Food in BKK – Baan Mae Yui

Posted on 24 May 2010 by christao408

Two weekends ago, before the Red Shirt protests came to a head, I took a taxi up to the Soi Ari neighborhood. Because of the political situation, most people were at home and what could have been a thirty-minute Skytrain ride or a forty-five minute taxi ride took me just fifteen minutes. Down a side soi is a cute little restaurant called Baan Mae Yui – Mother Yui’s House. It is located in an old house set in a nice garden area. The food is standard lunch fare – noodles, fried rice, etc. – but served in a nicer setting than you would get along the side of the street.

The dining area spills out through open doors into a covered patio. There is no air conditioning other than the natural breeze and dozens of fans, but with the green garden just outside, the restaurant always feels comfortable.

One highlight on their menu is the satay, the Southern Thai style grilled skewers of pork or chicken served with a rich peanut-based sauce and pickled cucumbers. The meat is basted with coconut milk, lending an extra rich flavor.

For lunch, I went with an odd choice – pan fried macaroni with tomato sauce. This was actually a childhood favorite of one of my dining companions. It has slices of sausage and onions mixed in and the sauce is a very sweet and vinegary (that is to say, “ketchup-y”) one. It was a lot of fun to eat although not the greatest culinary achievement.

It is places like Baan Mae Yui that make Bangkok neighborhoods so much fun. They date back decades and each have their own unique character. I should write about more of them.

Food in BKK – Ruen Mallika

Posted on 18 May 2010 by christao408

Protests be damned – one still has to eat. With a couple of friends in town from San Francisco, we headed out Saturday evening to Ruen Mallika, a long-standing Sukhumvit area restaurant that specializes in Palace Cuisine, a particularly rarified form of Thai cooking that reflects the highest levels of attention to detail and quality.

Located in a rambling old home that dates back over 100 years deep down Soi Sukhumvit 22, Ruen Mallika is hidden in a corner of the Asoke neighborhood that reminds you that Bangkok isn’t all Skytrain stations and air conditioned malls. Still, there is an air of sophistication and traditional Thai hospitality at the restaurant, which is beautifully decorated, that makes you feel like your are a guest of honor in a court regent’s home.

The menu is a huge binder with the largest, glossiest, sexiest photos of Thai food I have ever seen. Even a strong man will risk back strain with this menu. Tawn ordered for us, a bit too much food but perfectly balanced choices that, together, formed an exquisite dining experience and a wonderful final night with which to celebrate our visiting friends’ engagement.

After being seated in the fan-cooled garden, the kitchen sent us an amuse bouche of gratong tong, “golden baskets” – crispy fried shells filled with corn, green onions, ground pork, and pepper.

As an appetizer, we ordered a platter of chan chu butsaba – literally “My name is flower” – a selection of flower tempura in a long dish that fills the center of the table.

These delicate blossoms, served with a sweet and spicy chili sauce, include (from the purple, clockwise) dok gulap (rose), dok kajorn (asclepiadaceae), dok khem (needle flower) and dok leelawadee (plumeria or frangiapani).

Interesting story about the plumeria: When Tawn was growing up the flowering tree was called ton donlantom, which means “very deep sorrow tree”, and was often planted near graves. But people liked the beautiful flowers and the shape of the tree, especially in the beach provinces where it is common (it is the flower of Phetchaburi Province) so the tree was rebranded by the Royal family as ton leelawadee, which means “beautiful motion tree”. This is well-suited to the graceful shape of the branches.

Our first course was a curry – Penang plaa salmon – Salmon Penang curry which is not very spicy but has a rich flavor enhanced by the thinly-sliced Kaffir lime leaves. Something that sets Royal (or Palace) Thai cuisine apart from regular Thai food is that the dishes have more complex layers of flavor. For example, the Kaffir lime adds a subtle citrus note to the top of the deep bass of the curry.

