with black pepper was awesome anyway, still crispy though made for a while. Char siu bun was good. Dumpling was so so. Fried rice and Thai steam fish paste (Hor Mok - ห่อหมก) were medicore.

They had small pot of cottage pie so I tried. It was so so. Had some salad to balance out. I would say the choice of salad here was pretty disappoint. Only some leafy stuffs and a corner where you can make caesar salad. For salad crazy like me, I would love to see more choices of vegetable. Their caesar salad corner was nice since they have even anchovy, parmigiano, croutons and bacon bits for you to add as much as you want. I had a plate of that at the end of the night. Up to my liking coz I can put salad dressing in the amount that I like which isn't too soggy.

Their dessert lines are actually quite massive with choices of fresh fruits, cakes, fountain chocolate, souffle, ice cream and even Thai dessert like sticky rice and mango! I only had their vanilla and chocolate ice cream which was okay. L said their mango ice cream was great so she went for another round. I guess if you like sweet stuff, this could be something for you.

I ended the night with cheese plate. Loving my Brie there so much. So creamy, so heavenly. We had green tea as complimentary to wrap up the night. It was a very enjoyable evening since we haven't seen each other for a long time now esp. altogether like this. So much to catch-up and gossip about. We even talked about the good old days in Birmingham, all the glam and not so glam about it. We started at 6.30 pm and finished at 10.05 pm. What a night isn't it!

Espresso
Intercontinental Hotel
Bangkok
Tel 02 656 0444 ‎
BTS: Chid Lom

ดูแผนที่ขนาดใหญ่ขึ้น

Cooking: Cacao Sablé

2011-07-23T21:42:00.006+07:00

Me and bakery is like parallel road.I have tried making bakery before, whether from scratch or from box, and it wasn't major success. I guess I'm kinda person who aren't bothered about measuring everything so bakery is such a hassle coz everything has to be in the right amount. So it's about savoury cooking for me, my oven is for roasting beef or baking pasta. Anyhow, I was quite inspired by Ai-san's matcha sablé (see her post here) as it looks so easy. So after having dinner, I searched around my kitchen cabinet and found all the ingredients and cacao powder so I decided to make Cacao Sablé instead of Matcha ones.

Ingredients:

150g flour
50g sugar
120g unsalted butter
1 egg yolk
a pinch of salt
7g cacao powder

Basically, you just mix everything until the dough stick together.

Then you roll it in a long roll, put it into the fridge or freezer til the dough really holds up. Then cut it into piece. The thickness depends on your liking. I'm not pro enough to do the pretty thin and round kind of sablé.

Put it into a preheated oven at 180 celcius for 15-20 minutes and voilà, your sablé!

I followed Ai-san's ingredient and just made slight change in the amount of butter coz after mixing, I found that my dough wouldn't mix together so I added more butter. And since I am amateur and the sable was in dark colour, I sorta burned half of the first tray as I didn't know how to tell if they are already cooked or not. I left it in the oven for just a minute or two too long. Anyhow, I was more careful with second tray and it came out pretty good. Ai-san's recipe isn't too sweet at all so if you don't like too sweet stuff, this will be good for you (I may have to add a little more sugar if I intend to make this and distribute to friends).

It's amazingly easy to make so I would recommend to all bakery newbie to try. I'm think what should I bake next time!

Bangkok: Ruen Petch Restaurant (เรือนเพชร)

2011-07-20T20:24:00.006+07:00

One of my best friends gave birth to beautiful baby girl last week. We all went to her house to visit the first baby of the our group. Her mother has nicknamed her "Pakkard" or lettuce since she was still in her tummy. I don't know if that has anything to do with the fact that food and beverage is their family business or that we are foodie persons! After the visit, we went to have some steamboat at Ruen Petch restaurant which wasn't far off from my friend's house.

Ruen Petch is actually long-history Chinese restaurant that famous for their Hainan style steamboat or we called "Suki" in Thai. I think they may be one of the first steamboat restaurant in Thailand, way before MK. So don't be surprised if you find that most customers are more like the grown-up and older generation. We ordered the usual meat and vegetables for the steamboat. They came on the same plate, topping with egg and peppers/garlic sauce which adding the heat to the pot.

everything in the pot!!!!

I had this before with my parents but it wasn't as good as what I had with my friends the other day. I don't know why. I'm sure the dipping sauce is the same. Maybe because of the large amount of meat and vegetable were in the pot so that made the soup taste nice? (Trust me, we ate A LOT)

On to the side dishses, we cannot complete a trip to steamboat without grilled duck and emerald noodle. It is always a must to order whenever and wherever we eat steamboat. Their duck was so so, I'd prefer MK's one more.

SZ ordered a small portion of clay pot rice. It looked and smelled incredibly yummy but taste wise was rather bland. I guess if you prefer natural neutral taste then this may suit your preference.

Kailan with oyster sauce was great. We need vegetable for healthy eating!

Now, on to probably the best dish ever from this place. Highly recommended to you all, it's called "Gai Ruen Petch" or Ruen Petch's chicken. It's fried chicken thigh with sweet red sauce on top and it was DE-LI-CIOUS!!!!! Just thinking about it makes me craving the chicken terribly now!

Ruen Petch is a good choice for steamboat though it may not be easily access unlike MK which has branches throughout the country. Ruen Petch has 3 branches but I only know two which the one I ate this time and the one on new Petchburi road just opposite the Amari Atrium Hotel.

Ruen Petch restaurant

Soi Pattanakarn 20

ฺBangkok

Bangkok: Au Bon Pain

2011-07-09T14:41:00.003+07:00

I feel like I have been quiet for so long. Partly because I have not eaten anything good lately. I became boring person and just eating same old stuffs. So in order to break that lazy and boring chain, I decided that I would eat something and be productive today.

Woke up early this morning and hit the town with MRT underground as I have to collect my passport and Japan visa. I thought Saturday would be calm day, however the MRT and Silom area are still quiet busy. Weather was too hot so I made a stop at Au Bon Pain for bagel before doing my errands.

I placed my order for Salmon Wasabi Bagel. I don't know if that sells in other countries or not but definitely a big hit here. They put so much dills in it which reminded me of my time in Russia which everything we ate had tons of dills in it. The look might scared you away with that much dills but taste-wise, it was perfectly done. If you love wasabi then this would surely satisfy you. It wasn't that strong in every bite but once in a while, it would hit you. Let say my blocked nose was fine afterwards. It might be pricey for a meal (135Baht per piece) but at least it's not junk food and it's freshly made so another choice if you crave sandwich or burgers.

Au Bon Pain
Silom Road, Bangkok
(Chain store)

Bangkok: Jangwon at Korean Town

2011-06-28T21:15:00.003+07:00

As MK visited Bangkok last week, we arranged a bloggers' lunch date between me, MK and Tee. However, due to ouor conflicted schedule, we couldn't really meet up at the same time so I went up to meet MK on my own two weeks ago at Korean town since she wanted to explore Korean town in Bangkok. After looking at menus and browsing around, we ended up eating at "Jangwon".

A nice Korean meal won't be complete if there is no side dish! I love side dishes at Korean restaurants here coz choices are vary, it's refillable and it's free *YAY* We decided to not go for the BBQ stuff coz we have a long way to go and we did not want to smell like BBQ all day.

From the look of what we ordered, I'm sure we must have overdone it as this is too much for 2 persons but we need food so - haha.

Bibimbab came with stone bowl, actually you can choose whether you want ordinary bowl or stone bowl. We can add the sauce as much as we like. It was nice since it fits our taste.

Jab chae or stir fry glass noodle was very garlicky and I like it. MK said it wasn't that authentic especially with what they put in, making me want to try it when I go to Korea.

Kimchi Shige was so so. I must admit that I like the one at Doorae more. Maybe it's the taste of kimchi that is my problem.

Pajeon was okay. I like the leeks in it (which usually I hate as it gives me the onion taste - HORROR). Too bad that we were quite stuffed so I didn't really appreciating this dish much.

I think I have to admit that I'm actually preferred "Doorae" more. It's not bad for Jangwon but I like Doorae's food more. It was a nice meal anyway as I have a good company as MK :)

Jangwon

Sukhumvit Plaza, Sukhumvit 12

Bangkok

BTS: Asok

Bangkok: Wine I Love You Bar&Bistro

2011-06-19T14:02:00.008+07:00

A lot of wine bars have opened in Bangkok these days. I guess wine is the "IT" thing for Thai people now. I wanted to try wine bars so asked D1 if we should hold a monthly meeting at Wine bar. D1 suggested Crystal Design Center as our meeting point. This place is actually outlet selling home decoration and stuffs but somehow they have tons of restaurants too. We walked pass this "Wine I Love You" restaurant and it looked so nice so we decided to eat there.

The place was decorated in Western cafe/pub/bar style. You would be greeted by hundreds of wine bottles on the shelves when you walked inside.

I started off with Stella Artois since it's the only beer I can drink. After all, beer is good on the hot day! We ordered baked potato skin to eat as starter and it was so yummy! It was potato skin stuffing with bacon, topping with cheese. It was very enjoyable - I love!

Quesadilla

Caesar Salad

Avocado Salad

D1 ordered Quesadilla and it was as good as Mexican restaurant's made! So cheesy and yummy. Caesar salad was okay, just like generally good caesar salad. But my fave one is Avocado salad. I' now realised that I'm a big fan of avocado! Posting this entry makes me craving the avocado salad now!

Chocolate Martini

Onion rings

My next drink was Chocolate Martini - so strong but it looks so pretty! We ordered Onions rings to snack and it was very crispy. The dipping sauce was absolutely delicious as it wasn't just a regular mayo but also with a hint of BBQ sauce. It was everyone's favourite so we ordered it for another round.

I ended the afternoon with "Sex on the beach" which was absolutely yummy. I know this is kinda wrong as we come to wine bar but we only have cocktails and stuffs, but this place turned out to have amazing mixologist coz all the cocktails were absolutely delicious. I would definitely go back and have that some more!

