East Indy (Sivatel Bangkok): Hotel buffet ain't so bad

I typically shy away from hotel buffet lunches but I succumbed when we only had a few hours before our flight out of Bangkok, and the sign outside of the East Indy restaurant at our hotel Sivatel boasted of "traditional street food".

We only had about 35 minutes before the restaurant closed so we headed straight for the buffet.

The appetizer selection included spicy pork with sausage, boiled egg with mixed seafood, spicy minced pork salad, pork Chinese sausage salad, green roasted chili dip and samosas.

Stir Fried Kale and Oyster Sauce, and Stir Fried Squid with Curry

Pumpkin Curry, and Braised Tofu and Egg

Fish & Chili Soup, and River Prawns with Chinese Chili Sauce

Egg Noodles with Pork and Black Pepper, and Fried Rice

Preserved cabbage soup with spare ribs had good flavors. I only wished that the soup was hotter, and that the spare ribs had some bone to it.

Dim sum selection was pretty ordinary.

My selection of appetizers were pretty good. The pork larb was spicy with a citrus zing to it. I went to town on the sliced Chinese sausage, and returned for seconds on the samosas.

I enjoyed pretty much everything here. The chili squid and prawns had good flavoring, and the pumpkin curry was quite good. The pumpkin was soft but not mushy, and the combination of the curry spices and sweetness from the pumpkin worked. The only thing on the plate I did not care for was the noodles. It had a black bean sauce that was overpoweringly sour.

For something sweet, they offer coffee and chocolate drinks.

For dessert #1, I had Vanilla ice cream with palm seeds, pineapple chunks, beans and drizzled with condensed milk. Love the creaminess and sweetness of the condensed milk with the ice cream.

Dessert # was a couple choices of kuih (little coconut and pandan cakes).

Overall, not a bad selection of food. I wouldn't say it's outstanding, but it was a good way to get a flavor of Southeast Asian cuisine when you don't want to venture out of the hotel into the heat.

East Indy @ Sivatel Bangkok
53 Wittayu Road
Lumpini Patumwan
Bangkok, 10330 Thailand

Banrie Bai Ka Prao Bork, Bangkok Thailand (where the locals dine)

On our last night in Bangkok, we met up with my friend from Singapore, who was also in town visiting a buddy who lives in Bangkok. Not only was I looking forward to seeing my friend, but I was also excited to dine out with her friend that lives in Bangkok. After a couple days of amazing street food eating, I was curious as to what the locals eat for dinner. We met up at Banrie Bai Ka Prao Bork (what a mouth full!) located near the Ekamai BTS station. The Ekamai district has a lot of bars and restaurants but is apparently where the locals and expats hang out. This place is so non-touristy that the waiters speak minimal English, and you can barely find anything about the restaurant online in English.

The restaurant has a sizable courtyard but we opted to sit inside because it was raining.

The Tom Yum soup was a great rainy day dish. The soup was filled with mushrooms, plump shrimp and chicken. I enjoyed the aromatic lemongrass flavor and the tang of the soup.

Fried kang kong (water spinach) with spicy sauce was sort of like tempura vegetables. I have only had stir fried kang kong before, not deep fried. I actually couldn't stop eating these. They were crunchy with an airy breading, but were not greasy.

The green curry chicken was fiery even though the sauce seemed deceptively watery. This spice level was what we were hoping for.

The grilled Pork was my favorite dish of the night and one of Banrie's specialties. It looked simple but the meat was cooked perfectly. The pork was so buttery and melted in your mouth. It was also adequately seasoned so you didn't need a sauce and could eat it on its own, so as to savor the porkiness.

Papaya salad with and dried shrimp. I loved the addition of the salted egg.

The Pad Thai was very tasty. This version was similar to the ones served back home, unlike the one that we got from the street vendor a few days ago. Both versions were good. Unliked the geasy Thai takeout that I get at home, everything here tasted fresh and not oily.