The salmon arrived with khao pad Amphawa – Amphawa style fried rice. Amphawa (home of the nighttime floating market I’ve written about) is a town in Samut Songkhram province known for its coconuts. This fried rice includes mixed seafood and fresh young coconut meat served in a coconut shell. Notice the beautiful “flower” garnish, which is carved from a pumpkin. This dish is served with a glass of fresh coconut juice, which was poured from the coconut before the rice is served.

We then enjoyed the soup course, a variation on a classic Thai soup called tomka plaasalid. You may recognize this as the “tom ka gai” soup – chicken and coconut milk soup – that you enjoy at your local Thai restaurant. However, this version has a special Royal Thai cuisine twist: it is made with plaasalid, a sundried small whitefish that gives the soup a distinctive smoky flavor, and tamarind leaf tips, which give a sour, tangy flavor to the soup. To top it off, this soup was made with freshly squeezed coconut milk, which is every bit as rich as cream.

We then enjoyed kai tune – a baked egg custard that has a shrimp, pork, thousand-year old egg, and garlic mixture on top. Very delicate and silky, this dish was simple in construction but rich in flavor.

We had a second curry, this one a gaeng ped pbed yang, a grilled duck curry. This dish has grapes (or sometimes lychee) in it, providing a foil to the gamey flavor of the duck. The small green spheres are baby eggplants (not green peas as some foreigners expect) which lend a bitter crunch to the dish.

For dessert, classic “street vendor” style ice cream. Homemade coconut ice cream served on a sweet bread bun with kidney beans, palm hearts, and candied sweet potato. This is often served with a splash of sweetened condensed milk, although in this case the restaurant kept it plain.

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And of course, being the tail end of hot season, how could we not enjoy some khao niaw mamuang – sticky rice with mango?

Paul, his fiancee Hey Jung, and Tawn battle over dessert.

Food in BKK – Foon Talob

Posted on 13 May 2010 by christao408

Results of the second cheesemaking attempt is coming soon… thank you for your patience. In the meantime:

After returning from our trip to the US in late March, Tawn and I had a conversation about the food in Bangkok that we really miss when we are away. In my mind, this list is much shorter than the list of food from San Francisco I miss now that I live here. One of the Bangkok foods that did come to mind was the gai tod (fried chicken) and som tam (green papaya salad) served at Foon Talob (ฝุ่นตลบ) at the Chatuchak (sometimes “Jatujak”) Weekend Market.

As a special treat, Tawn agreed to serve as host for our video visit. You can watch him introducing the cuisine of Foon Talob here:

Otherwise you can read about it and see the pictures below:

Foon talob translates as “dust all over” and the idea is of a Northeastern Thai (Issan) style roadside restaurant, a place where there would be dust all over the place. The restaurant is open air but covered, adjacent to a paved walkway and rows of stalls. In the hot season it is quite warm. But even then it is quite popular, filling up by early afternoon with everyone sitting shoulder to shoulder and back to back in the tightly spaced rows of tables and stools.

Next to the open air kitchen is a little offering for the gods, a bit of food, sticky rice, and water with the ashes of incense scattered on the plate, a request for good fortune and business success that day.

I’m inclined to think that fried chicken is one of the most universal foods. So many cultures have fried chicken … even before KFC arrived! Here, freshly butchered chicken is breaded in a heavily seasoned coating and then dropped into a wok of boiling oil. The end result is crispy on the outside but tender and juicy on the inside. It is served with two sauces: The one in the back is really spicy and the one in the front is mostly sweet with only a little spice. Always, always, always, the fried chicken is eaten with a bowl of sticky (glutinous) rice.

Fried chicken just isn’t Issan fried chicken without a side dish of som tam or green papaya salad. Hundreds of green papayas are shredded each day to serve the customers.

To the green papaya is added lime, tomatoes, dried shrimp, peanuts, sugar, fish sauce, and chilies. The mixture is pounded with a mortar and pestle, making a sound that in Thai is described as “pok pok…” providing a handy synonym for som tam.

