Bann Kun Pra

I spent last weekend in Ayuthaya with a group of friends. As mentioned previously, the quiet town is a wonderful place to escape big city life, and features great restaurants, (relatively) cool weather and lots of stuff to do. After arriving, we asked the staff of our guest house to suggest a good place to eat, and they suggested a place called Bann Kun Pra.

The hotel/restaurant is located in a beautiful antique building directly on the river, and has creative menu. Unfortunately, as the stereotype goes, the places with the best locations/view often have mediocre food, and this was definitely the case with Bann Kun Pra. The first warning sign should have been the fact that the restaurant serves its rice in cute animal shapes:

After beheading our turtles, we dug into the dishes we ordered, which included asparagus stir-fried with prawns:

It was decent, although like most of the meal, bland and characterless.

A soup of cucumbers stuffed with ground-pork:

was, in my opinion, probably the nicest dish of the meal. The cucumber added a pleasantly sweet flavour to the broth, and the pork filling was peppery and tasty.

The sesame grilled chicken:

was, despite appearances, slightly spicy and not bad, although very dry.

Possibly the biggest disappointment was the grilled beef and mangosteen salad:

The dish sounded interesting on the menu, but the beef appeared to have been par-boiled, and other than a nearly tasteless coconut milk dressing, the dish had little flavour.

Carla ordered rice fried with curry powder:

and Ron can apparently not go an entire meal without ordering flash-fried morning glory:

Which is OK, as I'm the same way. Unfortunately Bann Kun Pra's take on the dish was bland and unnecessarily included ground pork.

Again, I imagine Bann Kun Pra is a lovely (although slightly overpriced) place to stay, but not a very good destination for authentic Thai food.

Bann Kunn Pra
48 Moo 3 U-Thong Road
Ayuthaya
035 241 978

Ovalcano

Meet the Ovalcano--an iced Ovaltine drink topped with several heaping tablespoons of Ovaltine powder and a sprinkling of Coco Pops. Soon to be Thai classic along the lines of tom yam kung and phat thai. Available at a mobile coffee vendor near you.

Chinatown, August 15, 2007

More street pics from the last few days to follow soon.

Foo Mui Kee

I had first read about Foo Mui Kee in a review in the Bangkok Post several years back. I forgot to make note of where the restaurant was, and after a while, forgot about it entirely. On a recent day I was only a block away from the English language library I visit frequently when I stumbled upon the restaurant. Upon entering and sitting down at one of the old-school wooden booths, I noticed that on every table sat a bottle of not fish sauce, but rather Worcestershire sauce:

and was reminded that Foo Mui Kee is known for its Chinese takes on English/Continental dishes. The menu confirmed this, with dishes such as pork chop, oxtail soup, and beef fillet salad. I decided on one of the recommended dishes, ox-tongue stew:

The ox-tongue, cooked in a tomato-based gravy, was tasty and very tender, and was coupled with potatoes, tinned peas and a plate of rice. The dish reminded me of a meal a Chinese cook would have made his English employers in Hong Kong back in 1942. It was not particularly inspiring, but good, and I loved the atmosphere of the restaurant and touches such as the complimentary chilled towel to wipe up after the meal. The women working there told me the restaurant was 80 years old, and I found it fun to take part in something that's been around for so long. I'll certainly be back.

Foo Mui Kee
10-12 Soi Prachoom (Soi 22)
02 234 6648

More street shots

A few more random street shots I've taken in and around Bangkok in the last couple months.

Patpong.

Jomtiem Beach, Pattaya.

Thanon Narathiwat.

Patpong.

Thanon Charoen Krung.

Selling umbrellas, Siam Square.

Selling Buddha statues along Soi Cowboy, a red-light district.

Silom area.

Pattaya: Som Tam Naa Mueang

I had eaten at this modest isaan restaurant on my only previous visit to Pattaya several years back. The place is well known, and the memory of the som tam thai I had back still lives strong: crispy, chilled strips of green papaya gently coaxed with tart lime and barely smashed tiny cloves of garlic... I always wondered if the place was still around, and was excited when, arriving at the grilled chicken restaurant Songdet recommended, realized it was the very same place. I told you these guys have good taste in food.

This place is all about the som tam, in particular, the som tam thai:

which is som tam made with bottled fish sauce, and topped with peanuts and dried shrimp. It was every bit as good as I remembered; the papaya crispy, and the dish sporting an assertively tart flavour.

