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.