Baan Chamnong Restaurant (Bangkok)

We finally decided to go to a Thai restaurant many people were recommending us to try. The restaurant has been opened for several years now and getting fantastic reviews. We have not tried out the restaurant simply because we were always lazy to cross town. But, it was time to try the restaurant.


The restaurant is very simply decorated and is open air. The owner of the restaurant speaks perfect English and was very nice to us. Recommending some dishes as well as taking care of our wines. Without us asking; he asked if the white wine needed to be iced and if the reds needed to be open to breath. I already knew we were going to have a great evening.


The first dish was raw oysters (shelled) with condiments to eat them Thai style. The condiments were; deep fried shallots & garlic, herbs, lime, very spicy chili sauce, very very spicy green sauce and see-ra-cha sauce. Since Thai oysters do not have much flavour, you need all these condiments to add extra flavour. We really enjoyed this dish. The oysters were very fresh and had good firm consistency. A refreshing and tasty starter.


The second dish was Thai fried chicken (gai thod). What makes fried chicken Thai? I have no clue. But, I think its how they deep fry the chicken. I have no idea how or what they do to the chicken, but they have such a wonderful flavour. The fried chicken was a deep golden brown, very crispy on the outside and the chicken meat on the inside a bit dry. But, that's what we like about the fried chicken.


The next dish was deep fried shrimp cakes (thod mun goong). I have a weakness for fried food and here is one of them. This dish was deep fried to perfection, meaning they were not oily (I really hate that). Crispy on the outside and juicy and tender on the inside. A sweet sauce accompanied this dish.


The next dish was roasted duck (phed ped). A very nice dish. The skin was crispy but the meat was a bit on the dry side; however, still had a very nice taste.


The next dish was stir fried kale. A nice vegetable dish. Lots of flavour and textures.


The next dish was wing bean salad (tum tua pu). One of my favourite salads. The wing bean has a unique shape, great crunchy texture and the spicy, sour, sweet sauce makes the wing bean salad very tasty. Hard boiled eggs accompany this dish.


The next dish was steamed egg custard. We rarely have this dish in a restaurant; simply because it is rarely served. One of the most basic dishes to serve for dinner. The taste of this dish is very light. A hint of fish sauce and herbs makes the base of the flavour.


The next dish was deep fried fish (pla-ka-phong-thod). Another deep fried dish I love. The fish was a lovely colour, the fish meat flaky and the spciy shreded mango sauce was very the perfect sauce to accompany the fish.


The last dish was crab fried rice (khao phad pu). I really love fried rice but I always try to stay away from it because its so fattening; the mix of carbohydrate and oil is the worst. However, I am a very weak person and I eat it all the time. This was my least favourite dish of the night. This dish had no taste. I had to add extra fish sauce with chili to get some taste. I also thought it was a bit too oily.


For dessert, we had the coconut jelly. We seldom see this dessert in restaurants. So, we needed to have it. It is coconut jelly with coconut meat inside the coconut. It is such a refreshing dessert and a great way to end the dinner. It was not too sweet and good flavour.


37 Thanon Mahaset
02 234 1432

Daeng Seafood Restaurant

We were heading back to Bangkok from a weekend in Hua-Hin. We called a friend who was an expert on restaurants along the long stretch of highway between Hua-Hin and Bangkok. Right away he recommended that we eat at Dang Restaurant. Apparently, everyone knew about Dang Restaurant (of course we did not). He gave us directions and we thought it would be easy to find. Well, let's say it was NOT. We had to ask for directions twice. The locals probably thought; 'these Bangkok people are idiots'.


We finally saw a restaurant with tons of people and the parking lot was packed full. So, we assumed that this was the restaurant. When we entered the restaurant, there were newspaper clippings hanging all over the walls praising how wonderful this restaurant was. We were so happy that we finally found the restaurant and we were finally going eat dinner. Dang Restaurant is very famous for its seafood. Bangkok residents drive out of the city just to eat here. We were lucky to even get a table right away.

We had a very good waiter. He was maybe only 14 years old, but he had the ability, good sense, intelligence and sense of humour of a professional waiter. It was actually incredible. He knew right away that we barely could read the menu. He right away described to us what was on the menu and even recommended some dishes.

We were very hungry and wanted to try everything. We assumed that the amount of food for each dish would be small like most restaurants. Boy were we wrong. The problem was that boy did not tell us that the portions of each dish was going to be monstrous. He just let the us be greedy and let us order dish after dish without warning us that we ordered enough food for a small village.


The first dish was a deep fried seabass in fish sauce. This dish was amazing. The fish was fried to a beautiful golden brown. When we stuck our forks into the fish, we heard a lovely crunch of the crispy skin. Once the fork passed through the crispy skin of the fish, we found the beautiful white meat which was tender and juicy. The fish sauce added the necessary saltiness to the dish. I still cannot believe we ate the whole beast.



The second dish was shrimp fried rice. A kilo of fried rice for three people. But that did not matter. The fried rice tasted very good. I am not sure what type of curry paste they fried the rice in, but it was lovely and not too oily. The shrimp was a nice addition to the dish.