As a counterpoint to this central Thai dish, someone ordered the very northeastern version, tam sua, isaan-style som tam with khanom jeen noodles:

complete with the northeastern-style unpasteurized fish sauce known as plaa raa and pickled field crabs, I was surprised these Bangkok kids could eat stuff like this.

There were isaan staples such as laap muu, pork laap:

tap waan, 'sweet liver':

three dishes of khor muu yaang, grilled pork collar:

and an entirely too sweet wing bean salad:

And of course, the main reason Songdet took us here, the grilled chicken:

which according to him, is marinaded in honey.

And finally Peach, for some strange reason, decided to order som tam khao phot, corn som tam:

a bizarre mixture of corn and carrot. She said wasn't very nice. It didn't look very nice. Everything else was wonderful though.

Som Tam Naa Mueang
Thanon Pattaya Nuea (near the Tesco-Lotus)
038 423 927

Pattaya: Time Out

Immediately after eating copious amounts of seafood at Tankay, we obviously required dessert. This turned out to be a no-brainer, as just across the street from the restaurant were two interesting looking gelato bars. Peach, Leew and I decided to try the one called Time Out, while all the others went into Italia, mostly because Mr. Noo described it as having a more "milky" smell.

Here's Peach and Leew choosing their flavours at Time Out, a process that involved considerable time and tasting:

I had rum raisin, as always, and found it more than acceptable. I'm pretty sure the girls enjoyed theirs.

And back at Italia, Pongston also appeared to enjoy his decision:

I wish there was more of this kind of ice cream in Bangkok...

Time Out
Walking Street, Pattaya
06 341 3500

Pattaya: Tankay Restaurant

I spent the last three days in the resort town of Pattaya with my former students, the Satit Kaset IP Class of 2006. At 19 and 20 they're pretty much adults now, which seems strange to me as I first met most of them when they were in 6th grade! Apparently I had a good influence on them, as a few of them are now totally camera obsessed, and based on the meals we had, they generally seem to have pretty good taste in restaurants.

I'll be blogging on a couple of the places we ate at, but will start with our first meal, and the primary reason Thai people visit such places: seafood. Varawit led us to Tankay Restaurant, an open-air seafood joint located smack dab in the middle of Walking Street, Pattaya's sleazy go go bar area, an area he's apparently intimately familiar with.

There we consumed plaa meuk khai:

Grilled squid, including its eggs. I always like grilled squid, but don't really care for the eggs, which honestly have little if any flavour, and a spongy texture.

Plaa kraphong neung sii ew, fish steamed in soy sauce:

which included heaps of shredded green onion and ginger in a pleasantly salty broth. Very nice, apparently, as Chanon appeared to eat virtually every last fish molecule:

Somebody ordered thord man koong, deep-fried shrimp cakes:

and steamed crab legs:

and perhaps as a result of feeling a bit too carnivorous, I also decided to order some greens:

flash-fried morning glory, which was done exceptionally well here.

The meal was accompanied with three huge plates of crab fried rice (first pic above), the usual carb accompaniment to Thai seafood feasts.

All in all a very good Thai seafood meal, although considering the area, I imagine the atmosphere might be quite different at night!

Tankay Restaurant
Walking Street, Pattaya
038 710 447

Naam phrik kapi

Today I found myself at the food court of Carrefour Rama IV. As with most food courts, there's a lot to eat there: Muslim food, yen ta fo noodles, Thai-Chinese eats, laad naa, curries and much, much more. All in all, it's a pretty average Bangkok food court, albeit on a slightly grander scale. However despite all these choices, I can never resist one particular dish when I see it. I'm a huge fan of veggies, and this dish has heaps. I also love fish and spicy stuff, and they're both there as well. And I don't like being locked into one single taste or flavour, and this dish has lots of variety.

The dish is naam phrik kapi, a 'dip' of shrimp paste mashed up with garlic, sugar, chilies and lime juice. The dip is served with rice, fresh vegetables, including green beans, wing beans and eggplants, par-boiled veggies, including cabbage, buap (a type of gourd), pumpkin, Chinese greens, and deep-fried battered eggplant, an omelet laced with cha om (a pungent herblike green), and perhaps most importantly, an entire battered and deep-fried mackerel.

Nam phrik kapi is a very Thai dish that tends to be served at people's homes, rather than at restaurants. It's also a dish that I don't see too many foreigners eating. If you happen to be at a food court and see something that looks like the above, do try it. You might find the naam phrik spicy, but you can always just take a bit less. If you don't happen to have a Thai food court at hand, recipes for naam phrik kapi can be found here and here.

