BANGKOK AMAZING GOURMET
.Crown the cover versionIn 1997, Japanese renowned beef-bowl chain Yoshinoya cast her debut in Bangkok. After struggled from doing business in the "tomyumgoong financial crisis" climate and in miscalculation of the Thais consuming and eating habits, two short years later in 1999, the mission failed.
Happy that ten years later, the empire strikes back! But not by Yoshinoya herself, instead it is her cover version, Gyunoya. Ramentei, an AOI restaurant, ex-consultant brought Gyunoya to life, serving Japanese style rice beef-bowl in Bangkok's C.B.D. Except the shop interior, everything in Gyunoya is very "Yoshinoya" - the rice, the beef, the sauce and even the bowl!
Gyunoya 牛野家 ***
Soi Thaniya, Silom Road
Bangrak, Bangkok 10500
Tel.: 02.632.8506
Open daily : 11 am - 1 am
Pay (food only for two): around THB 300
BANGKOK AMAZING GOURMET
.BeirutBeirut is a well established Lebanese restaurant chain in Bangkok with branches on Silom Road (Silom 64 J-City) and Sukhumvit Road (Erawan Ploenchit Centre).
Beirut's hummus was aromatic and smooth, while the grilled chicken was tender and moist although CP frozen chicken was part of the ingredients, proven that with master culinary skill ingredients became secondary in a kitchen. The only disappointment was we found microwaved pita bread in a plastic bag.
Beirut Lebanese Restaurant ***1/2
G/Floor, Silom J-City
64 Silom Road
Bangrak, Bangkok 10500
Tel.: 02.632.7448
Open daily : 11am - 11pm
Pay (food only for two): THB 800
102.
Serina Teppanyaki
This luxury Hokkaido style tappanyaki joint is little-known outside of the Japanese community. The cuisine, of course authentic, is strictly followed on traditional recipes with modern preparation and stylist presentation.
Serina has divided into three sections, main dining room does teppanyaki, upstairs for a-la-carte menu, while another dining room in the annex building does shabu-shabu at Baht 650 per person.
My recent visit with two friends dug us around Baht 7,000 ($205) for an a-la-carte teppanyaki dining with basic seafood and steak (no lobster and wagyu steak) order, and my stomach was not even fed to half-full. Alternatively the chef can prepare a tasting-set for you based on your budget (minimum Baht 1,500++), and teppanyaki lunch set from Baht 350++ is relatively a bargain.
The pros - smokeless teppanyaki table left no uninvited smell on shirt and chef has decent culinary skill the Japanese kind
The cons - uneasy for my wallet (well I did mentioned it is a luxury eatery didn't I) and our chef was lack of smile
The bottom line - lots of true Japanese and seasonal ingredients that other teppanyaki joints don't offer, chef with good skill in mastering the cooking and teppanyaki show in balance without acting like a monkey, and all dishes came out simply taste good
Serina Teppanyaki Restaurant ***
9/26 Soi Jim Thompson
Surawong Road
Bangrak, Bangkok 10500Tel.: 02.235.8382Open daily: Lunch 11:30-14:00; Dinner 17:30-22:30
Pay (food only for two): around THB 3,000 (lunch set available at THB 450)
BANGKOK AMAZING GOURMET
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Banana any sizeEstablished since 1982, Banana House is well known among Silom and Sathorn white collars and clubbers (yes, eat first dance later). In a dentists-occupied office building, Duangthip Building, the minimal decorated restaurant hides somewhere between Silom Soi 4 and Soi Thaniya on the main road of Silom, draws a stable number of Japanese expats and tourist clientele as well.
Although Banana House sits on the tourist stripe of Patong with a decent number of foreign clientele, yet the fare is home style Thai Thai and quite spicy; however, heat can be adjusted to customer's request. I told my waiter not to deduce any heat in my dish, but brought me some icy towels instead. A glass of icy beer may be of helf too!
Western inspired dishes modified to local taste are also on the menu. Such as the cute Khanom krob ob hoy lai (baked baby clam in covered clay pan); it is Thai version of French escargot, simply refreshing as a starter. Followed we sampled the Yum makua yaao (spicy eggplant salad), Phad pak mara (stir-fried bitter gourd), Gaeng som pla chon cha-om-tord (snake-head fish fillet with deep-fried cha-om leaf omelet in tamarind sour and hot soup), Plameuk phad kai kem (stir-fried squid with salty egg yolk), and Pla kapong neung ma-naao (steamed sea bass with chili and lime broth). Taste is authentic but on the salty side.
Service would be on satisfaction gear if the waiter who ushered us to the table wasn't rude, though service was prompt and other wait-staffs were okay. The lady head-of-staff (/owner) is definitely helpful indeed.
Banana House Thai Restaurant ***
2nd Floor, Duangthip Building
68/1 Silom Road
Bangrak, Bangkok 10500
Tel.: 02.234.9967
Open daily : 10 am - 10 pm
Pay (food only for two): around THB 1,000
BANGKOK AMAZING GOURMET
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Ramentei
Ramen is Japanese noodle made of flour, salt, water and kansui (water of Kan, or water with sodium carbonate and phosphoric acid) served in broth. Kansui, names after the mineral water source in Lake Kan of Inner Mongolia, made the noodle’s texture uniquely firm and bouncy also turn the noodles look yellowish. Nowadays kansui needs not to be brought from Lake Kan but be produced in factories. Ramen is originally brought from China many centuries ago then became a better-known Japanese cuisine since the Muji period before topped a popular cuisine in Japan until today after the WWII. As exporting is the survival of the Japanese industries, they export Ramen too. Ramen was imported back to China in the 19th Century and it is now a convenience food in all corners of China and Asia.