Wine I Love You Bar&Bistro
Crystal Design Center
Website: http://www.wineiloveyou.com/

Bangkok: On the table Tokyo Café

2011-06-12T19:47:00.005+07:00

My friend has been pestering me for a while that she wanted to try "On the table Tokyo Café" restaurant which opened not long ago on 6th floor of Central World. So yesterday, we went out and decided to try the food there. I must tell you I am skeptical with the word "Tokyo Café" coz it can be good or just totally suck.

The restaurant gives out a cozy atmosphere with waitress dressing pretty much homely, if you asked me. I ordered honey lemon drinks while the girls had just water which came with cute PET bottles.

We ordered Potato cheese croquette which came with yummy dipping sauce. It was almost like thousand island sauce but not that strong. Very yummy indeed. Then we had Kara-age salad which was simple with clean taste.

They have two types of Okonomiya; Nara and Sapporo ones. I can't remember what is Nara Okonomiyaki but Sapporo ones is associated with cheese so we ordered that. It was medicore. Not that worth it. Same with salmon capaccio. It was so-so - nothing to remember about.

Their cheese curry rice gratin was one of the most talking about dish and it didn't fail at all. If you love cheese and Japanese curry - this dish is a must. Although my complain would be that the curry sauce was not enough for that amount of rice and cheese. Need more sauce!

Their pasta dishes are also amazing. I can't remember the name of the top one but it must be some bacon with olive oil and dried chillies. It was light with a hint of spiciness which was perfect. On the other hand, their cabonara sauce was very thick and quite messy when we tried to eat it as it splashed everywhen and on my white top as well. As it was thick, I was glad that we shared the food coz it would be too much to have this own my own.

I was already full but some girls wanted to try there dessert so they ordered this waffle with banana and chocolate with green tea ice cream. I only had one bite and it was nice. Other girls love it so I guess it was quite good.

Maybe coz I didn't have any expectation so the food turned out to be good. I should try other dishes next time.

On the table Tokyo Café
6th floor, Central World
Tel 02 613 1558-9
Website: http://www.facebook.com/OntheTableTokyoCafe
BTS: Siam

Bloggers Lunch Date

2011-06-01T20:55:00.008+07:00

Last Saturday, me and Tee were having lunch date after months of trying to arrange the meeting. We met up at Siam Square, the shopping and teenage hang-out area of Bangkok. It was first time in 3 years for me to go there, so talking about me feeling lost there among super young pre-teens and teenagers!

After we found each other, we explored "Digital Gateway" as Tee heard there are good places for eating. We decided to have lunch at Tenshou Yakitori. As name suggested, we ordered some yakitori, some deep fried and other food to share.

In the front, it's grilled chicken with cheese. The back is bacon with golden mushroom.

The deep fried curry pork was quite okay. Medicore, if you ask. Not bad but nothing special

Now this one is interesting, it was deep fried chocolate pork. Chocolate sauce was inside the deep fried pork. You can only taste the sweetness and chocolate throughout the chewing. No taste of pork. It's interesting but I'm not a fan really!

This is one is grilled chicken with cheese sushi (I think). If you like cheese, you should go for it really.

The french fries came with 3 dipping sauces, ketchup and some mayo based sauces which I wasn't able to identify. It was okay, I like the sauces anyway. We also shared curry rice with Hamburg. Hamburg is basically hamburger patty. It was okay.

So Tenshou Yakitori is okay place to eat, quite cheap anyway coz me and Tee only paid 600 baht for the meal (300baht each). We then moved along to some sweet. Crossing the road to Paragon for Marvelous Cream. It is like cold stone which you can mix your own ice cream with toppings. We decided to have berries with yogurt. It was sweet in the first bite but after that it was pleasant. Not too strong taste of yogurt which I like.

At the end of the day, it was such a pleasant day. Not just because of food, definitely coz of the company too!

Tenshou Yakitori
4th floor, Digital Gateway
BTS: Siam

Marvelous Cream
Ground floor, Siam Paragon (next to Crystal Jade)
BTS: Siam

Geneva: UN Cafeteria

2011-05-26T10:00:00.003+07:00

As part of my work mission in Geneva, I was able to sit through the whole review of UPR which conducted by Human Rights Commission of UN for two days. I spent the first day just lounging in their cafe area. On second day, we supposed to meet someone from UK delegation team on Human Rights at Geneva so we decided to have lunch at UN Cafeteria.

UN Cafeteria is pretty much like school cafeteria, I assume, with more types of food available; hot, cold, savoury, sweet. You name it, they have it. They would show what food they have today on big TV screen and would tell you what already finished. (I took the pictures after finishing my lunch, hence the place looked deserted and food already ran out).

the view outside the cafeteria (taken from floor above)

The sitting area was absolutely spacious. You can sit inside or outdoor on good sunny day. The view was amazing. When you look outside, you can see part of the lake.

Rosti and pork sauce

salad

My choice of food was the express one. I believe it was Swiss's Rosti (fried shredded potatoes) top with pork sauce and cheese. I also went for some cold salad which you can choose whatever you want yourself and you will pay by gram. I was sitting opposite S who went for dessert as well. Their food look great and also taste good. Not magnificently, but definitely better than what they serve at UN Thailand office for sure.

To me, the food was decent but highlight was the experience at the UN Geneva itself. It's amazing to think I would have the chance to be there. And in case you think this entry is such a waste coz I'm not gonna be in UN Geneva for work, UN Cafeteria actually opens for those who take tour around UN Geneva as well. So you can sit along side with people working in UN. Who knows, you could actually sit next to US ambassador to UN Geneva! Definitely worth while experience!

Cafeteria at UN Geneva Palais des Nations Geneva

View Larger Map

And I'm sharing some pretty pix from Geneva~

Famous three legged chair in from of Palais des Nations

The meeting room on Human Rights

The roof was really over the top

Geneva: Wasabi Sushi Bento Bar

2011-05-23T15:20:00.001+07:00

This might sound ridiculous but first meal in Geneva for me was...Japanese. I know I can't believe that myself but I blamed it on the exhaustion from long flight and my energy power was hitting the bottom when I ran into "Wasabi Sushi Bento Bar". I was actually trying to look for the restaurant which specialised in grilled chicken but couldn't find it. So I was like "Screw it, I need something now". Hence I started sushi shopping there.

The thing about this place is you just pick out whatever you like and pay then eat. They have all sorts of sushi, rice dishes and salads provided, whether in set or individual. I chose salmon role thing with avocado as stuffing and tofu salad coz I was really craving some vegetable at that point.

The salmon was smoked one which is expected in Europe. I guess people still don't like the idea of raw fish huh? Anyhow, I love the avocado stuffing. I know, plain but I guess it is comfort food for me somehow.

The salad was the real winner. Cold tofu, avocado and sesame dressing can never fail you. REALLY. I just realised as I'm typing that I may actually have avocado as one of my favourite food - hah! So the tasty sesame dressing and cold tofu are such a great combination. I felt so loved after it.

I guess this place is quite authentic and cheap (well, for Swiss people) since I met couples of Japanese people eating there. Just in case you got tired of cheese, this can be another way out. But if you ask me, Japanese food in Thailand is better - hehe.

Wasabi - Sushi Bento Bar
Boulevard Helvétique 32
1207 Geneve
Switzerland
Website: http://wasabisushi.ch/
Open: Monday - Saturday; 10.00 to 22.00 hrs

View Larger Map

Geneva: Auberge de Savièse

2011-05-17T12:58:00.008+07:00

As part of the training, we suppose to have a dinner together for one night. Our kind organiser decided we should go with traditional Swiss cuisine so we went out for a meal at restaurant which is specialised in Fondue.

Once we were seated, me and S started flickering through menu and decided that we would have Fondue maison (traditional cheese fondue) to share with everyone on table while someone suggested we should have Fondue à la tomate (tomatoes cheese fondue) as well. Me and S decided we should have our starter with Raclette dégustation (grilled cheese) and goat cheese salad to share. I know, that was a lot - we were starving!

potatoes and melted cheese

gherkins and pickled onions

all together now

Raclette dégustation was served first. Raclette is basically "..cheese round is heated, either in front of a fire or by a special machine, then scraped onto diners' plates; the term raclette derives from the French word racler, meaning "to scrape". Traditionally, it is accompanied by small firm potatoes, gherkins, pickled onions, and dried meat." (For more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raclette) My Raclette was served with potatoes, gherkins and pickled onions. I wasn't a fan of gherkins or pickled onions but to eat with melted cheese, it was great! I forgot to take picture of goat cheese salad, I guess we were too hungry to stop ourselves to take picture. As you can probably guess, salad dressing in Europe is always light - olive oil and vinaigrette. So it was light and perfect with the goat cheese and vegetable.

Fondue Maison

bread dipping in cheese (with help from S - Merci!)

Fondue à la tomate

pouring that on potatoes

Then the fondues were served with bread (for dipping) and potatoes (for pouring the cheese on top). Fondue, for those who might not know, is melted cheese mixing with white wine in melting pot. The traditional cheese was quite nice, eating with bread was a great deal (though it was burning hot so you'd better be caution before putting it in your mouth!). The one with tomato was a little bit too acid. S was assuming they put in too much wines in it coz you can really taste the alcohol. When we tried our neighbour's pot, it wasn't too alcoholic so I guess the chef was a bit heavy handed when it comes to our pot. If asked, I would prefer the traditional cheese one more than others.

We were so full of each and I think all of us were having the '..too much, shouldn't eat like that again' moment. Nonetheless, it was a nice place for bonding and sharing good food. Oh so much joy~

Auberge de Savièse
20 rue des Pâquis
1201 Genève
Switzerland
Tel. +41 22 732 83 30
Open: 12.00 - 14.00 hrs
18.00 - 24.00 hrs

Agrandir le plan

Geneva: Gelato Mania

2011-05-14T02:09:00.007+07:00

Sorry that I seemed to be disappeared. I just came back from work trip in Geneva, which has been amazing beyond my expectation, both the city itself and my work. I was there to learn about Universal Periodic Review which is a process that review human right issues in each country by other State members of UN. It was amazing what Civil Society can also do in this part to level up our countries' human right standard. Anyhow, this is not a place for me to talk about it but if you are interested, please find out more information at UN's Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights.