Kinkoku

Japanese food is big in Bangkok. Restaurants serving Japanese food can be found just about everywhere, and 'sushi' is even sold at my neighborhood's Saturday market. Despite this, I generally don't get too excited about eating Japanese here. The vast majority of Japanese restaurants take the form of characterless corporate chain-type places such as Zen, or the gorge-yourself-to-get-your-500-baht-worth buffets such as Oishi. There are also many privately-owned authentic eateries, particularly in the areas of Sukhumvit around the Emporium shopping center and Thong Lor, but these are quite far from my house. And yet another form of Japanese restaurant in Bangkok is the small informal Thai-owned and run place that put out a few standard dishes. Such is the case with Kinkoku, a tiny streetside Japanese restaurant/cafe at the Chatujak Weekend Market.

I and my friend Nick, doing research on an article about eats at Chatujak, sat down directly in front of one of those fans that blows cool misty air and started with yakisoba:

which was, well, yakisoba. Despite this, I think I enjoyed this dish the most, and the noodles were reasonably tasty and graciously un-oily. The dish contained tasty bits of browned chicken, and I liked the white cabbage (maybe because Thais rarely eat it?), especially when dipped in the salty soy sauce provided.

We asked the waitress what she recommended and she suggested the grilled mackerel with soy sauce:

I find this type of mackerel, known in Thai (via Japanese) as saba, to be almost assertively fishy and oily in flavour. Maybe I've just never had a really fresh one? This one was no different, although the sweet-tasting soy sauce almost concealed the fishiness. This dish was served with a bowl of Japanese rice and miso soup.

And finally we had grilled mushrooms:

For some reason they used the virtually flavourless straw mushrooms, het faang, as opposed to the more delicious (and infinitely more Japanese, not to mention appropriate for grilling) shiitake, het hom.

All in all a decent eat, and a fun break from the ubiquitous som tam and southern food of Chatujak, but certainly not worth a detour.

And on a non food-related tip, that morning I also got some pretty cool candid shots of vendors and shoppers that I've posted in black and white at my photo blog, The Old Main Drag.

Kinkoku
Chatujak Weekend Market
Section 6, Soi 18

Chatujak in black and white

I spent most of Sunday at Talaat Nat Chatujak, apparently the world's largest outdoor market, taking photos for a newspaper article. Between taking shots that will potentially illustrate that piece, I got several fun candid shots of vendors and shoppers. Chatujak is an incredibly crowded and busy place, perfect for visually interesting juxtapositions and situations. I decided to edit these in black and white, using the now famous Russel Brown technique. If you've got PS3, there's an even easier method of going to B&W, described by the man himself, here.

Today's Pictures

Magnum Heads will appreciate this feature at Slate that shows a set of thematically-similar images every day.

Modern Thai cuisine

Khanom bueang, temple fair, Ayuthaya. Mmm...

Ran Nam Tao Hu Yong Her

The name of this restaurant literally means Yong Her Soy Milk Shop. Clever, isn't it? But soy milk is available just about everywhere in Bangkok, and clever restaurant names abound. The real reason you should come here is to try authentic northern Chinese food, a relative rarity here in Bangkok. The menu spans all the doughy, starchy foods loved by the residents of China's cold north, as well as some interesting salads, pickles, soups and oh yeah, soy milk (pictured above).

I asked the Chinese waitress what she recommended and she pointed to a menu item described in English as "Small steamed dumpling." Despite the vague name, I trusted her, and what came to my table was actually a huge tray of xiao long bao, the Shanghainese broth-filled steamed dumplings:

I found these to be much, much better than those I had previously at Crystal Jade. The skins were just strong enough to support the hot broth without being too thick, and the pork filling was soft, tasty and not overwhelming.

Unfortunately I was on my own and didn't get a chance to try much else, but I really enjoyed the dumplings, and the other diners' meals looked great as well, so you can expect to hear more from me about this place.

Ran Nam Tao Hu Yong Her
68 Thanon Narathiwat (near Chong Nonsi BTS station)
02 635 0003

Naaz

I'm currently in the process doing research for the next edition of Lonely Planet's Bangkok guide. This involves, and I'm serious here, visiting and eating at lots and lots of restaurants. It's refreshing to finally get paid for doing this, and as expected, I'm taking the job very seriously. For this morning's research I made a point of stopping by Naaz, a Muslim restaurant that, in the words of the current edition, serves "...some of the city's richest khao mok kai (chicken biryani)." Upon reading this I immediately felt provoked and defensive, as I live nearly next door to what I consider one of Bangkok's best Muslim restaurants, the self-proclaimed King of Biryani, Yusup.