The Otak was not what I had expected. It looked and tasted different from the Singaporean version that is wrapped in a banana leaf. Here the fish paste and egg mixture is loaded with lots of seafood, and wrapped in foil and steamed. It was fun to dig into the dome of spicy otak to find whole mussels, crab and prawns.

The whole fish was nice and crispy on the outside. The fish was served with a spicy sauce.

To top of the night, we ended with their coffee which apparently is very popular.

Apart from the otak, the types of dishes offered didn't seem any different from you can find back in the States. However, I do have to say that everything was delicious and cooked fresh, with lots of spice and flavor.

Banrie Bai Ka Prao Bork
Sukhumvit Soi 63,
Bangkok, 10110, Thailand

Bangkok Street Food (a feast on lots of skewered animal parts)

The thing I was most looking forward to in Bangkok, was the street food. Our goal was to basically graze our way through the city. The street food in Bangkok did not disappoint. It was so good that it made us forget that this was the city where everyone was trying to scam us.

On our first night, we headed to the Kao San area. Sure it may be touristy, but we knew they had lots of street food vendors.

There were vendors serving up grilled meat parts. Lots of offal (gizzards, hearts) but also regular meats (chicken drum sticks and wings). I opted for the drum stick and gizzard skewers.

Just to be safe, don’t buy the ones that are sitting by the side of the grill. Have the guy grill you up a fresh batch. That way, you won't leave Southeast Asia with an upset stomach and bad memories.

Skewered squid was fun to eat. Very fresh and seasoned with lots of spice.

The gizzard was also seasoned with spice and chili. It was chewy, in a good way.

Pad Thai was quite different from the version we get in the States.

You can choose your type of noodles, which include not only the flat ones that we are used to. Next, you choose your main ingredients, which in my case was seafood. The seafood looked really fresh and included a nice selection of squid and prawns.

Freshly fried up with lot of spice. It was essentially fried noodles and did not have that peanut sweet taste of Pad Thai that I was accustomed to. I actually really enjoyed the Pad Thai. It tasted fresh, had good flavors and was only 50 baht (US$1.60).

Corn with sugar, condensed milk and salt was only 30baht (less than US$1). It was so delicious but yet so simple to prepare. The creaminess of the condensed milk was similar to that of creamed corn, but the corn here still held its firm texture

Perhaps my favorite street food was something we stumbled upon in Chinatown. We weren't even planning to eat anything because we were on our way to meet friends for dinner.

This wasn't even in a street food stall area. There was one sole man grilling up some pig ears and stomach on the side of the street. The portions were huge! He grilled them up, then scissored them up into to edible sizes and doused the pig parts with lots of homemade spicy chili.

If you like gnawing on cartilage, this is possibly one of the best bites you'll ever come across. The chewy pieces were so much fun to eat, and the chili was the hottest things I had eaten in the city.

The best part of the Bangkok street food that we sampled, was that the portions were small so we were able to eat all day. I really enjoyed the skewers which are a perfect bite size snack after a full day of boozing.

Scenes from Bangkok, Thailand

Some non food shots of Bangkok.

We stayed at the Sivatel Bangkok Hotel which was located in the Ploen Chit area in Embassy district. We picked it because it's popular with business travellers so we knew that they would have good amenities. It was about a couple minute walk to the train station, and only a 15 minute walk to the bustling Siam Square shopping area.
Serene infinity pool that overlooked all the office buildings.

Our room had a spacious living room area.

My favorite part of the room was the bathroom. Don't worry, there are blinds for privacy.

The hotel amenities and service was great. The complimentary breakfast buffet had a nice mixture of Western and Thai offerings. Definitely a hotel that I would recommend if you want comfort but don't mind walking about 15 minutes to the bustling part of town.

On our first day, we took a boat ride on the Chao Praya River to get acquainted with the city. You can hop on and off depending on what sights or neighborhoods you want to check out. The boat ride was pretty cool as it allowed us to absorb the scenery.

Lots of temples along the river.

The only tourist site I really saw was the famous Buddhist temple, Wat Po. This is their famous reclining Buddha.

