Lap Jub

My colleagues and I were really hungry and wanted something special for lunch. That meant we had to get in our cars and drive somewhere. We decided to have the best 'lard nar' near our office.

Here is a very good explanation of 'lard nar' from www.thaixperience.com: 'Do you want some "Over the Face"? That's what "Rard Nar" (or "Lard Nar"), one of Thailand's most popular noodle dish literally means, "Over the Face." Rard Nar is a stirred fried noodle dish with a thick gravy poured on top or "Over the Face" of the noodles. The choices of noodles are wide rice noodle, thin vermicelli noodle, and crispy egg noodles. As for the sauce that gives Rard Nar its name and brings the dish to life, it's popularly made of pork, though you can get it with chicken, beef, or seafood. It's definitely all about the sauce, and if the sauce has the perfect blend of sweet, sour, salty, and creaminess, then you are definitely in for a delicious treat! in town.'


The 'best' lard nar' place near our office is Lap Jub. It is so busy that we had to leave early to so that we could get seats. As you can see the place is very basic but so so good. The chefs were very busy as usual preparing all the orders.


The dining room is a typical shop house with plastic chairs and aluminum tables. Nothing fancy to distract your attention from the wonderful food.


The first dish was the combination Seafood & Pork Lard Nar with wide rice noodles.


The second dish was combination Seafood and Pork Lard Nar with rice (rice was a weird choice, but it turned out just as good).


The next dish was stir fried vegetables with eggs.


The next dish was combination Seafood and Pork Lard Nar with sen mee.


The amazing menu from Lap Jub. Everything looked so good and so cheap!


Look out for the street sign...Thanon Chan soi 18/8...we also did not understand the slash 8 numbering of the street.


If you get lost; look for the gold shop across the street.


What is amazing about Lap Jub is that it is open 9:00 am and closes at 5:00 am. That means whenever you are in the mood for Lard Nar, you will always find it at Lap Jub.

The Lard Nar at Lap Jub taste is really yummy. I have to be honest; but normally I do not like Lard Nar because what I normally get is lard nar sauce that is so thick that you can use it to stop the gushing oil out of the broken BP oil pipes in the Gulf of Mexico.

On top of that the disgusting & awful lard nar sauce usually has no taste. However; at Lap Jub, the lard nar sauce is not so thick and is rich in flavour. I am assuming they use less corn starch...which is a good thing. The seafood and pork were very fresh and the total combination of the flavourful sauce and fresh & good quality ingredients makes Lap Jub a favourite for many people when they are hungry for lard nar.

Thanon Chan between soi 18/8 - 20
Bangkok, 10120
Tel.: 02-212-4422

Miyabi Kappo

A friend told us that he preferred the Japanese food of Miyabi Kappo over Honmono. We thought that is impossible because to us, Honmono is the utopia of sashimi/ sushi. So, we needed to test out Miyabi Kappo and see if this story was true.


Miyabi Kappo is the sister restaurant of the long established Hanako on Thonglor soi 13 (we used to go there often). We thought it was odd that Miyabi Kappo would open so close to its sister restaurant.

Miyabi Kappo is huge and very new. The decor is very 'Japanese' with wood in all shapes and colours as the main material for the construction and decor.


It was a bit sad...but we were the only ones sitting and eating on the very long counter. Of course; I was already looking at every detail to see if Miyabe can actually be better than Honmono. From my first observations; the fish in the cold case did not look as fresh as at Honmono. The selection of fish were not as bold & large. And, all the fish were wrapped in plastic, which diminished the appeal of the fish.


The first dish was 5 type Sashimi. The sashimi was typical but the very disappointing part was that they did not add any tuna on the dish. The fish was fresh and tasted good. But, the sashimi did not match the quality and the bite sizes at Miyabi Kappo were wimpy compared to Honmono.


The second dish was Avocado rolls. The rolls were well made and the ingredients were good. Not bad at all.


The third dish was Clams in Sake. The clams were fresh and had good texture. The soup had simple flavours and textures. Really nice.


The fourth dish was Roasted Chicken over Rice & Eggs. A hearty dish with well cooked chicken which tasted good. This is one of my favourite dishes at Hanako because the simplicity of the dish.


The lovely swimming pool & Zen garden of Miyabi Kappo. The waitress told us that we could rent out the space for a party...that would be very nice.