The end result is a tangy, sour, slightly salty, and often very spicy salad that is really refreshing in the hot weather.

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Another popular side dish is laab (sometimes Anglicized as “larb”). Usually made with ground pork (although you can make it with other meats) the salad has ground toasted rice grains, shallots, green onions, lime juice, fish sauce, and chili flakes fried together then served on a bed of basil and mint. Varying degrees of spice but always a very flavorful dish.

For a special treat, we ordered a grilled Northern Style pork sausage. The meat is heavily spiced and flavorful.

After lunch we headed across the walkway to a vendor serving homemade coconut ice cream. Their twist is that they serve the ice cream in half a young coconut shell with the meat from the coconut shaved out to accompany your ice cream.

You can choose from a variety of toppings: boiled water chestnuts, hearts of palm, peanuts, condensed milk, etc.

Coconut ice cream with young coconut meat, hearts of palm, and peanuts. Refreshing!

Hong Kong Recommendations

Posted on 6 May 2010 by christao408

Surprisingly often, people ask me for recommendations. “Oh, a friend of mine is going to (insert name of city here). Do you have any recommendations?” Since I think the best way to explore a city is through the recommendations and experiences of people who know the city well, I spent some time this morning combining all of my entries from Hong Kong (along with a list of other favorite places that I didn’t have time to visit) into a Google Map. Many thanks to the many friends whose recommendations and suggestions ended up on this list.

Food in BKK – 4 Garçons

Posted on 3 May 2010 by christao408

Krungthep is awash in restaurants started by youngish members of high society who have a fair amount of cash, lots of ego, and little to no experience running restaurants. Heck, many of them wouldn’t even qualify as foodies. So a few weekends ago I was a bit apprehensive when trying out a new French restaurant in the Thong Lor neighborhood called 4 Garçons.

Located on Soi Thong Lor 13 in the warren of small alleys that lead to Samitivej Hospital, 4 Garçons occupies a generous space on the ground floor of the recently-opened Oakwood service apartments. The four young men referred to in the restaurant’s name are four yuppie friends (guppies, too?) who decided their interests in food and wine should be expressed through the opening of a restaurant.

It turns out that one of the partners, the one who seems to be managing the front of the house, is the friend of a friend of our dining companions for the night, Ben and Jason. And the partner who is overseeing the kitchen is a doctor that Ben knows from Brumrumgrad Hospital. As Jason observed, it is odd to see your doctor in a chef’s outfit working in the kitchen.

In talking with the manager, he explained that the doctor loves to cook as a hobby and throw dinner parties frequently, which was their point of inspiration to go into business together. Somewhere (maybe in Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential?) I recall reading that being good at hosting dinner parties is not the same as being a chef.

Nonetheless, 4 Garçons manages to effectively avoid the curse of most of these hi-so hobby restaurants: lackluster food. The food at 4 Garçons was well-prepared and tasty, if somewhat lacking in distinctiveness.

Let’s take a look:

The interior of the space isn’t its strong suit. Another of the friends – maybe he’s an architect? – did the interior design.

The space feels too open to be a nice brasserie and too cold to be a comfortable bistro. Some furniture (shelves? counters? plant stands?) could have broken up the space more effectively, avoiding the long row of tables seen in the first picture and the large open areas that feel conspicuous. Maybe this has to do with the “see and be seen” desire of Bangkok hi-so diners, for whom a more closed, intimate space would have minimized face time. Thinking of other local restaurants like Extra Virgin, though, I think the interior could be improved by breaking it up a bit. Tawn wasn’t keen on the murals, either.

It seems that an order of fries is brought out as an amuse bouche. Steak cut fries seem oddly un-French to me but they were really nice, crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, not greasy at all. Maybe it is a break from the shoestrings frites one expects at a French restaurant, but it is a welcome break.