I arrived at Geneva on last Saturday and only had that one free day to explore the town. The weather in Geneva was amazing, 20 degrees something with sunshine. So after walking around town for a bit, I saw people queuing up for ice cream at this place quite near my hotel. I asked our reception and she told me it was the best place in town so I jumped in to join the queue!

coffee and cocoa in small cup

Everything was in Frech (of course) so I used the knowledge of French which I learned 12 years ago to get on by. I was suppose to order Caramel and Cocoa but the sale person misunderstood caramel for Cafe which is coffee. Sent me to panic a bit since I don't drink coffee and never had coffee ice cream before (yes, such person existed in the society). But after the first taste of their coffee gelato, I am totally converted! It was probably one of the nicest gelato I ever had. It wasn't too sweet and the coffee taste wasn't that bad (though my colleague, S, said it was quite strong. I guess she was right since she had coffee ice cream before, I on the other hand was a coffee-virgin). Cocoa was also nice but at that point, it was all about coffee gelato for me!

chocolate chips with coffee and caramel with condensed milk

The last day before I left Geneva, I dropped by the place with S for some more gelato. We got two for each cup so we ended up having 4 types of gelato to try! I wanted to try caramel as S said it was delicious and wanted my coffee as usual. S made ordered for the chocolate chip (Stracciatella) and the condensed milk one. We were two happy people sitting in a bench eating ice cream! The condensed milk one was very interesting and nice. Not over sweet. Caramel was also good.

If you happen to be in Geneva, around the lake. Be sure to walk to Rue des Pâquis for some ice cream at Gelato Mania - totally worth it!

Gelato Mania
Rue des Pâquis 25,
1201 Genève, Switzerland

View Larger Map

Singapore: Ippudo Singapore

2011-05-04T19:37:00.010+07:00

Two weeks ago, I went to Singapore with two friends on our super short holiday break. I mean it was only 31 hours we spent in Singapore. We spent most of the time shopping. I don't know if it was good or bad that we went on Easter weekend so everything was on sale. We just kept walking up and down Orchard road and didn't get to eat properly as expected. Anyhow, we would never miss "Ippudo" when we go to Singapore (or Japan).

At first, I was planned to go to Ippudo Tao but since it was far off from the shopping center (which we need to "work on"), we decided to go to Ippudo at Mandarin Gallery instead. The shop was very happening as usual. We waited for table for 4 for a bit as my Singaporean, Y, was coming to join us as well.

When we got to the table, we started ordering right away. My friend's sister, N, ordered Aka maru ramen which I ordered last time. I, on the other hand, went for "Kyushuu Miso Tonkotsu Ramen with Kakuni" which was seasonal menu if I wasn't wrong. It was good, no, it was fantastic! The broth was light though it was tonkotsu or pork bone soup. The miso wasn't too salty and went so well with the noodle which was medium cooked. I miss it already!

Before the cheese

After the cheese

K went for seasonal menu as well, called "Bakuretsu Tanmen". It was like international ramen coz it was mabo tofu mixing with clear soup with fresh tomatoes, basil and cheese as toppings. It was very interesting and unbelievably went well together. K was more than satisfied.

steamed vegetable salad

Gyoza

Y already had her lunch so she went for steamed vegetable salad (which, I kind think, was totally ripped off, that was 8SGD!). We also ordered gyoza to share and that never fail to please us!

We made a bold move and ordered their dessert, rare cheesecake. I never knew before that ramen shop can amazing rare cheesecake! Totally a great way to end the meal!

I know, I'm such a bias when it comes to Ippudo. I couldn't help that I love them so much. They never fail to please me, whether in Japan (of course) or even in Singapore. And it's always a big hit to whoever I introduce them to. Thumbs up, Ippudo!

Ippudo Singapore
Mandarin Gallery
333A Orchard Road
#04-02/03/04
Singapore 238867
http://www.ippudo.com.sg/

View Larger Map

Ayutthaya: Tonnam River view (ต้นน้ำริเวอร์วิว)

2011-04-20T10:53:00.000+07:00

My mum's favourite food, beside Peking duck, is grilled river prawn. She loves those prawn paste (I don't know what's it call in English but it's those oozy liquid found in the head of prawn. In Thai, we called "มันกุ้ง - Mun Kung"). So we always look out to find new place that is famous for grilled river prawn. Tonnam Riverview has appeared on my facebook very often these days, so it proved to be everyone's favourite. The weekend before long holiday, we decided to visit the place.

It was only 40 minutes drive from my house via express way (Map will be found at the end of the entry). We got there around 11.30am and it was already packed! If we were 10 minutes late, we wouldn't have our table!

We ordered ทอดมันห่อไข่เค็ม - Tod Mun Hor Kai Kem (Thai style Fish cake with salty egg inside) as an order. It was interesting and nice for starter.

เชิงปลากรายทอด - Cherng Pra Krai Tod (Deep fried grey fish) was too crispy that it was too hard. Mum didn't like it much - kinda disappointing.

ยำวุ้นเส้น - Yum Woonsen (Spicy glass noodle salad) was also medicore.

The highlight of the day was the grill river prawn. We ordered 3 prawns for a kilo and the size was absolutely massive! Mun Kung was very creamy. You gotta mix that with rice and put on spicy seafood sauce - HEAVEN!

Overall, it was good esp. with the grilled prawn but maybe I should order other recommended dishes to save me from disappointment! A kilo of prawn in 1,000Baht but the rest of the food isn't expensive at all. Definitely a good choice, highly recommended to make reservation if you wanna come.

ต้นน้ำริเวอร์วิว (Tonnam River view)
Bangpa-in, Ayutthaya
Tel. (035) 261006 , (035)262398

View Larger Map

Bangkok: Doorae at Korean Town

2011-04-14T19:37:00.005+07:00

Happy Thai New Year, everyone! I'm in the middle of 5 days holiday. Nothing much happened though since most shops and small restaurants close and everyone either has gone back to their hometowns or splashing water around to celebrate the Songkran holiday. (For more info on water and Thai New Year, please click here)

Last week, before the holiday started, I was craving Korean food so bad that I tried calling everyone to join me. In the end, only P and A able to join me. We went to Korean town at Sukhimvit 12 for super authentic Korean food. The thing about us when we went to Korean town is that we always said we want to try new restaurant as there are so many of them there. However, we always ended up eating at "Doo Rae" everytime. Of course, that day wasn't an exception - we ended up at Doo Rae.

You gotta love Korean food for serving unlimited side-dishes. I love Kimchi, all sort of it so I was very happy with this!

We ordered some basic stuffs; beef bulgogi and marinated pork. We asked them to grill for us coz we couldn't really bother with that. It was good, I mean there's nothing to complain about grilled meat right?

A wanted stir fry squids with Korean Chili paste. It looked fiercely but it wasn't that spicy for this one. You can enjoy it with rice without any problem.

I suggested we should step outside the box (at least order something new though we didn't change restaurant), instead of kimchi shige, we went for soon dobu shige which I think is soft tofu hot soup. It was very good actually. Not bland and very much enjoyable when it was hot.

It was such a good meal although the price is a bit high. I would say you should come with lots of friends or families so you will get to enjoy the variety of dishes and in cheaper price!

Doo Rae
1/F, Sukhumvit Plaza,
Sukhumvit Soi 12
Tel 02 653 3815
BTS: Asok

View Larger Map

Bangkok: Le Danang

2011-04-03T14:24:00.005+07:00

Me and friends were craving some veggie meal so last week, S pitched in the idea to eat at Vietnamese restaurant in Sofitel Central Lad prao. I know, that sounds like high-end expensive meal but it wasn't that bad. We decided to go for all you can eat meal which is about Baht580 including tax and service charge (not inc. drinks though).

The menu is quite extensive, pretty much like a la carte one except in smaller portion. After serving food, they served us bowls of fresh vegetables and sauces. I ordered long island ice tea for a drink, I know I'm such an addicted for cocktail!

fresh spring roll

roast pork with lemongrass and noodle

The fresh crab stick spring roll was a good start, light and fresh. Roast pork with lemongrass and noodle came next and it was one of the winning dishes of the night. The pork was tender withe nice fragrance. Very enjoyable.

avocado and mango salad with crab meat

spicy soft shell salad

rocket salad with shrimp

Next up were the salads; avocado mango salad with crab meat, soft shell crab with spicy salad and rocket salad with shrimp. I must tell you they all were good. The salad dressings for each dish were more than just perfect. I love the avocado and mango salad so much, the sweetness from ripped mango really brought out the best of taste. Really satisfied with their salads.

roast duck with tamarind sauce

deep fried sea bass

We ordered roast duck breast with tamarind sauce and deep fried sea bass to try. The tamarind sauce might be too sour for my liking but I guess it did kill the duck taste some people might not like. The sea bass was okay, I guess nothing special after I had those amazing salads.

I can't remember what desserts we ordered. Probably all of the choices they have on their menus. My favourite was the crepe with ginger ice cream which is more like vanilla and cinnamon ice cream. My friends approved all of the dessert dishes.

I'm sure I will return for a meal there again as there are so many dishes I haven't tried and things I want to repeat (the salads!). Highly recommended if you look for nice Vietnamese food (and if you have a little more in budget).

Le Danang
Sofitel Central Lad Prao
Tel. 02-5411234
Opening hours: 11.30-14.30/ 18.00-22.30
MRT station: Paholyothin

Bangkok: Food Loft at Central Chidlom

2011-03-24T20:13:00.004+07:00

I have been procrastinating in life lately. No real reason, just lazy. Last week, I took half day off to meet D1 on a "mission". It was the coldest day of Bangkok so it was pretty weird that I was wearing black tight walking around on Sky train. After our mission, we decided to grab lunch at Food Loft at Central Chidlom since they have cocktails in friendly price (100 something baht per glass - it was quite decent, I must add). Food Loft is like high-end international food court. You can get decent Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Indian in one place.

I chose "Mabo Tofu" or Spicy stir fry tofu. It was absolutely addictive. I have had it ages ago here and it was still very good!

D1 ordered her Indian's lamb masala with garlic naan and samosa. They were nice, thinking I should try butter chicken next time I eat there. Though the dipping sauces tasted a bit weird. The green one was suppose to be mint sauce but it was very sour and the red one was just, weird. Anyhow, after mixing two sauces together, everything was fine.