The beautiful architecture of Miyabi Kappo. Just like its sister restaurant. Miyabe has a lovely entrance to the restaurant. Another aspect of the Hanako and Miyabi Kappo that makes them very popular with the Japanese men is that the restaurants have karaoke bar/ lounges (if you know what I mean...wink, wink, wink) linked to the restaurants. So, they can eat first then walk through the connecting doors; or they can order the food from the restaurants while singing along with their colleagues.

Overall; we did not think Miyabi Kappo was as good as Honmono. The food was good but not spectacular and the food is exactly the same as Hanako. We thought at least they would have a different menu offering from Hanako, but to our disappointment it did not.

The service is very good and friendly at Miyabi Kappo. Actually; too good! Since, we were the only ones eating at the counter; the waitresses were bored and hovered around us the entire time. They watched us like hawks. Every movement we did, they had to have a counter movement. We took a sip of tea; zoom, pow, bam, she was there to refill the tea cup. I just took the last piece of rice from the bowl and zap, zing, zam, the bowl disappeared before I could put down my chopsticks. It got very annoying!

Sorry to my friend and to Miyabi Kappo...we are sticking to Honmono.

9 soi Thonglor 25
Sukhumvit 55 Rd.
Bangkok, 1010
Tel: 02-185-2201-2

Rossini's at Sheraton Grande

We have not been to Rossini's in a very very long time. It used to be the 'best' Italian restaurant when it first opened many years ago. However; with the proliferation of really good Italian restaurants in Bangkok, we simply forgot about Rossini's. But a friend of ours recently had dinner there and told us that there was a very young Italian chef heading the restaurant and the food was really good. That was a good reason for us to return to Rossini's.


What is amazing about Rossini's is that it has not changed since it opened over ten years ago (I have to check the exact number of years it has been open). But what is also amazing is that the decor is still relevant...meaning that it has not become old/ stale. It does not have to be modernised or re-done like most restaurant.

The restaurant is dim with lit candles to give ambiance. The restaurant is comfortable & cozy for having a 'fine dining' atmosphere.


The amuse bouche was a fish & pea puree. The texture was smooth & creamy, but the strange thing about the amuse bouche was that the fish had no fish taste. The flavour was short and did not leave a long lasting impression in the mouth.


The next dish was the chef's creation of Vitello Tonnato. You seldom find this dish in Bangkok, so we were very curious to try this dish. A vitello tonnato is suppose to be 'veal with a creamy tuna sauce', instead the chef's version was tuna with a chunky veal sauce. The tuna was well cooked (still raw in the middle), the tuna had a nice firm texture and tasted good. The veal was so so, nothing special. We were not sure if the dish was suppose to be 'cold'; maybe they let it sit in the kitchen too long...but, anyway the tuna dish was good.


The next dish was pan fried Scallops. The scallops were cooked a bit too long; they were fresh but due to the over cooking were chewy. A forgettable dish.


The next dish was Crispy Calamari. The name of this dish was called crispy calamari; so, we already had something in mind after we ordered this dish. But, when the dish was served and we tasted it, what we got was something very different. The calamari was not crispy at all; it was soft & mushy. It was more like stewed calamari.

We asked the waiter if this was normal and his reply was 'yes'. Then we asked for the menu and showed the description of the dish and he still insisted that the description and what we got was the 'correct' thing. So, told the waiter to try a piece of the calamari. After he chewed & swallowed the calamari; he said...'yes, that is how the calamari is suppose to be'. We gave up and we did not want to discuss the subject any further because it was pure 'non-sense'.

The waiter knew that we were not happy about the dish so he said that he will take it off the bill. We thought that was suspicious because normally the waiter would say...'may I replace the dish with another one or another choice?' But, to give back the money...that can only mean that he knew we were right.

The worst dish of all!


The next dish was Beef Cheeks with Polenta. I liked that they tried to serve the dish in a unique way (cubed beef cheeks on a skewer), but sadly the dish was a disappointment. The beef cheeks were bland which is bizarre because it was suppose to be braised in red wine, onions, herbs etc. for several hours. The texture was fine; soft & tender.

On top of that...the polenta was not cooked right. Every Italian restaurant in town should be able to and know how to cook polenta perfectly. Well we found one that cannot. The polenta was suppose to be rich, thick & creamy. Instead we got polenta soup. I am not sure what happened here.


The last dish was rich Dark Chocolate souffle. The presentation of the dessert was very nice; it looked looked really yummy. The vanilla ice cream was rich & creamy and tasted very nice. We dug our spoons into the soft souffle and had a bite. We were very surprised to discover that there was barely any chocolate flavour. The 'rich dark chocolate' was somehow missing from the dessert. The dessert turned out to be just dark whipped air. A very sad dessert.

