Crepes & Co.

14
.

Brings Mediterranean closer to Bangkok

In Bangkok, people argue that Crepes & Co. serves cuisine of Morocco, Spain, or Greece, and many had been told that it is French. My answer is, all of them. It is Mediterranean, it is fusion. Crepes & Co. brings crepes dancing tanks to its owner and head chef Serge Bruttin's non-stop creations. Mr. Bruttin had been a resident of Morocco, Spain and Greece which ensured his fundamentals in the Mediterranean states' culinary skills.

Mediterranean crepes are not popular in Bangkok, and I am not a fan of crepes; but I don't limit myself to innovative dining, as Crepes & Co. is one. I read from an article claiming that eating at Crepes & Co. is not just a meal, but rather exiting experience of the Mediterranean treat and crepes. Besides his regular menu, Mr. Bruttin from time to time introduces his new creations, his crepes are never just a layer of batter with stuffing like so many others do. They are thin and crispy with balance taste of batter, not too sweet. It is sensational.

When my friend suggested to have crepes last week, Crepes & Co. at once came into my mind. We started with a glass of healthy papaya juice and almond smoothie while browsing the menu, the selections were plentiful. Before the crepes being served, we had a salad and the tomato-orange soup, just like the menu described, the name sounds weird but its taste was heavenly delicious. The kick off of our lunch was not bad.



Further we shared the seafood Provencale, crepes stuffed with prawn and squid in tomato and wine sauce; and the crepes Christine, crepes stuffed with champignons (mushroom), onions fondue, tomato, feta cheese and oregano. Like I mentioned, crepes layer were thin and crispy, with hints of aroma from the batter. The stuffing, natural goodness of ingredients was covered by the overwhelming taste of salt, had no excitement in taste and was rather salty than tasty.

To conclude our lunch, we ordered the choco-Cointreau, it is crepes flambe with rich chocolate fillings and vanilla-orange ice cream flambe in Cointreau liqueur, the server was supposed to flambe or light a fire when liqueur was slowly poured down onto the crepes; however, he didn't. When I questioned him about it, he simply suggested that we eat the crepes in the way he served! So for our crepes flambe choco-Cointreau at Crepes & Co., shall we eat the crepes and drink the liqueur?

After lunch, my friend told me he was not impressed of the culinary skills there, they were too generous in using of salt and the ingredients lack of its taste naturally (probably deep-frozen too long); added that the sissy acting waiter was neither skillful nor polite in handling of our order and the crepes flambe. I admired the enthusiasm the owner brought crepes and Mediterranean cuisine to the culinary scene into Bangkok, but it is sad that his team of chefs didn't follow it. We left the place with much disappointment.

Crepes & Co. ***1/2
18 Sukhumvit Soi 12
Klongtoey, Bangkok 10110
Tel.: 02.653.3990
Crepe & Co.

Open daily : 9 am - midnight
Pay (food only for two): around THB 1,500

Benjarong

13
.

An affordable palace dining

For decades Benjarong has been a culinary landmark in Bangkok, a recent revisit confirmed its status as one of the most established eateries serving authentic royal Thai cuisine an ancient chef in a royal kitchen would have prepared the same. Benjarong not only earns countless credits from local and worldwide food critics, but also received the pride to provide the members of the Royal family dinner the superb royal Thai touch.

The restaurant in elegant surrounding with outdoor dining overlooking the sparkling waterfall from the patio, offers a comprehensive selection of excellent dishes. My all time favorite is the Hor-mok goong-mankrong, this steamed curry souffle in banana leaf cup (hor-mok) is usually blended with minced fish while the Benjarong version is mixed with minced lobster. Freshness of lobster meat and the aroma of Thai herbs mingled with prik chee fa chilies made the souffle so remarkable.



