Nara and Taling Pling, Bangkok

Yes, am back from a short break :)

A fantastic shopping break to be exact, which as usual, I find too short to satisfy me!

Since my main agenda to Bangkok was to unleash the full fledged shopaholic in me ;p, food was not the main quest *gasp*

But there must be some decent eats in malls too right?

Some recommendations by friends gave me a brief reprieve from the maddening shopping crowd while I recharged...

Nara

Gary's friend(who's based in BKK) brought him there for a meal, in which he promptly recommended me. The location was perfect- the main branch is at Erawan and another branch at Central World. Not hard for a pit stop at all :)

Heard that it's a popular spot for lunch where local businessmen go in throngs, so we decided for dinner instead. We were at the Erawan branch, there's a healthy crowd, but manageable.

A good range in the menu...

We started with the appetizer- Sakoo Sai Moo (pork tapioca pearl dumpling)

These dainty dumplings looked so pretty- Nara serves an uppity class version of this street food snack which I rather enjoyed. The minced pork filling was warm, savoury sweetish and paired well with the springy casing and crisp shallots.

The Yum Som-O (Pamelo salad) looks like it has potential..

But alas, failed to shine..The sauce was was too gooey sweet with a hint of coconut aroma, which was just not to my liking. I've had much better versions than this.

Poa Pia Nara..

Well, I guess I dont need to translate this. These cigar thin springrolls was beautifully present and it ends there. Pretty to look at, yet lacks in flavour. It was supposed to be filled with mince meat and vegetables, which we could hardly find any..

Phunim Phad Pong Curry came next..

Wonderful recommendation from Gary. Thai Crab Curry with a twist. It was served with deep fried soft shell crabs instead, which suprising worked quite well with the thick curry too. Have it piping hot with white rice, the combo was alluring- the soft shell crab was crunchy, the curry sauce creamy and thick and the rice soaks up everything.

We tried the Kuay Tiew Rua (Boat noodles)

This was supposed to be very popular in Nara and we had a choice of dry noodles/ with clear or dark broth. We asked for recommendations and dark broth was the choice. The soup was definitely acquired taste, it was rich in spices and herbs flavour that I found too overwhelming. The texture of the noodles was fantastic though, it was springy and I could easily slurp it down.

Some hits and misses at Nara, our total bill was about RM110.

Taling Pling

Jungle Jerry recommended me to pop by the original branch which I didnt have time for, but found that it has 2 branches in the midst of all the malls ( at Siam Paragon and Central World)

It was a rainy day, we were kind of stuck in Central World, so we decided to rest our legs at Taling Pling.

Obviously very popular amongst the locals, it was packed to the brim and we were lucky to get the last table.

Taling Pling serves plenty of local favourites, here's what we tried..

Morning Glory salad

A mixed of fried and cooked morning glory tossed in spicy sour dressing. Great to whet the appetite with a nice range of texture.

Spicy fish cake

Thick slabs of fish cake (compared to those sold at streets) which was lip smacking. The pattie was dense with fish paste (than of flour), have it with fried basil and the accompanying sauce- just wonderful.

The ubiquitous pandan chicken..

This was well executed. The chicken was well marinated and extremely juicy. Very succulent and I really enjoyed this. And the dipping sauce? It's sweet and plumish in flavour, hence having the chicken with the sauce almost convert it to a chinese dish. I prefer sans sauce.

The Duck Curry was a petite version..

The curry was mild, maybe that was scaled down for tourist? I'm not sure. The duck breast was fork tender and a delight to eat. But oh, if just the curry was more fiery.

The piece the resistance (well, at least for me and my friends) was the absolutely plain looking fried chayote..

This vegetable was surprisingly delicious, so good that I cant help taking hefty portions of it and not bothering if my friends had enough. Yes, it makes me greedy :p. The wok hei to this dish was fantastic but what draws me to this dish was the texture of the vegetable- crunchy, not fibrous, hint of sweetness and high in water content. Very very yum-o!

For local faves, Taling Pling seems to hit the right spots for us. Total bill was approx RM95.

Zense Restaurant, Bangkok

I read about Zense from Bangkok Tatler just before I went to Bangkok. It's new, it's hip and sounding rather enticing, I thought we should pop by to check it out. Went over on our last night in Bangkok, we wanted to pamper ourselves with a nice, long relaxing dinner before we leave ;)

Zense is located on the 17th floor of Zen Shopping Centre, right in the heart of the city. When the lift doors opened, we were greeted immediately by it's trendy interior..

