July 14, 2011
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Song of the Day
More Good Eats From Bangkok – Erawan Tea Room - Traditional Thai food and refreshing Thai teas and other local drinks (think lemongrass and fresh fruit juices), are served in quiet elegance. It is a perfect place for a business lunch or dinner, a tea break when shopping and of course, as I mentioned its classic style lends itself perfectly as a destination for visitors (menu and service is in Thai and English). This is not the cheapest Thai food around town. I mean for sure you could eat on the street for 60-80 THB (US$1.50 – $2.50), but its entrees are 190 – 360THB (US$5.50 – $11). Very well priced and quite affordable indeed.
Steamed flower-shaped dumplings filled with crab meat…..
Deep fried chicken in Pandan leaves…..
Pan fried clams with chilli…..
Steamed sea bass with chilli and lime sauce…..
All the dishes are delicious and well executed. We tried the Thai favorites and there really isn’t any disappointments. Be sure to get a seat by the window, overlooking bustling downtown Bangkok and the Erawan shrine. You may catch a glimpse of the Thai dancing troupes performing multiple times of day to pay honor at the shrine.
Erawan Tea Room at the Grand Hyatt | Erawan Mall, 2nd floor, Ploenchit Road, Bangkok | www.erawanbangkok.com/tearoom.php
Soul Food Mahanakorn - is neatly summed up as: “Wholesome ingredients. Honest cooking. Serious drinks.” This Bangkok restaurant, which just opened in August 2010, is getting tons of buzz, and unlike many of the city’s trendy restaurants, all the hype is truly deserved. Here is a quote from the BK magazine article:
‘Long-time food journalist for beloved American magazine The Atlantic and elsewhere, Jarrett Wrisley recently decided to cash in his chips and transform an old, unused shophouse on Thonglor into an American-style, Thai-food-serving izakaya. It now looks all set to be the new place to be, drink and eat one of the most lovingly curated gab glaem et al menus we’ve seen in a long while.’
Yam Makrua Yao – this sour & smoky Bangkok classic egg plant salad with boiled duck eggs, mint, coriander & bacon. The eggplant was so fresh, plump and tender. It had so much flavor…..
Nahm Tok Moo – Issan style pork, marinated in fish sauce & tossed in a fiery dressing with herbs, so tasty…..
Yam Pladuk Foo – Salad of green mango, herbs and peanut, served with catfish that is slow-grilled, shredded, and then fried crisp…..
Gai Tawt Hat Yai – Southern Thai Style fried chicken, served with spicy and sweet sauce and pickled watermelon…..
Lamb Grapow – Stir-fry of Hand-chopped Australian lamb, with basil, garlic and chilli. Served with Jasmine rice and a fried egg…..
Smoked Duck Larb – a mixture of slow-smoked duck breast and fresh duck, tossed in a sour/spicy dressing with herbs…..
Sweet mango and sticky rice…..
Overall, the food was really delicious. Later, we found out everything except for fish and soy sauce is made upstairs — the sausages, curry pastes, the chili jam (nam prik pao), the yogurt for the samosas. It seems they care about the food they serve and where it comes from, they source many of their ingredients from small farms in the northeast of Thailand. For example, their rice is organic and fair trade, their meats are free-range, and their menu is seasonal with daily specials. We like this philosophy very very much. The food is not only good but very affordable in a very cozy and comfortable setting. This will be one of my destinations from now on.
Soul Food Mahanakorn | 56/10 Sukhumvit Soi 55 ( Soi Thong Lor) | (tel)+66 (0)85-904-2691 | www.soulfoodmahanakorn.com
Kum Poon - literally means ‘big bites’ in Issan dialect. This eatery serves a wide selection of Issan delicacies. Although dishes served here can be found much cheaper (and perhaps better) on certain sidewalk stalls, but having your favorite Issan (Thailand Northeastern region) dish in the comfort of air-conditioned room is totally justified, especially during the rainy season.
Stir-fried mushroom with sausages…..
Charcoal grilled chicken with deep fried sticky rice balls…..
Country style herbal chicken soup…..
Nua Yang – Charcoal grilled beef…..
Brown (sticky) rice…..
Chilled beer…..highly recommended….
Kum Poon | Central World Plaza, 7th Floor | (tel) 02-646-1044 |
(Many thanks to Christao408 for choosing all the delicious dishes at SFM and Kum Poon. Also my gratitude to W for a number of fabulous food porn photos above.)
Comments (29)
Oh wow! What a feast to my eyes! I think I loved every dish ( except those with pork or sausages ). I could almost taste the spices Gary.
When you eat mussels or clams, are they cleaned so well that there is no gritty texture in the bite?
Thanks for this visual porn.
@ZSA_MD - You should make a trip out here soon! The clams seems to be okay. Don’t know much about the mussels because I’m not a great fan of the mollusk family! I tend to stay away from those while traveling.
These are fancy thai food, so beautifully plated. yummy
@stevew918 - Much better than those in L.A.!
Im looking at your gorgeous food pictures and reading as I’m hungry, probably not a smart idea. Any way, the food looks delicious. Wow =O purple dumplings? I never seen that before. What is the dumpling wrap made out of?
Nice! Thailand and Vietnam are my target destinations for next year.
Hopefully I can also visit Cali! *fingers crossed*
@jessdeng08 - Purple? Probably from food coloring
@oxyGENE_08 - Nice! Stop over in L.A. and I can show you around. LOL!
@CurryPuffy - LOL. Counter offer.
@oxyGENE_08 - Oh sure, you’re welcome anytime!
@CurryPuffy - I’ll take your word for it. haha… Well same here. If you ever swing by my hood, just hit me up.
Basically, I think you and W should move here. You can eat, I’ll choose the places, and W can shoot photos.
@christao408 - Sounds like an ideal plan. And Tawn can design our house! Love those red shoes!
It’s just a bit hot to eat on the street…., elegant place is always preferred……:P
@agmhkg - Yeah, the weather was quite humid and rainy, so it was a relief to take shelter indoors! Nevertheless, I enjoyed the rain showers, especially when it’s hot and humid.
@christao408 - … and I’ll stalk you guys. hahahaha….
Great pictures especially the ones indoors – the colors are very good and not greenish or yellowish from the lights. How was the herbal chicken soup? What herb did they use?
Nice! New dishes at Soul Food???
@ElusiveWords - Thanks Matt! I was pleasantly surprised too, most of the photos came out good. The herbal soup was not too salty, with a dense flavor of Thai herbs, and pumpkins, squash, etc., very tasty!
@yang1815 - Hmm….not sure if these are new dishes. We ordered from the print menu, and there are some other dishes written on the chalk board. So I think those on the board are new dishes, which we did not try. Overall, I like this place!
@CurryPuffy - They all look great!!!
Did you guys get a new DSLR? Those pictures are great!
@CareyGLY - Thanks Carey! I’m glad you like the food. I took most of the photos (except the first few and a couple later on) using a Nikon D7000, acquired around March this year.
I love Thai food. Those purple flower-shaped dumpling looks interesting.
@icepearlz - I’m glad you like the food! They taste very interesting as well!
Gary, I am interested in getting the recipe for the deep fried sticky rice balls. Will it be possible to get that?
@ZSA_MD - I have no idea about this recipe, probably Chris may know some clues about this?
i just love thai food! thank goodness they have those there in phoenix last month or else, i’ve gone insane for the lack of, umm, rice. the chicken wrapped in pandan leaves is a fave. i was looking for pad thai or kayasai in this entry
@Renatojr3 - I did the pad thai in an earlier entry just before this one, check it out!