Swedish Crayfish Party at Ikea

This was a event that was hosted by Ikea and it ran for a good deal at $10 per person for members with all you can eat crayfish which is supposed to be in season now. They're all chilled and dill-ed by the way. I had actually secretly been hoping that they were served hot but I guess it was simply not possible setting those up for so many people at a time. I think I managed a couple of dozens before I got tired and checked out the other stuff that they had included in the spread like some savoury salmon cakes and some shrimp and mussel salad. Most of the other food were items that could be gotten from their cafeteria anyway.

I thought this was quite well organized on the part of Ikea. Even if it was marred by a bunch of almost rabid aunties heaping their plates like there was no tomorrow. They looked almost feral.

Smith, Sukhumvit, Bangkok

Smith (1/8 Sukhumvit Soi 49, Sukhumvit Road, North Klongton, Wattana Bangkok 10110, tel : +66 2 261 0515) was another of those nose to tail dining places headed by a Ian Kittichai, a Thai celebrity chef of apparently impressive resume. Like Georges V in Paris, French Laundry in Napa Valley, El Bulli in Spain and Four Seasons Chinzan-so in Tokyo to name some.

The menu is international, nice label I must learn to use by the way, and featured foraging and purchase of ingredients from sustainable sources. Rustic was also the name of the game they play here. Quite similar to Quince and to a certain extent, Linguini Fini. I'm guessing that the root influence is Fergus Henderson?

Some drinks to whittle the time away while waiting for food. This was a beer cocktail of lager, strawberry and cinnamon. I think a little more cinnamon was in order.

I forgot what was this drink, but it came with a stick of grapes and cheese rolled around figs.

Some time was spent also staring at the empty plates occasionally while people watching. And twiddling of thumbs.

House bread was served finger burning hot with garlic butter. Pretty good bread.

Amuse bouche. I don't know what this was. It had cheese, some fruit jam and dried meat. Couldn't understand what the waitress said neither. It looked interesting, but didn't taste like so much.

First starter was tuna, bits of braised pig tails and a foie gras torchon along with a scattering of florets of some vegetable/greens. This tasted like how it looked, which meant that it was pretty okay.

While this was called a mini spicy haggis, it didn't quite look like any haggis I've seen nor did it exactly taste like what I had expected. This tasted like a spiced up gamey, livery sausage. Which would have been okay if they had called it just that. The little square at the bottom was sweet potato puree which was almost insignificant in portion. It was pretty tasty though. This would probably be a contender to be Chopped.

Timing at the kitchen needed plenty of work. We waited so long after the starters that I decided to order another cocktail to help pass the time ingesting something. This drink sounded very interesting on the menu. Something about lush and aromatic forests and raspberry vodka and cognac and fresh grapes and figs and rosemary and citruses being shaded with sparkling wine. Hell, it even looked pretty in a sylvan way. 

It tasted of almost nothing the menu described. Just cheap vodka and ice. Not even a tiny bit of rosemary. I had to console myself by eating the thinly sliced sheets of grape in the lousy drink.

Smith's Black Label Burger has nothing at all to do with Pat LaFrieda. It's a black label obviously because of the squid ink brioche. The gimmicky Australian wagyu patty was not very good at all. The texture was nothing to talk about and the meat wasn't as flavourfully juicy as I was hoping for. Should have forgone wagyu and opted for regular aged beef with a nice fat to meat ratio which would have seriously elevated the burger experience. So would getting rid of that nasty salad that served no purpose but mess up the palate.

Cheese and meat and perhaps some onions/pickles would have sufficed. This here looks to me like doing too much and ruining a good thing without even trying hard to do too much.

A small upside was that the fries were actually darn good. Dry crisp exterior and hot moist insides.

The name of the steak just sounded cool. In fact, everything about this was pretty good except for the kiwi marinade that they used, which kinda killed it for me. It added a dimension onto the hanger steak that I personally would have preferred without. It was otherwise, a nice piece of meat. Pretty hefty one too sitting atop some cheesy polenta. As a beef lover (I shall avoid the word purist), I condemn the marinade.

Just some Brussels sprouts and Parmesan shavings here.

All in all, I thought it was a pity. I thought that I would have liked the food. Idiosyncrasies and preferences aside, their menu tried to be adventurous with flavours and were not successful with those attempts while blotching certain fundamentals. That was especially so for the hobbit cocktail, burger and haggis wannabe.  It made me feel that the exercise here was gearing towards style than substance.

The lamb of rack across at the next table looked and smelled so darned good. 

MK Gold Restaurant, Central World, Bangkok

I was recommended to the MK group of restaurants, a Thai-Chinese steamboat chain by a co worker. So Googling came up with the most convenient location at disposal at Central World. Incidentally, there were two of the MK restaurants located there. The regular MK Restaurant which is located almost everywhere in Bangkok and the MK Gold Restaurant (6th Floor Central World, Rama 1 Road, Prathumwan, Bangkok Central 10330) which was the pricier of the two and also the one which had a eat all you can deal in 90 minutes for 449 baht. Which sounded like quite a good deal. 

We quite liked this. The food was certainly fresh tasting and aside from the steamboat ingredients that one could order a la carte style, there were  dim sum, drinks and desserts.

One thing to note though - what the menu described as thinly sliced beef which we loaded up on were actually those that most of us would know as shabu styled beef; while their shabu beef was actually much thicker sliced ones that had been bicarbonated to death - having lost all the natural flavours of the meat. Their pork was also pretty tasty, turning ivory white after a few good swooshes in the bubbling pot.  Forget the spinach noodles. Get the siew mai with roe. Shrimps were pretty good.

