Eric Cellier and Alain Chabanon Wine Dinner @ Déjà Vu - Pullman Hotel

Déjà Vu is a stunning French restaurant in the Pullman Hotel. So, it was the perfect venue to host a famous chef and wine maker from the Languedoc region for a Wine Dinner. The Pullman Hotel sponsored Chef Eric Cellier and wine maker Alain Chabanon for this very special event.


Chef Eric Cellier is the head Chef of the restaurant called "La Maison de la Lozère" at Montpellier, France and he also won the prize, GaultMillau Golden Trophy 2008 with the high score of 16/ 20. The chef describes his cooking style as Gastronomic Terroire Mediterranean like the mountain combining with the sea.

Alain Chabanon's definition of his wines are; finest, elegance and complexity. He is one of the few who's wines are certified 'organic'. Alain is considered and voted one of the best wine makers of he region now.


The amuse-bouche was mushroom emulsion soup. Its unbelievable that something in a small glass can have such a powerful kick. The flavour of the mushroom exploded in the mouth. The texture was foamy and yet velvety. That for sure was a great way to start the evening.


The first wine was 'Rosé Tremier' 2005, AOC Coteaux du Languedoc. The first dish that accompanied the wine was pan seared duck fois gras with pressed potato, cinnamon and date with smoked milk and herbs.

"A blend of Carignan and Mourvèdre, this Rosé is definately for serving with food. Very classy, thoroughly harmonious with complex savours ; a touch of mineral, flowers, dried fruit and spice..." In : Terre de Vins

I am very un-PC and do like eating fois gras. However; I was sitting with two very close Thai friends who are not big fans of fois gras, so I had to eat their portions. Let's such say, I was fois gras over loaded. Chef Eric cooks fois gras the way I like it; almost crispy on the outside and velvety in the inside. The pressed potato blended with with the flavours of the cinnamon, date and the very unusual but delicious smoked milk & herbs.


The second wine was 'Trélans' 2004, Vin de Pays d'Oc. The second dish that accompanied the wine was pan seared scallops with yeast emulsion, lemon confit and tomato celery jelly.

Another very unique wine from Alain and one of my favourites. The Trélans is actually the only known one of its kind in the world. The Trélans is the only blend of Vermantino and Chenin Blanc. It is a polarising wine; either people hate it or love it. I happen to be on the 'love it' side.

"...The result is magnificent, flamboyant...incredibly complex, full nose...equally splendid, full, rounded, welcoming mouth. It's quite simply bewitching. A great wine..." In: Terre de Vins

The pan seared scallops were fantastic. Great texture, the yeast emulsion, lemon confit and tomato celery jelly were nice accompaning flavours.


The third wine was 'Campredon' 2006, AOC Coteaux du Languedoc. The third dish that accompanied the wine was fillet of sea bass, artichoke and coriander jus steamed combawa lemongrass ravioli.

The Campredon, as always was drinking well. An easy to drink wine and full rounded.

"Crunchy fruit and brilliantly harmonious." In: Revue des Vins de France.

The fillet of sea bass was perfectly cooked. The artichoke and coriander jus steamed combawa lemongrass was amazingly tasty yet it did not overwhelm the sea bass.


The range of wines that we drank with the fantastic meal.


The fourth wine was 'L'Esprit de Font Caude' 2003, AOC Coteaux du Languedoc Montpeyroux. The dish that accompanied the wine was steamed veal fillet served pink, peanut emulsion whole tomato confit, sour lime mousse.

The L'Esprit is one of my favourite wines.

"Here Mourvedre and Syrah are as close as body and soul, a combination giving birth to one of the Languedoc's great wines. Bay, rockrose, cedar...Concentrated with delicate tannins, you can't fault its mouth." In: Vent Sud

The veal fillet served pink was incredible. The meat was tender. The peanut emulsion whole tomato confit, and sour lime mousse added extra texture and flavours.


The fifth wine was 'Merle aux Alouettes' 2004, Vin de Pays d'Oc. The dessert that accompanied the wine was pineapple in rum and vanilla, sparkling rasberry, raw hibiscus meringue, lemon confit Madeleine.

I never tire of this wine. This wine always amazes me when I drink it.

"...This wine is fabulous. Black as ink; tiny hints of liquorice empahisze the delicate, classic oak characteristics. It puts Petrus to shame..." In: www.wineandco.com

The pineapple in rum and vanilla, sparkling rasberry, raw hibiscus meringue, lemon confit Madeleine was a melange of great flavours. After eating so much, this was a very light and refreshing dessert.


The last and extra dessert was hot chocolate cake with black truffles. I actually liked this dessert. However; my two friends were not particularly fond of this dessert. They were not ready for the surprise of the truffle flavour.

Overall, this was a fantastic dinner. Chef Eric did not disappoint as usual. The wines were wonderful as well and the pairing of food and wine were perfect.

Square One @ Park Hyatt (Saigon)

Staying at the Park Hyatt in Saigon was a great treat. Here is another example why...we got a voucher for a free lunch at Square One.