I ordered "Kimchi Shige" or Kimchi soup and it was such a let down. It was just sour and not even pleasant taste of sourness. I think it could be the kimchi they used coz kimchi that came with it also tasted not that so so. So definitely lesson learned that I shall never order kimchi soup unless I'm at Ootoya or dining at Korean town.

Such a big meal for two of us (inc. 2 glasses of cocktails!). It was Baht800 for the bill so 400 for each of us. I think it was decent, not for everyday eating but definitely for a treat.

Food Loft at Central Chidlom
7th Floor
Central Chidlom
BTS station: Chidlom

Bangkok: PH1b Coffee Bar

2011-03-12T18:07:00.003+07:00

S was suggesting that we should try out this cafe near where we used to have Pizza in soi Paholyothin 11. So after the yakiniku meal at Dai-chan, we headed to "PH1b Coffee Bar".

The decoration inside is very cozy. We got there around 7pm and it was quite quiet (but I went again during the day after lunch, it was quite packed). I really love their decoration and atmosphere. I know I would enjoy this place.

Brownie Cheesecake

Apple crumble

They provide various types of coffees, teas and smoothies. Aside from bakery stuff, they also have ice creams from Iberry to choose from. We ordered brownie cheesecake and apple crumble with vanilla sauce to share. What a delight! Apple crumble was super good, I think I fall in love! It has been a while that I have good apple crumble so I'm glad I found this place. Brownie Cheesecake was also good.

My friends ordered hot teas, while I went for a bit adventurous side. I ordered chinese plum soda. It's interesting, to be honest. The taste wasn't strong so you can pretty much enjoying it. You can also eat them since they also provided them as well.

I must declare, this place will definitely become my new hang out place with my friends. So easily access around Aree area. Pure love!

PH1b Coffee Bar
Soi Paholyothin 11, Paholyothin Road
Tel: 08-1173-2600
Website: www.facebook.com/PH1b-Coffee-Bar
BTS: Aree Station

Bangkok: Ha Yak Somtum (ห้าแยกส้มตำ)

2011-03-05T12:52:00.004+07:00

To be honest, I don't know the real name of this place as I first went to this place on the night I was tipsy with Double D sisters. So for the second time, I was much sober as we decided to have NGO dinner after a hard working day. This place is actually quite well-known as S told the taxi driver to go to 'somtum restaurant in Intamara area' and the driver just knew the place instantly.

When you go to Isaan (North-Eastern of Thailand) restaurant, of course, you have to order Somtum. We ordered like 3 types of Somtums; with salted eggs, with salty crab and the one with wild tamarind. They all were super yummy.

The porched pork with spicy sour sauce (หมูมะนาว) was a big hit. The spiciness went well with cold Chinese kale. Very mouth-watering dish.

Next one is pork liver with spicy sauce (ตับหวาน), I didn't eat this one coz I'm not a fan of liver but friend said it was good.

We ordered some more stuff but I didn't manage to take any pictures as the girls were so fast with their food. Overall, their food is good. Decent price with relaxing atmosphere. I will definitely come back.

Ha Yak Somtum (ห้าแยกส้มตำ)
Direction: Make a left turn into Suthisan road and make a right turn into Soi Intamara 22. Go straight on according to the road. The restaurant will be on the left after after the car care.

Samut Prakan: Pa Waew (ป้าแหว๋ว)

2011-02-19T22:14:00.006+07:00

Yesterday was Buddhist Public Holiday, since my dad came down from Chiangmai and it was his birthday next Wednesday, I decided to take my family out for a seafood lunch on my treat. Pa Waew is always our family's choice for seafood for at least 10 years now. We know this place since my dad worked in this district.

It's a very local restaurant so never let the shady looking shack deceived you coz they have the most amazing and fresh seafood serving here in a very good price!

Look at the size!!

We ordered steamed crabs and was never disappointed! Just look at the size of crabs! It was fresh and very tasty.

Shrimps with black pepper was something new. We never had black pepper with shrimps before and it was a great decision. The black pepper sauce wasn't too heating so I enjoyed eating it with rice.
Seafood Tom Yum was hot and sour, as it should be. Talking about authentic Thai food!

Deep fried seabass with fish sauce is one of my mum's fave dish here. The fish sauce wasn't just salty but having the sweet flavour in it. The fish was fresh so you get to eat the tasty solid fish meat with the tasty sauce. I bet mum was very happy.

Guess how much we paid for these food, two litres of Pepsi and a bowl of rice for 4 person? 50 USD (Baht1,600)! So cheap! I'm so satisfied, I'm sure my family was also happy. Such a great way to spend quality meal with family!

Pa Waew (ป้าแหว๋ว)
Phra samut chedi district, Samut Prakan Province
Close every Saturday
Direction: Get down from Rama IX bridge at Suksawat road (look for sign to go to 'Phra Pra Daeng - พระประแดง') and just go straight on. Follow the sign to Phra Chulachomklao Fortress (ป้อมพระจุล). Pa Waew is located on the right hand side just before you cross the last bridge into the Fortress.

Bangkok: La Monita Taqueria

2011-02-13T13:45:00.004+07:00

Last week, I had a dinner date with another Bangkokian foodie blogger, Tee from Passports and Postcards. We tried to arrange a dinner at new eating place so we pitched in the idea and agreed to try 'La Monita Taqueria', the Mexican restaurant which has been talked about lately.

We met around 6.45pm and it was very busy already. This could be a great proof how great their food and drinks were! We decided to ordered Steak Quesadillas and Grilled Chicken Nachos Supreme. I was a bit hesitated at first about the portion so I was thinking if we should order another dish to share. Turned out their portion was really filling.

steak quesadillas

salsa, red and green hot sauces

Their quesadilla was cheesy though not too soggy. I ate them with the salsa and hot sauces they provided. The hot sauces weren't too spicy (for me anyway) when you first tried it. But the more you had, the heat would increase esp. in tummy area.

Their nachos was delighted, unlike at Coyote, they didn't add too much refined beans. Not that I hate beans but beans in Coyote's nachos dish is probably like 2/3 of the whole dish! That's too much. Anyway, I like La Monita's Nachos!

I was talking to D2 who had dinner at La Monita the night before and she recommended me to try their raspberry mojito. We went for small size and boy, they are so generous with alcohol 'coz I got tipsy not long after drinking that.

I really had a great time that night with good food and great company. Definitely I will revisit since I have an eye on their caipiranha already!

La Monita Taqueria & Restaurant
Mahatun Plaza, Pleonchit Road,
Bangkok
Tel: 02 650 9581
Email: info@lamonita.com
BTS: Pleonchit
Website: http://www.lamonita.com

View Larger Map

Bangkok: Rabieng Ta-le (ระเบียงทะเล)

2011-02-09T23:01:00.007+07:00

Last Sunday I organised a small meeting with my old friends. G suggested that we should eat at a restaurant near her home which located on riverside called "Rabieng Ta-le". We arrived at restaurant around 7pm and it was all packed with families. Riverside restaurant never lost its charm, I suppose.

G was going for healthy stuff so she ordered Deep fried sea bass with fish sauce (ปลาทอดราดน้ำปลา). The fish sauce wasn't just salty but also sweet. It made the dish very satisfying.

Som tam with preserved blue crab

Stir fry veggies

Me and A wanted to eat something spicy so we ordered Somtam with preserved blue crab (ส้มตำปูม้า). It was very tasty! It wasn't too spicy and the preserved crab meat was very sweet. Stir-fry veggie (ผัดยอดผักหวาน) was so so.

steamed seafood with curry paste

Seafood Tom Yum

Next was steamed seafood with curry paste in coconut (ห่อหมกทะเลมะพร้่าวอ่อน). This has to be the best. It tasted perfect and mild. It went so well with rice. I would recommend this and definitely order again if I go there. We couldn't end the night without Seafood Tom-yum (ต้มยำทะเล). It was medicore, good for slurping anyway.

The atmosphere was good but too many mosquitoes. Fortunately, the staff were very nice and attentive. They even offered some mosquito repellent. Although, they missed one order but it was forgiven as we can see they were incredible busy. I would definitely come again, maybe with my family for more yummy food!

Rabieng Ta-le (ระเบียงทะเล)
Charunsanitwong 86/1
Bangkok
Tel. (02) 879-0911-2
Website: http://www.rabiengta-le.com/

View Larger Map

Bangkok: Palazzo Ristorante & Wine Bar

2011-02-07T12:48:00.008+07:00

Sorry for being quiet these days. I have been busy. I know, cliché but it's still applicable. I was in high mood since 2 weeks ago, expecting good news. Turned out, it wasn't good news. It wasn't rejection that disappointed me, it was more like I'm upset with present stage of life. Anyhow, life goes on and I will try my best to overcome it.

A dinner at Palazzo last Saturday is the usual get-together with me and my NGO friends. We did heavy research on place we should go and finally came down to Palazzo for food wise. To be honest, it was a bit more high-end for us when it comes to their decorating. Yet, it was cozy.

Bread & Butter

Baked Lobster Soup

Me and D1 were the first to arrive, as usual. So we only ordered grilled vegetable with olive and balsamic dressing, spinach soup and baked lobster soup to try. The first taste of baked lobster soup was brilliant. I was liking that. However, the more you ate, the taste just got so strong. Too strong that it did give out tomato soup taste. Spinach soup was mild and I found it quite good (D1 wasn't approving though).

Grilled veggies were pleasant. I like everything in the plate esp. Shitake mushroom and bell peppers. Although the portion is quite big to finish by two of us.

The first drink I had was Mojito, very refreshing after a long day. Afterward, we opted for Prosecco with the help of very attentive staff in choosing wine.

Then D2 came, she ordered Fettucini with salmon and vodka sauce. It looked small, comparing with the side of dish but it wasn't. They also gave generous amount of salmon in the dish as well.

Crepe Suzette

Warm Chocolate Cake

We decided to make room for desserts tonight so we ordered Crepe Suzette and Warm Chocolate cake. They both were nice.

We finished off a bottle of Prosecco that night. In a way, that night was my sulking night. The night everyone told me to be patient and looked for new chapters in life. I guess, after all, nothing beats good friends and family who support you.