Jason, Tawn, and I ordered some appetizers to kill the hour or so before Ben was able to join us from work. We ordered this house-made pate, which was really tasty. I keep asking myself why I don’t make pate at home. The answer is probably because I don’t have a food processor. But it isn’t that difficult to make and it reminds me of my days as a young child eating Triscuit crackers and Oscar-Meyer liverwurst for lunch with my paternal grandparents.

A goat cheese tart with mixed greens was another nice appetizer. Lots of onions and very tasty.

I assume the bread was not baked at the restaurant although it was pretty good quality and it was generously provided.

And if you have bread, you need melted butter and garlic to sop up, so we had escargots. These were really tasty and are a good illustration of the principle that anything tastes wonderful if you put enough clarified butter and garlic on it!

Service is friendly and attentive, if a bit uninformed. Basic questions like “What’s the soup of the day?” required a pop into the kitchen by the order-taker to answer. It seems like the first lesson from Waitering 101 that you would know that type of information before approaching a table.

After Ben arrived we placed our orders. The menu covers all the usual suspects of French cooking without any specific regional focus or stylistic emphasis.

One interesting thing was the availability of duck confit two ways: one prepared in duck fat for 6 hours, the other for 12 (if I have my numbers right). The second one, which Tawn ordered, was saltier than normal and had a “gamey” flavor. It was quite good with a moist interior and crunchy exterior and was worth coming back for.

Ben had the beef stew, which was flavorful and very tender.

I had the lamb shoulder, which was also tender and flavorful although it had sort of a “one note” nature to it and could have used something – a few olives, maybe? – to distinguish it.

The lamb came with a side of potatoes au gratin, which were tasty but a tad undercooked.

Jason settled for the not-very-French choice of pasta with a meat sauce, which he seemed to enjoy.

Getting pretty full, we managed to find room for a little bit of dessert, just so there would be pictures to post on my blog. (The things we do for you… ha!)

Tarte au citron – lemon tart. The lemon curd was lumpy and uber-sweet without any hint of tartness that makes for a great tarte au citron. A little over-sauced, too. We couldn’t bring ourselves to finish this, one of the rare occasions when I leave a dessert unfinished.

A fresh fig tart was was a pleasant find on the menu, something you don’t see often. The figs were lovely but the base of the tart didn’t add anything to them. The amount of saucing was appropriate, though.

The best dessert was the tarte Tatin. The apple was really lovely and had this luscious caramel flavor. I’d go back just to order this dessert, despite it being lost in a sea of vanilla cream. I wonder if a few grains of coarse sea salt sprinkled on top would have added anything to it?

Upon reflection, I realize what marks a major difference between “fine dining” restaurants here versus in the US (and, I suspect, many western countries). The restaurants here seem to have little definable chef’s vision and the dishes come across pretty much as textbook examples of whatever cuisine they purport to represent. It is as if the owner lays out a bunch of recipes and hires some cooks to prepare them – which is what happens at any restaurant – but in this case it seems that the owner either doesn’t put a unique signature on the dishes or else doesn’t ensure that the cooks understand more than just the technical steps for preparing the dishes. In other words, there’s no passion behind the cooking.

For what it is worth, 4 Garçons serves up food that is well-prepared and tasty, even if the entrees do manage to arrive one at a time in Thai style instead of all at once as you would expect in a French restaurant. If any of these dishes had been served to me at a dinner party (or had I served them at my own home) they would be very impressive. Put into the context of a restaurant they are still good but fall a little shy of where they need to be in order to make a stand-out impression on diners.

For the price – about 500-700 baht (US$15-22) per entree – the food is a fair value for Bangkok fine dining. When I factor in the ambience, which isn’t the restaurant’s strength, and the quality of the food, I would say that 4 Garçons is a “worth visiting” but not a “must visit” restaurant. I’d like to make a return and see how things shake out as they get into their second month of operations, if for no other reason than to eat the tarte Tatin again!