If anyone who has been to Singapore and stayed at the Grande Hyatt or just have eaten there will know about their great concept restaurant called Mezzanine. Square One's concept is pretty much the same.


Square One has about six open kitchens. Each kitchen specialises in a particular food. For example; the kitchen above was for the steaming and rolling fresh Vietnamese spring rolls.


This kitchen specialised fresh seafood. The seafood tower is not only beautiful but is very delicious.


This kitchen specialised in desserts.


This kitchen specialised in cooking pastas and other foreign foods.


This kitchen specialised in fresh fruits and fruit juices.


I forgot to take a photo of the kitchen that specialised in grilling meats. So, you will have to enjoy another photo of the kitchen that specialises in Asian foods.


Our free lunch started with fresh baked bread accompanied with tomato sauce dip. The bread was the type of bread you always dream of. Steaming hot, crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside.


The first dish was a green papaya salad with chili and peanuts. A refreshing dish to start the meal. The papaya was crunchy and had a wonderful taste and not too bitter. The mixture of flavours were very nice; sour from the papaya & lemon, salty from the nuoc mam, and sweet from the sugar. Different crunchy textures as well; the peanuts, papayap and carrots.


The next dish is one of the most spectacular dishes I have ever had in Saigon. Actually, its the basic goi-cuon (fresh Vietnamese spring roll) that you can get anywhere in Saigon. However; the Square One's version is so tasty. Instead of using rice paper for the outer cover, they instead use beatle leave, which adds a rich and toasty flavour. The stuffing inside consisted of shrimp, pork and rice noodles. Add a little of the sauce, and this dish is perfect.


The next dish was a vegetable, mushroom and tofu soup. A hearty and rich soup. Hearty because of all the fresh ingriedients in the soup and rich from the fish stock. A nice combination for flavours and textures.


The next dish was pork ribs with yellow curry. The Vietnamese curry is different from the Thai curries; Vietnamese curries normally have more similarities to the Indian version. The pork was tender and the curry was rich and tasty.


The next dish was a simple stir fried morning glory topped with fried garlic.


The last dish was dessert of fresh seasonal fruit. The presentation was marvelous. The fresh sliced fruit sitting in a beautiful bowl full of crushed ice.


This restaurant is one of the most interesting, unique and delicious restaurants I have been to. The concept is amazing. The food is out of this world. We have a Vietnamese friend who is very finicky about Vietnamese food. We went with her several times and she and her husband say that this is some of the finest Vietnamese food in town. To us, that really means something.

Quan 94 (Saigon)

When read that there was a very famous restaurant served some of the best crab dishes in Saigon. We decided that we needed to find this place and try some of the food. So, after a huge breakfast at the hotel (a huge mistake because we were not too hungry when we actually found the restaurant).


The restaurant is called Quan 94. We were really happy that we found the place because there were several similar restaurants on the same street. Like most restaurants I like, this one was very simply decorated and open aired. Luckily for us the menu had photos of the food available. On top of that sitting next to us was a lovely and charming Vietnamese elderly couple. They saw that we did not know what to do. The gentleman in perfect french recommended what we should have.


The gentleman recommended that we start with the simple crab noodles. Since, we were not too hungry, we only oredered one dish of crab noodles. After we ordered, the cook started making our order. At the same time, many motorbikes were arriving to order the crab noodles to go. We immediately knew that this was going to be really yummy.


Here is the famous crab noodles dish. Huge fresh crab pieces with glass noodles and some herbs and spices. It smelled and looked wonderful.


Like most foods in Vietnam, we were given a huge platter of fresh vegetables and herbs to eat with the crab noodles. The mixture of taste and textures were amazing. There are herbs and vegetables that we do not get here in Thailand, so eating them is a rare treat.


This is a sad sight, but here is the yummy crabs that they use to get the crab meat. I have to say the Vietnamese crabs are really good. They are all alive, and the cooks take them when they need more crab meat.


If you are ever in Saigon, do have a visit to this amazing restaurant. The next time we are in Saigon, we definately will go back. But this time, we will not eat a big breakfast.

Breakfast @ Opera Park Hyatt (Saigon)

We stayed the great Park Hyatt while in Saigon. It has to be the best hotel in Saigon in my opinion. It is even better than some of the five star hotels in Bangkok and that is a difficult task to do.


Breakfast was being served in the Opera Restaurant. In the morning its the breakfast room and at night it is an Italian restaurant. The restaurant is beautiful. Huge floor to ceiling windows that allow the sunlight through.


When you enter the restaurant, you notice the bar. Its used as the coffee bar in the morning


We were seated and I could not wait to start the buffet breakfast.



The freshly baked pastries, bagels and breads looks scrumptious. I did not know where to start.


This side of the buffet counter was the hot food; eggs, pancakes, etc.