PALAZZO RISTORANTE & WINE BAR
Thonglor Soi 17
Bangkok
Tel. (02) 712-9900
Open: Lunch 11.30 a.m.-2.30 p.m.
Dinner 6.00 p.m.-10.30 p.m.
Website: http://www.palazzothonglor.com/

View Larger Map

my thought on Krispy Kreme Thailand

2011-01-21T20:55:00.005+07:00

Couples of months ago, Thai people were so excited about having our own Krispy Kreme donuts. Before the arrival of KK, all people traveled to Hong Kong, Japan, UK etc. would talk about how they would take those back home. You would thought having KK here will shorten duration and leave all the hassles in getting it. THAT was wrong!

The first few weeks and months of having KK at Paragon mall was crazy. Crazy lines, crazy people. Some said the worst was 3-4 hours of waiting in queue. I wasn't exaggerated when I said crazy people. To make things more "annoyed", there were "donut scalpers" - people who queued up and bought tons of box and would try to sell those to people who didn't want to wait. Of course, more expensive from original price.

I wasn't bothered about KK in the first few months. Surely, I have eaten KK when I was studying in UK. I liked it. I had even bought a dozen to share with my housemates. But 3-4 hours of waiting is a bit too much for me. Anyhow, yesterday I had a meeting with friend in Paragon and had spare time so I thought I would get a dozen for my mum. Queue wasn't long but I was freaking annoyed with donut scalpers. You would thought they were outside Paragon and approached you but, the hell, they were mobbing people in front of KK stall! Even next to security guard. I mean, what the hell is this?! scalpers trying to sell donuts in front of donut stall! And the queue wasn't even long. It was like 10 people ahead of me.

I was browsing through choices of donuts they had and I wasn't pleased. AT ALL. Yesterday, they had original glazed, X'mas decorated glazed, graham krunch, new york cheesecake, strawberry-filled powder and chocolate. It was 6 pm and should almost be the peak hour of selling. Krispy Kreme Thailand seriously did not meet the standard. Where are lemon-filled powders? where are crullers? I know they said it is their right to provide whatever choices of donuts to sell but shouldn't you have more choices or at least, constantly produce these choices, not finishing and never making again?

When it was about my turn, the girl who stood behind me (who I assumed was scalper) was asking me if i would only buy one dozen. I only turned to her and nodded. I was like 75% sure she would probably ask me to help her buying another dozen for sell but since I have the most unfriendly face ever, she didn't dare. My assuming was proved right when it was her turn after me (I watched her), she didn't say a word but the staff just went to get 2 dozens of assorted donuts for her. That's so obvious that she kept coming back and buying this and the staff know. Don't you think it's quite wrong? That means KK Thailand in a way allowed people to make profit from them? You know this could mean, the whole long queue was filled with donut scalpers, not really buyers.

Asked me if I will buy again, surely I will but I won't bothered much. I like it but doesn't mean I'm gonna keep eating this trans-fat junk everyday. I'm not gonna queue and waste my life away if it took too long. And I won't tolerate with annoying donut scalpers. So maybe in next 6 months, I will buy again.

Krispy Kreme
Ground floor
Siam Paragon
Rama I road
Bangkok

View Bangkok in a larger map

Bangkok: Pizza Pizza by Yanee

2011-01-19T20:57:00.009+07:00

I arranged a meeting with my NGO friends on Monday's evening as Mother A wanted to see the D sisters since she didn't see them in a while now. Location for meeting for us is quite difficult since the D sisters and S are working in the city centre, while me and Mother A are working a little outside of the city. Anyway, we came to conclusion to meet for dinner at Pizza Pizza by Yanee, Central Chidlom.

While waiting for D2 and S to come, we saw Ananda Everingham shopping at Topman. Funny thing was I called S who worked in Sathorn and she said she'll be there asap. Funny enough, 15 minutes later, she was there in front of Topman and Ananda just walked pass her out of the shop - talking about dedication!

Anyway, as D2 would only be able to join us at 6.30 pm, we went to restaurant straightway as all started to feel hungry. We ordered Minestrone soup, Zuppa "Aragosta" (Lobster soup), Frankie's salad (Spicy smoked salmon salad) and baked spinach as appetizers.

Frankie's salad

Salad was really pleasant as the dressing has a hint of spiciness. It went well with smoked salmon. Only bad thing was too much of olive oil which made the vegetable gone soggy after 15 minutes. Baked spinach was also great - very cheesy and creamy. I was so guilty after eating this - hello, Calories!

Zuppa "Aragosta"

Talking about soup, Minestrone was brilliant. I love love their minestrone. Actually it's something that shouldn't go wrong. Any Italian restaurant with bad minestrone is like a really bad restaurant in my opinion. As for lobster soup, it was a bit on salty side. It wasn't bad but what I had at Tuba and Minibar Royale were so much better than this.

Angel hair with Pancetta

Angel hair with black peppered crab meat

When D2 arrived, we started ordering big set of food! Two pasta were chosen; Angel hair with Pancetta (bacon with olive oil, garlic and chilli flake) and Angel hair with black peppered crab meat. Pancetta one was amazingly good with Angel hair. It was even better than the one at Greyhound. The crab meat one tasted a bit more like Chinese food instead of Italian. We reckoned it was because of Angel hair since it was so much resembling Mee Suah. We didn't get the heat from pepper as much as we wanted from the crab meat one. I guess that's the level they will do since we are talking about Italian food here.

Lasagna was a bit of let-down. It was too dry and I sorta expected it be boiling hot so we can get to eat stretchy cheesy, like in baked spinach.

smoked salmon pizza

Sam's special

We ordered large with pizza with two toppings; Sam's special (with shrimp, ham and mushroom) and smoked salmon. I like original thin pizza so this is a big win. I noticed that at the restaurant, they have this Italian style stove as well so this should guarantee their pizza!

D2 ordered crab meat salad for some green leaves (I know, overloaded with crab meat). I like their dressing a lot. Crab meat is fresh as well. It was a good dish.

It was a pleasant meal for us, eating and talking about our lives. I really enjoyed my time with these girls. I reckoned we should do dinner date on weekday more often!

Pizza Pizza by Yanee
Central Chit Lom
Ground Floor
Tel: 02-655-7928-3
BTS: Chid lom

View Pizza Pizza Bangkok in a larger map

Nakhon Pathom: Pan-kun

2011-01-16T22:21:00.013+07:00

[Thank you all for well wishes in last post. I think I recover from cold but still have blocked nose. My friend who is a doctor thinks now it's a condition of allergy. She said probably the weather which made my nose gone insane. -*- ]

Me and friends decided to get together for lunch at Pan-kun, a fusion Japanese restaurant, closer to N's house today. Situated in front of Mahidol University Salaya campus, I'm sure they are aiming at uni students as target group. I like Pan-kun for the fact that it's a cheap place to eat but not cheap in terms of quality. I like Pan-kun for the fact that it's a cheap place to eat but not cheap in terms of quality.

Moreover, they have those American style Maki/rolls as well. The choices are various as you can see they have like 2 pages of menu dedicated to rolls!

4 types of rolls as starter

I can't remember exactly what we were ordering so I'm just going to talk about what I can remember here. First one is Hot JB roll - fried salmon with cream cheese inside maki. Well, very fatty in terms of taste. I couldn't eat that a lot as it was too much for me but it was very pleasant anyway.

This one is super awesome - it's Dynamite roll. I can't remember what inside the roll but it tops with kani and mayonnaise sauce. I love this one. Good taste, pleasant eat and filling as well!

These two must be spicy tuna roll and something with unagi (grilled eel) on top which I forgot the name. Although they said it's spicy tuna, it wasn't THAT spicy so anyone can have that (It's medicore anyway). As for the other one, I like unagi so very happy to eat it!

We always order Cheese Croquet everytime we eat here. You can see the reason up there why we all hooked up with cheese! The cheesy cheese croquet is nice to eat as appetizer. It's like eating cheese with little mashed potato cover it.

If you notice, I am crazy over tofu. I can eat tofu all day, all year in any shape or form. So always order Agedashi tofu whenever I go. I think the taste isn't that authentic for this one. A bit stronger than ordinary Agedashi tofu we found in Japanese restaurant. In a way, I guess it tastes good for Thai people who like strong taste in their food.

Sashimi Crispy Salad - before tossing

After tossing

Sashimi crispy salad is always everyone's favourite. Crispy vegetable and crispy wanton did go well together. I think it's okay but I would skip the crispy wanton thing and dig for only vegetable and sashimi instead.

This sashimi set is Baht200 - can you believe this?!?!?!? And look at the size of those raw tuna and salmon! So thick! I should also add that their fishes are incredibly fresh. Very satisfied for me.

It's a good place to eat and price is affordable, generally not more than Baht100. Down side is that it's too far off from where I live and the city. If anyone living around the area or popping to see people in the neighbourhood, I would recommended!

Pan-Kun
in front of Mahidol University Salaya Campus
Puthamonthon Sai 4 road,
Salaya, Nakhon Pathom
Tel. 02-889 3982

View Larger Map

Bangkok: Ramen Tei

2011-01-10T22:12:00.005+07:00

Kindly accept my apologies for MIA. I am now having my first illness of 2011 with running nose and sore throat. No food tasted good right now. So I went through my camera and found pix of food I had at Ramen Tei last month (well, technically last year but that sounds bad isn't it?). This post will be a bit of back-dated, sorry about that!

I went to Ramen Tei with N, my uni friend who is also a fangirl of a band from same company as me. She's very bubbly person and good fun to talk to. She loves Japan and even works for Japanese company so she suggested we went for Ramen Tei for pre-X'mas dinner since they have variety of food.

We ordered so many food for two persons! Their mabotofu (stir fried spicy tofu) was the best. It wasn't as spicy like when we eat at Szechuan/Chinese restaurants so it was very easy to eat and enjoy.

The repeat dish from last post was stir-fry black chinese mushroom with egg. I still love it, though my friend was like 'You know, you can do it at home.'. I know I can but would it taste as nice as this? I don't think so!

N's spicy ramen

My Miso Ramen

N ordered spicy ramen which gave a few kicks after the soup-slurping moment. I ordered Miso ramen. It was so so. Too ordinary that I have nothing to say. I think the main dish of Ramen Tei is rather medicore while the side dishes are amazingly good.

