Thailand Day 20Pak Boong Loy Fa, Pattaya
I've walked by this place several times until I finally sat down to give it a try. I actually went twice already since then, but the first time I didn't have my camera with me when I had a green seafood curry sizzling on a hot pan. That curry was so amazing that I came back and ordered this hot and sour fish that was served in a fish shaped pan over a small fire.
I've eaten great here both times but I would recommend having an Imodium ready if you have a bit of a sensitive stomach like I do since the dishes here are rather spicy.
Thailand Day 19Fondue Bourguignonne at Restaurant Swiss Food
In Soi Diamond, a cross street to the famous walking street in Pattaya, there's at least one more other swiss restaurant besides Swiss Food. I got introduced to this place by my good friend and real estate agent, Tommi.This time I brought my friends Andrew and Muchi and we ordered a fondue bourguignonne.
Unlike the cheese fondue, you don't dip bread into cheese, instead you'll cook beef in the boiling oil and then dip it into your favorite sauce. There's a selection of different sauces arranged on your plate around the raw bite-sized beef pieces.
The fondue at Restaurant Swiss Food tastes great! I can't remember I had such a good one before in Switzerland. It's served together with a bowl of french fries, which are very good as well.
We've ordered Tommi's favorite bottle of red wine here, the Puglia Primitivo from italy.Restaurant Swiss Food175/29 Soi DiamondPattaya
Thailand Day 18Kiss Food & Drink
This place is a bit like Denny's in the US besides the fact that they do serve good food here. At least the thai dishes taste very fine, I haven't tried the burgers or wienerschnitzel which they also offer on their menu.The kitchen is open around the clock and the outdoor seating is quite interesting to watch the people go by at 4 in the morning.
From my last visit I also remember it from sitting there at a table with very heavy tropical rain outside. It's quite fun eating here while watching the water level on the streets rise.Because Kiss Food & Drink never closes, it seems to attract quite a few 'farangs' (westerners) with their thai 'girlfriends'. While the guy can eat his cheeseburger here, she'll be more happy to order a spicy som tam (papaya salad).
This time, we ordered a deep fried snapper and a ruby fish, which is a hybrid fish raised in the northern parts of thailand, originally an idea by the king to feed the people up north. I like their way of deep frying fish a lot as it's not greasy, the meat stays tender and the outside gets nice and crispy. The meat gets easily scraped off with a spoon and tastes great with a few drops of chili infused fish sauce.
Thailand Day 17Casa Pascal
What can I say... This is probably still my favorite restaurant in the world! Pascal is originally from Korea but got adopted by a swiss family when he was a small child. He was raised in Lucerne, Switzerland, followed by a long journey (chef in Hong Kong, head of the kitchen at the Dusit in Thailand) and now has his own restaurant in Pattaya, Thailand.His food is fantastic! While some recipes are very sophisticated like his goose liver terrine for example, you'll also find simple and hearty dishes on his menu like beef stew, wild mushroom risotto and spaghetti.
The dishes are perfectly prepared and amaze me every time I go there. I keep finding myself asking the question why his dishes taste so great! It's a new experience each and every time!A very special occasion is the sunday brunch as well, which happens only from october through march I believe. Simply put, it's by far the best brunch buffet I've ever seen!The restaurant itself offers a very warm and friendly atmosphere, beautifully lit, with lots of attention to small details.Casa Pascal is a 'must' if you like to treat yourself to a great evening of fantastic food prepared by master chef Pascal and his wonderful wife, Kim.Casa Pascal485/4 Moo 10, Second RoadPattayawww.restaurant-pattaya.com
Our bottle of Amarone gets decantered and warmed over a candle.
Still one of my favorite red wines, the Amarone is a full-bodied italian treat!
Amuse bouche, fresh crab cake.
Pascal's famous goose liver terrine. Amazing!
Maybe the best ravioli I've had in the last 10 years, with goose and beans filling.
A wonderful risotto with black truffles.
Creme brulee, with orange slices inside. It was good, but the desserts are not Pascal's highlights.
A good espresso with very delicous cookies made by Pascal as well.
Thailand Day 16Nang Nual Seafood, Pattaya
This is one of the oldest restaurants in Pattaya and it's famous for its amazing selection of very fresh seafood of all kinds: lobsters, crabs, prawns, mussels, oysters, you name it.It's located directly on the busy and famous "Walking Street" in Pattaya, but what you might not notice first is, that it has a nice outside seating directly above the ocean.