The next dish was steamed prawns. This simple dish is always my favourite. The prawns were huge and full of flavour. The green sauce that accompanied the shrimp was spicy but we always love that.


The next dish was squid in lime & lemon juice. When squid is this fresh, you cannot but love it. This salad is so simple to make; lemon & lime juice, chilis, garlic and chopped herbs. All tossed in a pot and warmed up over a low fire. The outcome is such a lovely tasting dish.


The next dish was tom yum seafood. WOW, the taste of the tom yum was amazing. The seafood was not overcooked in the soup, which we often do not find in a tom yum. The tom yum had the right balance of sourness, saltiness, sweetness and spiciness.


The next dish was steamed crab. We were not expecting the crabs to be so big. But we were very happy they were. The messiest seafood dish to eat but it's worth the mess and every single minute we stuggle to get every piece of meat out of the crab legs and shell. The flavour was of the crab was outstanding. We did not even need the spicy sauce that accompanied it.


This was an amazing dinner. The restaurant is split into three sections (due to extending the building). The rooms are basic in decor. The service is very very young but very attentive. The enormous open air kitchen is as big as the restaurant. We could not believe how big it was. It seemed like they had an army of chefs cooking. No wonder the food came out so rapidly.

Our table was the show of the evening. We had stares from the other tables because we ordered so much food. They were actually laughing at us. However, we did not mind because we were in seafood heaven.

Click here for directions to Daeng Seafood Restaurant

Baan Tawan Gai Yang (Bangkok)

I am very lucky to live very close to one of the most famous gai yang, som tum and seafood restaurants in the Thong Lor and Ekkamai area. The locals called the restaurant Sabai Jai; but I noticed that it has a new name; Baan Tawan Gai Yang. It is well know for its Isaan food & seafood. Whatever, they call the restaurant. It has fantastic food!


The restaurant has two sections; one open air and the other is enclosed with air-conditioning. We prefer to sit in the open air part. It seems more authentic and fun. The restaurant is loved by Thais and foreigners alike. Any given evening, there is a mixture of people enjoying the food at this restaurant.


The restaurant is not at all decorated since it has no walls. There are TVs hanging from the celings and it always has a football match or soap opera playing with the volume quite loud. Basic wooden tables and aluminum chairs make up the furniture. But who needs fancy decorations when the food here is so good.


There are always tons of young waitresses/ waiters in bright blue coloured shirt/ uniforms running around the restaurant as well as 'Beer Girl' pushing their beers to consumers. The staff are always friendly but do not speak English.


This is one of the reasons why we keep going to Baan Tawan Gai Yang. Their famous grilled chicken. I have no idea what they do to the chicken; but the taste is out of this world. The grilled chicken comes with two different sauces. One spciy/ sweet (the right) and one spicy/ tangy (the left). We only use the spicy/ tangy sauce. Its also home-made. Its stunningly good.


We also never order the normal som-tum thai. We always order the som-tum carrot. It always turns out so good. It has the perfect blend of sweet, sour, tangy and spicy.


This was the first time we tried this dish and I think it will not be the last time. We had a laugh because of the spelling of the item on the menu. It was suppose to be grilled 'beef', but instead it was grilled 'beep'. No matter how it was spelled, it arrived at the table on a sizzling plate and it smelled terrific. The meat was tender (which I was not expecting), but it was over cooked (sizzling for too long).


The next dish was mekong cat fish with pepper corns and chili. Do not worry, this was a farmed mekong cat fish. Due to over fishing in the mekong, the giant mekong cat fish is slowly disappearing. Therefore, I would not support eating an endangered specied like the giant cat fish. This specialty dish was not bad at all. This dish was very tasty and wow; spicy. The cat fish also had a nice textured meat.


Can you believe that all that wonderful food comes from the most basic open air kitchen. Everytime I pass the restaurant, I can see the chefs cooking their simple and delicious dishes. The great smells always catches my attention.


Baan Tawan Gai Yang
Ekkamai soi 1

Tonkatsu Raku Tei (Bangkok)

We were feeling like having tonkatsu for lunch. There is a very popular tonkatsu restaurant that is in a shopping center that caters to the Japanese community. There is a Fuji supermarket, Japanese DVD rental shops, Japanese pastry shots, Japanese restaurants, etc. Parking is horrendous on weekends because tons of Japanese are shopping and eating at this particular center.


The restaurant is located at the basement of the shopping center. Actually, basement is not the correct word, because basement connotes that the restaurant is inside the building and underground. But its not, the restaurant is on the lower level of the street (I hope that makes sense). The decor is very minimal with pearly white coloured walls with spot lights that give warmth to the room. There are simple wooden chairs and tables. Each table has the usual condoments that a katsudon restaurant should have; two types of katsudon sauce (but we have not idea what the difference was after doing a taste test), sesame seeds and chili powder.


