Hybrid duck mazesoba from Ginza Kamo Soba Kyudaime Keisuke

I remember seeing items from the menu at Ginza Kamo Soba Kyudaime Keisuke that might have been interesting the last time I was here so this kamo mazesoba was one of them. A nice bowl of dry chewy noodles with some tangy orange vinegar on the side that you could add. One even gets a seaweed wrapped molten egg. But I'm still not feeling much of the duck in this joint. Maybe I just need to get their regular bowl. Another time perhaps.

Back at Sri Rajya Lakshmi Narasimhan

This was yet another unsuccessful attempt to get the Andhra meal at Sri Rajya Lakshmi Narasimhan because there was a 40 minute wait. So I ended up with a curd vada and a green bean uttapam/oothappam.

Let's see...I was getting quite a bit of flavour from the mustard seed and peppercorn from the former. Something that hadn't been so prominent in the previous times I've had curd vada. That wasn't a bad thing though. That green bean uttapam was nice. I couldn't say that I could taste the green bean in the pancake, but it was freshly made and that accounted for why it was tasty too. Especially with the coconut chutney and sambar.

The mentaiko cabbage redemption at Keria Japanese Restaurant

We didn't plan for this particular trip back to Keria. It was truly happenstance. Apparently, we were remembered for the feedback regarding their mentaiko cabbage the last time (which was but two days back) and we were assured that it was a lapse that occured during their busy hours and that it would not happen today. So we said yes.

Otoshi for the day was.....erm, something made with chopped florets of cauliflower and broccoli with Japanese mayo and mentaiko. Very tasty.

So there. Mentaiko cabbage redeemed. I'm glad that there was no change in chef or anything drastic of that sort.

We also dug the lamb chops from that last visit and since it wasn't permanent on the menu, more was in order. Pun intended. Today's chops were marginally more done than the last time but they were still delicious.

Since mentaiko was in season, I thought why not a mentaiko cream pasta spiked with a little bit of shiso? This was nicely done with just enough cream for a dry cling onto the noodles without being excessively rich. A much better rendition than many out there. 

For the eagled eyed, yes, it was mentaiko on the rice with the curry. The remnants from the cabbage that I thought should not have gone to waste.

We got ourselves some shima aji sashimi which came after all the flavourful servings of food. I noticed that their wasabi was a mixture of the freshly grated variety and the paste product. It has a nice sweetness and the fibres from the grated root and the nasal ripping kick from the paste. Kinda nice but also rather overwhelming if it had been used on a light fish.

Popeye's Aloha Rendang Chicken

I had these Aloha rendang chicken twice over the past month. The ones at the bottom were supposed to have extra rendang and pineapple. Didn't look very much different from the ones above without the extra sauce/salsa and both looked not so much like their lying posters.

But I had them twice because I kinda liked the combination of flavours. Even though it was just enough for a couple of bites per piece of the bird. 

It's just too bad that their chicken seemed to be shrinking and the quality didn't feel like those from their yesteryears. The garlic rice was dried out from being heated in the troughs and it would be a great idea to put in more elbow grease on that parts distribution so that a three piece doesn't get two drumsticks unless requested for.

And it ended with uni don and coffee jelly at Keria Japanese Restaurant

Dinner at Keria. Look, a little dish with a sunfish painted on!

The otoshi today was boiled chicken stuffed with leeks in ponzu. I'm not sure if stuffed would be an accurate description since it really looked like a roulade where the meat was rolled up with the leeks. The meat had a nice chicken-y flavour.

Tonight's mentaiko cabbage was off. There wasn't any of that smoky aroma that normally came with the dish and it was a little too wet. We left a feedback because we felt that they needed to know.

Seemed that Keria was also in the white asparagus game. These were served chilled with Japanese mayo.

Followed by some nice scallop-y hotate sashimi.

We saw that there were lamb chops on the menu. These were pretty damned good. The doneness was about medium well but the meat was tender and juicy even - unadulterated except for a bit of salt and pepper. The leftover juices was a great add on to the salad.

Next up were the hon maguro negitoro temaki. Yum!

Followed up by uni don. The creamy sea urchins were sweet and delicious.

And as promised, it ended with coffee jelly. Another satisfying meal.

BK beer and burger at Suvarnabhumi Airport

One last meat at the departure before we boarded our flight back. This was yet another BK meal just like the last trip in the airport. This time round, it was a double Whopper with Heine and fries. I just wanted the experience of grabbing a burger with beer in BK. There wasn't anything special about the food. I generally don't drink beers from cans and I'm not even a Heineken person.

By the way, this wasn't cheap at all. The above costed thereabouts of 24 SGD. 

More food from Kub Kao' Kub Pla

We came back here because we did enjoy the food from the last time. Not to mention that it was a relatively peaceful and comfortable place to eat.

We tried the yellow curry with crab meat. I'm going to just describe this as an okay dish. I didn't feel that there was anything particularly impressive about the flavours. But I don't really know much about curried crab and the last time I've had something similar was years ago.

Ordered their crab fritters/rolls.

These were not bad. The interior was packed with crab meat. I couldn't help but compare them to those crab nuggets from Chandrphen because of the similarity of their skin. Those from Chandrphen by the way, were much better.