Wat Po is also where the traditional Thai massage originated. The only reason why we decided to pop in for a massage was because the rooms were air conditioned.

Flower markets are also very popular in Bangkok.

Khmer Tasting menu at Meric, Siem Reap Cambodia

During my trip to Southeast Asia, our goal was to sample as much street food as humanly possible. However, we could not escape our love for a dining experience consisting of tasting menu and wine pairing. Meric is the upscale restaurant located in the gorgeous Hotel de la Laix in the quaint city of Siem Reap. The restaurant is named after the famous Cambodian pepper. It is serves a Khmer tasting menu which I had read over online.

The hotel is so modern and luxurious, that I got pretty jealous when I walked in. This is where I want to stay at next time I am in town!

Gorgeous outdoor patio area.

Bathrooms are amazing too.

We decided to get seats in the patio area, on their famous "swings". They are essentially chaise sofa looking seats that are suspended from the ceiling. It was fun for a while, but was a task to get on and off.

The Khmer tasting is a 7-course menu which features local Khmer cuisine. It was priced at US$33 which is a steal normally, but is considered very pricey by Cambodian standards. Wine pairing which consisted of 3 glasses of wine was an additional US$16.

There was also an ala carte menu which encompassed a more Westernized cuisine, offering dishes such as pan fried quail with crispy sweetbreads, and pistachio crusted foie gras terrine.

1. Pomolo Salad with Crispy Pork Fritter
2. Chicken and Banana Bud Salad
The first course was essentially the size of an amuse bouche. I liked the texture of the fibrous pomolo salad which was topped with salty and pungent dried shrimp and deep fried pork. Good flavors but it was hard to eat the heap of salad with a spoon and in one bite.

The second course was a salad which was rather refreshingly. The chicken was white meat and a bit dry, but it was seasoned with a lot of fish sauce. The banana and heart of palm were sliced thin and added a crunch to the salad.

3. Grilled Maam with Khmer Crudites
Maam, which is fermented fish paste cooked in banana leaf, was quite interesting in flavor. It was salty and a bit sour, and I liked its meatiness. The crudite of jicama and cucumber helped to balance out the fishiness of the Maam.

4. Prawn Sour Soup with Coconut Milk and Winter Melon
The curry had a pineapple flavor, and was rather mild and not spicy. I wonder if that is how Khmer curries usually are, or if the kitchen tempers the spice level for tourists. It was tough to eat this dish without a serving bowl. We were told to eat the rice first, then the soup, but the rice wasn't even flavored. Although the curry was lacking in spice, I liked the tang from the pineapples.

5. Stir Fried Frog Leg with Braised Ginger
The frog naturally tasted like chicken but was a bit dry. I thought the grilled frog from Pub Street that I had the night before was cooked better. There was too much ginger which was rather unbearable - there was a whole clump in my dish whilr my friend had almost none. Must have been a kitchen error.

6. Beer Shank Soup with Green Papaya
The soup looked rather ordinary but I really enjoyed it. I liked the semi-soft mild tasting radish and the meat which had a nice amount of tendon, but was still tender. The soup was even better after adding freshly squeezed lime juice, which brought a sharp acidic essence to the dish.

7. Assorted Khmer Sweets
Not sure how I forgot to take a photo of this. The selection included tapioca cake, sticky rice with 3 bean, cloudless green cake, coconut cake, and something similar to bubur cha cha (yam and sago). It was a nice smattering of desserts which were rich and sweet.

Because the courses were served in pairs, it didn't feel like a seven course tasting menu. In fact, we were done after 1.5 hrs. Not necessarily a bad thing, just that I was expecting something more progressive. Overall, it was a good way to sample the local cuisine in a gorgeous environment. It's tough to describe what Khmer cuisine is, I still am not entirely sure. But I do know that it packs flavor, and they do like their frogs here.

Meric at Hotel de la Paix
Sivutha Boulevard
Siem Reap, Cambodia
(855) 63 966 000