But, what I was looking for was the pho. I always like having pho in the morning; actually, I like having pho any time of the day. The chicken pho was not bad at all. I am always dubious about pho made in hotels and especially at the buffet. The bouillon was tasty and the condiments were fresh.


The fresh fruit and fruit juices section


Having breakfast was very good and delicious experience. The service was very nice and good. Since our morning started out so good with a great breakfast, we were ready to play tourist in Saigon.

Please click here for information about Park Hyatt Saigon

Ben Thanh Market (Saigon)

We took a weekend trip recently to Saigon. We wanted to try the Park Hyatt again because the hotel is amazing. The restaurant there is amazing, but that story will be posted soon. One of the great things to do when we are in Saigon is to visit the very famous market, Ben Thanh Market.


We normally go after lunch, which is a huge mistake on our part because the market has some of the best Vietnamese food around. It always looks so tempting and the other amazing thing is that it cost nothing.


Here is one of the stalls displaying the yummy food.


Here is another stall with different type of Vietnamese food.


Another great thing about the market is the selection of food stuff being sold. The market has practically everything you need to cook Vietnamese food. From fresh vegetables, fresh seafood, meats, etc. They have it.


Here is a stall selling the wonderful exotique Vietnamese fruits


Here is a stall selling pickled vegetables.


Here is a stall selling dried spices and fruits.

TsuNami Japanese Restaurant @ JW Marriott Hotel (Bangkok)

TsuNami opened few weeks later after the devastating tsunami hit Asia. At first, we thought they would have to change the name of the restaurant because of the deadly tsunami; but, they actually did keep the name. We were all wondering at the time; 'why on earth would they go ahead and name their restaurant TsuNami?' A couple years later, the restaurant still exist and it does have very good food.


TsuNami is actually two restaurants in one. 'Tsu' is the sushi/ sashimi and Japanese cusine restaurant and 'Nami' is the American/ Disneyland style of cooking the food in front of you. We had a friend in town who wanted to try Nami.


It was a quiet evening at Nami when we arrived so we got our own cooking station. We did not have to share our chef with anyone.


Tsu already has a very good reputation in town for their amazingly fresh sashimi. To start our evening we needed to have a huge helping of that wonderful sashimi. And boy did it live up to its reputation. The sashimi was so fresh and tasty. Huge chunks of fresh fish imported from Japan. I just gave you a hint on how expensive Tsu can be. The word 'exported' from Japan already can tell you that this is not the cheapest place in Bangkok to have sashimi. However, it was worth every baht.


The next starter was also from Tsu side of the restaurant. A selection of sushi. Again, no words can describe how wonderful sushi can be when the ingredients are this fresh and tasty.












To start our meal at Nami is quite complicated. Reading the menu already can make an atomic engineer go bananas. However, once the waitress explains to you how the menu works, it actually makes sense some how. The meal comes in sets. Many types of sets. You choose a set and the set is based on fish, chicken, pork, beef. On top of that; each of those choices consist of local or imported ingridients and on top of that different quality of imported ingredients. Phew...I am tired already just trying to explain that part. The set also includes a starter; which you have to choose from soup (two types of soups) and a salad (two types of salad), then you choose the main course and then a dessert (you have to choose from fruit or a Japanese dessert).

Our salad arrived, and you have a choice between four different types of salad dressings to choose from.


The next starter was a choice between a mushroom consume or the typical miso soup. We all chose the mushroom consume. The soup tasted very nice. A light fragrance of mushroom and the consume was light and tasty.


Since there were three of us. We decided to have three different sets so that we can try different things. One person chose pork set, one person chose the beef set and the third person chose the lamb set.

The chef started with the scallop & shrimp as our appetizer. It is fun to watch the chef cook the food in front of you. The scallop and shrimp were very good. The chef actually did not over cook the seafood which was terrific.


The first set was the pork set. Again, due to the terrific raw ingredient, this set was very good as well. The pork was very tender and moist. The cooking style for all the sets were the same, so it really depended on the meat to be the star of the show.


The second set was the local beef set. The beef was amazingly tender and tasty. Who needs imported beef when local beef is this good?


The final set was the lamb set. By this time we were really stuffed with food. But, the lamb did look really yummy. Even though we already over ate, we could not stop eating the lamb as well. As the other meats, the lamb was of good quality and had a nice taste.


For our meal; TsuNami had a huge list of sake to choose from. We are still amateurs when it comes to choosing a sake. We took the recommendation from the waitress and the sake we chose was very good.


The decor of TsuNami is modern Japanese. When you enter a restaurant; you are captivated by the enormous art piece made of wood that replicates a wave. It stretches from one side of the restaurant to the other. Its quite impressive.

We do like going to TsuNami once in a while. It has fantastic food and service. However; due to its prices, we seldom think of going to TsuNami. There are many other Japanese restaurants in town with good quality with value for money.

Contact Information for TsuNami Japanese Restaurant @ JW Marriott Hotel
4 Sukhumvit Road, Soi 2
Bangkok, 10110 Thailand
Phone: 66 2 6567700