As I mentioned, N was such a good fun. We were able to finish all dishes while talking and probably stayed inside the restaurant for almost 3 hours! As for Ramen Tei, I would go for the side dishes stuff again in hoping to find their good ramen!

View Larger Map

Bangkok: random eats!

2011-01-03T19:25:00.006+07:00

I have quite a number of small eats going on while I was posting my Japan eats. These aren't big meal so decide to stick them up together and post them as one big entry instead of mini review one.

***********************

The other holiday last month, I opened my fridge and found nothing to eat apart from some salad vegetable and my frozen tamagoyaki from Shurou. So I decided to microwave it and ate with the salad. Texture of the egg was almost as a chiffon cake, it tasted almost like castella (without flour - of course!). I had the egg with some shoyu which helped bringing out the taste of tamagoyaki. I still got some of these left in my freezer so maybe I should do traditional Japanese breakfast with miso soup, seaweed and tamagoyaki someday.

***********************

Two weeks ago, I went to Central World to buy dress for one of my best friend's wedding. My tummy was growling quite loud. I was craving thick french fries so decided to stop by at Mos Burger which was just re-opening.

I love Mos burger. I think they are so much better than American franchised burgers like McDonald's (of course) and even better than Burger King. I know, I have been Japanised in so many way but you have to see how thick the beef patty in Mos burger and compare that with McDonald's one. It's undeniable that Mos burger is worth the money more!

my set

clam chowder

Just look at the beef patty - so thick!

I ordered the premium beef burger set (comes with their thick french fries and soft drink) and clam chowder. I love their clam chowder. You can still taste tiny cubes of potatoes and plenty of clams in the soup. It was very pleasant. The burger was nice. They didn't put too much sauce on which in a way is good coz you can really get the taste of beef and its juiciness. However, being Thai, I love my food with tangy flavour. So if you asked, I think it wasn't season enough. Nonetheless, it was close to my favourite tasty beef burger I had in 2009 while I was in Japan so I wasn't complaining!

***********************

On new year's day, I went to see N and F as we were the only people in our group that stuck in Bangkok. We played around at N house for a bit before took for Vietnamese food (forgot to take pictures, too hungry!). It was only 7.30pm so we decided to waste our lives away at Nawamin City Avenue. It was sort of like an area with shops and restaurants stuck together. After browsing through Daiso shop (it's Baht60 for everything, comparing that with Japanese Daiso which every piece is 100yen), we decided to have some dessert at Iberry Cafe.

Iberry is famous ice cream shop-comes-famous franchised dessert shop/restaurant. They have variety of ice cream esp. those you cannot find in regular ice cream shops such as Horlick, Lychee, Durian or tamarind. It's everyone's favourite ice cream, even my mum since she can go with Thai fruit sorbet instead of general artificial vanilla or chocolate flavour. However, it wasn't cheap. One scoop is Baht49 which like almost 1 pound. That is expensive considering you can get a bowl of noodle for your lunch for only Baht30!

We ordered waffle with a scoop of green tea and double chocolate. Their waffle was really nice. You can get a taste of saltiness in waffle as well so it went well with ice cream and maple syrup. We also ordered an extra scoop of Spicy mango ice cream to share. This is very Thai taste so would recommend anyone who come here to try. Basically it is a flavour originating from sour mango which we usually dip with salt-chili dipping. It was funny for first trial I'm sure since it would be sour and a bit of spicy. It was very pleasant anyway!

***********************

Shouro Tamagoyaki
Chuo-ku, Tsukiji 4-13-13, Tokyo
Website: http://www.shouro.co.jp/top/3.html

Mos Burger
3 floor, Central World,
Ratchaprasong road, Bangkok

Iberry Cafe
Nawamin City Avenue,
Kaset-Nawamin Road, Bangkok

Tokyo: Setagaya Ramen at Haneda Int'l Airport

2011-01-01T23:24:00.005+07:00

[Note: I just realised Setagaya Ramen is opening in Bangkok now, at Arena 10 in Thong Lor. I assumed it is the same one as in Haneda Airport. Must check anyway.]

Marking my 50th entry on 1st of January 2011 so this will be a celebration of the new beginning. Anyway, first of all, I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year. May 2011 be the year of happiness to you all.

May all your life be as sparkling as the lights of Hakodate in this picture
(view from Mt. Hakodate)

This entry will be my last entry in Japan as well. Though I'm not making it before the year end, at least we can move on to something new after the new year period. So back to the post, we were taking the late night flight out of the new Haneda international airport. That means no dinner on plane so me and T were walking around Edo Market on 4th floor of the airport for food. It was Sunday night so apparently all restaurants were crowded from families who visit the airport for food and sight-seeing (this reminds me of T3 of Changi airport in Singapore so much). We decided to have ramen as the last meal in Japan so we queued up for ramen at Setagaya Ramen.

I was seated at counter so with open kitchen view

I ordered tsukemen. The portion was so huge that even big eater like me cannot finish. The dipping soup was strong and went well with the thick noodle. However, the more you eat, the more you start to feel that it's too heavy and too strong. I like the chashu in the soup as it melt away in my mouth when I ate it. It was definitely a pleasant last meal in Japan. So much for my eating trip of 2010. I still need to visit many interesting restaurants so hopefully this year, I will be able to do such trip again!

Setagaya Ramen
4th floor, Edo Market
Haneda new International Airport
Open: 08:00 – 22:00
Website: http://www.haneda-airport.jp/inter/en/premises/tenant/3400800014750000/index.html

Tokyo: Ippudo Ramen at Ebisu

2010-12-29T12:47:00.006+07:00

Although I'm self-proclaimed "a big fan" of Ippudo ramen, I only have had the real taste of it when I went to Japan this year. I have only had Ippudo in Singapore but already hooked with the thick soup and heavy flavour of tonkotsu (pork bones) soup. Last year, I walked past Ippudo in Ebisu while trying to find Ebisu Garden Place and didn't return for it. That was the most regrettable event in Japan. So this time, I wouldn't miss it.

We got to there at almost 3 pm so the place was almost empty. There were a couple of guys eating there ramen so it was a bit of weird feeling to be just two ladies in the house. I must admit, I have some difficulties ordering the ramen in Japanese as I didn't understand some questions the staff asked. I then realised she asking me how well do I want my noodle to be cooked, I guess that's beyond the lesson I learned from Minna no Nihongo! Anyhow, I got through that once I heard she said "...futsu desu ka?" - Thank god for being a fangirl who watch Japanese TV shows extensively so I able to understand the word!

What I love about Ippudo in Japan is the pickled stuffs they have at every table. My favourite among these are the beansprouts. They were very delicious with some hint of spiciness. It was very enjoyable to eat while waiting for your ramen (with a beer, of course).

I ordered my usual of Akamaru ramen with egg while T ordered her Spicy ramen. I love my Akamaru a lot. The soup was rich and very fragrant. The noodle was think and al-dente cooked. Their charshu was also very yummy and literally melt in my mouth. I asked T about her karai ramen and she was happy as it got the heat from ramen which up to Thai people standard, Japanese spiciness is usually nothing. We also ordered gyoza to share but nothing too impressed to talk about.

For non Japanese speakers, do not fret from my experience as I was paying at cashier, I saw menu in English. So I should have asked for English menu instead of sweating my head of trying to speak Japanese. Then again, if I did that, I wouldn't realise how well my Japanese is!

Ippudo Ramen (一風堂)
Ebisu, Tokyo
Website: http://www.ippudo.com/index.html

View Food in Tokyo in a larger map

Tokyo: Umai Sushikan at Tsukiji Fish Market

2010-12-25T14:24:00.008+07:00

First of all, Happy Christmas to everyone whether you celebrate it or not. I realised that it's almost at the end of the year and I'm still not finishing my posts from Japan yet. I will try my best to finish everything so I can post more yummy entries from somewhere else!

Back to Japan post, to complete my mission in Tokyo, we went to Tsukiji Fish Market for the experience. We went on Saturday morning which is sorta bad move for people who don't like crowded place like me and T. Tourist from everywhere; Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Westerners, all at Tsukiji Market. To be honest, I kinda understand why they start prohibiting tourists inside the market in certain period as it is not the place for tourists to walk around at all. People wanna do fish trading and you can see tourists walk around, taking photos and blocking their ways. I think I may come back for food but not to walk around/inside market.

It was 9 am when we started feeling hungry. We knew Sushidai and Sushu Daiwa will be fully packed as they are most popular sushi shops in Tsukiji. I have googled before we went on trip so we found this sushi shop called "Umai Sushikan". It looked nice from pictures on their website, esp. the menu. When we found the shop, it wasn't exactly empty. It seemed like Saturday's morning is the most busiest time so every shop has long queue. We didn't wait long though until it was our turn for food.

We were seated at counter so got good view of the chef to make our sushi. You basically just told the chef which menu you wanted and he would start making that for you.

I ordered the tokujo nigiri set which came with miso soup. I am no expert on the type of fish but all it matter is that they all were very fresh!

I think it was toro (tuna), I'm not a big fan of toro so to me it was okay. Then it was raw prawn, it was very sweet. Very yummy. Next to that, I have no idea what it is. It must have been soome kinda of fish's eggs but it wasn't soft. Kinda crispy, kinda weird. Then it was anako or fresh water eel.

As for the ikura and uni, they were okay but not as fresh, as nice as the ones I had in Sapporo. It's expected as those two are the specialties from the North.

Overall, it was a good experience but maybe next time I would just order what I wanna eat instead of the set they have. Maybe I should come later, not like in the morning to avoid the crowd as well.

Beside from sushi, I went to buy the famous tamagoyagi or grilled omelette from Shouro. I am highly recommended as their tamagoyaki tastes perfectly sweet, loving it with Shouyu as well. I have put them in my freezer and microwaved it for dinner when I had nothing to eat many nights - it did save my life. Anyhow, please be careful as there are so many tamagoyaki shops around the same area as Shouro so you may mistakenly buy tamagoyaki from other shops instead of Shouro (I got confused as well, but soon realised that it has different menu so when I looked at the name and realised it wasn't Shouro - I almost bought that!).

