BKK – Lounge Tour

Had plenty of time to try a few more lounges before departing. I knew the Singapore Air lounge would be better than the EVA lounge so took my coworkers there for a few drinks and food before heading to three more, incl EVA’s just to make sure.

Miracle Lounge – chicken noodle, the chicken rice I had when got to BKK was way better even though it’s the same chicken. Broth didn’t have much flavor.

Air France lounge

Various filled pastries – I grabbed two types of chicken and an apple. They were fine

Of course only French wines

EVA – nothing special

Bangkok – Here Hai

For my last meal in Bangkok I made the 30 minute trek out to this seafood restaurant super popular with tourists and known for their crab fried rice and mantis shrimp with garlic. In true Asian fashion I was told to share a table with another solo diner, he ordered the same things as me plus the river prawn, he said it tasted more like lobster than shrimp. I had dreams of this meal equally my last dinner in Vietnam and was sadly disappointed on that front. The fried rice was awesome but didn’t have the crispy rice on the bottom that would be in a clay pot and the shrimp was out the shell so it just tasted like sauteed shrimp. I was hoping for the deep fried shell adding texture, funny since I usually don’t care about texture in my meals, and flavor. I’m glad I got there 45min before they opened and was first in line and was out the door 15 minutes after sitting down. Any longer and wouldn’t be worth the wait.

Crab Fried Rice

Mantis Shrimp with Garlic

Gian River Prawn

Bangkok – R-Haan

The last dinner in Bangkok was the fanciest. What was neat was there were five main course options that we got to pick three of each and white or brown rice to choose from. The meal started with a fun box where everything on top of the black stone was edible and a map of Thailand outlined in a slightly sweet dust. We all had the tom yum soup which was great, the other two mains I got were the tammarine paste and grouper in Thai curry. Everything was great and it was nice to have elevated Thai food, generally thought of as much cheaper comfort food. The grouper was my favorite course, I liked how the fish was perfectly cooked and gently placed inside the curry to help the fish retain its natural flavor while I could get the amount of curry sauce I desired in every bite.

Cocktail with sublimating dry ice

Northern Temptation – Croquette young jackfruit salad Northern styles
Central Voyage – Watermelon with sweet dried fish powder and crispy shallot
E-Sarn Excursion – E-sarn wagyu tartare
Sailing to the South – Marinated grilled Betong chicken
Eastern Experience – Wrapped chanthaburi rice noodle with crab roe

Star Gooseberry and Ant Eggs Salad – mashed avocado

Squid in Salted Egg Espuma

Scallop in Coconut Cream

Sweet Basil in Hot and Sour Beef Soup – pumpkin puree

Pineapple Sorbet

Tammarine Paste – Fried gourami, seasonal vegetables

Rolled Chicken Roulette – Green curry

Steamed Red-banded Grouper – Thai curry

Steamed Crab in Bamboo Joint

Ayutthaya River Prawn Tom Yum Soup

Coconut Custard with Sweet Coconut Filling – Thai tea ice cream, toddy palm cake

Mango Sticky Rice – Coconut milk ice cream

Chilled Sweet Yellow Marian Plum
Bitter Orange Macaron
Watermelon with sweet dried fish, crispy shrimp, chocolate bon bon
Coconut Cantaloupe Thai Sweetmeat

Bangkok – Spice & Barley

An easy choice near the hotel yielded an impressive dinner that while definitively more Cantonese than Thai there were influences. The Singaporean style black pepper crab had the most Thai flavors with sweet chili sauce prevalent. We loved the short rib so much got another one rather than trying a new dish, very tender and a nice complex sauce.

Mud Crab – black pepper sauce

Stir fried chicken and mushroom

Braised short rib – so good we got a 2nd one

Fried grouper

Bangkok – 100 Mahaseth

It was more pork for dinner with a bit of duck. I was solo and felt bad that I could only eat 60% of the meat and didn’t touch any of the salads after the big lunch. The pork jowl as the best, the belly was a bit too salty while the hearts didn’t have a lot of smokey flavor and the chimichurri was a bit bland. I’d love to go back and try their tasting menu that features beef tartare with bile.

Fried Pork Belly – marinated in coriander root and fish sauce, boiled shrimp paste, “Mang Da” (Giant water bug) dip,

Grilled Pork Jowl – dried chili jaew

Duck Hearts – brined in fish sauce, grilled, chimichurri

Bangkok – Tung Jai Yang (Fork Roasting) & Guay Jub Mr. Jo

After getting to the hotel late and eating a quick meal at their rooftop bar I was eager to get back to some awesome eating in this city I hadn’t been to since 2000. So much had changed, sadly since I was there for work didn’t get to explore too much. Fork Roasting was close enough that I was able to convince a coworker to make the trek even though he wasn’t hungry, yet did end up eating half of what I ordered :D. Most of the menu were all things pork cooked over coal and the char siu was legit along with the lap cheong but I think the ribs were both our favorite. The spring roll was filled with basically only creamy crab which while I appreciate the crab/filling ratio I did want to have a few other things inside the perfectly crisp wrapper. In hindsight we might’ve been able to take down the “platter of selection barbecue with vegetables” meant for more than 2 people, they’re using non-American size portions, and tried a few more cuts of their delectable pork, although tongue is the only cut I see on the a la carte menu that we didn’t try.

Crab Spring Roll

Egg Noodles with BBQ Pork

Claypot Rice – BBQ pork, Chinese sausage, egg

Honey-glazed Pork Rib

I always have a plan to maximize eating and 250m away was another roast pork specialty place. This one in siu yuk, Cantonese style pork belly. Sadly had to get take out as had to get work. At room temp it was still pretty good with the skin having a nice crunch but the fat was pretty much solidified rather than a succulent and tasty as when it’s hot.

Guay Jub Mr. Jo