Everything goes by weight. You get a plastic basket, choose your seafood and then give it to them to measure the weight. They'll recommend a way of preparing your food, steamed, grilled, with or without sauce. Since the seafood at this place is always so fresh, I like my food prepared without any special ingredients, usually just grilled and then sprinkled with lemon juice.
Another highlight is the vegetable buffet. The same concept applies as for the seafood, you choose your veggies, put them in a basket and they'll "wok" them for you. The veggies here are always perfectly prepared, never overcooked and very crunchy.Nang Nual is not cheap though for a seafood place in Thailand, especially if you're ordering some of their big lobsters. But you'll get the freshest and best ever!
Tiger Prawns. My favorite!
Many types of fish. I chose a cotten fish grilled while wrapped in banana leaves.
Weighing a crab.
A lobster on the scale.
Picking from many types of vegetables.
After you choose, they'll "wok" the veggies. Delicious!
Thailand Day 15Breakfast at Dynasty Inn, Bangkok
For the longest time, I tried to stick to western style breakfast, toast, eggs, bacon etc. since I never thought hot soup to be an appropriate breakfast. But I'm slowly starting to convert and even add extra chili!This simple thai breakfast is a clear soup with boiled rice, pork, chicken, shrimp or squid with a few chopped up spring onions and roasted garlic. I've also chosen to add an egg which gets added raw into the hot soup.I find that type of breakfast very soothing and relaxing for the stomach, as long as it's not too spicy. But I still ordered a side of toast and jam and some coffee to wake up ;-)Speaking of the Dynasty Inn, I should also add here that I like to stay at their hotels quite a bit. They're also offering a free shuttle service between their hotels in Bangkok and Pattaya as long as you stay a minimum of 2 nights. They're very well located with clean rooms at about 25$/night in Bangkok and 30$/night in Pattaya. The 24-hour restaurant at the Dynasty Inn in Bangkok serves some great thai food too! As always, feel free to email me if you'd like to get some more info.Dynasty Inn, BangkokSukhumvit Soi 4 (Soi Nana)next to the big Nana Entertainment Complexwww.dynastyinn.com
Thailand Day 13
Muchi's Chicken
A few nights ago, Andrew's and Muchi's kitchen was once again in action and Muchi made a very nice filled chicken for a few guests we had. The recipe came out of a japanese book, so I won't try to translate it here for you.
Back in LA, I've prepared a few filled chicken recipes as well. You might want to click here or here to take a look.
Gianni Ristorante
In terms of italian restaurants in Bangkok, you'll find quite a few. Some of them are really great, like Zanotti for example. But since I've been there several times already, we went to another place this time, called Gianni.
The atmosphere is upscale, the prices not as high as at Zanotti. The duck liver appetizer I had was around $10, the venison main dish about $15.
As always, it gets very expensive with the wine. Wine prices in Thailand are high already anyway, making it even more noticable in a restaurant.
The food was good, even though not great. While the duckliver was fantastic, the raspberry sauce that was a bit too sweet for my taste, could have been a bit more subtle. The venison with the walnut crust was nice too, but again, something was missing to make it perfect.
Maybe I'm just a bit too picky right now about italian food after visiting New York last month where we've eaten some of the best italian food ever! But then again, the numbers on the bill were quite different as well!
Thailand Day 12Beard Papa
What a weird name! This place specialized in doing cream puffs originally comes from japan. The first time I had one of those was in L.A. when Mizue brought over a few delicious puffs to our place. To find out more about the locations, check out their website www.muginohousa.com.Walking through Siam Paragon with Muchi the other day, we were pleasantly surprised to see a little Beard Papa shop there. If you're one of those knowing Muchi, then you know how much she loves sweets and that's the beginning of an addiction.
They cost about 1$ each and are filled with cream right when you order them so they don't get mushy. A must try!
I've walked by this place several times until I finally sat down to give it a try. I actually went twice already since then, but the first time I didn't have my camera with me when I had a green seafood curry sizzling on a hot pan. That curry was so amazing that I came back and ordered this hot and sour fish that was served in a fish shaped pan over a small fire.
I've eaten great here both times but I would recommend having an Imodium ready if you have a bit of a sensitive stomach like I do since the dishes here are rather spicy.
