103+ Factory

487
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1+1+1+1 = 103+

Four closest girl friends opened an eatery that offers their favorite fusion dishes and desserts; it is the 103+ Factory. I am not a fan of fusion food, even though my Soi Ari resident friends told me that their cooked food is wonderful, so I would just stick to their pastries and desserts, of which they are the best that I can find in Ari area. (Oops do I forget the other cake shop on Ari Soi 5? That pretentious one - cheap cakes sold at an expensive price in a haunted house ambiance. I don't pay any attention to it after the first and also the last visit; let them serve those cakes to their ancestors!)

103+ Factory ***1/2
24/4 Ari Soi 4 (North)
Soi 7 Phaholyothin Road
Phayathai, Bangkok 10400
Tel.: 081.495.1555

Open daily : 11 am - 11 pm
Pay (dessert only for one): around THB 150

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Waraku

486
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Eat that display!

Waraku, at the downtown mega mall - Central World, offers Japanese cuisine with a European twist (yes, that means fusion!) and in an casual array. The food display at the shop front is gorgeous, sadly not the food itself! Their ambiance and service, on par with other dine-in fast food joints.

Waraku Japanese Casual Dining **1/2
7/F Zone A - Atrium, Cemntral World Plaza
Rajdamri Road
Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330
Tel.: 02.613,1750

Open daily : 10:30 am - 10 pm
Pay (food only for one): around THB 400

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White Cafe

456
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The color must go on

White Cafe, a popular caterer turned restaurant, continues its utmost popularity by pleasing the taste buds of Thonglorians and Bangkok's high-so(ciety) diners. If people like their laab or gaeng cooked with foreign ingredients, or pasta dishes using pungent Thai sauces, yes fusion I mean, then this is the place for them.

Somehow, White Cafe is one of a very few fusion led restaurants in Bangkok that I don't avoid (well, friends know that I am not an admirer of fusion food); I found their dishes also pleased my taste buds.


fermented shrimp-paste dip with tidbits (nam-prik kapi) and seared tuna (thumbs-up!)

nam-prik kapi, THB 280+; deep-fried Thai pilot fish (pla salid tord), THB 220+ (thumbs-up!)

stir-fried asparagus and crab meats with salted eggs, THB 220+ (good!)

White Cafe house recipe NZ mussels with Thai herbs, THB 220+ (thumbs-up!)

organic brown rice; a portion of spicy yellow fish curry salmon (so-so!)

spicy Southern yellow fish curry (gaeng lueng) with salmon, THB 220+

White Cafe ***1/2
G/F Nobel Solo Condominium
988/5 Soi Thonglo (Sukhumvit 55 Road)
off Phetchburi Road
Wattana, Bangkok 10110
Tel.: 02.714.7623

Open daily : 11 am - midnight
Pay (food only for one): around THB 500




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Italian Tomato

405
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Bona fide fusion cuisine

When Italian meets Japanese, the cuisine becomes exciting. Italian Tomato, the decades old Italian restaurant and bakery chain with a Japanese twist, is renowned for its Italian + Japanese bona fide fusion cuisine in Japan, has also gained a certain popularity in Southern California with branches in food centers and supermarkets. Before I relocated to Bangkok, I used to visit an Italian Tomato cake shop at least once a month for her cakes, they are fluffy and soft, light and flavorsome, and it is the kind of cake I (exactly) like; but the food, is not on my 'like' list.

I always wish that Italian Tomato may (sooner or later) come to Thailand, and a long wait for more than a decade had become reality since last year. The first Italian Tomato cake shop has landed in Bangkok's Central World Plaza, followed by the Italian Tomato Restaurant & Cafe, a latest addition to the Central Plaza Ladprao.


gateau aux fraises THB 110++

chocolate cake THB 100++; fruit cake THB 110++

fruit cocktail tart THB 110++


bolograise THB 150++

tortilla chips (complimentary), chicken & mushroom salad THB 100++

curry rice with omelet THB 160++

Italian Tomato Restaurant and Cafe ***1/4
1/F Central Plaza Ladprao
Paholyothin Road
Jatujak, Bangkok 10900
Tel.: 02.541.1882

Open daily : 10 am - 9:30 pm
Pay (food only for two): around THB 700

Italian Tomato Cake Shop ****
7/F Central World Plaza
4 Rajmadri Road
Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330
Tel.: 02.646.1017

Open daily : 10 am - 10 pm
Pay (food only for two): around THB 300

Sucre

403
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On the hand of clowns

After the opening of a few restaurants around the world, including one in Bangkok - the Hyde & Seek at Athenee Residence (oh I love the burger and cocktails there), celebrity chef Ian Chalermkittichai and his business partners opened Sucre in the Siam Paragon, to cater a younger crowd of movie goers and the nearby Siam high-so(ciety) school kids for the restaurant's specialties, which are crepes, cakes and light meals in a fusion twist. The circus vibe and colorful hue promote fun and dine-in concept, but Sucre's clowns are probably in immediate training mode and mood!






Sucre Cafe ***
5/F Major Paragon Cineplex
The Siam Paragon Shopping Centre
991 Rama I Road
Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330
Tel.: 02.610.9556

Open daily : 12 - 9 pm
Pay (food only for two): around THB 700

UCC Cafe

388
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Comfort of fusion

UCC Cafe, a Japanese brand, is probably Thailand's first foreign coffee chain established in Bangkok, long before Starbucks landed in the Kingdom. Besides coffee and drinks, UCC Cafe offers neo-Japanese cuisine, with selective Thai dishes in addition, and choices of classic comfort food for the high-so(ciety) Siam kids, but not for foodies.

Before Starbucks existed, UCC Cafe (Siam Center branch) was my regular 'meeting-point' with friends, due to its very convenient and visible location in Siam Center.








UCC Cafe' City 21 ***
Shop H6, 1/F Siam Center
989 Rama I Road
Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330
Tel.: 02.658.1716
UCC Coffee

(and branches throughout the Kingdom)

Open daily : 10 am - 9 pm
Pay (food only for two): around THB 400