Food in HK – Tea at the Intercontinental Hotel

Posted on 26 April 2010 by christao408

As our trip to Hong Kong came to its conclusion, Tawn and I went to the Intercontinental Hotel on the Kowloon waterfront for afternoon tea. With its panoramic view of the harbor, the Intercon offers a relaxing and refined way to spend your afternoon. You end up feeling mighty sophisticated just because of the setting.

Located right along the Avenue of the Stars, a pedestrian walkway along the East Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront dedicated to the stars of Hong Kong cinema, the Intercon is a short walk from the MTR and Kowloon Railway stations.

In the background to the left is the venerable Peninsula Hotel and, next to it, the Sheraton. The Peninsula is famed for its afternoon tea but, I’ve been told, is both pricey and filled with tourists. The Intercon offers both the option of either a simple tea service or an extravagant one while offering a view the Peninsula doesn’t. And maybe slightly fewer tourists, although I can’t tell for certain.

The view from just outside the Intercon, showing the Avenue of the Stars walkway. This being a reasonably clear day, you can see Victoria Peak back behind the IFC Tower.

The lobby of the Intercon is spacious and bright although the carpet could use a refresh. Service is very attentive and friendly, though, and I felt very at home.

There was a full tea service that offered sandwiches, pastries, and other snacks. Since we had eaten only a few hours before and had a large dinner planned, we went for the simple scone and tea option. The teas are from Mariage Frères, a venerable Parisian company that has been producing fine teas for over 150 years. It is also the “house tea” at our Bangkok condo. (Yeah, I know that sounds horribly pretentious!) In fact, it is the brand of tea Tawn served when he had the opportunity to meet Martha Stewart a few months ago at a friend’s shop.

The silver tea service is heavy and functional, not at all dainty and elegant. The scones are tasty and the clotted cream and jelly are generously served. An extra pot of hot water sits on the table and the server stops by every so often to top off your cup.

Certainly a very relaxing and refined way to spend an hour in the afternoon and a nice way to complete our trip to Hong Kong. I think I should take tea in hotels more often. And isn’t Tawn adorable in this picture? As we say in Thai, na-rak jang leuy!

That evening, we had dinner at Aqua, the Japanese Italian fusion restaurant that overlooks the Hong Kong harbor from the top floor of One Peking Road. I didn’t provide a write-up on the restaurant for two reasons: first, it was a little too dark for food pictures even with my camera; second, our hosts were the brother and brother-in-law of the owner. We received some special considerations so I’m not sure I could objectively evaluate the restaurant. I will say that the view is spectacular and the food is very good so if you’re looking for a high end destination restaurant, it is worth considering.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the series on the Hong Kong eats. In the next few days I’ll put them all on a Google map and share that with you, in case you want to reference them on a future visit to Hong Kong. Thanks for all your comments and feedback on the entries.

Food in HK – West Villa

Posted on 25 April 2010 by christao408

The day after joining Chris and Tehlin and their children for a proper Cantonese dinner at Tsui Hang Village, Tawn and I met up with Tehlin and her son Sam for dim sum at West Villa, another Curry Puffy recommended restaurant.

Located in the Lee Gardens Two building in Causeway Bay just a few minutes away from the Times Square shopping center, West Villa is a nicer quality dim sum restaurant. What was interesting about it is that the food, while tasty, isn’t necessarily all that different (or better than) the cheap yet decadent dim sum at Tim Ho Wan. Let’s take a look at the dishes we enjoyed.

Chinese “donuts” wrapped in rice noodle skin. These are unsweetened sticks of dough fried just like donuts. They are often served (unwrapped) with rice porridge called jok.

Chao fun – Rice noodles with shrimp inside with a sweetened soy sauce. Similar in quality to what we had at Tim Ho Wan although I think the noodles were thicker and less delicate here. Compare here.

Deep fried spring rolls. This dish and the next one illustrate the risks when eating dim sum of choosing dishes that leave you feeling heavy and full.

Fried taro paste puffs. Better than it sounds.

