yumcha @ Silk Road

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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

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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

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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)

Reflexions

BANGKOK AMAZING GOURMET
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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

Rain Tree buffet

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Cholesterol combat carnival

Dinner buffets at Rain Tree Cafe of the Plaza Athenee Hotel Bangkok are the talk-of-the-town kind in the city, especially her weekend dinner seafood buffet and Sunday brunch.

The bountiful seafood buffet may be too rich for my cholesterol control; but, who cares!

Just to name a few, in the buffet show-off are freshly baked sourdough and bread, hearty mushroom soup and tumyumgoong, organic greens from the salad bar, fish roe caviar, canapes, Japanese sashimi and sushi, chilled seafood bar consisting of fresh oysters, Canadian lobster, Alaskan king crab legs and river prawns, barbecue station with choices of meat and seafood such as Aussie rib eye steak, rack of lamb, snow fish, Maine lobster tails and foie gras, live station of Thai, Chinese and Italian specialties, cheese varieties, fruits and desserts.

Don't forget your Combizym!

The Rain Tree Cafe ****
Plaza Athenee Hotel Bangkok
(a Royal Meridien Hotel)
10 Wireless Road
Lumpini, Bangkok 10330
Tel.: 02.650.8800
Rain Tree

Open daily : 5:30 am - 11:30 pm; Dinner buffet 6 - 10 pm
Pay (food only for two): around THB 3,000 (a la carte),
weekend dinner seafood buffet THB 1,680++ per person

Sa Nguan Sri

BANGKOK AMAZING GOURMET
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Sa Nguan Sri

First time to visit Sa-Nguan-Sri, I walked back and forth (three times) between Ploenchit intersection and the All Seasons Place on Witthayu Road (Wireless Road), cried in the sun for (almost) missing the canteen until I checked on a bunker alike facility.

Everything in Sa-Nguan-Sri is old-fashioned including the interior, the menu, the recipes, the taste and even the price. Most of the dishes cost Baht 50-90. Food in Sa-Nguan-Sri is not good, but superb. Adding we can play music-chair during the busy lunch hours in order to secure a table, this canteen is fun too!





Sa-Nguan-Sri Restaurant ****
59/1 Wireless Road
Ploenchit, Pratumwan
Bangkok 10330
Tel.: 02.252.7637

Open daily (except Sunday) for Lunch only 10:00am - 3:00pm
Pay (food only for two): around THB 200


* don't let me fool you with this empty seats picture, as it was taken at 3pm; during the lunch hours, you need to play music-chair in order to secure a table