Umai Sushikan
Tsukiji Fish Market, Block no. 4
Tokyo
Website: http://www.tsukijigourmet.or.jp/38_sushikan/index.htm

Shouro Tamagoyaki
Chuo-ku, Tsukiji 4-13-13
Website: http://www.shouro.co.jp/top/3.html

Tokyo: Shabuzen Akasaka (しゃぶ禅赤坂店)

2010-12-20T19:29:00.006+07:00

I have heard about Shabuzen since my last trip in Japan. If you watch "Lost in Translation", Shabu Zen appeared in the movie but that one was Roppongi branch. Not just another kind of tourist-trapped restaurant, their meat is also quite well-known. So you can expect good meat for a meal as well. So this time I decided I won't miss it. Me, T and my American friend, J, made an appointment to meet each other in front of TBS building in Akasaka so we can dine at Shabuzen Akasaka.

the appetizer

It was Thursday night and we were early as usual (6 pm) so the restaurant was still empty. Between a choice of Sukiyaki and Shabu Shabu, we decided to go for 90 minutes of all you can eat shabu shabu with domestic beef (imported meat is cheaper anyway). We ordered umeshu with soda (again) for drink and were served with an appetizer which is grilled beef with onion. It was absolutely yummy! Such a great way to start a meal.

all you can eat meat

vegetable and tofu

Dipping sauce; the white one is sesame sauce and the dark one is Ponzu

Then trays of meat and vegetable were started to serve at our table. You can request for meat and vegetable as much as you like which is pure bliss. J was kindly acting as model to show you how we work the meat in the boiling pot. She was joking how this is like some kind of food TV show. The restaurant provides two dipping sauce for the meat; Ponzu which is like vinegar thing and Sesame sauce. I am loving their sesame sauce so much that I am still dreaming about it these days (I know, obsession).

Aside from these, they will also provide some noodles to eat with the soup at the end of the meal but we were already full so we didn't bother about it. However, we wanted to try Japanese dessert so we ordered something Japanese dessert which I forgot the name already. It has vanilla ice cream with red bean paste and some jello and mochi. We also ordered extra Matcha (green tea) ice cream. They all were good but not like a must to order.

In the end, it was a good meal. I think between 3 of us, we paid ¥8,000 each for this meal. Might be a bit over the budget for some as you can eat Shabu Shabu at Nabezo or mo-mo paradise for less than ¥2,500 but I think it is worth the experience.

Shabuzen Akasaka (しゃぶ禅赤坂店)
B1F, Akasaka Mita Bldg.
12-14-33 Akasaka, Minato-ku,
Tokyo 107-0052
Open: Weekday - 11:30～14:30 (L.O.14:00), 17:00～23:30 (L.O.22:30)
Weekend - 12:00～16:00 (By reservation only), 16:00～23:30 (L.O.22:30)
Website: http://www.shabuzen.jp/
Gourmetnavi (for coupon discount): http://r.gnavi.co.jp/g050004/

View Food in Tokyo in a larger map

Tokyo: Odaiba Takoyaki Museum

2010-12-17T20:19:00.007+07:00

[Note: I'm blogging from Macbook!! Try getting used to it now. So far so good - I need my photoshop programme though :(]

While me and friend were waiting for train to Odaiba, we saw an advert saying something about Odaiba Takoyaki Museum just opened so we decided that after exploring Fuji TV, we would try some there instead of the ramen stadium.

Odaiba Takoyaki Museum is located on 4th floor or Deck or where the Joypolis is. You can walk along the terrace walk away, with magnificent view of rainbow bridge, from Daiba station. It isn't a big eating area but more like a corner of it.

There were 5 Takoyaki stalls/shops with different styles to try on. We were approached by some staff from the middle stall called "Juhachi-ban" who show us that they put some crispy thing into their takoyaki so we decided to try their sample set.

1000yen set - 2 soft drinks with 3 types of takoyaki

It came with 3 styles of takoyaki balls, 4 balls for each. The first one was original flavour with the usual takoyaki sauce and mayonaise. It was alright - the usual, nothing much.

The next one was takoyaki with salt. I must admit that I was very skeptical as it wasn't the usual taste I have with takoyaki. It turned out to be incredible good! I like this type the most. Somehow the salt brings out the best taste of takoyaki with over-powering it. So highly recommended esp. for foreigners like me who are used to the taste of takoyaki with sauce and mayo.

The last one was takoyaki dipping in the dachi soup. Again, always skeptical about it esp. when I read article or see on TV about, it turned out to be good also.

We really like these takoyakis but still weren't satisfied our big tummy, so T went to buy takoyaki with mentaiko sauce from "Sea & Sun" stall. The mentaiko sauce wasn't that strong. If you like mild taste, you probably like it. It was alright for me. Still the one from Juhachi-ban stall was the best in my opinion.

It was good fun for me and friends as we were eating and "student" watching as it seems like Odaiba is where students will come for school trip. We started to realise that men in these country are dare-devil when it comes to fashion. Noticing this boy carrying pink leopard print bag did bring me so much amusement. He seemed to act like a wild child. How nice would it be if all vocational school students in Bangkok who usually fit with each other on street will start carrying Hello Kitty! bags.

Odaiba Takoyaki Museum
Odaiba, Tokyo

View Food in Tokyo in a larger map

Tokyo: Gonpachi

2010-12-13T15:16:00.005+07:00

Note: I just got myself a new laptop last Saturday, it is MacBook Pro and being a window user for almost 15 years of my life. This is very new to me. Still trying to figure out how to use it so I may be absent from blogging for a bit.

The first meal in Tokyo was a place I found some tourists recommended called "Gonpachi". It is a restaurant which ex-Prime Minister Koizumi invited ex-President Bush for some soba and charcoal grilled skewers when he visited Japan. I made an appointment with J, a girl I know from my other blog who came from USA for a trip in Tokyo, for a dinner at Gonpachi, Shibuya. I know some people have grey area about "online friend". I am actually fine with meeting up in person with internet friends (as long as we're not doing dodgy stuff) since some of the people I met 10 or 12 years ago are still my friends and some are even my good friend even we live in different countries. However, I have a bit of hard time when introducing them to people who didn't share the background the same as me and my friend. I guess I was afraid of getting judged and being questioned like 'why did you trust them?','aren't you afraid?' etc. I don't know if others feel the same way or it's just me.

Anyway, I met up with J and we got lost trying to locate the street which restaurant is on and crowded people didn't help as well! Once we were able to find the building which restaurant is located on, we took the elevator for floor 14. We didn't make any reservation but since we were super early for dinner (5pm), the staff let us sit in the private room with some amazing view of Shibuya. I would recommend anyone who consider to go there to make reservation as when were leaving at 7pm (they want the table back by 7pm), it was very crowded at the restaurant and only private room gets the window-view.

We ordered drinks first which I instantly called out for ume-shu (plum wine) with soda as I have been craving it for a long time. The rest also went for ume-shu but different types (don't ask me for the difference). It was very refreshing after a long tired day of sitting in the train from Hakodate down to Tokyo.

best Age-dashi Tofu

wasabigamo, jyaga butter and tsukene

We ordered some appetizers to snack with our drink which are age-dashi tofu and some skewers; wasabigamo (duck breast with wasabi), jyaga butter (potato with butter) and tsukene (minced chicken). Their Age-dashi tofu (fried tofu with sauce) turned out to be the best age-dashi tofu I ever had in my entire life. The sauce they put on top tasted fantastic, they even have crab meat in it! For the skewer, I like the wasabigamo the best. Wasabi wasn't too strong and it went very well with duck breast. Really enjoy these appetizers a lot.

duck breast soba

T's tempura soba

For the main dish, all of us chose different type of Soba. I went for duck breast in hot soba, J went for kake soba (no picture) and T went for tempura soba. My duck soba smell quite pleasant with a hint of chacoal of grilling the duck meat. The soup was mild and easy to drink.

We finished off our meal with the tea. I don't know what it's called but it seems like a strong tea, a mixture of tea and coffee with some aroma of cooked rice-grain (if that is the right verb for it).

It was a pleasant meal; aside from good food and good drink, it is good company. To be able to meet friend you have been talking for a long time in person in nice setting like this. It is priceless.

(Anyhow, I learned that the branch which Bush was taken to is the one in Nishi-Azabu, not this Shibuya one!)

Gonpachi
14F. E.Space Tower
3-6, Maruyama-cho Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Tel. 03-5784-2011
Website: http://www.gonpachi.jp/

View Food in Tokyo in a larger map

Hakodate: Gotoken (五島軒)

2010-12-09T19:39:00.007+07:00

When I researched for place to eat in Hakodate, aside from fresh seafood stuff someone was mentioning that everyone should try "Gotoken", the western style restaurant which is famous for curry. As we arrived in Hakodate after noon, we decided to avoid the big crowds and went sight-seeing around bay area first.

Hakodate is a very cute town so we got carried away with time so it was almost 3 pm when we were in front of the restaurant. Inside, it was decorated in western style, with some elegant touch.

I didn't forget to ask for English menu since my Japanese language knowledge is pretty limited. I found that they were still serving set menu (curry dish+salad+coffee/tea) so T went for beef and mushroom curry while I went for seafood curry. You might get intimidated by seeing the word (mild) and (hot) behind the item. Trust me, when they said "hot", it doesn't taste THAT hot.

They started serving the condiments to eat with curry which are some pickled stuffs and peanuts first. If you have a chance, you gotta try Japanese curry with pickled small garlic (below, right-most in the picture above).

T's beef and mushroom curry set

Not waiting long, the curry came with a plate of rice and salad. My seafood curry was full with squid, crab meat, shrimp and some clams. It was very tasty, not too strong but not too bland like the usual Japanese curry cube would give out. You could taste the real curry powder they are using in this dish. The salad did help changing taste once the curry taste was getting too much.

I was very much enjoying this super late lunch. Too bad I didn't realised that their recommended dish is duck curry so next time I will have that, for sure!

Gotoken (五島軒)
4-5 Suehirocho,
Hakodate, Hokkaido
website: http://www.gotoken.hakodate.jp/

View Hakodate list in a larger map

Sapporo: Kura (久楽)

2010-12-06T16:30:00.000+07:00

Me, N and S were hungry souls after some heavy shopping sessions in Odori's Tanukikoji so we were walking around for food then we randomly found "Kura" ramen, next to the famous soup-curry shop, Picante. S recalled that he asked our hotel's reception for recommended ramen shops in Sapporo and she told us about "Kura" ramen which was not far from our hotel. So we decided to pop in for some food.

