Nuer Koo

499
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Double happiness  

For high-so(ciety) figures who would like to sample a bowl of hearty beef noddles but couldn't stand for the heat by the sidewalk or worry about the hygiene for dining roadside, Nuer Koo at Siam Paragon Shopping Center is the answer for them! This new additive to the Siam Paragon's Food Passage on the 4th floor is a nice beef noodle joint in an unpretentious comfortable ambiance, and its premium beef noodle selections are the best way to help well-off shoppers to solve the problem of where to spend money wisely. As it labeled herself as using premium beef, therefore we can expect to contribute more cash to the owner's bank account.

Nuer Koo Premium Beef Noddle Bar ***
Food Passage, 4/F, the Siam Paragaon
991/1 Rama 1 Road
Patumwan, Bangkok 10330
Tel.: 02.610.9773

Open daily : 11 am - 10 pm
Pay (food only for one): around THB 400

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Coffeol

496
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Mr. Bean failed to be reborn

In Bangkok, coffee specialty cafes tend to focus on coffee only (whether good or not, while the taste of food is subjective to diners), but most of them fail to deliver it with an 'ambiance' and good service.  If a cafe doesn't convince me that it is comfy, cozy and commercially homey (where service counts), but just looks like a part of my kitchen and served by my buffalo-like maid at home, than why do I spend my money there instead of just getting my brew at home. For chain coffee specialty cafes in Thailand, by far, I only see that Starbucks passes the mark.

Though ASIATIQUE the Riverfront doesn't count Starbucks in, lucky that I didn't see Tom n Toms and Coffee World there. Coffeol, I am okay with it though not in my routine. (p.s. I miss Mr. Bean, as there it delivered an "ambiance" and service.)

Coffeol Coffee Shop **3/4
Shop E07, Warehouse 10
ASIATIQUE the Riverfront
2194 Charoenkrung Road 
Bangkolaem, Bangkok 10120

Open daily : 5 - 11:30 pm
Pay (drink and pastry only for one): around THB 250

* To follow Bangkok closely, please 'friend' Thaisclub in Facebook!

Fai Sor Kam

426
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When aroma not aromatic

Fai Sor Kam refers to a Lanna style home textiles, scented candles and fragrant products manufacturer, with showrooms at Siam Paragon and Siam Discovery Center for over a decade. They recently extended their business ambitions to a culinary business, with the debut of Fai Sor Kam Thai Restaurant, adjacent to the original Fai Sor Kam Home Collection Store at the Siam Paragon.

The food, however, is not as commendable as their home collection products. I find that her Northern specialty dish - khao soi (Northern curried noodle) is ranked top, counted from the bottom, from my list. All dishes at Fai Sor Kam are mono-taste, pungent hot, and lacking of the essential balanced taste of the famous Thai cuisine. Maybe the existence of Fai Sor Kam Thai Restaurant is only to help those restaurants which serve mediocre food look smarter!



khao soi gai (fried & soup noodle with chicken in curry broth), THB 160++

khanom-jeen nam ngeow (rice noodle with pork in fermented soy bean curry), THB 160++


Fai Sor Kam Thai Restaurant **3/4
Food Passage on 4th, the Siam Paragon
991 Rama I Road
Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330
Tel.: 02.415.6605

Open daily : 11 am - 10 pm
Pay (food only for two): around THB 1,100

T Lounge afternoon tea

408
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Tea time in the supreme comfort

The T Lounge, closeted in the opulence and elegance of the Siam Kempinski Hotel, offers businessmen immediate privacy to hold a brief meeting in the hustle and bustle of the Siam area, and Paragon shoppers a real nook to relax after their exhausting shopping agenda.

I went to the T Lounge for her signature afternoon tea set with true Kempinski's European flair, and there is a pleasant surprise that her tea list (mainly by Ronnefeldt) covers selections from around the world, includes some pretty rare choices. Of course the T Lounge also serves cocktails, champagne and nice snacks to go with the booze.