We missed out on the roasted duck which seemed to be one of their popular items to order, but that would have been too much food.

Quince Eatery and Bar, Sukhumvit, Bangkok

A couple of trendy words like 'nose to tail dining' and 'locavore' were associated with Quince (Sukhumvit soi 45, Bangkok, tel : +66 2 662 4478) which was opened last year. Yes, these were one of those people whom are concerned with the details and ethics of their ingredient sources, use every part of the animal possible, support local organic produce and love going seasonal that the menu constantly evolves. This place had apparently generated quite a bit of buzz for itself 

So I'm just here to check out the food which was created from a mash of influences and started by an Australian chef, Jess Barnes who's an ex vegetarian and had actually left the restaurant earlier this year.

Amuse bouche was rather.....insipid. Cucumber, mayo and chives crostini. It tasted like how it looked.

The melon + curd starter they had was a nice interpretation of the more traditional Italian tomato, basil and buffalo Mozzarella salad. There was sweetness from the honeydew and tomatoes along with the tart from the Balsamic vinegar lightly cloaked in the flavours of olive oil and melting lime sorbet. And then salt and pepper. I liked this.

These lamb samosas were amazing. Served piping hot with juicy minced lamb that was full with the lamb-y flavours, each mouthful was a debate between tzatziki or no tzatziki. This was one warm starter that tasted wayyyy better than it looked. The influence here was clearly Middle Eastern.

The quail eggs were well, just quail eggs. Albeit ones that are deep fried with a slightly crispy skin sitting in a very deliciously milky sweet potato puree sprinkled with chorizo shreds. It was more puree than foam as the menu had described.

And next, unctuous rich and generous portions of bone marrow on more toast and capers parsley. I need not describe this further. The portions were pretty large and needless to say, we were marrowed down. Hahahaha....

Thankfully, we held back and only ordered one main which was a tomato and basil flavoured pasta. The crab meat was freshly sweet amidst all the other flavours, which apart from the salt and pepper, was a simple trinity of its own.

A filler side of polenta with shaven Parmesan cheese. There was too little cheese so we had to ask for more which then, did the job. Lovely filler.

This dessert was a special that's off the regular menu. It tasted addictively good. For most of us, it would register as something akin to wasabi, creamy and sweet; balanced off by the fruity tart of the jam.

Quince is located in soi 45 off Sukhumvit Road. So if you're strolling down from Phrom Phong BTS, just look out for Casa Pagoda from the main street and you'll be able to spot it just at the back.

Som Tam Nua, Siam Square, Bangkok

I noticed this place (392/14 Soi Siam Square 5, Rama 1 Road. Tel +66 (0) 22 51 4880) while wandering the streets of Siam Square in the last trip and decided to give them a try. Apparently, they were awarded the best som tam by CNNGo's Best Eats in 2010 and have been around for about a decade. As the name of the restaurant may imply, they specialise, I use the word loosely here, in som tam; offering multiple variants of the popular papaya salad here.

The lunch crowd here was pretty intense and it was a good thing that we arrived shortly before the main bulk arrived.

The dishes here were pretty affordable, served in small manageable portions that were ideal for sharing. For those that may not be able to man up to the heat, their Earl Grey latte was pretty much the only drink that helps quell all that spice.

We had a pork liver salad. The livers in slivers were well cooked that it was neither under done nor overly so. The flavour was dominantly spicy, sour and savory. I liked this.

And there was a lemon grassy pork which arrived like a salad too. This particular dish had delicious soft cloves of garlic.

Well received were their grilled and sliced pork collar, with a nice thin caramalization on the outside while retaining juices in the meat. Delicious too.

Moving along, came a deep fried fish. I don't eat deep fried fish so often, so I don't know if they're considered great. But I thought it was well done, drained of excessive oil and very crispy to boot.

Of course, we had to give their claim to fame a go. These was what was described as the Thai som tam on the menu. The servers had explained that the regular one was spicier compared to this one. The salad still packed a mild heat, but what we really liked about this one was the very invigorating flavour from the lime. The mild heat and salt along with the medley of textures that came from the ingredients made it a very refreshing salad. Yes, that definitely included the crispy deep fried pork rinds as well.

Food Plus, Siam Square, Bangkok

Great little lane that joins Soi 5 and Soi 6 down in Siam Square. A stretch of long tables runs down this section of the sheltered alley with food stalls flanking both sides of those tables. Food is cheap and catered to the working crowd in the vicinity with petite sized meals can be had for as little as 50 baht. 

More khao kha moo can be found here. This had leaner meat that wasn't directly from the knuckle. Delicious too if I may say. 

And a stall that serves a tasty and umami braised duck rice noodles in soup. It came with gizzards, fish balls and addition portions of duck blood curds. The flavour was crisp and clear. I'd eat this again in a heartbeat.

A side of a lemon grassy hok mok (Thai otah), fried egg and stir fried bitter gourd.

And chicken rice that is served with deep fried meat from the thigh. This was as the whole pretty good in spite of the fact that the rice was in no way on par in terms of flavour with the one at Siam Paragon.

The surprising find in this street food stretch was one of two coffee stalls that sold coffee brewed from freshly ground beans. The beans were measured and then ground by to order, brewed from a machine and flavoured with evaporated milk. It puts the regular brew at Starbucks to shame. Don't just take my word for it, try it for yourself.