Posts from the ‘Thai’ Category

Bo.lan

My Bo.lan tasting menu printed on heavy stock and an elephant-shaped swizzle stick from a Sofitel bar in Hua Hin were two of the odder things that went missing from my suitcase during baggage handling ($50 USD and my mobile phone with the adorable custom banh mi photo cover were the more ire-inducing, less unusual theft targets).

While photos and taste memories (ugh, I kind of hate that phrase) are valuable, I often rely on the printed word for dish details, especially when describing complex items with numerous ingredients. That's why I've left Bo.lan as my final vacation meal revisit (also, I get extremely pissed whenever I think about my stolen items because I have anger management problems).

This was the one and only truly upscale meal during this two-week-jaunt. If I've learned anything from traveling—I picked this up immediately on my first Asia visit to Thailand in 2003—it's that just because you can afford to indulge in fine dining (there's a thrill to having an exchange rate work in your favor) it doesn’t mean that's a good use of your time and stomach. I've always had more memorable meals in casual surroundings, especially in Thailand where high end tends to be French, Italian or toned-down beautifully garnished Thai amidst teak, reflecting pools and silk pillows.

Bo.lan, the product of a youngish couple, two chefs who worked at David Thompson’s Nahm in London, managed to present traditional cuisine in creative ways without muddying the end result or boring to death. Not easy.

I was skeptical after reading some unfavorable online chatter. Not another all style no substance fancy restaurant with prices to match. But it wasn't at all.

My only minor criticism, was that there was just too much food, a rare complaint. (Maybe I shouldn't have had that MOS Burger late lunch.) The tasting menu went well beyond tastes; the portions were generous for two and didn't come in courses-for-one Western-style, but all at once, was more like an amazing potluck. Dishes to dig into were everywhere: soups, herbs, dips, stir-fries. Not everything got enough attention from us.

I thought this was an amuse, but it was more of a pre-palate cleanser. The green liquid is pandan, juice, Thai whiskey in the background and a chile salt scattered along the front of the plate.

These were the amuses, five in all, quite a bit of amusement. The mixture in the glass was full of baby herbs and quite bitter, the creamy panang-type curry in the shell next to it balanced it out.

Crab dip, coconut-milky not cheesy, with big fat chunks of seafood. The dip-ins included okra, tiny eggplants, water apple (I'd never encountered so much water apple in a two-week period) mystery gnarly herbs and buds, a two slices of a battered, fried sausage. This, and the following main dishes were served with a scoop of jasmine rice and chewy red rice (you can have one or both).

Rabbit is not a meat I think of in Thai cuisine. But here it is paired with winter melon in a red curry. I wish I could chiffonade my lime leaves that fine.

A salty crayfish dish mixed with ground pork.

Eggplant salad with duck eggs and giant prawns. I'm remembering backwards, but I enjoyed this more than the smoked eggplant in a similar vein that I had at Fatty 'Cue recently.

A soup of your choosing (there were three options) comes at the same time as the main courses so it's hard to know what to focus on. My smoked fish soup was lukewarm before I got around to sipping it.

Rock sugar, cinnamon and fresh fruit strips in syrup. Cooling and slippery.

James and I were given different dessert samplers. His contained more cakey items and was dare I say, more masculine? Mine felt lighter and fruitier. Longans, a taro chip in the back, a sweetened coconut milk broth topped with a thicker crunchy chip and a spoonful of pandan jam and coconut shreds. I was having a hard time working through this, though I can always make room for pandan and coconut.

But it wasn't the end. The sweets were just too much. We stuffed some mini meringues and palm sugar caramels into our pockets. They were a nice surprise to find the following morning.

Bo.lan * 42 Soi Pichai Ronnarong Sukhumvit 26, Bangkok, Thailand

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Raan Jay Fai

It’s not often that I encounter a knife and fork prawn, a meaty curled specimen that’s more than three bites. Raan Jay Fai’s pad kee mao goong is full of these monster shrimp; maybe that’s why this dish commands the notoriously high 250-baht-price ($7.75 today) when you can get a plate of drunken noodles for a fraction of that elsewhere in Bangkok.

These wide rice noodles are seared with a crisper bin worth of vegetables: shiitakes, strips of carrot and red pepper, fat snap peas and wedges of a sweet crunchy root that I’m 85% sure was taro though it lacked the tell tale mauve speckles.