T Lounge ***1/2
Siam Kempinski Hotel
991/9 Rama I Road
Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330
Tel.: 02.162.9000
T Lounge

Open daily : 10 - 1 am
Pay (afternoon tea for two): around THB 1,100
* afternoon tea set per person THB 720++

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

Secret Recipe

387
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Sweet tooth express

Secret Recipe, a chain cafe for casual dining and cake shop from Malaysia, has food of television-meal standard and their cakes were not great when they launched in 2004. Over time, the big-cut cakes have had nice improvements, though the food is still served as a punishment for my taste buds.



Secret Recipe ***
G/F Siam Paragon Shopping Center
991 Rama I Road
Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330
Tel.: 02.610.7626
Secret Recipe

and in major shopping centers in Bangkok and upcountry

Open daily : 10 am - 9 pm
Pay (cakes only for two): around THB 250

Sra Bua

377
.

Deconstruction cuisine

In Thailand, there is never a problem to enjoy a meal of good Thai cuisine (of course); they are just around any corner, at a decade-old pochana (small local restaurant), or in a Thai household. But when the cuisine comes to luxurious banquet versions it is rather sad; most five-star hotel's versions of Thai cuisine are quite disappointing; the food is pale and bland without bright ambition or effort. I feel they are just repacking mediocre food, serving them on porcelain tableware in the comfort of exquisite ambiance and impeccable service. So boring!

Sra Bua by Kiin Kiin, the Bangkok branch of the Copenhagen based Kiin Kiin Thai Restaurant, wearing one-star Michelin recognition, opened almost two years ago in the Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok and has added spice to the local gastronomy scene. Sra Bua offers molecular gastronomy Thai dishes, the first in the Kingdom; so grandma's recipe gaeng bark (firey hot jungle curry), a backpacker's love phad Thai (stir-fried sen-chan noodle) and a tourist's favorite chicken pieces wrapped in pandan leaf may not appear on the menu; even if they do, they may appear in another costume, like the very common red curry there is presented in a form of iced cream, served with frozen fog.

My friend took me to Sra Bua for lunch, to see if our taste-buds appreciated the first Thai molecular gastronomy cuisine. There are likes and dis-likes for Sra Bua's modern Thai cuisine, using cutting-edge culinary technique and molecular gastronomy, and I enjoyed the meal so much, as long as I opened my mind, and treated that as haute cuisine with a Thai twist.








Sra Bua by Kiin Kiin ***
Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok
991/9 Rama I Road
Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330
Tel.: 02.162.9000
Sra Bua

Open daily : lunch 12 am - 3 pm, dinner 6 - 11 pm
Pay : lunch set THB 1,500++, dinner set THB 2,400++

Marvelous Cream

356
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Marvelous creations

A Japanese native import, use of Kokkaido dairy products to make its gelato style ice cream, hand tossed on a -16 Celsius marble teppanyaki-style plate to create every scope of "happy" ice cream is: the 'Marvelous Cream'. Its first branch in Bangkok, at Siam Paragon Mall, also offers French-Japanese fusion, ready-to-serve, dessert cup (Patiscream ice cream cake) and ice cream sandwich (Heavenly Compote Waffle).

Taste? The Patiscream dessert cup is too sweet, while the Heavenly Compote ice cream sandwich is marvelous yummy, and the tossed gelato (I sampled mango, chocolate, and strawberry in separate visit) is flavorsome and not overly sweet.





Marvelous Cream Japanese Sweets Parfait ***1/4
G/F North Wing, Siam Paragon Mall
991 Rama I Road
Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330
Tel.: 02.610.7511
Marvelous Cream

Open daily : 11 am - 10 pm
Pay (food only for two): around THB 350



*(updated, Oct-2011, Marvelous Cream has branched out to the Terminal 21 (4/F) at Asok Intersection, and will open its 3rd branch at Central Rama 9 Shopping Complex)