214
.Heat in your walletCafe Chilli, a mall-attached Thai restaurant delivers earthy Issan delicacies in Siam Paragon, for the deep pocket high-so diners and tourists. Food quality and taste do not justify with the bill I paid.
If Kum Poon @ Cental World Plaza is still there (CWP were burnt by red-rioters on 19-May), I wouldn't have revisited Cafe Chilli yesterday.
Cafe Chilli **
Ground floor, Siam Paragon
991 Rama I Road
Prathumwan, Bangkok 10330
Tel.: 02.610.9877
Cafe Chilli
Open daily : 11 am - 9:30 pm
Pay (food only for two): around THB 2,000
213
.Gone with the blast
A few nice restaurants only available at Central World Plaza (except Nara Thai) still in my memory. Will they be back?
212
.Oyster king arrives to BangkokAmerican biologist turned international seafood distributor Bill Marinelli opens his own restaurant in Bangkok, on the back yard of the Kingdom's main financial district, Narathiwas-Rajanagarin Road (a.k.a. New Sathorn Road).
At Bill's Oyster Bar and Seafood Restaurant we sample the same seafood and quality of those Bangkok's 5-star hotels are on offer, only price tagged in half.
Seafood and oysters shipped (from around the world) to the restaurant twice a week, on Tuesday and Friday. The seafood platter at THB 2,000 is a treat, consisting of six fresh oysters of the day, portion of Alaskan king crab legs, scallop ceviche, portion of Dungeness crab, little neck clams, Skookum clams, mussels, tiger prawns and more.
Beef eaters, sorry, Oyster Bar does not serve food that doesn't swim.
Oyster Bar and Seafood Restaurant ***1/2
395 Soi 24 Narathiwas-Rajanagarin Road
opposite Chatrium Residence (formerly Oakwood City Residence)
Yannawa, Bangkok 10120
Tel.: 02.212.4809
Oyster Bar
Open daily (except Monday): 6 - 11 pm (Sunday 10 pm)
Weekend brunch available between 12 - 3 pm (THB 1,680++)
Pay (food only for two): around THB 2,500 (incl. fresh oysters)
210
.Hero in a meringue specialty shop!I don't eat meringue often. To me, eating meringue is like eating baked sugar in bulk. Besides, I don't enjoy its chewy texture.
I like mousse. To me, eating mousse is like eating the combine of foam and air bubbles, it is playful. Most important is that mousse will not hurt my teeth.
At Mousses & Meringues, my favorite item is neither meringue (of course) nor mousse, it is her strawberry short cake, only available during weekends.
Once try, you could not get away from her, never!
Mousses & Meringues ****
Sukhumvit main branch
245 Soi Sawasdee
Sukhumvit Road Soi 31
Wattana, Bangkok 10110
Tel.: 02.662.1290
Open daily : 10 am - 7:00 pm
Pay (food only for two): around THB 220
Also branches at J-Avenue Thonglo (Mousses and Berry, Thonglo Soi 15) and Crystal Park Mall Praditmanutham Road
209
.The drowning of chickens
On the radar of many guide books including the Lonely Planet, Boon Tong Kiat (a.k.a. Singapore Chicken Rice) earns credit for its Singapore style Hainanese chicken rice of which the chicken had a firm but tender texture. It was!
I didn't visit this once marvelous small eatery for a while (seven years perhaps) after the departure of both of its Singaporean partners. Until recently, I switch my hang-out pleasure back to upper Sukhumvit area without a choice as long as I am off-limits to downtown Bangkok due to those 'red-shirts' (ooops now they are no-color-shirts) chaos; somehow I revisit Boon Tong Kiat.
This chicken rice shop just doesn't cook chicken and BBQ pork right following the Singapore recipe anymore!
Boon Tong Kiat Chicken Rice Restaurant 滿堂吉 ***
440/5 Soi Thonglo
Sukhumvit Road Soi 55
Wattana, Bangkok 10110
Tel.: 02.390.2508
Open daily : 10 am - 9 pm
Pay (food only for two): around THB 150
BANGKOK AMAZING GOURMET
.A taste live in memoryThai jumbo prawn (a.k.a. river lobster) from the upstream of Chaophraya River is one luscious river species on earth. Its flesh tastes like lobster while its creamy roe spills out from the head is heavenly delicious. My first bite of the prawn from the River of the King was at Bua, next to the Bangkapi Land Division on Sinarkarin Road, probably twenty-five years ago.
My first bowl of hearty gaeng-som (orange curry in gaeng-som paste, tamarind and chilies) was also being sampled at Bua. Since then, I realized that Thai curries are fruitful, not just limited to gaeng-kiao-wan (green curry) or tom-yum (sour and spicy soup).
Bua Thai Restaurant once took the top fame in Bangkok culinary business, but the glory doesn't pass on to its second generation of management.
Bua on Soi Convent may not deliver a decent grandma recipes to diners, but it is an ideal eatery to begin with Thai food lesson one, for the foreigners.
Bua Thai Restaurant **1/2
Silom branch
1/4 Sriboonrueng Building, Soi Convent
off Silom Road
Bangrak, Bangkok 10500
Tel.: 02.237.6641
Open daily 10:30 am - 11 pm
Pay (food only for two): around THB 800
202
.khao chae everywhereDuring summertime in Thailand, khao chae or chilled jasmine flower scented rice soup is available not only at exquisite Royal Thai restaurants throughout the country but now also at high-end food court.
Food Loft's khao-chae **
Food Loft
Central Department Store, Chidlom
Open daily : 10:30 am - 9:30 pm
Pay (khao-chae per set): around THB 150 a set
* khao chae is only available in April
201
.Summer Chilled-out In Thailand, if you have money then you can do anything to please yourself. And pay advertorial to spread the rumor that it is appreciated. Turns chicken to phoenix perhaps!
A set of chilled out khao chae feast is available at DEVA by M.L Kwantip Devakula.
Deva's khao-chae **1/4
DEVA Restaurant
32/1 Sukhumvit Soi 39
Sukhumvit Road
Wattana, Bangkok 10110
Tel.: 02.662.5427
Deva
Open daily : 11 am - 11 pm
Pay (khao chae only): around THB 300 a set
* khao chae is only available in April
* (update on 2011-11-15: congratulations! Deva on Suk. Soi 39 is now a history!)