The charcoal-fueled flames waiting for a wok.

Rows of condiments waiting to be used. I had heard about long lines and crowds but the open-air restaurant was next to empty shortly after their 4pm opening.

Raan Jay Fai * 327 Mahachai Rd., Bangkok, Thailand

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Chote Chitr

Even though most English you’ll hear in Bangkok is marked by an Australian or German accent, you still might end up dining next to the vocal American foodie. It’s uncanny.

We were thankful to have finally been able to try Chote Chitr, the much lauded, no secret to anyone, 90-plus-year-old Thai restaurant in Banglamphu. We were thwarted our first day in Thailand when we trekked over to find a closed gate, no explanation. It wasn’t until our last night in the country, two weeks later, post-Hua Hin and Penang, that we were able to get back to that neighborhood and hope for the best. It turns out that they are only open for dinner, 18:00 posted on the backside of their sidewalk chalkboard.

We were excited. The only downside was knowing we wouldn’t be able to eat more than three dishes unlike at Sripraphai where we always over order in anticipation of leftovers. I’m more about choosing wildly than wisely.

Meanwhile, we were getting a reverse Park Slope from the table across from us. Instead of parents demonstrating their genius aloud, teaching their toddlers algebra in the subway or color theory in Ikea, this adult expat child was schooling his visiting parents (and girlfriend) on the right things to order. Shut up, foodie?

Maybe I was just being overly sensitive because he dismissed our order of mee krob, one of Chote Chitr’s signature dishes that he declared, “popular but too sweet.” It Is sweet, the noodles are practically candied. But if you’re going to sample this often maligned, nay ignored (I didn’t think it existed in NYC, though I checked and it is on the menu at Sripraphai. I’ve never heard anyone mention it) preparation, you really do want the non plus ultra mee krob, a designation assigned to Chote Chitr’s rendtion by numerous publications. Just yesterday, I read yet another convincing testament on a CNNgo.com post about five forgotten Thai classics.

Here is gaucheness on a plate. Are you over it yet? It is unusual, a tangled ball of crispy sweet and slightly sour noodles, sliced green onions, bean sprouts and mustard-type greens on the side. Apparently, the ingredient that makes this mee krob unique is peel from som saa, a green bitter citrus fruit that like many Asian fruits is non-existent in the US.

The banana blossom salad is another classic that isn’t ubiquitous in the US. Though the dressing looks creamy, this was the hottest dish we were served, the coconut milk barely tempering the chiles. Bits of chicken and shrimp are tossed with the shredded banana flowers and the pile is topped with fried shallots.

We ordered the crispy bacon with green beans because all vacation we had been looking for an equivalent to Sripraphai’s crispy pork with chile and basil (as well as the crispy watercress salad—I’ve deduced that it’s an invention not a standard). This was more like Chao Thai’s crispy pork pad prik khing, and it was awesomer because while essentially the same dish everything was amplified. The meat had a richer, porkier flavor, there were more lime leaves that I see used in Queens and with a brighter citrus taste, the dish was also less salty while more fish saucey at the same time.

I like to think that there are scores of restaurants in Bangkok with an adherence to tradition and quality while offering such a voluminous menu, and that they’re lesser known only because they aren’t English-friendly. Maybe, maybe not. Either way, Chote Chitr is definitely notable and repeat-visit worthy. My only fear is that if I stayed in Bangkok long enough I might just become the opinionated foodie at the table.

Chote Chitr * 146 Thanon Phraeng Phuton, Bangkok, Thailand

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Suan Lum Night Bazaar

When I was planning my original not-to-be trip to Thailand for November 2008, I kept reading how the Suan Lum night bazaar was on the verge of closing and it could happen at any moment.  The sprawling, less dense and slightly less skin scalding (though no less humid) than Chatuchak night market in the center of Bangkok, lost its lease in 2007. Yet it was still there in 2008 even though I couldn’t get into Suvarnabhumi, and it was still there in March 2010 when I finally did make it to Bangkok.

