Hyde & Seek

485
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Cheerful and playful 

Thailand's first London-meets-New York-meets-Bangkok gastro bar - the Hyde & Seek, was arguably the best gastro bar in Krupthep Mahanakon (the City of Angels), when I reviewed her one year ago! Food wise, not as good today as her booze offered!

Hyde & Seek Gastro Bar ***
65/1 Athenee Residence 
Soi Ruamrudee
Lumpini, Bangkok 10330
Tel.: 02.168.5152

Open daily : 11 am - 1 am
Pay (food only for one): around THB 500 (there, booze is the hero anyway!) 

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yumcha @ Silk Road

382
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Drinking tea eating dim-sum

Chinese Cantonese yum-cha (drinking tea, and eating dim-sum, bite-sized food in small portions, usually served in a small bamboo steamer basket, or on a small plate), was listed as #7 of the World's 50 most delicious foods from readers' picks (2011) by CNNGo. So recently I have gone for yum-cha more often, to sample those highly rated Cantonese bite-sized dim-sum treats.

One restaurant I visited lately was the Silk Road, a small Chinese restaurant in the luxurious Plaza Athenee Hotel Bangkok. I eat at the Silk Road quite often for dinner, but for yum-cha (dim-sum lunch), this was my first time.

I found, that the barbecue pork bun (char siu bao) at Silk Road is a must try, above average, while the rest of the dim-sum being (just) average. Besides dim-sum, I also ordered the Peking roast duck three ways, THB 1,200++. Duck skin was so crispy and aromatic, fried duck meat in sweet and sour sauce was superb, while the congee with minced duck meat was disappointing and the chef put too much shredded ginger in it.



Cantonese yum-cha lunch ***
Silk Road Chinese Restaurant
Plaza Athenee Hotel Bangkok
(a Royal Meridien Hotel)
61 Wireless Road
Lumpini, Bangkok 10330
Tel.: 02.650.8800
Silk Road

Open daily : lunch 11:30 am - 2:30 pm, dinner 6 - 10:30 pm
Pay (a la carte dim-sum lunch for two): around THB 1,600
(All-you-can-eat dim-sum lunch is THB 950 net per person)

Smooth Curry

378
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As smooth as curry

Eating a Thai meal in a hotel's outlet may end up with disappointment in some cases, especially in those big names in five-star hotels. We pay more, and we deserve a better treat; but usually they are pale and bland without bright ambition and effort, as mentioned in the previous post.

Lucky that there is always an exception for the unfortunate. And I found Smooth Curry the savior in my taste-buds pleasure of eating Thai food in a five-star hotel.

Smooth Curry came to my attention when I (accidentally) discovered its once-in-a-year khao-chae (chilled rice soup in jasmine scented water) treat which happens to be one of best in the Kingdom. In theory, if a chef can do the rather complicated royal recipe khao-chae and the tidbits right, there is no reason that the chef couldn't cook a decent meal with a fine Thai twist.

I once invited a local friend, also a foodie, to eat at Smooth Curry; at first he doubted that we might enjoy a real Thai meal there, as he also lost faith in most hotel's Thai restaurants. After the meal, he booked a table for three weeks later, to sample more dishes with his friends. And he ended the 'introductory' meal with paying the bill as a gesture of thankfulness that I brought him to Smooth Curry.

The waitstaff at Smooth Curry will ask her customers if they want the food cooked the full scale spiciness or the tourist-palate-friendly mild version. So non-Thai visitors shall never find their tongue being burnt!


saeng-wa pla foo (deep-fried minced catfish with saeng-wa dips) THB 250++

amuse bouche (traditional Thai herbal drinks)
phla goong (herbal salad tossed with lemongrass and river prawn) THB 290++

hor mok talay (steamed curry souffle with seafood) THB 300++
yum pla salid (spicy salad with deep-fried salid fish) THB 250++

pla kapong sam rod (deep-fried local sea bass in sweet & spicy sauce) THB 550++

tom kha gai (chicken soup with Thai herbs and coconut cream) THB 250++
mussaman rue (Southern curry with beef in masaaman curry paste) THB 320++

chu chee goong (fried river prawn in chu-chee red curry sauce) THB 390++
phad pak fuk miew (stir-fried cayote leaves with fresh mushroom) THB 130++

khao-neaw mamuang (glutinous rice with ripe mango) THB 250++

Smooth Curry Thai Restaurant ***3/4
Plaza Athenee Hotel Bangkok
61 Wireless Road
Lumpini, Bangkok 10330
Tel.: 02.650.8800
Smooth Curry

Open daily : 6 - 11 pm
Pay (food only for two): around THB 2,000

Silk Road

357
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As smooth as silk

Food wise, not outstanding, not bad either, average. Service, Plaza Athenee standard, impeccable. This is Silk Road Chinese Restaurant.


roasted duck (portion); and stir-fried tiger prawn in x.o. sauce

live whole grouper, two way cooking, as steamed and boiled in soup

ingredients to do the soup; and the hearty soup (with fish, and vegetables only)

steamed live grouper, warm soy sauce dressing

stir-fried glass noodles, and fried pork fillet in HK sauce

Silk Road Chinese Restaurant ***1/2
Plaza Athenee Hotel Bangkok
(a Royal Meridien hotel)
61 Wireless Road
Lumpini, Bangkok 10330
Tel.: 02.650.8800
Silk Road

Open daily : lunch 11:30 am - 2:30 pm, dinner 6 - 10:30 pm
Pay (food only for two): around THB 2,000
(+ THB 2,000 for live grouper)

Marriott Cafe buffet

335
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Rusted award

Marriott Cafe claims to receive the Bangkok Best Buffet Award for many consecutive years. Is it worth that credit? My view is a NO though some people may love the buffet especially those paid advertorial food critics.

