Suda

We headed over to Suda tonight just down Sukhumvit Soi 14. It was a normal open air Bangkok restaurant the only difference was it was full of foreigners.

 This is usually a sign to stay away, but we had read many good reviews of the place and were told that it was authentic, tasty Thai food. Here's what we ate:

This was fried red curry with beef. The beef was tender but lacked much of its own flavor. The red curry was a standard medium spicy Thai red curry much like you get a Thai restaurants throughout the world.

Verdict: T: Mediocre. /J: Very average.

The spicy charcoal pork salad was predictably very spicy. However, it lacked the tang of lime juice that is normal for these types of salads. The pork was cooked well, tender and flavorful, however was not charcoaly. The dressing was a little dull.

Verdict: T: Not as good as other Thai salads. /J: Desperately needed a tang.

The fried white snapper in a sweet chili sauce was a very firm mild fish. The breading was light and crisply fried. The sauce was slightly sweet, but not overpoweringly so. The sliced chilies lent an alternative flavor dimension to the dish.

Verdict: T: The sauce made all the difference /J: Tasty and well prepared.

The asparagus fried in oyster sauce was poorly cooked. Asparagus should be slightly cooked to remain crisp or soft enough to take on the flavor of the sauce. This asparagus was somewhere in between and the oyster sauce was watery. 

Verdict: T: Not cooked properly. /J: Disappointing.

The creepy French guy sitting next to T, staring angrily at the camera, flipped out when J took this picture. It was likely because he was sitting with a prostitute.

Krua Rommai

Located off Sukhumvit Soi 36 past the many buildings under construction, you’ll find the quaint Isaan (northen Thai) restaurant, Krua Rommai. Set in a luscious green outdoor setting we were graciously welcomed by the owner, as semi-regulars she is very generous towards us; She gave us a plant for Christmans and always gives us complimentary extra servings of chicken.

 

We've already visited on two previous occasions. Here’s what we ate on our third visit:

 

We started with the grilled chicken. The chicken was not as juicy as previous ones we’d tasted. The accompanying Thai chili sauce and a slightly bitter charred chili sauce softened the over-grilled outside and complimented the moist meat.

 

Verdict: T = Good flavour but could have been more moist. / J= The skin was really tasty, but the meat was not smoky enough.

 

The generous plate of grilled pork was tender and cooked to perfection. This has become a favourite of ours and never fails to disappoint. The medium sliced pieces of tinged pink pork is slightly sweet and caramelized.

 

Verdict: T= Juicy, tenderized perfection!! / J= Not crispy, but the flavor and tenderness of the pork makes it one of my favorites.

 

The Tom Yam soup was overflowing with shrimp, mushroom, ginger, and galangal. The broth unfortunately lacked the spicy, chilied punch that the Tom Yam is known for. The shrimp were extremely fresh and tender, though.

 

Verdict: T= More flavour was needed. / J= A poor example of the dish

The Chinese broccoli with salted fish was a simple stir-fry dish. The broccoli was perfectly cooked and just slightly crisp. Not very much salted fish though.

Verdict: T= Good, crunchy greens. /J= Solid veggie stir-fry.

This was an angle bean salad. It had chopped angle beans and ground pork. The sauce was slightly spicy and dominated by the sweetness of coconut milk. It was a lot like the sauce from Chote Chitr's Banana flower salad.

Verdict: T= Solid. /J= Really tasty sauce and the angle beans soaked it up quite well.

The Vientiane Baguette

We've been away in Vientiane, Laos getting a visa for Thailand. The city, which is the country's capital, was more a sleepy provincial town than a bustling metropolis. While walking around the city center, we saw lots of streetside baguette sellers, a remnant of Laos' French colonial past. 

We decided to grab one. Here's a picture:

The bread was crunchy on the outside, but soft and chewy on the inside. Despite the humidity and heat the baguette was impeccably fresh and not at all stale. Inside the sandwich was a tasty, tofu-like pate, sour pickled shredded veggies (cucumber, radish, and carrot), a creamy liver paste, sweet pork floss, and a sweet, slightly spicy chili sauce. 

Verdict: T= Best baguette I've ever had. /J= That was a damn good sandwich. It blows Saigon's Bahn Mi out of the water!

Also, Beer Lao is the best Asian beer. That isn't saying much. It tastes somewhat like a watered down version of Sam Adams. Here's a cool photo of it and some street shots of Vientiane:

Th Charoen Krung restaurants

We took a long walk today from the Saphan Taksin skytrain stop to the Sala Daeng stop and stopped at two places along the way. The first one was an ancient little restaurant a few shops in on Charoen Krung Soi 44 near the Shangri-La Hotel. 

There were some tasty looking grilled chickens out front and we decided to grab one:

This Gai Yang (grilled chicken) had been halved along the backbone and marinated in white pepper, salt and garlic. It seemed that the bird might have been sundried for a while, before being smoked for a long time over coals. The meat was moist but not juicy, because of the smoking process. It was infused with a smoky flavor and was even tinged with a slight pink like slow smoked Southern BBQ ribs. The skin was full of a salty, robust flavor from the marinade. The dipping sauce was a salty concoction of pickled red peppers.

Verdict: T= Well smoked, certain parts were dry. /J= Excellent. It tasted greasy and salty (good things) without being greasy and salty.

Later we strolled down to Charoen Krung Soi 45 and walked up the street about 100 yards until we found Naaz, a muslim restaurant. The restaurant had a lot of character and seemed to be a good 50 years old. The kitchen and front of the house was manned only by an old woman, who listened to 1950s Thai music while she cooked.

Here's what we ate:

The Mutton Biryani was topped with a ton of fried shallots and sweet raisins. There was a big T-bone of mutton underneath the pile of rice that while tender and mildly flavored in an Indian style curry lacked a great amount of meat. The buttery tasting saffron rice itself was perfectly cooked, not soggy, but not dry.

Verdict: T= Pedestrian. /J= Buttery delicious and the raisins and shallots were perfect additions.

We also got an order of Mutton Masala. It was in a simple, slightly salty Indian-style brown curry. The mutton was extremely tender and had probably been cooked for hours. The potatoes were also very soft.

Verdict: T= Amazing. Tastes just like my dad's curry. /J= The mutton was wonderfully tender, but the curry was a little too mildly flavored.

We were also servedcomplimentary cucumbers and onions with a strongly sweet tamarind and mint sauce. The copious amounts of chili seeds made it quite spicy and contrasted with the sweet flavor.

Verdict: T= A bit spicy. /J= I liked the sauce, but spiciness overwhelmed it.