N was really hungry so she ordered shoyu tsukemen (or dipping noodle) to share with S who wasn't much hungry. I ordered ika yaki (grilled squids) for snacking. I can forever praise the squid dish as it was so well-cooked. The squid was very very tender and can be eaten without the mayo dipping. I miss this dish, like a lot. Blogging about this makes me craving it so much! As for tsukenmen, I did try a bit of it and i though I was falling in love. Why so delicious?! The soup was strong which is expected for tsukemen. If I wasn't too full, I would probably order it to eat right away.

Since we fell in love with this ramen shop, we decided to come back for more after our one day trip to Noboribetsu with everyone.

T ordered the spicy ramen once again but this time she approved as it was really spicy, unlike the one at Aji no Tokeidai which we assume that was already spicy for Japanese (it's our own bad, Thai people who have high threshold for spiciness).

I didn't quite catch what S has ordered, maybe it was white miso ramen. I did taste the soup though, it was very nice. Not too salty, something you would enjoy slurping.

N ordered the fried rice which looks so cute and yummy at the same time. I love the idea of serving the fried rice on a bed of egg and u can mix that yourself. The fried rice smelled so nice. I know my mum would love this.

I ordered the ika-yaki to share (again, I love it too much!) and curry tsukemen to try. The curry soup wasn't too strong for drinking and I love that along with the noodle and chachu, they have carrot for me to put in the soup which gives out the feeling of me eating curry! They also have a bowl of rice in the set so you can try the soup over rice for change of taste.

I can say that Kura is my favourite ramen shop in Sapporo (haven't tried Asahikawa's back soup ramen yet so you never know). I would definitely go back to Kura ramen again next time I visit Sapporo (hopefully next year!).

Kura (久楽)
Sapporo, Japan

View Sapporo list in a larger map

Sapporo: Donburi-Chaya at Nijo Fish Market

2010-12-05T14:00:00.010+07:00

When going to Japan, it is best to visit their market esp. fish market to explore the food they sell and to taste the incredibly fresh seafood they have. I was told that I should visit Nijo Fish Market of Sapporo if I go there. We decided to have breakfast at the market, so we set off from our hotel which is located near JR Sapporo, walking pass The famous clock tower and Odori park which we found this cute fandog, wearing the concert T-shirt of the reason why me and friends were in Sapporo.

Maybe it was Sunday, Nijo market wasn't that 'lively'. We found that not all the shops were opened but still a handful of them were operating, selling super big crabs and some dried seafood to tourists (we saw a lot of Chinese, not many locals).

super huge & expensive crabs

After a quick browse of stalls, we were trying to find "Donburi-Chaya", the restaurantn I found on the internet which selling seafood donburi. It was located inside the market which you have to go through small alley that I do not know how to explain (so if you are going, please go into every small alley or just ask people around for this shop).

As I found their website and printed out coupon, after ordering our food I showed them the coupon and received free appertizer which is picked seaweed and fresh uni. I don't eat uni in general as it wasn't fresh in Thailand so the taste was really awful. But uni here was amazing! It was creamy and sweet.

At first, I was gonna order the sanshoku-don which showed in the menu above but decided to go for Marusen Don, a sample set which you get 4 small bowls of different types (hotate (scallop) &uni don, ikura&salmon don, makuro&ebi (shrimp) don and kani (crab meat) don) with miso crab soup. It is best value for 2499yen.

My most favourite among these small bowls is the hotate and uni. The hotate was very very fresh and very sweet. The uni was amazing as I already told you. So this dish received so much loved from me and friends.

Second best must have been the kani don. Crab meat was sweet and tasty. You really don't need to put any sauce in it and can just enjoy the sweetness of crab and warm rice.

Ikura was also good as it wasn't too salty and the prawn was fresh and sweet. As for salmon and makuro, it was medicore. So we just came to conclusion that you can taste all the amazing recommended food of Hokkaido here (Ikura, uni, hotate and kani) but for sashimi fish, they are some good and some medicore. Still highly recommended for visitors to Sapporo to visit this place for good food!

Donburi-Chaya (どんぶり茶屋)
Nijo Fish Market, Sapporo
Japan
Open: AM7:30 - PM5:30
Website: http://www.rakuten.ne.jp/gold/chiyo/donburi/

View Sapporo list in a larger map

Sapporo: Nanda (難陀)

2010-12-03T19:11:00.010+07:00

One thing on the top "to do" list of people visiting Sapporo/Hokkaido is to eat their famous 3 crabs (hairy crab, snow crab and king crab). I have eaten at this place which seems to be famous among Chinese and Korean tourits (since they have eating instruction for crab in Chinese and Korean) before so my friend, P, said I must take her there to eat since she didn't come with me last trip.

Nanda is located in susukino area, or the night-life area of Sapporo. Much closer to Hosui-susukino station that Susukino station itself. It is located in underground level of Cyber City building. This place is highly recommended, not for the taste of food but for the variety of food they provide and the fact that it is all you can eat for 90 or 120 minutes (depends on your choice). The restaurant seperates dinning/seating area from buffet lines properly and the seating area wasn't too cramped as well.

After we told the staff that we want 90 minutes all you can eat without all you can drink alcohol plan. They left us to enjoy the food they provided and would come back 10 minutes before our time end for the bill. (If you don't drink alcohol, do not fret as the softdrink is already included in the all you can eat plan you choose - 90 minutes for 3,480yen per person). We explored the food counters and was greeted with the famous crabs (already boiled) and shellfish.

Aside from seafood stuff, they also have beef/pork and vegetable for grilling as well.

Not just yakiniku stuff they have, sashimi and sushi they have here are also quite fresh. But the king of the night must have been the uni, ikura and crab meat which they provided for us to make our own sanshoku-don (三色丼 - literally means 3 coloured rice dish). The ikura was just in right taste, not too salty, not too bland. And all of them are very fresh!

For changing of taste, you might go for chilli prawn or gratin they have. They also have tempura which I didn't try but friend said it was good.

They also have huge range of desserts/fruits counter, they even have soft cream! I didn't try any of their sweets as I was too full but their kiwis and oranges were very fresh and sweet!

I wasn't really digging the crab as it was too hassle to peel and crack the crab. Also I found that the crab was already cooked (boil perhaps) and left in the fridge so it was a bit weird. Anyhow, I digged the scallops so much! You can add butter to your scallops as much as you want and you can grill it any way you like! I tried the tsukune (minced chicken in stick) and it was very really good! Going well with the yakiniku sauce they provided. They also have miso soup, salad bar, nabe to fill up your tummy.

As I mentioned I highly recommended this place for you who visit Sapporo for tasting the taste of Sapporo. Also I recommend you guys to make reservation for table as this place seems to be very popular not just with tourists so it is wise to ask your hotel reception to help you booking a table.

Nanda (難陀)
Susukino, Sapporo, Japan
Tel. 011-532-7887
Open:16:00-22:30
Gourmet navi: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/h292200/

View Sapporo list in a larger map

Minus Onion

Bangkok: Fabio Steak House

Bangkok: Din Tai Fung (ติง ไท่ ฟง)

Kuala Lumpur: EAT!

Bangkok: Gab Khao Gab Pla (กับข้าวกับปลา)

Bangkok: Grand San Yod (แกรนด์แสนยอด)

Tokyo: Seibu Depachika

Review & cooking: Peninsula Hotel's moon cake and sausage bun at home

Tokyo: Hitsumabushi Bincho, Ginza Branch (ひつまぶし名古屋 備長 銀座店)

Tokyo: Grom

Tokyo: Toraya (とらや)

Tokyo: Gyu-tan Rikyu (牛たん炭焼 利久)

Tokyo: Qu'il fait bon

Omiya: Sanwa Tonkatsu (とんかつグリル 三和)

Bangkok: Espresso

Cooking: Cacao Sablé

Bangkok: Ruen Petch Restaurant (เรือนเพชร)

Bangkok: Au Bon Pain

Bangkok: Jangwon at Korean Town

Bangkok: Wine I Love You Bar&Bistro

Bangkok: On the table Tokyo Café

Bloggers Lunch Date

Geneva: UN Cafeteria

Geneva: Wasabi Sushi Bento Bar

Geneva: Auberge de Savièse

Geneva: Gelato Mania

Singapore: Ippudo Singapore

Ayutthaya: Tonnam River view (ต้นน้ำริเวอร์วิว)

Bangkok: Doorae at Korean Town

Bangkok: Le Danang

Bangkok: Food Loft at Central Chidlom

Bangkok: PH1b Coffee Bar

Bangkok: Ha Yak Somtum (ห้าแยกส้มตำ)

Samut Prakan: Pa Waew (ป้าแหว๋ว)

Bangkok: La Monita Taqueria

Bangkok: Rabieng Ta-le (ระเบียงทะเล)

Bangkok: Palazzo Ristorante & Wine Bar

my thought on Krispy Kreme Thailand

Bangkok: Pizza Pizza by Yanee

Nakhon Pathom: Pan-kun

Bangkok: Ramen Tei

Bangkok: random eats!

Tokyo: Setagaya Ramen at Haneda Int'l Airport

Tokyo: Ippudo Ramen at Ebisu

Tokyo: Umai Sushikan at Tsukiji Fish Market

Tokyo: Shabuzen Akasaka (しゃぶ禅 赤坂店)

Tokyo: Odaiba Takoyaki Museum

Tokyo: Gonpachi

Hakodate: Gotoken (五島軒)

Sapporo: Kura (久楽)

Sapporo: Donburi-Chaya at Nijo Fish Market

Sapporo: Nanda (難陀)

Tokyo: Hitsumabushi Bincho, Ginza Branch (ひつまぶし名古屋備長銀座店)

Tokyo: Gyu-tan Rikyu (牛たん炭焼利久)

Omiya: Sanwa Tonkatsu (とんかつグリル三和)

Tokyo: Shabuzen Akasaka (しゃぶ禅赤坂店)