For a restaurant that specializes in tonkatsu; I am amazed at the number of types tonkatsus that is available on the menu. For people who do not know; Tonkatsu is simply deep fried pork. Sounds so simple but the way the Japanese make it is heavenly. There are two types of pork; one has fat on it and the other type does not. Then there is tonkatsu just deep fried plain, or filled with spinach or cheese or both. I think you get what I mean. The choices are limitless.


I always order the normal tonkatsu set (the one with no fat). The set came with an unbelievable amount of food and condoments. The set came with sesame seeds, pickled vegetables, cabbage slaw and miso soup. The set even allows you to eat as much rice and cabbage slaw as you want. The star of the show is the tonkatsu and we get about 400 grams of meat. That is a huge amount of meat. The tonkatsu is always perfectly deep fried to a golden brown here. The tonkatsu was crispy on the out but so moist & juicy on the inside. I like to sprinkle some sesame seeds on the rice. The combination of the sesame rice and the tonkatsu is wonderful.


If you eat as much as I do, this place is the place for you. The service is a bit slow and sometimes not attentive. This time around, the waitress forgot to give the kitchen our order, so the outcome was that the food of the table that came after us arrived first. I was not very happy since I was starving. My mouth was watering looking at my neighbors tonkatsu. Other than that, prices are reasonable for the amount of food you get an the location is also great.

b level
99/9 Sukhumvit soi 39
tel.: 02 260 1538

Lobster (Montpeyroux)

Lobster prices are incredible this year. Due to the success of the moratorium on lobster fishing for a couple of years in America. There is an abundance of lobster now. The incredible price is only 17.50 euros a kilo. for live lobster. This is wonderful news for us since we do love lobster.


We bought three live lobsters. We had them for lunch and it was an amazing lunch. The meat was firm and tasteful. We did not even need the lemon to add extra flavour.

Persimmons (Montpeyroux)

There are two kinds of persimmons: the Fuyu, the kind you can eat right away, and the Hachiya, the kind you can't (until they are very ripe). If you bite into an unripe Hachiya persimmon, it is if you just drank a tea, where the tea leaves have been sitting in the tea pot for hours. This astringent flavor is due to the high level of tannin in the fruit.

We have a Hachiya persimmon tree in the garden. The tree is full of fruit in the winter. I decided to get a ladder and climb up the tree to get a couple of the persimmons because the birds have been eating all the fruit.


The other day, I tried to eat one of the persimmons and it was so bitter that it left my tongue numb. I had to spit out the fruit immediately. I will have to be a bit more patient until the persimmons ripen. I really like persimmons, the flavour is unique. Apparently, they provide us with important nutrients such as beta-carotene, Vitamin C and potassium.

Dinner at St. Giraud

We were invited to a friend's home for dinner. The friend's home happens to belong to one of the best female chef's of the region, so its always a pleasure to experience her cooking.


There is a famous steel welder who lives in the same village of our friends. He can make practically anything out of recycled steel. Here is a a lovely Christmas tree that my friends commissioned from the steel welder. I would like to commission a Christmas tree from him as well. They look so unusually pretty.


The Ginger bread house that my friends built for their grand daughter. A very festive and cute symbol of the Christmas season.


Here is what we were waiting for. I love pot-au-feu; its such a comfort food for me in the winter. I was very happy to see a giant cast iron pot arrive at the table because it was pot-au-feu de pigeon. A creative and yummy version of my favourite dish.


To accompany the pot-au-feu; we were served chinese cabbage. A very great idea to accompany the dish, because the cabbage added a lovely texture and flavour.


The very beautiful table setting. Everyone has starving but they had to wait until I took a photo of the table.


We started the evening sitting next to their fireplace and toasting our glasses with champagne. The first champagne was Billecart-Salmon 1985. This went very well with the home-fois gras on toasted bread that was served with it.


The second bottle of champagne was Exquise from Jacques Selosse. Another very nice champagne and went brilliantly with the stunning scallops grilled with a ginger and lime juice sauce.



The husband of the chef; is an expert on wine. He was very kind to open fantastic bottles of wine during our dinner. I will not go into detail of each wine served since I am no expert. Just believe me that the wines were thought out very well to accompany our main course, cheese and dessert.



Kastelberg Riesling 1990.


Chateau La Lagune 1985.


Our friends are also experts at cheeses. Our friends even age their own cheeses in their cellar. Now that is what I call commitment to excellence in food.


Domaine G. Roumier 2005












I have a weakness for dessert. So, the chef made a very creative dessert that turned out to be visually gorgeous and very delicious. The cake was a steamed ginger cake. The chef brought the steamed bowl to the table. Unwrapped the cake like a Christmas gift. And...voila; the beautiful golden brown cake. But, the show was not over...


The steamed cake was turned over onto a plate. And, there it was the stunning cake, which was too pretty to cut. But, I was glad we did because it was delicious.



The cake was accompanied with home-made pineapple and vanilla ice cream. I have to say that the ice creams were so gooooood. Great texture and flavours.


The final wine for the evening was Moenchberg Tokay Pinot Gris 1994.


The lovely evening ended with all of us being stuffed with wonderful food and wines. We said good bye to the master of the home; Soupape, the ever so cute and gentle doggie.