“Something New, Something New”

Hi there!

Sorry that I’ve been MIA again for 2 weeks. The weather is getting a little colder, and I couldn’t help but to give the first “cold” winter breeze a warm welcome by going out more! (What could be a better excuse for alfresco dining, right?)

So to keep you guys entertained, I would like to take a break from taking you all with me to Spain to talk about the six restaurants I visited during the past two weeks. I took the opportunity to sample a couple of new restaurants, some a newborn to the Bangkok dining scene whilst the others a teenager. Since it was my first time to all of these places, I’ve been itching to tell you guys about my experience there!

• Dean and Deluca,

MahaNakhon Project, 92 Narathiwasrachanakarin Road Silom, Bangrak, next to Chong Nonsi BTS Station

One of my favorite things to do in New York was to spend a day shopping in Soho and grabbing a coffee and some pastries from Dean and Deluca. Needless to say I was extremely excited to hear that Bangkok is getting our own piece of Soho at the swanky Mahanakhon project. After reading some disappointing reviews I started to have my doubt about the place, so I waited for the buzz to die down a little bit and for the staff to gain some experience before trying the place out for myself. What’s my verdict? I believe it’s a pretty good place to hang out with friends, grab a relaxing cup of coffee. Although the place is quarter the size of the branch in soho without the “supermarket” area. They have a small corner for artisan confectioneries and a bar area for you to order your food and drinks. The decor is sleek and modern without feeling uptight and pretentious. They did a good job at replicating the effortless chic “feel” of dDean and Deluca. However, the sersvice still has some kinks to be ironed out, and the speed could be a little faster. Since I had a massage appointment booked, given the how long it took them to make my coffee, we passed on the food since we did not have enough time. However, the coffee tasted nice and we got a lovely outdoor seat which I adored. I will definitely be back for more!

• Soul Food Mahanakorn, Thonglor

56/10 Sukhumvit Soi 55 (Soi Thong Lor), Bangkok, Thailand, 10110

I have always had my doubts eating Thai food cooked by farangs. However, I could not help but try out the newly opened “Kub klam” (dishes to be had with drinks) joint in Thonglor after reading some good reviews online. After walking in to this small eatery at the beginning of Soi Thonglor, I was greeted by a busy restaurant full of foreigners. We were surprised to be the only Thai table there. The menu had a mid-sized variety of very authentic and local Thai dishes to choose from. In general the dishes tasted a lot more authentic that I thought they would. However, the spiciness was toned down to suit the foreign palette and was not enough for my chillies-damaged taste buds. Yet, it was such a wonderful sights to see farangs really enjoying Thai food while sipping on their white wines! Here’s what we ordered and what we thought of them:

 

Lycheeglass Collins -brokers fin, lychee liquer, fresh lemongrass, lime soda - deceptively light tasting.

 

"Jai Yen Yen" -brokers gin, passionfruit, pineapple, cucumber, lime, ginger ale -delicious

 

Namm prik 2 ways - northern Thai dip with chargrilled green chillies and pork and tomato nahm prik ong served with vegs, quail eggs, and pork rind - wish it was a little more spicy

Sticky tamarind ribs - tender pork ribs braised in a tamarind BBQ sauce and grilled, served with pineapple chutney - succulent, melt off the bone delicious!

yam mamuang with pla salit - salad of green mango and herbs served with cruspy pla salit fish chips - refreshing but, again, not spicy enough for me

• Serenade @ Grass, Thonglor

Sukhumvit Soi 55 (Soi Thong Lor), between soi 10 and 12, Bangkok, Thailand, 10110

I’ve been to Grass many many times to go to Fat Gutz. Therefore, I was pretty excited to learn that there’s now a tapas-style place there. So after our dinner around the area, we decided to stop by to check it out and grab a glass of wine and dessert. The atmosphere was very nice. We got the daybed outside, which was perfect in this weather. The funny thing was that before we even ordered, the server proceeded with a bread basket and quickly left. We left it untouched and ordered our bubbly and a tiramisu ice cream with another server. Mid way through out drinks, the first server came back to take the bread basket back! We thought it was hilarious! The ice cream was delicious though and we will definitely go back for more!

 

the bread..haha

 

Tiny bottle of proseco, huge ice bucket..CUTE!

 

Delicious tiramisu ice-cream

• Casino Royale @ Mansion 7

244/7 Ratchadapisek Soi 14, Ratchadapisek Rd., Huay Kwang, 02-692-631. MRT Huay Kwang

Probably one of the newest kids on the block, (rathchada block, that is,) Mansion 7 is the new “boutique thriller mall.” A 100 something million baht haunted mansion created by the owner of the ever so famous (but not necessarily my favorite) “Plearn Wann” at Hua Hin. I could not wrap my head around the idea of shopping in a dark, cobwebbed-filled haunted mansion, therefore I rushed there only a week after tits opening expected a huge crowd of excited Bangkokians. To my surprise, the hauted mansion was left looking very empty and, appropriately, haunted. The building itself was very fun. The shops ranged from clothing stores to a nail spa and were nicely integrated into the dark purple structure of the mansion. The restaurants lined the empty space in the middle and consisted of quite a good variety given the size of the concept of the space. Visitors could choose anything from a som tum to a Japanese restaurant. Also many stores are still unfinished, so there could be even more options soon.We chose to eat at Casino Royale, which looked the most inviting to us. The variety of the dishes are pretty small, yet they all tasted nice. However they were nothing extra special and would not probably be enough to draw us back there again. The thing that I liked the least, which was one of my pet peeves, was the most non-descriptive cocktail list. I believe that if a restaurant want to name their cocktails with fun and inventive names such as the roulette, they either need a very descriptive explanation or a knowledgeable server. Sadly, they lacked both. Our server could not tell us what the drinks contained. But, hey, they’ve only been opened for a week, so it’s understandable.

 

Icecream in a rubber ball - sadly it didn't taste that nice and was a little messy

"Plum wine sparkling"

 

Spagetti aioli - spagetti should have been a little more al dente, but tasted pretty good.

 

animal fries - aka heart attack on a plate..hahaha

Below are some more pictures from Mansion 7:

Bon Appétit!