It was very spacious, techno music filled the air and we thought we stepped into a club instead.hehe. Quick look around, we saw the inside bar, lots of beds, large beanies seats... and we finally saw some elegant dining area but we were only drawn to have our dinner alfresco. It was a balmy, breezy night..we should be dining alfresco, dont you think?

The alfresco area was wide and spread along the building, with different corners for your choice of dining pleasure- you can choose the cushioned rattan with dining height tables, have dinner in bed, sink into a large beanie cushion with low jap style tables or at the high bar area. Take your pick :)

Zense serves 4 cuisines- Thai, Italian, Japanese and Indian. Hmmm, tough choice but we went for italian since we OD-ed on thai for that many days..haha

We ordered a few stuff to try, since we have been eating the whole day- we were not that hungry :p

Started with fresh bread with lemon butter and our order of Grissini Parmaham (RM27)

We enjoyed the bread and the grissini parmaham was warm and crisp. The parmaham saltiness goes well with the grissini..nice to nibble while we chatted.

Though Zense looks chic and expensive, it's actually affordable classy dining but the waiters didnt really followed the serving rules here.. mains were served before we finished our starters :(

The Ravioli Neri (RM39) looked dark and mysterious..

This was absolutely scrumptious! The filling of chopped lobster was aromatic, the squid ink ravioli were meltingly smooth and the accompanying sauce was velvetly rich, but not cloying. Loved it.

Risotto Scoglio (RM43)

This risotto needs time to really enjoy its full flavours. The rice was still grainy and feels compact- the sauce slowly seeps deeper into the rice with every mouthful I took. The seafood aroma was evident in the rice- I could just eat the rice without the seafood. Delicious.

Alas, I wondered if we spent too much time enjoying the first 2 mains that we totally forgotten about our Pizza Diavola (RM29)..

We were happily cam whoring (or was that just dragon girl? :p), taking in the panaromic view and drinking...and we finally decided to have the pizza. We ordered an italian sausage pizza.. but was suprised that it looked like meatballs instead. Closer inspection confirmed that it was baby meat balls. The pizza was rather chewy at the base and the meat balls were salty. The girls were not impress, this was just mediocre at best. Oh well.

The cheeky bartender offered a pose without us requesting...

Panaromic skyline of Bangkok- though not as high as Sirocco's and Vertigo's

What a lovely way to unwind and to end our last night in Bangkok- with the soft jazz at the back ground and the cooling breeze brushing my skin. I know I will be back yet again. Wait for me Bangkok :)

Zense is located at Zen Shopping Centre, Rajadamri Road, Bangkok. For more information and much better pictures, click here. Thanks EL for the pictures!

Fuji Japanese Restaurant, Bangkok

It's always fantastic if you get to travel with a group of friends with the same intention and interests. And when it comes to Bangkok, it's always for shopping and food with girlfriends. Yes, I go shop crazy when I'm there with the gals, and I usually shed a couple of pounds with all that walking during shopping! hahaha

And hence, this trip, all my eating places revolves around the shopping areas- for convenience :p

But hey, convenience dont mean comprimising on good food...and in this case, I took J2kfm's recommendation.

We ate at Fuji, a popular japanese chain that you can find in most of the shopping places in Bangkok. In our case, we ate at Siam Paragon.

It was very late lunch, so no waiting was required, we were led to our seats immediately. J2kfm did mentioned that the food here is very affordable and comparative to the Jap food chains in Malaysia, Fuji's food is better.

A rather extensive menu to choose from, we decided to have..

Salmon Tataki (RM18)

Somewhat localised, this was like a salmon som tum. Sour, spicy but refreshing. Goes well with the raw salmon slices.

Some grilled mussels with garlic (RM11)

Rather puny pieces, the garlic was absolutely aromatic but I thought the mussels were a tad over grilled. Some parts were rather chewy. Served with 3 types of dipping sauce.

Avocado Pork Roll (RM12)

We lurve this to bits. Creamy, smooth avocado melts into the still warm,tender pork slices. Nice texture and flavours.

Ordered some set meals too..

The Roll sushi set (RM25)

3 types of maki in this set- california, spider crab and ebi maki. The first 2 types were delicious; the serving was plump and fresh. But the ebi fell short- it was very average.

Kuro Buta Steak set (RM20)

We were satisfied with this set too. The pork steak was juicy and meat was springy. The thick sauce was addictive too. Goes very well with rice.

If you are shopping around Bangkok city center, you can find Fuji Japanese restaurant at Siam Centre, Siam Paragon, Central World and Platinum.