I wasn’t there to bargain or shop (James bought a “Prada” wallet) though I did spy some very cool shoes. I really liked those colorful oxford flats. However, I gave up on trying to buy clothing and shoes in SE Asia long ago (I had my eye out for Fat Story, supposedly at Suan Lum, at the very least for a photo op). It’s not worth the humiliation—if you’re larger than an American size 8 in either shoe or dress I suggest you find other pursuits in Thailand.

Like eating. Suan Lum has a food court/beer garden with an enormous amount of seating and a large stage with a video monitor to showcase the er, entertainment. James said it all, “I’ve never heard so much bad singing in public.” True, no shame from Filipino cover bands at hotel lounges, the blind with microphones shuffling through tourist markets or the highly choreographed, costumed dance routines of the bands performing tone deaf Thai pop at Suan Lum. It hurts less when you can’t understand the words.

But it’s all good fun. The food, I suspect is pricier than what you could get off the street and toned down a notch for foreigners, but is still quite tasty and hardly a rip off. Plus, there’s lots of beer and those outdoor misters you encounter all over Thailand and Malaysia that don’t even come close to approximating air conditioning but you’re thankful for anyway. You will never be able to stop sweating completely, maybe even if you lived there for a decade. I don’t think we spent more than $10 in newsprint stapled together tickets, which you buy from one booth and get your remainder refunded at another window upon leaving.

I really took a shining to som tam this vacation. I don’t think I’ve eat so much papaya salad in a two-week period. This seafood-laded version could’ve been spicer, though I might not have realized how demure it was if we hadn’t just been pummeled by what I’d expected to be a run-of-the-mill street version in a go-go bar corner of Hua Hin.

The same stand also had fried pork neck with a chile dipping sauce. So simple and fatty, perfect drinking food.

I didn’t eat any pad thai in Thailand. It was probably good. I was just shying away from the obvious American choice. I do wonder if that’s an American thing or a if pad thai is the most popular dish everywhere outside Thailand.

Oyster omelet was a random choice. It’s not my favorite dish; even good versions are kind of greasy, filling and starchy. I bought a bottle of Heinz chili sauce, also called sriracha but slightly sweeter and more orange than the popular Huy Fong brand (yes, Vietnamese-American) condiment in the states.  Maybe I’ll attempt this eggy dish at home.

I’m not even sure what they were selling at Staek House.

There was no question what they were slinging at French Fries.

Suan Lum Night Bazaar * Corner of Wireless and Rama IV Rds., * Bangkok, Thailand

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Gai Yang Boran

Dismayed by the no-explanation gate down at Chote Chitr, Bangkok’s most un-secret hole-in-the-wall (apparently, they do not open until 6pm despite dinner and lunch being touted in most reference sources) and first-day-in-the-tropics heat-shocked, plan B lunch became Gai Yang Boran, a rare air conditioned restaurant in the Saochingcha district. Import Foods’ handy map and guide proved very useful (as did James’ Blackberry—traveling is so different with online maps and GPS. My smartphone did not work internationally and I shouldn’t have even bothered bringing it as it got stolen out of my luggage. Three phoneless weeks later and I’m still quite angry about this and too frugal to buy a replacement).

I didn’t realize gai yang and som tum were so popular in Bangkok. The common Northeastern twosome (sticky rice rounding out a perfect trinity) were everywhere on the street, food courts and non-touristy yet comfortable bilingual menu restaurants like this place.

Of course we ordered the grilled chicken. Supposedly, the chickens are farm-raised and the sweet chile sauce is made in-house. Thai chickens are scrawnier and more flavorful than our typical grocery store birds. Notice the plain rice in the background—I didn’t think to specify sticky rice when ordering.

A salty, hot, catfish salad with lots of roasted rice powder. I was imagining that fluffy fried style but this was more pulverized.

Pork larb was springy, wonderful and punishing.

This was where we were introduced to the concept of “Can you eat spicy food?” This is typically what you’ll be asked if the staff speaks a little English  (when they didn’t, they often held up a chile pepper instead to see if you shake your head yes or no). Not do like it but can you physically handle it as if the ability to eat hot food were an inborn trait. I’m sure there are more sophisticated full sentence ways to explain yes, I can eat it, but I stuck with “chawp pet,” which roughly translates to I like spicy. It seemed to work even if I felt like I was using caveman speak.

Gai Yang Boran * 474-476 Thanon Tanao, Bangkok, Thailand

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