Uncertain if I am more fussy these days or chefs have a very limited budget to do the buffet at Marriott Cafe! My most recent visit to its dinner buffet found out the quality of food was poor while the price increased. Not only the choice of food was poor, didn't justify with the buffet price (THB 1,450++), but also the quality was low. Though price increased, but snow fish fillets that I enjoy several times there were missing. That night, I had fishy king crab leg, non-fresh oysters, watery and tasteless sashimi in stingy thin cut, chewy prime rib, and even the pan grilled lamb chop was not tender (so difficult to have hard-to-chew lamb chop in a decent restaurant, bravo JW Marriott Bangkok)!

That night, back home, I suffered from loose bowel (a.k.a. diarrhea).

Marriott Cafe, buffet ***
JW Marriott Hotel Bangkok
4 Sukhumvit Road, Soi 2
Klongtoey, Bangkok 10110
Tel.: 02.656.7700

Open daily : opens at 6 am all day dining, lunch buffet 12:00 noon - 2:30 pm, dinner buffet 6 - 10 pm, Sunday brunch 11:30 am - 3 pm
Pay (food only for two): around THB 3,400 (dinner buffet)

Grossi

332
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Make my meal easier

Last year was the year a few celebrity chefs from the kangaroo Kingdom came to open their restaurants in Thailand. Among them, there is one comes to inspire Thais how to cook and eat Thai cuisine the long lost "real" way (according to him). And hopefully we also have Guy Grosssi, the respected Italian chef from Melbourne, that proven to Bangkokians that we have better choice then Zanotti and Gianni.

Last night, I went to Grossi with a friend. The single page seasonal menu is still simple, comprehensive and appealing. And the quality of food, of course, double delicious though not wow. The fact is why do we need a wow for just a simple meal! The wow shall go to the dining with a friend and the chit-chatting.



I started with minestrone (THB 320++), my friend took the signature duck confit tortelli (THB 390++), and we shared the pizza margherita (THB 320++) as starter. Most eateries in Bangkok present their minestrone with sour cum watery texture, yes salted boiled water with vegetables, not soup! Grossi delivers the simple vegetable soup with no mistake; rich in texture, taste not too salty, neither bland, but flavorful. The margherita, all we need is a good crust with hints of quality dough, fresh tomatoes, and quality buffalo mozzarella and olive oil; and so (at Grossi) it did. For mains I opted for the abbacchio (slow-cook young lamb stew with anchovy) (THB 750++) and my friend took the pan-fried barramundi (THB 650+). Both are of outstanding quality. Our side was salad of fennel beetroot orange rocket and ricotta (THB 190++). An excellent salad. Desserts? Grossi's signature panna cotta with berries sauce (THB 250++) is a perfect choice, and it is always that perfect.

Grossi Trattoria and Wine Bar ****
Intercontinental Hotel Bangkok
973 Ploenchit Road
Pratumwan, Bangkok 10330
Tel.: 02.656.0444
Grossi Bangkok

Open daily : 11 am - midnight
Pay (food only for two): around THB 3,500

Man Ho

BANGKOK AMAZING GOURMET
.

Feast of a roller roaster ride

Man Ho Chinese Restaurant in J.W. Marriott Bangkok is fun to dine in, for a decade, more than forty times of visit, eating there is equal to the excitement of a roller coaster ride, up and down, and down and up - I mean the quality of her food served!

A revisit yesterday, my friends and I enjoy the meal three times much much much better than the previous visit. So lucky! So I will treasure this hard to have happy palate memory at Man Ho for a while until my next adventure to the Restaurant.

Man Ho Chinese Restaurant ***1/4
J.W. Marriott Hotel Bangkok
4 Sukhumvit Road (at Sukhumvit Soi 2)
Klongtoey, Bangkok 10110
Tel.: 02.656.7700
Man Ho

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

Reflexions

BANGKOK AMAZING GOURMET
.

French into Pan Asia affairs

I confess. I almost forget a review on one of Bangkok best wine and dine venues, Reflexions. There we expect innovative French cuisine with intense flavors and the use of finest seasonal produce from talented young chef de cuisine Thibault Chiumenti.

The French moderne Reflexions is an exquisite combination of nouvelle cuisine and traditional French fare, with unusual fun on-the-wall and transcontinental vibes as the addition. I enjoyed my evening there with delectable cuisine in a romantic ambiance and incomparably attentive service.

If one feels that French cuisine is insipid in Bangkok, prepare to have ones taste-buds evolve at Reflexions.


1. amuse bouche; 2. sea urchin cream soup with poached oyster and truffle

3. degustation de hors d'oeuvre - sea bass carpaccio, duck raviole, foie gras terrine, roasted frog leg, and sea urchin cream with poached oyster

4.complimentary tequila vodka sorbet on ice

5. roasted pigeon breast and leg in duck liver pastilla, and black truffle
6. grilled Andaman tiger prawn, Sardinian couscous, fava beans and lobster sauce

7. freshly baked French bread variety; 8. desserts sampler

Reflexions ***1/2
Plaza Athenee Hotel Bangkok
(a Royal Meridien hotel)
10 Wireless Road
Lumpini, Bangkok
Tel.: 02.650.8800
Reflexions

Open Tuesday - Saturday : 6 pm - 11 pm
Pay (food only for two): expect THB 6,000



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The passion of contemporary French cuisine is limitless; my food is a culinary journey to discover. Thibault Chiumenti