A diamond in August

So here is Lawry's traditional lump crab cake which we have never had before to accompany our prime rib dinner.  It's not as expensive as the delicious ones Morton's or even Wooloomooloo's. That could be because as soon as the brought it out, the smell reminded me distinctively of Sea Shanty's. After popping one of those breaded crab cakes into my mouth, I realised that these things tasted like Sea Shanty's as well! Albeit one that has bits of crab meat in them. I couldn't say that I was surprised.

Some eats from the food court at Platinum Mall

Here're some pork with rice from level 6 at Platinum Mall (222 Petchaburi Road, Ratchathevee, Bangkok 10400).

The above was a khao kha moo that came with generous bits braised in collegen, fats and tender meat from pork trotters (along with bits of bone) in a light and tasty umami sauce. This was delicious and the accompanying fish sauce with small sliced green chilli couldn't have been better pairing for an additional kick of flavors, though one must be generally cautious of the heat they pack.

Below was something that was described as red pork and I guess it was just how Thailand attempts char siew. This rendition on rice wasn't so impressive and had meat that tasted nothing like those I've previously tried at Otoko market.

 

Bird's nest was sold as well, but it wasn't flavored with pandan so it tasted a little unusual. I'm not sure much of it is real though since it wasn't expensive. 

Zanotti, Bangkok

This was a pretty disappointing dinner. I suppose I had been expecting more since this was suppose to be a talked about place and I had the idea that if it's so much on the wire, there has to be something about them that was great. The only thing about Zanotti that looked appealing was the ambiance.

I didn't like the way starters were pre-made. The porcini and mushroom soup along with the eggplant with anchovies along with the amuse bouche were served so quickly that I hadn't even touched the first loaf from the bread bowl before they all had arrived. Lukewarm.  There was a primi piatti described as a creamy lamb pasta that was creamy in neither taste nor texture. The lamb had also lost all it's natural flavour drowned in rosemary. Drowning food in rosemary is incidentally one of my pet peeves.

Their Castelmagno cheese risotto wasn't something I could get exited about as well. It became a little two dimensional before long. This I suppose was not their fault.

There were too much wait staff standing around and service was at best, ineffective.

Such a pity and waste of time.

 

A death of Spiderman in Bangkok

I bought this Krispy Kreme donut solely because it was amusingly dressed up to look like Marvel's iconic web slinger. I had no idea what flavour it was. I just wanted to eat it. Hahahaha......

 

So there you go, I've taken a bite and drew first blood on the jaws of Peter Parker. I win.  It was a red chocolate coated donut with strawberry jam fillings.

Nara Thai Cuisine, Central World, Bangkok

This visit to Nara Thai Cuisine (7th Floor, Beacon Zone, Central World, tel : +662 613 1658-9) was unplanned. It was getting late and we were just looking for a place to dinner, quite desperately while roaming and getting lost in Central World. I'm going to venture a guess that it is largely targeted at either tourists like us and the locals that are a bit more affluent since it was a rather nice setup in a large mall in the middle of town. The presentation was more refined and food was pricier than what could be had in the streets or food courts.

It's kinda like eating at Grandma's.

The first item was basically a som tum (green papaya salad) with roasted pork belly. I don't remember if I've ever had them before, but these were pretty good in a refreshing tangy and savoury manner. The raw-ish looking green beans didn't taste as raw as it had looked while the roast pork, which was pretty ordinary, just added texture to the bed of crunchiness.

The menu described this as a sambal fried rice with caramelized pork. The bits of pork were definitely not caramelized were actually pretty soggy and boring. The salted egg however was a nice touch and the small fried shrimps on the top were thumbs up fragrant.

We had our first and only tom yam goong on this trip. As common as they are back home, these always seem to taste smoother in Thailand where there seemed more harmony in the sour, heat and sweetness.

And my favourite (still) Thai dessert, an order of khao neow mamuang. The mango was sweet with a hint of sour and juicy; paired with firm and moist glutinous rice in the coconut sauce. Some day, I'm going to try to make a full meal out of it.

Streetside roti

If anyone was wondering, these were quite commonly found in the streets of Bangkok. They are exactly the same fried pastry that is commonly known as roti prata in Singapore or roti canai in Malaysia. These pastries which are freshly fried in margarine have beaten eggs and banana inside the crust and are later topped with drizzles of condense milk and sugar. Pretty yummy.