Overall; we were very disappointed with the food. We knew something was wrong so we actually asked the waiter if the chef was working...the chef was off that evening.

A friend of ours who is a very famous chef himself and a 'guru' in terms of owning restaurants told us once; 'a sign of a good restaurant is that when the head chef is off; the food that comes out of the kitchen is still fantastic!'. That means either the head chef of Rossini's needs to train his current kitchen sous chefs or hire a new team.

What has not changed is that the staff is still very friendly and efficient. If we decide to give Rossini's another chance, we for sure will check if the new Italian head chef is working that evening.

259 Sukhumvit Rd.
Bangkok, 10110
Ph.: 02-649-8888

New Blog that writes about wine & food in Bangkok

I read www.bangkokwine.com the other day and liked how witty & honest this person is about his/ her experience eating at Tables at the Grand Hyatt.

Ouch...the review about the restaurant is not very good and I have been hearing the same things from my foodie friends. Either Tables shapes up or they will have to really think about their concept all over again.

Water Cress

We read about Water Cress that it was an organic/ no GMO ingredients Thai restaurant located at K-Village. It sounded interesting so we decided to try it out.


The decor is quite basic, bright lights as well as natural light shining through the large glass windows facing the shopping mall. The furniture is mostly wood chairs & tables and nothing special hanging on the walls.











Water Cress has an intensive fresh juice menu. We ordered the passion fruit juice & orange/ pineapple juice. Both tasted very good, not too sweet but they were on the small side. Not really your money's worth.


The first dish was deep fried Lemon Grass Frog Legs. The frog legs were deep fried to a dark golden brown. The frog legs were huge (I wonder where they are from). The frog legs were a bit oily and had a fishy taste (not sure why).


The second dish was Roasted Egg Plant Salad. The salad prepared well; though there were not signs of the egg plant being roasted and the proof was the fact in that we could not taste the 'roasted' part of the egg plant salad. It was not a bad dish; but not the best I have had in Bangkok either.


The next dish was Larb Tofu. The ingredients were fine, the textures were good but for some reason the dish was a bit bland. It did not have the right balance between sour, tangy, sweet &spicy.


The next dish was stir fried vegetables. The vegetable was fresh but the dish was lacking in flavour. Perhaps, part of the concept is to use less sauce to be more healthy, but for sure it was a bit bland.


Overall; the food is just ok. I was actually disappointed because the concept is interesting. The food does not have the balance of tastes and the depth in flavours as Khun Churn or Anothai. The food is so basic that even I could do most of the dishes and probably better. Too bad!

G/F, K-Village, Sukhumvit Soi 26
Phone: 02-661-3830
Opening Hours:
Mon-Sun, 11:00am-10:30pm

Primavera

We heard of Primavera from a foodie friend of ours. We eat out a lot but for some reason we never heard of this place. What was really interesting about Primavera is that it is owned by a Thai guy who really knew his wines. Primavera has a reputation in town for the place to go if you are a 'wine lover'. With a reputation like that...this is the place for us to visit.


The first dish was Fritto Misto. When it was delivered; we were a bit surprised because it is not the usual fritto misto presentation. The deep fried calamari was wrapped around fried shrimp. The calamari & shrimp were deep fried to a golden brown, they were crispy on the outside and were fresh & firm on the inside. Very tasty.


The second dish was Tuna Carpaccio. The tuna was very fresh, sliced paper thin and tasted very nice. Really nice dish.


The next dish was a Rack of Lamb. Cooked perfectly, the lamb was very tender & juicy. The lamb tasted wonderful. The sauce was light but flavourful.


The next dish was Veal Osso Bucco. The veal was perfect...so tender & juicy. The sauce was thick, rich and tasty. A hearty dish that was very satisfying.


The next dish was Gnocchi with blue cheese cream sauce. We were still hungry after our main courses, so we ordered this dish. The home-made gnocchi were huge and they were firm yet tender. The cheese sauce was creamy & thick and very tasty. An Italian probably would have been shocked that we ordered such a heavy dish like gnocchi after our main courses, but we did not mind because it was so so good.


The next dish was deep fried Lemon Grass Chicken Wings. The chicken wings were deep fried to a deep brown. The lemon grass gave the chicken wings extra texture as well as an amazing flavour. Great dish.