Once Upon A Time Restaurant, Bangkok

We tried street food, we had seafood, foodcourts, even thai tai chow (stir fry stalls)...but where's a proper restaurant that serves traditional thai food?

We didn't spot any near the area we stayed nor at the shopping complexes. So we resorted to getting some recommendations from the hotel staff. And surprise, surprise, Once Upon A Time was just a few minutes away from our hotel :)

Very cosy ambiance, alfresco area was filled with lots of green while those who chose to dine in were treated with a cosy and nostalgic interior, filled with antiques and pictures of royal families, movies stars etc.

The menu was very extensive and we took rather long to decide on the dishes...

Had some Tom Yam Goong.. Fiery looking soup but it was not as spicy as we thought it would be. The soup is aromatic, sour and spicy, which hits our sleepy senses immediately. Filled with large, juicy prawns, this was a great way to start our meal.

We decided to have Yam Som O (Pamelo salad) since we have yet to try it before..

The pamelo was topped with mince pork, prawns, chopped peanuts, fried shallots and doused with some intoxicating sauce. The result? Utterly lip smacking, it was so, so scrumptious! I love it, I love it, I love it!

Pineapple Fried Rice for the carbs we so love..

Alicia loved it. Elaine and I find it a tad 'wet' but very tasty nonetheless.

The Kong Kai Ob Sabparod (Shrimp and chicken baked in pineapple) sounds interesting

Most unfortunately, that's about it. It was pratically stir fried chicken and shrimps with pineapple and tomato/ fish sauce combo. I'm all for simplicity, but this was so plain, I almost cried. :(. Give me a plate of goo lou yuk (sweet sour pork) anytime.

Luckily Hou Maeng Phou Phad (pan fried baby clams with yellow curry) was served soon after..
Thick, sweetish yellow curry goes very well with the mussels (i'm quite sure those are Not clams). Beautiful dish to go with white rice, we enjoyed this dish tremendously.

The last dish was Green Curry Chicken..The portion was perfect as we were pretty stuffed by then. All of us tried the curry with white rice to enjoy the taste of the green curry and we were pretty satisfied with it. Though again the curry was rather sweet, we still enjoyed it very much. Plus points as it was filled with lots of chicken chunks and aubergines.

I sorta lost the bill, but it costs us about RM30 per head i think..

Once Upon a Time Restaurant is located at Soi 17, Phetchburi Rd., Pratunam, Bangkok. It's the small road/ lane across from Pantip Plaza. Look for road sign Soi 17, walk about 5 mins and the restaurant's on your right.

T&K Seafood, Chinatown, Bangkok

Chinatown in Bangkok is a sight not to be missed..
The colour, the sights, the sounds, the food and.. the pollution :p

And as you walk along the main road in Chinatown, you'll definitely see 2 very popular chinese 'restaurants' at a T-junction, one restaurant has it's staff dressed in red uniform while the other, in green uniform. We decided to have dinner at T&K Seafood.. Ordering was quite easy as the menu's also in english and had quite a number of food pictures too.

We had the famous grilled prawns that everyone orders.. Really succulent, sweet and juicy. The prawns flesh were springy and had absorb the smokey salty flavours, making this dish utterly lip smacking. Delicious.

Thai curry crab.. I had a wonderful version of this dish at a restaurant near Menam Chao Phraya, and was hoping that T&K's version would be good too. Oh well, I guess not. Their version was a tad too rich in milk and egg, so strong that it almost envelope the crab's sweetness.

We ordered Oyster omelette.. Served on a bed of beansprouts, this was really tasty. The oysters were plump and juicy, the egg omelette was crispy while the dough was moist and filled with chopped garlic and spring onions.

I wanted to have Vermicelli Crab.. Again, I have tried a fantastic version of that before, thought T&K should be able to prepare an equally delectable one. This was just mediocre to me though. Too sweet and lack of pork fats in this dish makes it rather unattractive to me.

We had some veggies too but I didn't take a picture of it.

Total bill was about THB990 (inclusive of rice and drinks)

T&K Seafood is located at 49-51 Phadung Dao Rd, Chinatown, Bangkok. T: (02) 223 4519. Open daily: 4:30 pm – 2:00 a.m.

Som tum@ Chatujak, Bangkok

Will meet you at Chatujak, was the sms SF sent me while I was already at Chatujak.

I started to worry a little as my mobile was going flat soon, and searching for each other at Chatujak is like looking for a needle in haystack ._."

Guess both of us were lucky that day, we managed to find each other very quickly. After SF did her power shopping, we were all hungry, hot and thirsty.