The broth or soup base plays a rather important part in whole of a bowl of ramen. Almost every prefecture in Japan has its own kind of ramen specialty based on its recipes of broth, but four variations became major of them. 1. SHIO (salt) ramen is clear soup of chicken broth. It is almost the oldest of the four and became less popular serving on the table in ramen shops across the nation. 2. TONKOTSU (pork bone) ramen is thick broth of pork bone boiled for half a day thus the soup has a milky white texture. It is a specialty of Kyushu. A decent bowl of Tonkotsu ramen can be found in Hakata, a small town in Fukuoka. 3. SHOYO (soy sauce) ramen is clear soup boiled with chicken then added with soy sauce became the HONSHU (the Mainland) specialty. Tokyo is popular for Shoyo ramen even with its different extensions. 4. The last one is the youngest in the family. MISO (fermented soybean paste) ramen considers semi-thick broth of chicken stock boiled to its perfection added with miso. It is a specialty of Hokkaido. Sapppro is well known for Miso ramen in Hokkaido.
Ramentei has all of them, and their tonkotsu ramen and other ramen are almost the best in Bangkok! 
Ramentei ***1/2
Soi Thaniya, off Surawong Road,
Bangrak, Bangkok 10500
(also branches on Sukhumvit Soi 33/1, and Silom Soi 6)
Open daily : 11 am - 1 am
Pay (food only for two): around THB 400
23
.Failed to flyAt Bug and Bee Cafe, ordering took a timely process; the menu is extensive and informative, history of crepes and the uniqueness of Bug and Bee crepes were written on the menu, and it is customers' obligation to read the encyclopedia alike menu. Choices of crepes and dishes made of crepe noodles are a lot, they are fusion and they are innovation, but failed in cooking process with certain misfire. After ten minutes reading (the menu), I still couldn't launch my verdict on the order, so did my friends; luckily the cafe manager came to our rescue.
He suggested the cafe best selling drink - the mango marvel, consisting of fresh mango and passion fruits blended on a bed of sago (tapioca), to drink the mango juice and suck the sago was how I handled this drink; followed by peachy melo and kiwi cooler, they are funny drinks (taste funny I mean). For crepes, the manager recommended the crepe stuffed with curry crab, Sichuan crepe noodles with prawns, and crepe with grilled duck breast in cranberry ginger sauce. The curry crab (meat) was average, aroma with mild heat of curry married to little sweetness from the crepe, to make this dish eatable, but never remarkable; while the Sichuan prawns had a good recipe and heat but still far from the real Sichuan treat, the prawns, maybe I shall call it small shrimps, were full of frozen taste. The grilled duck breast in cranberry ginger sauce, was indeed few pieces of tough duck meat that would train my teeth, and the cranberry sauce was kind of weird in taste. Perhaps its kitchen is set up for experiment purpose but not to cook for diners!
My friends and I further sampled the seafood (crepe) lasagna, which was unique but not of my fond; and the phad-khee-maow crepe noodles with seafood (with thrifty seafood ingredients), a dish self-proclaimed to be the best phad-kee-maow (stir-fried drunken noodles with basil, garlic, young green pepper, chili and lots of chilies) in Bangkok. (Really? or the owners themselves are drunken 24/7!)
For desserts, I ordered the orange passion fruit crepe with ice cream, my friends opted for the cheesecake parfait with fresh mango (seasonal), Belgian waffle with ice cream, and the shop's signature deep-fried Shanghai date crepe. The cheesecake was a bit too sweet to my standard, but I am sure some people would love it; while the deep-fried Chinese date paste crepe cake was average.
Besides their fusion crepes menu, Bug and Bee also offers a small selections of Chinese fare; they are baked rice Hong Kong style, Cantonese congee, and Hong Kong fried rice. Moreover, there is a full set of all-day breakfast on duty. As mentioned earlier, the menu is BIG, so they are just a few to be named here, from the Bug and Bee's full 'experimental creations'; and the cons is, BIG menu doesn't mean they are good, though!
In order to be benefited from better health through slow eating, I didn't rush my meal at Bug and Bee; our drinks and food didn't arrive promptly after the order had been taken, that given us more time to browse the menu, learn the history of crepes, read a numerous of magazines displayed on two giant racks in the shop, chat to our neighboring table(s), and play with our notebook. Though the restaurant provides free snail-speed wifi service with password access; however, smooth connection is only by luck!
Bug and Bee Cafe **
18 Silom Road
Bangrak, Bangkok 10500
Tel.: 02.233.8118
Open daily : 24-hour (random shortened opening hours without prior notice)
Pay (food only for two): around THB 700
*(update on 2009-10-28 : Bug and Bees' Siam Paragon branch is now a history)
*(update on 2010-05-25 : Bug and Bee's MBK branch is now a history)