The wine we brought was a 1997 Allegrini Amarone. It was time to drink the 1997 Amarone and it was an extremely interesting wine. The nose is definitely port-like with strong raisin and prune notes. However, it is much lighter and more complex on the palate than we would expect from the smell. The prune gives way to earth and cassis and smooth tannins. Really different and enjoyable.


Here is the very interesting part of my story of dining at Primavera. We were sitting on the mezzanine floor of the restaurant and a couple arrived to sit next to us. We noticed that they brought 2 white wines, 4 red wines and 2 bottles of champagne. So we thought there would be more people arriving for a birthday party or something like that. Boy were we wrong. All that wine was for the couple. All I could think was...WOW! We drink a lot (I really mean a lot), but I never saw something like this before. Anyway, to make a very long story short. We started talking to our neighbors. They really knew their wines. They had with them the most amazing names in wine. Stuff I have never had before and could only dream of drinking (due to the huge price tags). They were very generous and kept offering us wines...and of course we could not refuse. The owner of the restaurant finally came over and joined us and we kept drinking.......


The restaurant looks deserted and cleaned up is because we left the restaurant after 2:00 am, totally smashed. On top of that we had to work the next day. What I needed for sure before sleeping was an aspirin.

A really great evening; the home cooking style food was good and very affordable especially for Italian food and being on Thonglor. The service is very friendly & efficient. A very cozy & comfortable atmosphere.

But what makes the restaurant very enjoyable is the owner who is extremely friendly and knowledgeable about wines and that the people you may meet in the restaurant could be wine lovers and who can be very generous.

413/9 Soi Thonglor (between sois 23 & 25 on the main road)
Bangkok, 10110
Ph: +66 2713 9583

Kai-Hoop-Born

My client invited us to visit their factory in Sree Racha, Chonburi. After the factory visit; we invited our clients for lunch. The area is very very very famous for one restaurant. I really mean only 'one' restaurant. There is nothing around for miles & miles. However; it seems like everyone knows this particular restaurant. This restaurant is so famous because all it serves is ...chicken!


That's right...everything is chicken! You will soon see the photos. The decor is very 70's, heavy wood chairs & tables. Nothing very exciting in terms of decor because as usual, the food is the main attraction.


The sign that says...this is the most famous place for chicken!


The first dish was roasted chicken. The chicken was very tender, moist and tasted very yummy.


The second dish was chicken with sweet Thai basil. This is one of my favourite dishes but here they prepared it a bit differently than usual. Instead of mincing the chicken, the chicken came in big chunks. But that did not change the fact that this dish was so so good.


The next dish was stir fried vegetables with chicken. Nothing very special about this dish; but the vegetables were cooked nicely and they were very fresh.


The famous green & spicy sauce to dip the chicken. Amazingly tasty and spicy. My scalp was itching after every time I ate the chicken that was dipped into the sauce.


The next dish was deep fried chicken. The chicken was fried to a deep brown, it was very crispy but the inside was moist & tender. I do love fried foods and this was satisfying.


The next dish was chicken tom yum. The soup was hearty with so much chicken, mushrooms, bamboo, lemon grass, etc. The combination of sour, sweet, tangy and spicy was really great. The soup had loads of textures, colours and tastes. Simply wonderful.


The next dish was omelette. Another favourite comfort dish of mine. So so simple but yet so satisfying. The omelette was deep fried to a golden brown, slighty firm on the outside but so soft and tender on the inside.


The next dish was som tum (the only dish without chicken). We wanted som tum to go with the fried chicken. The som tum was a lovely blend of sour, sweet, tangy & spicy. As any som tum; tons of textures, colours and tastes. I can eat this everyday.


Even the restaurant has its own labeled chicken water.


The chillies that the staff cuts to make the famous sauce...ouch, those little green things looked spicy.


The candied pineapple for dessert.


Who could miss the entrance to this very famous restaurant?


The giant chicken mascot watching over the restaurant.


The chicken Starbucks. We all ordered iced coffee to take with us in the van for the trip back to Bangkok.

Overall; a really great place to have lunch. Its so unusual, easy going and the food is great. The staff was very friendly and the total bill for lunch for ten people (we ordered twice each dish) was ridiculously cheap. If you are ever Sree Racha, do try this place out...well actually, you might not have a choice since there is nothing else.

Moo Ban Hoop Born, Kao Kan Throng , Sree Racha, Chonburi
Contact Number : (038) 338-542, 08-1344-6288 และ 08-7235-9745
Opening Hour: 06.00-18.00 pm