Food and Travel Chat

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Best Street Coffee and Tea By a Street Vendor in Bangkok

What do you do first thing in the morning? Look for a good cup of coffee or tea. That's what we did when we were in Bangkok. Tired and sleepy, we needed some good and strong caffeine drinks to wake us up and start our day with a kick.

We tried a few stalls, but our favourite was a stall across the road from Vie Hotel, Bangkok where we were staying. You can easily find him as he is located under Ratchathewi BTS, next to Asia Hotel.

There is a wide range of beverages you can order, Thai coffee, tea, Nescafé, mocha etc. We noticed he only prepares iced drinks. Didn't ask him why because we can't speak Thai. Must be the weather was too hot for hot drinks. Duh!!

You can't miss him as there will be people queuing. So, be prepare to wait a while for your turn.

Price : 20 baht per drink, very cheap if you ask me.

Friday, June 27, 2014

8 course dinner by celebrity Chef Sam Leong at Taorestaurant,Intercontinental KL

Phil 9:49 AM Abolone , Chef Sam Leong 0 Comments

Sea Cucumber

Entered this contest organized by Intercontinental Hotel KL to promote celebrity chef from Singapore, Chef Sam Leong who was coming to the hotel's famous restaurant, Tao Chinese Restaurant. Was so happy when told that we have won 8 course dinner for 2 at the restaurant, for a good reason, we love to eat good food.

Chef Sam Leong, 49 is a celebrity chef from Singapore. With over 25 years of culinary and innovation experience, it's a chance of a lifetime to be able to enjoy his creation. Chef Sam Leong has cooked for Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew, former US presidents George W Bush and Bill Clinton and Queen Elizabeth II of England.

The full menu.

From the menu we can see there're 2 chefs, besides Chef Sam Leong, in house Executive Chinese Chef Wong Lian You is also cooking for us. The humble Chef Wong Lian You was a winner of an award together with his team in an international competition. 2 great chefs comes together to come out with the great menu. We're anxious for our first dish to arrive.

The appetiser :

Chilled Crab Meat Gelo

Tomyam consomme. Served cold, it's very refreshing.

9 Treasures Sakura Chicken Consomme

Abolone, Fish Maw, Sea Cucumber, Morels, Cordyseps Flowers. All the higher end ingredients put into a bowl. results is a amazing bowl of soup

Steamed King Tiger Garoupa Fillet

Green Ginger Sauce. The fish was perfectly done, but I find the green ginger sauce a bit too greasy

Steamed Assorted Diced Mushroom Dumpling Golden Crab Meat Broth

I love this, the crab meat broth was sweet and creamy. And the chefs added a whole uncooked egg yolk in mushroom dumpling to make the whole dish even more creamier. Delicious!

Pan Seared 5 Spiced Lamb Wok Fried Radish Cake.

Never had a better lamb this, perfectly seasoned and grilled, The lamb is well coke on the outside and tender on the inside

Slow Baked Chicken Drumstick. Chinese Herbs in Bun.

The dish was brought out to us as a whole bun.

The cutting of the bun was done in front of us by the restaurant's captain. Maybe it's was a part of demonstration to entertain us. The taste is marvelous with strong but not over powering herbal flavours. The drumstick has absorbed the essence and flavours from the herbs and mantained its natural sweetness.

Wok fried Squid Ink Rice

Crab Meat and XO Sauce

And the dessert :The Secret Forest

Black Forest Espuma, Amarena Cherries, Giandunja Feuilletine, Cherry Compote

A well prepared dessert with great presentation. Did I mention gold leaf? Yes it's on top of the dessert.

Over all we are very satisfied with the food and their service. If you are looking for some good place with high quality Chinese food, you may come here. The restaurant is perfect for birthday celebrations, gathering with friends, business meetings or just come for good food.

Friday, June 6, 2014

21 Street Food I had in Bangkok

Phil 3:26 AM Bangkok , Street Food 0 Comments

Just came back from a great vacation in Bangkok. We are glad that we went ahead with our holiday plan despite the coup that just happened a day earlier and the curfew, which was imposed from 10pm to 6am.. Went to a few places, Chinatown, Wat Arun, MBS mall, Platinum Fashion Mall and Chatuchak Weekend market, to name a few. We love Bangkok for so many reason, the friendly people, cheap massage, a lot places to visit, shopping and of course, for its wide range of good food especially the street food.

We had a lot of food for a short 3 days visit. We wanted to try on every food we see, but our stomach can only take so much., Here is the list of street food that we had.

1. Coconut ice cream at Chatuchak Weekend Market. It's so refreshing especially during the hot weather. While waiting for our turn to order, the lady offer both of us a small glass of fresh coconut juice. The coconut water was free, but we still have to pay for the ice cream. It comes with 2 topping of your choice (35baht)

2. The must have in Bangkok : sticky rice with mango. Can get this at every part of the city. Mine is from Chatuchak weekend market. (50baht)

3. Thai green Papaya salad or Som Tam. Best salad you will ever have in your life! Sweet, sourish, hot, spicy, crunchy, all in one bowl. My wife loves this so much, I lost count of number of bowls she ordered through out our stay here in Bangkok. You can find this at every part of the city. Price range from 35 baht to 50 baht.

4. Fried quail eggs.

5. Freshly squeezed orange juice. The juice so refreshing and thirst quenching. And in Bangkok, you can also find pomegranate, lime and pineapple juice on the street. 20 to 40 baht depending on the size of the bottle.

6. BBQ Pork sausages. Grilled over hot charcoal, it's nice but one was enough for us as the sausage was a bit too oily to our liking. (20 baht)

7. Thai sticky rice with durian. This one of my favourite. With a combination of Thai famous durian and sticky rice, what can go wrong? (50 baht)

8. Street coffee and tea. (20Baht). It's a must in the morning. This guy has a wide range of beverages you can order, iced Thai coffee, iced tea, iced Nescafe, iced Milo or combination of any of these. See my full post here >>

Best Street Coffee and Tea By a Street Vendor in Bangkok

9. Not sure what it's called but ate it and tasted good. Located in front of Platinum Fashion Mall. You can put as much condiments and veggies as you like. (35 Baht)

10. Dessert with coconut milk.

11. Fried banana, fried yam, fried tapioca and fried pumpkin served with sticky rice. Her stall is under Rathchewi BTS.

12 Kway chap. A must have in Bangkok. We read so much about it, and wanted to try it so much but could find any stall until we visited Bangkok Chinatown at Yaowarat, It's a mixture of roasted pork, pork ball and pork innards. (50 Baht)