The signature West Villa dish – char shu – barbecue pork. These was really meaty and tender. Great flavor.

Tehlin and Sam. Oh, wait! What’s that outside the window? Where did Tawn disappear to?! Ha ha…

Braised veggies, kind of like lettuce. Very tasty. The clay pot lends a wonderful smoky, slightly charred flavor.

Steamed glutinous rice with pork and shitake mushroom in a lotus leaf. Compare this to the version with large slices of pork served at Tim Ho Wan.

Fried fish with a slightly salty and spicy batter. Very light and not at all oily.

Beef “meatballs” sometimes called Chinese hamburgers.

Siu Mai– pork and shrimp dumplings.

Fried pork spareribs with a sprinkling of a salt and white pepper.

Overall review: good quality dim sum with the barbecue pork and spareribs being the highlights. Service was good although there was a fifteen-minute wait even though we had reservations. This wasn’t necessarily the best food we had in Hong Kong but if you are in the area and are looking for good dim sum, West Villa would be a good choice.

Food in HK – Tsui Wah Restaurant

Posted on 22 April 2010 by christao408

While Lan Fong Yuen claims to be the original Hong Kong milk tea, it certainly isn’t the only one serving this local treat. We decided to try another stop on the Curry Puffy Culinary Crawl and breakfast (twice, in fact) at Tsui Wah Restaurant. This chain might be compared to a Denny’s in the United States, but without intending the unspoken insult that lies in the comparison. Tsui Wah serves basic Hong Kong comfort food at all hours of the day from a number of clean, efficient locations.

We decided to visit the one in Lan Kwai Fong, just above Central and a stone’s throw from Lan Fong Yuen. The first visit was in the early morning, when only the limited breakfast menu was being served. The second visit the next day was later in the morning, when more lunch-like items were available.

As you walk up D’aguilar Street from Queens Road it should be easy enough to find Tsui Wah. Just follow the large green sign and make a right turn onto Wellington Road as it indicates.

It was a drizzly morning when we first arrived and being damp, we were looking for something warm and comforting.

The dining room (multiple stories at this location) is bright and a bit madcap in its interior design. The menus are under the table glass with helpful pictures and English translations (which aren’t always super-clear but you’ll figure it out).

The milk tea arrived in this cup and saucer, branded with a local evaporated milk brand. I have to say that between the two milk teas, I found Tsui Wah’s a bit more bitter and spicy. I preferred Lan Fong Yuen for its gentler flavor.

Breakfast was, in a way, not very Hong Kongese. Yes, that is a bowl of oatmeal. And after four days of not having my daily bowl of oats for breakfast, I was sorely missing it. The rolls are a toasted “pineapple” bun (nothing pineapple about it that I could discern) that has butter and condensed milk on top. Very chewy texture, like a Kaiser roll. Not a fancy breakfast but cheap and tasty. Tawn felt the buns were better here than at Lan Fong Yuen.

The second day I ordered a breakfast set that came (to my surprise) with a side of two scrambled eggs and a toasted roll. Simple food, right? But really, really tasty eggs.

The second part of my set, what I actually was focused on, was a beef stew over instant noodles with soup.

Tawn had braised pork cartilage over instant noodles with greens.

The conclusion for the second meal was the same: simple and satisfying.

Immediately across the street from this location of Tsui Wah is the world-famous Yung Kee Restaurant, which specializes in roast geese. While I didn’t eat there this trip, I have several times before and can also recommend it. Bring a group, though, as a little roast goose goes a long way.

Two other sites from Hong Kong: Aqua Luna, the junk that you can sail on for a harbour cruise with cocktails. One of these years I’m going to book one of their just after sunset cruises and enjoy a bottle of bubbly while the lights come on along one of the most magnificent skylines in the world.

On the Kowloon side at the Science Museum a bride and groom posed for their wedding pictures, probably a few weeks in advance of their actual wedding day. Here’s to the happy couple!