My appertizer was Khanom jeep Thai (minced pork wrapped in rice flour dumpling). Main dishes were Chuchee kam-poo (crab claw in red curry sauce), Pla kapong tord phad nam ma-kam (deep-fried seabass in sweet and sour tamarind sauce), Phad pak yod mara (stir-fried bitter gourd stem), Tomyum goong (spicy and sour prawn soup with Thai herbs), accompanied with Khao ob sapparot (baked seafood fried rice in whole pineapple, yellow curry infused) and Phad Thai goong-sod (Pad Thai noodle with fresh prawn).

Benjarong is the perfect venue for entertaining friends and business associates, as well as dining alone. It is one of my most favorite hotel's Thai restaurants in town. Thais, equally as important as the taste in each recipe is the presentation. There, dishes are served in intricately designed and hand painted Banjarong crockery made from fine bone China after which the restaurant is named - Benjarong.

Benjarong Royal Thai Cuisine ****
Dusit Thani Hotel
946 Rama IV Road
Bangrak, Bangkok 10500
Tel.: 02.236.9999
Benjarong

Open daily : lunch 11:30 am - 2:30 pm, dinner 6 - 10 pm
Pay (food only for two): expect THB 2,500

Pizzeria Limoncello

12
.

4-stagioni in Bangkok

Opening a restaurant these days is a challenging experience especially given the amount of money needed to create a first-class restaurant in today’s economy. In Bangkok there are some restaurateurs who have the magic touch when it comes to new and successful restaurants. Zanotti, an Italian fine dining facility, has an extraordinarily sure hand when it comes to catching the dining mood of Bangkok’s public. After years of success Gianmaria Zanotti, the man behind the successful of Zanotti, has opened a humble pizzeria on Sukhumvit Soi 11 where lots of expats live, the one opts for family dining.

In contrast to the quite formal Zanotti, the Pizzeria Limoncello is casual. Mediterranean touch, naughty and colorful, lots of limoncello and of course pizzas groom the new establishment of Gianmaria Zanotti into a fun and relaxing eatery. The food esp. the pizza and pasta are superb so they don’t need extra advertisement and promotion to boost the sale, for three years regulars know where to get a good treat when they think of pizza not limited to the Sukhumvit residents.

To kick off our journey, we had the 1) 4-Stagioni Pizza (generous slices in four different toppings on the thin dough, the ham, mushroom, salami, and olive as the 4-seasons) exciting though; the 2) Zanotti Pizza (parma ham, mascarpone cheese, and rocket leaf) were the best creation, and the 3) Vegetariana Pizza without cheese. All pizzas were prepared in the brick igloo in paper thin and crispy style naturally scented by the wood fire, yummy!



We further ordered the 4) Insalata Mista, its actually green salad, simple and not outstanding; and the 5) Spaghetti Vongole, home-made angel hair with clam in white wine sauce, basic enough but excellent.

Then we had the 6) Roasted Spring Chicken with rosemary herbs, the 7) Pan-fried Sea Bass with shitake mushroom, and the 8) Mussel and Seafood in Rich Tomato Sauce. Probably the best sping chicken I had sampled in a pizzeria.

To wind up the dinner we has the (9) Tiramisu, portion was generous and taste was heavenly aromatic thanks to the balance in espresso, mascarpone cheese, bittersweet chocolate, and amaretto liqueur. Yes it really made me happy with the tiramisu.

Wine selection in Limoncello is rather extensive and of good value. Large selection of Mediterranean wines to South American as well as Australian labels is available. You can surely find something that suits your pallet and your wallet.

In Limoncello, the chef was dancing, the food was dancing, we were dancing, our dinner was a playful and cheerful experience. Want to dance with limoncello?

Pizzeria Limoncello ***1/2
17 Sukhumvit Soi 11
Wattana, Bangkok 1o110
Tel.: 02.651.0707
Limoncello

Open daily : lunch 11:30 am - 2 pm, dinner 6 pm - midnight
Pay (food only for two): around THB 1,000