A musical interlude

A briyani poori set

It's been a little while since my last Indian meal so again, I've hit the rather convenient Komala's for their oil heavy vegetarian meals. This time round, it was their briyani poori set which consisted of their vegetarian briyani and a couple of the air filled puri. Nothing very unexpected from what I've gotten here, but I wished that they were more generous with their raita which made the rice go down a lot faster. That's not to say that the briyani was no good at all. In fact, the old Gardenia tagline on TV advertisements applied more appropriately to them rather than those generic white loaves.

My papadum was not crispy again today.

Black spicy ramen from Keisuke's Tonkotsu King

I think I prefer the original. This black spicy rendition tasted peppery, but it didn't much enhance the experience or flavours for the broth. This time round, there seemed to be more oil floating at the top too.

L'Occitane Cafe, Peninsula Plaza, Bangkok

We started the first meal of this trip at a cafe and coincidentally ended in a last meal with one as well just before we made our way to the airport. It partially out of convenience and also that I've heard that the beef noodles here were good that we landed up at this place (153 Rachadamri Road, Lumphini, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330) for lunch after dropping our belongings at the concierge.

But I ended up with a braised ox tongue with butter rice.

This was actually not bad. The tender and chewy ox tongue came with a light tomato sauce which tasted slightly beefy. Made a sufficient meal that wasn't too heavy since that butter rice didn't quite taste of butter and light was something I was really looking for before the return flight.

A breakfast of duck kuey teow at Otoko market

This was a real breakfast of braised duck rice noodles that we got in the morning. Not the type that we normally grab during lunch because we didn't wake up early enough for a real one. For 50 baht, it was a relatively cheap. The portions were pretty small as well. Gotta admit it was quite good though. It came with cubes of duck blood. This was one of those things we saw people eating around at the market and it didn't take us too long to decide to get us a bowl.

Their kuey teow was a little chewy that I had initially mistaken them for a thinner version of mee pok. The broth was a mix of sweet and savoury with an umami depth. If that made sense. All in all, a comforting breakfast that we didn't expect to find. This market will be location marked for returns.

Fireplace Grill, InterContinental Bangkok, Bangkok

There were definitely encouraging signs that this place (InterContinental Bangkok, 973 Ploenchit Road, Bangkok 10330, tel : + 660 2656 0444 ) could be good from the start. For one, it was located conveniently within strolling distance from where we were staying. The ambiance was good and the menu looked like that of a serious steakhouse that didn't attempt to confuse with variety. Service was pretty sharp. They even had some superlative award on display right near the front door by Thailand Tatler for 2011. All encouraging omens right until the moment the food arrived.

The bread was ok. There was a small variety for selection and they came with unsalted butter. I would definitely have preferred the salted ones.

Amuse bouche was a shrimp with salsa. This was ok as well. Nothing much to talk about here.

Some of us tried the caramelised onion soup with cognac because it was listed as a signature item. There were even little symbols on the menu indicating that it was a food item that contains alcohol. When the soup arrived, all that fanciful description on menu was reduced into a pretty singular dimensional French onion soup with toasted cheese topped baguette. Not one of the better ones I've had.

The biggest bummer was their prime rib. The meat was a little to close to rare for a medium rare, suffered from poor distribution of fat and lacked flavor. Even on the caps and the edges where most of the salt and rubbings went. This one tasted pretty bland. The meat in the middle was a little sinewy and could not even be redeemed by the jus they had provided. Their crispy Yorkshire pudding and vine ripen tomatoes were safe to say, the best tasting items on the plate. For the first time ever, I've left my prime rib unfinished.

Wait, there's more....the creamed spinach they had one the side were merely boiled spinach in a cream sauce. Nothing like I imagined and tasted lousier than the microwaved stuff I've had on plane. In response, I'm giving this place a pass for ever. I had xpected much better for what they charged. You know, I had much better tasting roast beef at Javier's.