Ootoya

BANGKOK AMAZING GOURMET
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Portal to taste

Started in Tokyo as a fifty yen gohan (rice) canteen in 1958, Ootoya restaurants were well received by the locals and enjoy a steady expansion since. Today Ootoya is a multi-nation dine-in-fast-food style restaurant chain, with branches not only in Japan, but sprawl across Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand. Indeed the Thonglor J-Avenue branch in Thailand was Ootoya's first overseas debut.

Here in Thailand. Ootoya is also well received by Thais and enjoys a fast expanding result to more than twenty branches in mere six years. The credit shall be awarded to Ootoya choice of top quality and fresh ingredients, flavorsome taste, and the use of white charcoal on grilled items, though price is not easy.

If you expect sushi or sashimi, there is not your portal to a meal.



Ootoya Gohandokoro 大户屋 ***
Thonglor branch
B-9, 2nd Floor J-Avenue
323/2 Thonglo Soi 15
Wattana, Bangkok 10110
Tel.: 02.712.6827
Ootoya

Open daily : 10:30 am - 10:30 pm
Pay (food only for two): around THB 600

Ros'niyom

260
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Hygiene roadside noodle

When I think of tempting roadside noodles but worry about the heat and hygiene concern, I always have a second thought. Appreciated iberry's khun Pla brought to us Ros'niyom, a place for guay-jub (roll rice paper noodle in broth), kuay-tiew-tomyum (Sukhothai style spicy noodle), khao-soi (Northern style fried noodle in spicy broth), kanom-jeen (round-thin rice noodle) and various rice menu in a comfortable ambiance without the sacrifice of authentic taste.




Ros'niyom Noodle Restaurant ****
La Villa branch
G/F La Villa, Phahonyothin Road, Phayathai, Bangkok 10300
Tel.: 02.613.0544
Major Avenue branch
G/F Major Avenue Ratchayothin, Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900
Tel.: 02.930.1020
Siam Paragon branch
G/F Siam Paragon, Rama I Road, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330
Tel.: not available

Open daily : 11 am - 9:00 pm
Pay (food only for two): around THB 300

THANN Cafe

259
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A taste of THANN

High-end spa products supplier THANN, has her finger in the food industry (the healthy style) after the success of the core business. Team up with White Cafe Catering and florist Chayapon Singhalak; THANN has her spa products and tea collection, light (healthy) meal, and flower arrangement integrated under one roof.






I started the meal with a glass of Iced cinnamon bael fruit tea (THB 100++) from THANN's home-blended organic tea collection. A truly refreshing kick! My friend, unfortunately opted for the fruit smoothie which is less impressive.

The menu is a mixed choice of local favorites and international delicacies. For local stuffs, we took the Rice with chicken green curry (THB 150++) and Rice with roasted duck red curry (THB 200++). The green curry is rich in flavor, pungent hot and aromatic, while the red curry is on the disappointed side. For inter delis, we sampled the mushroom and beef lasagna (THB 280++) and the Lemon cake (THB 125++). The flavorsome lasagna delivers aromatic mixed of mushroom, cheese and Italian herbs, while the plasticky tasted lemon cake is lack of good flavor and hard in texture, a disaster in mouth and taste buds torture.

A visit to THANN Cafe without a sip of hot tea (iced is good as well) from the THANN home-blended organic tea collection is a waste of journey. To conclude the meal, I opted for the Hot lavender white tea (THB 90++), there proven a makeup to the disappointment of the red curry and lemon cake.

THANN Boutique Cafe ***
1/F Gaysorn Plaza
999 Ploenchit Road
Prathumwan, Bangkok 10330
Tel.: 02.656.1061

Open daily : 10 am - 9 pm
Pay (food only for two): around THB 700

yumcha @ Ah Yat Forum

258
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Surf on Chaophraya River

While a legendary hotel's Chinese restaurant on Charoenkrung Road having its dimsum quality dives in the river, on the other side of the same road, a renowned Hong Kong celebrities canteen presents in Bangkok - Ah Yat Abalone Forum Seafood Restaurant, her dimsum quality enjoys flying high.


half Peking duck to start my yumcha feast at Ah Yat

Peking duck meat soup with preserved vegetable

har-gau (dumpling of shrimp wrapped in a thin wheat starch sheet)
siu-mai (dumpling of shrimp and pork fillings wrapped in a thin wheat flour wrapper)

cheong-fun (rice roll filled with BBQ pork, and rice roll filled with shrimp)
glutinous rice with chicken

all dimsum quality are of highest standard

lo-bak-go (pan-fried daikon radish cakes)
foo-pae-gheun (deep-fried bean curd sheet wrapped in shrimp fillings)

dan-ta, ham-sui-kok and taro puff; Ah Yat almond tea

Ah Yat Abalone Forum Seafood Restaurant 富臨酒家
(weekdays dimsum ****1/2) (weekends dimsum ****)
Ramada Plaza Menam Riverside Hotel
2074 Charoenkrung Road
Bangkholaem, Bangkok 10120
Tel.: 02.291.7781

Open daily : 11:00 am - 2:30pm, 6 pm - 10:30 pm
Pay (yumcha lunch for two): weekdays- around THB 800*, weekends- around THB 1,200
* 50% discount off dimsum items during weekdays, until further notice


friends asked how did Ah Yat Forum look like before the renovation?
left picture, before renovation; right picture, new look as we see today

yumcha @ China House

257
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Dive in Chaophraya River

Once-upon-a-time China House offered yumcha lunch with a la carte dimsum served, that was good. Sad, the glory doesn't extend after the Unlimited Dimsum Lunch resumed!

The Unlimited Dimsum Lunch works this way; I am encouraged to order as much dimsum I could digest from an army of 22 dimsum items (that's all-you-can-eat kind), paired with a soup (5 choices), rice or noodles (4 choices), and a dessert (also 4 choices), at a fixed cost of THB 888 net per person.

Quite disappointed that China House abandoned the hiring of a Thai national restaurant host of who received applause from around the world for the way Thais serve customers with human touch and a warm heart. Need not to mention the renowned Thai smile and caring. Importing a host from another ASEAN country doesn't let me feel I am being served better. Instead, the opposite!

The China House (dimsum unlimited) ***1/2
Mandarin Oriental Hotel Bangkok
48 Oriental Avenue
Soi 40, Charoenkrung Road
Bangrak, Bangkok 10500
Tel.: 02.659.9000
China House

Open daily: Unlimited Dimsum Lunch 11:30 am - 2:30pm,
dinner 6 pm - 11:30 pm
Pay (Unlimited Dimsum Lunch for two): THB 1,776 net



(* some pictures on courtesy of J.Ho)

Cafe Sweets

256
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Sweet tooth lover

Cafe Sweets. Her cakes. Soft in texture. Modest in sugar. High on quality. Sinfully delicious!




arguably best crepe cake in Bangkok!



Cafe Sweets Bakery ****1/4
at Secret Garden Restaurant
117/1 South Sathorn Road (Thanon Sathorn Tai)
Sathorn, Bangkok 10120
Tel.: 02.286.2464

Open daily : 11 am - 10 pm
Pay (cakes only for two): around THB 300