More crab was to be had - this time stir fried with pumpkin and eggs. You can understand how we were crabbed out for this trip. I thought we might have overdone the crab gluttony a little. Anyways, not outstanding because I don't particularly remember the flavour,

What I really enjoyed though was their som tam. This was the regular som tam without the frills which was strangely not on the menu. The lime infused fish sauce concoction was outstandingly refreshing paired with a lot of textural crunch from the vegetables/papaya. Occasional mouthfuls were also infused the aroma from the dried shrimps. I even liked those bitter leaves on the side which I couldn't identify.

Polo Fried Chicken ไก่ทอดเจ๊กี(โปโล), Lumphini, Bangkok

We've read about this fried chicken shop (137/1-2 Soi Sanam Khli) that was supposed to be pretty popular with the folks here so we made our way down to see what it was about.

We ordered some som tam to whet the appetite and also as a palate balancer. If you catch my drift

I couldn't say that I disliked the fried chicken but it wasn't as spectacular as I was hoping for. Not even close. Certainly not "to die for" as claimed by certain sources. The breast meat was dry and a little tough. While it wasn't so much the case for the dark meat, those were also dryer than I had expecting. 

On the bright side, the flavours of the bird as a whole were quite nice. I liked the skin and those fried garlic bits were deliciously flavoursome. 

There were a couple of sauces provided on every table. One of them which looked spicer tasted like it was made with smoked chilli. I thought this made a really good dip for the dry breast meat.

The sticky rice was something that was recommended. I didn't think much of it and I'm not sure why it's the thing to have with the fried chicken. It was too dry to be enjoyable and not particularly aromatic. I had to eat this with their smoky chilli.

Nhong Rim Klong (ร้าน หน่องริมคลอง), Ekkamai, Bangkok

We arrived at Nhong Rim Klong (Ekkamai Soi 21, Khlong Tan Nuea, Kate Wathana, Bangkok, tel : +66 86 044 9478) ten past eleven in the morning and waited a good forty minutes or so across the road before we managed to get our seats.

While we were waiting, we were given the menu so that they could take our orders ahead.

Once we were seated, it was cha yen with a view while waiting for our orders to be served.

Or also a cha dam yen with a view. In retrospect, the cha dam yen was a better drink here.

Oh yes the view. Strangely tranquil in the pattering rain which brought a reprieve from both the heat and the smell wafting from the canal.

We had stir fried crab with Thai chilli. This was pretty good with steamed rice. The portions were generous and the flavour was also much less spicy than I had imagined. I had thought this to be lip burning but it didn't quite get that far with the heat.

To crab ourselves out further, more crab meat stir fried with egg and cabbage in fish sauce. Not bad too. It came in much larger portions than we had anticipated.

Then came the shrimp stir fried with garlic. Deveined shrimps. Simple and delicious.

Of course, all that food had to go with steamed rice.

Donuts and espresso at Dunkin' Donuts

I thought this was worth a post because of the amusingly cute little cup that Dunkin' Donuts (this was the branch at MBK if anyone was wondering) served their espresso in. It was a pretty thick bitter brew but I suppose was just the thing after those sugary donuts. I haven't had these things in a while and I actually enjoyed it. Both the coconut coated chocolate glazed and the regular sugar donut. :p

Revisiting Paste at Gaysorn

We were here at Paste last year just shortly before the Michelin Guide announced their results for Bangkok and awarded them a star. Nothing much seemed to have changed but we were informed that it would be difficult to get a table by the window without reservations these days.

Same welcome drink of bael juice. 

This was a tasty cocktail called Smokin' Heat. Clove smoked bourbon with apple juice, lime, elderflower liqueur and chilli. There was something in the flavour that reminded me of nutmeg but with so many ingredients, I couldn't be sure. It was good though.

Amuse bouche was smoked mackerel in cashew nut leaf topped with jamon and caviar.

We liked the watermelon and ground salmon salad from the last time that we ordered it again.

grilled river prawn wrapped with mulberry leaf, northern pepper-berry & topped with seasonal ants eggs - This was awesome. Quite a mix of delicious flavours going on so it's a little difficult to describe. Those ants eggs tasted like Rice Krispies.

Japanese black cod poached in duck lard with white turmeric, roasted sesame, Chinese wine and superior stock - Cod was buttery, tender and delicious with what tasted like a tangy dashi based broth that we drained. We certainly couldn't tell that it had been poached in duck lard.

green curry of wild mushroom, palm heart, pea eggplant & white turmeric - Pretty good green curry that left me spooning mouth after mouth of it like a soup. We could also taste that it was a lighter rendition than the usual green curry that we have had since it didn't have meat.

Massaman lamb curry with young Mhon Thong durian, Thai cardamom and dried coconut apple - Another kickass nutty/sweet/spicy that perfectly paired with steamed rice. The delicious lamb would have been fall of the bone tender if there was any bone in there to fall off.

Some coffee - again unsuccessfully deployed to ward off the post lunch coma.

Some petit fours of Valrhona chocolate with Thai rum. I preferred the truffles from the previous time over these.