Regarding the rest of the Hong Kong trip, Tawn and I have been back in Bangkok since Saturday. I’ll continue updating on food in Hong Kong as I have two or three more meals that need to be documented. Then we’ll return to the regular programming.

Food in HK – Tsui Hang Village

Posted on 21 April 2010 by christao408

With the exception of Agnès b. le pain grillé, our eating so far had been pretty low-key and casual even while the food was very good. One evening we met my university friend Tehlin, her husband Chris, and their two children for dinner at a nice Cantonese restaurant in Central called Tsui Hang Village.

Tehlin and Chris recently returned to Hong Kong from Melbourne and while we’re sorry we didn’t get to see them in Melbourne, we’ll have many more opportunities to see them in Hong Kong. They are one of these 21st Century couples – he an Australian who is fluent in Mandarin and works with emerging Chinese companies, she with Chinese roots in the Philippines, Taiwan, and the SF Bay Area. They are really nice people and have two cute kids with a third on the way.

One of the cute kids, Isabel, wasn’t in the best mood as dinner started, so she pouted a little while working on her coloring book!

Tsui Hang Village is named for the hometown of Dr. Sun Yat-sen and specializes both in traditional Cantonese cooking as well as some original Cantonese creations. There is also a location in the Miramar Shopping Centre on Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon. The interior looks pretty much like every other high end Chinese restaurant – clean, bright, and a little like a hotel banquet room. Service is prompt and attentive, though, and the real focus is the food. Cantonese food, which sometimes has a reputation for being a little oily, is well done here with clean, bright, and fresh flavors with little use of heavy seasoning, herbs or spices – the very best of what Cantonese food is supposed to be about.

Braised pork spare ribs baked in a clay pot casserole “Zhengjiang” style.

Stewed “fungus” (mushrooms) in tofu wrapper in pumpkin, with pumpkin seed garnish.

Wok-seared seabass with light soy sauce with green beans.

Crispy roast chicken with green onions.

Chinese broccoli – Hai Shean

Shrimp wontons in broth.

Pan fried egg noodles with shredded pork and bean sprouts.

We really enjoyed the meal, which was a nice complement to our visit with Tehlin, Chris, and their children. What more of a reason do we need for a return trip to Hong Kong than good friends and good food?

Uncle Tawn with an enthusiastic Samuel and a still somewhat undecided Isabel. Sam’s a big transportation buff, so he and I always have plenty to talk about!

Food in HK – Agnès b. le pain grillé

Posted on 20 April 2010 by christao408

After all the wonderful Chinese food, we decided one afternoon to take a change of pace and visit the Agnès b. le pain grillé at the IFC mall.

Gary had recommended this and when we arrived, we faced some confusion. It turns out there is both a café as well as a restaurant and in our confusion we wound up in the restaurant. The slightly more expensive than the café restaurant.

Nonetheless, it was lunch, the food and atmosphere were wonderful, so it worked out as a nice treat. Note to anyone who goes to Hong Kong and decides to stop by Agnès b. le pain grillé: the café is the one outside the doors.

Lovely interior reminds me a bit of our home, except with a nicer bar. I like to wood flooring.

Attempting to not feel out of place after we looked at the prices! Nah, I’m kidding, it wasn’t that bad. The three-course fixed price menu was HK$288, about US$38. Pricier than my normal lunch but not the most expensive lunch I’ve ever had.

Elegant place settings.

Iced lemon tea.

Truly amazing bread. Oh, I wish Bangkok had good bread. I wish I had an oven that could produce bread like this.

Penne pasta with a seven-hour slow-cooked lamb. It was really tasty.

Tawn had a seared tuna salad. It was really tasty, too. So all in all, while it was a little pricey it was a really enjoyable, elegant lunch.

Cute little “garden” outside the restaurant. I really like the tile.

At a gallery in Central: Watanabe Ryoko’s painting Marathon Man.

christao408

The adventures of an expat American who moved to Bangkok for his husband.

Tag Archives: Dining