Upon arriving at Naaz I diverged a bit and ordered khao mok phae, goat biryani. Even before tasting it was clear that the guide doesn't lie. The rice was absolutely perfectly cooked (overcooked rice is a common theme of lesser biryanis) and was topped with slightly sweet golden grapes, halved cashews and deep-fried crispy shallots. The fragrant yellow mound concealed a joint of goat with meat so tender it could probably be consumed by an infant. The meat was also coated in a rich curry-like sauce that had soaked into some of the rice. The dish was so perfect I didn't even use the (overly sweet) sauce provided.

Yusup, you've got competition.

Here's the interior of Naaz, as well as the diverse and interesting menu:

I had other places to visit, so I unfortunately I couldn't try anything else, but I'd certainly be curious to visit on Thursday when apparently they serve something called Karai Ghost.

Do go here.

Naaz
24/9 Soi Phutta Osot (Charoen Krung Soi 43--opposite the Main Post Office)
02 234 4537
8:30am-10pm

Islamic Food Center

I must be the luckiest food blogger in Bangkok. Hardly a day has passed lately when I'm not invited to try a friend's favourite restaurant. Now it seems that word of RealThai is spreading among the relatives of my friends, which has led to even more discoveries. Most recently I was taken to a new restaurant by Apple and Ae, the older brother and wife of my friend Cherry. They are fans of a Muslim restaurant near their home in Bang Khae that they thought I might be interested in, and on quiet Sunday we all drove out there.

The restaurant sports the inspirational name, Islamic Food Center (soon ahaan isalaam), and is not so much a kitchen, but rather a gathering place for several different vendors who each specialize in a specific dish. As a result, the food here is of quite high quality, and pretty much runs the gamut of Thai-Muslim eats. Of course there was khao mok kai, chicken biryani:

the stuffed 'pancake' known in Thailand as mataba:

and the salad Thais call salat khaek, 'Indian salad':

For those not familiar with this dish, the dressing, served as a side in the pink bowl, is a sweetish peanut sauce nearly identical to the one served with satay. I usually find it too sweet, but liked this version. The yellow strips are, I believe, deep-fried tofu.

This being Muslim food there were lots of meaty things, such as nuea daet diao thord:

Semi-dried and marinated (?) beef that was deep-fried. Nobody else seemed to like this very much, but I found it delicious, especially with the crispy garlic topping.

Chicken satay:

and one of my personal faves, oxtail soup:

Phii Ae ordered kuaytiao kaeng, curry-noodle soup:

Forgot to ask her how it was, but it certainly looked good.

And for dessert Cherry couldn't resist ordering a dish of rotii waan:

Roti sprinkled with sugar and sweetened condensed milk before being chopped up and mixed. We were initially surprised by this presentation, but in the end agreed it was much better.

Islamic Food Center
Located on the Outer Ring Highway, under the Muu Baan Suksan u-turn bridge, not far from The Mall Bang Khae (I recommend calling...)
087 021 0804

Baan Wacharachai

Ayuthaya is only a one hour drive from Bangkok, but in terms of atmosphere, feels a world away. Besides the famous ruins, the city also has some great restaurants and fun bars, and is a best-kept-secret weekend getaway destination for those tired of the big city. I wanted to introduce some friends to this side of Ayuthaya, and on a Friday afternoon we boarded the bus for a night of eating and drinking. I wasn't sure exactly where to eat, and asked my trusty food sidekick Aong for help. She sent me an email with several recommendations, but reckoned her favourite was a place called Baan Wacharachai.

We cycled to the restaurant, located on the river behind beautiful Wat Kasatrathirat, and upon arriving I gave Aong a call and asked her what to order. Without hesitation, she listed several dishes I had to order, including the grilled snakehead fish:

Which, upon ordering, the waiter asked me, "Have you ever had this before?" Smoked is probably a more accurate way to describe the fish, and it had such a wonderful smoky flavour that I felt guilty using the three (!) delicious dipping sauces provided.