We thought of leaving Chatujak for lunch, but SF suggested a stall that serves delicious thai salad as she has tried it before.

Most unfortunately, I didn't notice any signboard with English, but here's the place...Just remember the chicken sign board..

Some Spicy tuna salad.. It's a mix of tuna with lime, chopped shallots, bird's eye chilli, shredded cucumber and sauces..As it's sour and spicy; very appetising. Pretty good.

Next was the Crispy cat fish green mango salad.. This was my all time favourite. I've tried this in KL before, but this was much better as it had loads of catfish and it's cheap! (we paid RM4.50, i recalled i paid about RM20 for the one in Malaysia). The tangy shredded mango was sour but complemented the aromatic fried cat fish and crunchy peanuts to perfection. The sauce and spicy chilli complete this beautiful dish. Superb.

We had some spicy mince pork salad with the rice noodles.. The mince pork was cooked and mixed with lime juice, fish sauce (i think), sliced shallots and chillies. Again a very appetising dish, goes well with the dry rice noodles.

We had some grilled pork neck Pretty tasty stuff, the pork slices were juicy and slightly springy in texture. Lightly salted, tasted delicious with the accompanying spicy sauce too.

Last dish we had.. Prawn salad.. The prawns were sweet and juicy, and the batter was extremely crispy and very flavourful. The salad was generously tossed with dried shrimp, peanuts and sliced chillies. Lovely dish.

Down the meal with a glass of coke..aaaahhhhh

Find this stall at Chatujak weekend market. From BTS ( Mo Chit), turn right at the first junction. Walk pass the first block/ chunk of stalls. You'll reach a large open 'road' area. This stall is there. Happy searching :p

Mango Tango, Bangkok

I found Mango Tango on my previous visit, but somehow, I did not take any pictures of it.

This time, while introducing this dessert place to my friends, I make sure I took some shots of the lovely dessert we had.

Of course we need to have Mango Tango I'm crazy over mangoes, so upon seeing this, i nearly swooned. Ok, ok, just exaggerating :D. But I feel good seeing my girl friends smiling faces when this dessert was placed on our table. The fresh mango was sweet and oh so juicy, while the pudding was velvety smooth and had small cubes of sweet, fresh mangoes in it. The home made mango ice cream was not as good as I remembered though. Not as fragrant and smooth.

Mango Salsa was absolutely divine...

A mango fanatic's dream. Huge, sweet mango chunks, ice blended mango, mango pudding as the base and swirls of coconut cream completes this heaven sent dessert. One mouthful and I'm in seventh heaven. Gorgeous..

I've forgotten the name of this dessert..Consists of mango chunks, mango puree, milk, sago and coconut cream. Very nice combination, less heavy on the mangoes. I still prefer Mango Salsa.

Though Mango Tango primarily sells mango based desserts, other fruit based desserts are also available.

Mango Tango is located at Siam Square Soi 4, Rama 1 Rd, Bangkok, Thailand. Just across the road from Siam Paragon (not facing Paragon, but the road is vertical to the main Paragon street)

BBQ fish, Ratchadamri Road, Bangkok

We walked pass this stall last year but didn't have the time to try it.
So this trip, it was not hard to decide on our first dinner destination in Bangkok..

There are about 4-5 stalls selling BBQ fish, but the first two stalls are the most crowded, hence we decided to eat at the first stall..

We ordered the famed BBQ fish (RM14)..Well, that was what's written in English. I think salt baked would be a more appropriate description. The fish was covered in thick sea salt, stuffed with herbs and cooked on the grill. As the skin was very salty and hard, we only at the meat. The fish was very fresh, sweet and juicy. Dip it in the spicy sourish sauce, this was rather delicious. The fish was fresh water, so if you cant stand the slight mud taste, it's best you skip this.

Some crab som tum (RM7)Very spicy and the crabs were rather salty and fishy. And a tad slimy. Didn't like this dish.

Tom Yum Gung (RM20) Huge bowl of fiery red soup. Was not a spicy as I thought it would be, it was filled with lots of prawns. Pretty tasty soup.

Some BBQ pork (RM6).. Some parts was too hard and dry. Just an average dish.

Duck soup (RM6).. I thought we'll get some mild, herbal flavoured soup. I was so wrong! It was sour and extremely spicy, after a few sips, all of us got sexy, plump red lips. Angelina would have been so proud of us :D. Quite good actually, the duck meat was very tender and the soup (though freaking spicy) was addictive.

The BBQ fish stall is located along Ratchadamri road, just next to Isetan. As it's a roadside stall, hygiene level is questionable. And no, none of us got diarrhea...