I was also told to order tom khlong plaa salit bai makhaam on:

A sour soup with salit fish and young tamarind leaves. Upon ordering this the waiter asked again, "Have you ever had this? It's really sour!" It was indeed sour, but we like this, and enjoyed the soup very much.

And finally she insisted we order yam thua phlu, wing bean salad:

Again, very tasty and well done. Thank you, Aong.

Left to our own devices Carla ordered yam plaa duk foo, crispy catfish salad:

If you're not famililar with this dish, it's made from grilled catfish flesh that has been deep-fried until crispy (Pim's description of this unique process, and a recipe can be found here and here). The "fluffy" fish is is then served topped with peanuts and yam mamuang, a sweet/sour green mango salad. Good, but I found the mango topping a bit too sweet, as if often is.

Ron ordered phat phak boong fai daeng:

Flash-fried morning glory. Mad garlic. Delicious.

Baan Wacharachai is located on a handsome stretch of the Chao Phraya, and other than the lovely house and garden, also includes a moored boat upon which one can dine. Unfortunately in my hunger and haste, I neglected to take any photos. Next time.

Baan Wacharachai
Wat Kasatrathirat
035 321 333

Chua Jiab Nguan

Previously when I thought of phalo, the first thing that came to mind was a soupy Chinese dish combining fatty pork and a boiled egg with a sweet cinnamon and anise-flavoured broth. It took the help of a friend and a trip the other side of the Chao Phraya River to realize that, when done well, this can be one of the better Chinese-Thai dishes out there.

The friend was Cherry, the same person who introduced me to one of the Bangkok-area's most famous satay vendors, and the place was again Thaa Din Daeng on the Thonburi side of the river. There we stopped by Chua Jiab Nguan, a 70 year-old restaurant known for its haan phalo, goose cooked in a spiced Chinese-style broth:

The dish is simply thin slices of goose breast served in a liberally spiced (but not spicy) broth. The goose (a notoriously difficult bird to cook) was tender, and the broth salty and spicy, and lacked the sweetness and cinnamon-flavour that I previously associated with the dish.

We also ordered another dish consisting entirely of goose intestines and goose blood:

Both were surprisingly edible, although by nature they lacked flavour; all the taste came from the broth.

Here's our spread:

The phalo was served with rice and bowls of broth, one containing bitter gourd and another with a preserved Chinese vegetable. The dishes were also accompanied by an extra bowl of the nearly black broth and a delicious dipping sauce of vinegar, crushed chilies and copious garlic.

After finishing the goose, Cherry (above) couldn't resist, and also ordered a dish of hoy jor, tofu skins filled with a crab and ground pork mixture and deep-fried:

These appeared to have more crab than pork, which is rare, and were among the best I've had.

Chua Jiab Nguan (Google Maps link)
438 Thanon Thaa Din Daeng, Thonburi
02 437 2084

Bangkok markets in Sawasdee

I have an eight-page photo feature on Bangkok's markets in the current issue of Sawasdee, Thai Airway's in flight magazine. Any of you in transit happen to see it?

Chiang Kii

Chiang Kii, a old-school restaurant located in Bangkok's Chinatown, is known for serving Bangkok's most expensive khao tom plaa, rice and fish soup. A 250 baht (about $8) bowl (pictured above) includes heaps of very fresh fish (I believe it's pomfret), tiny cubes of sweet/salty pork, dried shrimp, preserved white radish, dried galangal, a pinch of bitter greens, strips of dried tofu, and a garnish of deep-fried garlic; a simple dish, based on simple, but high-quality ingredients.

Each bowl is prepared by an elderly couple:

who tend to speak Chinese to each other (and, incidentally, Thai with a strong accent). Considering the cost of their product, they take their work very seriously, and each order involves a fair bit of consultation and discussion, with some customers ordering variations such as less rice or more fish (I asked for oysters). It took the man several minutes of concentrated work to turn out my bowl, which was served with a tiny bowl of tao jiao, fermented soybeans, the obligatory condiment.

The broth itself was inobtrusive, and required the saltiness a few spoons of tao jiao would supply. The fish was both copious and incredibly fresh, the reason, I suspect, for the dish's high price tag. As a whole the khao tom was very good, but I have a feeling that if it weren't for the essentially unrelated factors of atmosphere and the whole 'ceremony' associated with preparing the dish, I might feel slightly ripped off. As it is though, I'll certainly be back come pay day.

Chiang Kii
54 Soi Bamrungrat (also known as Thanon Yaowarat Soi 12)
5-10pm