Bangkok was wonderful

I joined CK in BKK for a really crazy weekend filled with loads food and shopping - and came back smiling from ear to ear!

First up, I touched down, met up with V (one of my friends who also happened to be in BKK) and headed straight to meet up with CK. Thereafter, we went to Chinatown for the standard seafood dinner which was as expected, v good. V then left to return to his hotel while me and CK hung around Chinatown a bit more to have coffee. We came across this Kaya roti man just across the street and ordered a soft bun. It was very good and seemed different from the accustomed Ya Kun taste (if you know what I mean). What's interesting is that this guy uses his tongs to created a constant clatter while toasting bread.



We took the non breakfast option when we booked our hotel as it would set us back by 300 bht person, which is a pretty high price when you figure its mostly bread and cereal. I think we would rather enjoy breakfast at one of the lovely stalls at Chatuchak on saturday morning. So this was what we ended up having.



Nice and full of innards (my favourite) but a tad too sweet. Hmmm, I told Ck we should go back to that nice 'boat noodle' stall I visited on my last trip in March. But as you know in Chatuchak, it is virtually impossible to look for a particular stall. It's like 'needle in the ocean'. But we were very lucky. We managed to find it. And not just that, it had expanded to the unit next door and this new section boasted cute chandeliers and fancy tables. But the point is that CK tried the noodles here and agreed taste-wise it was one of the best.



From Chatuchak, we rushed back to enjoy a 2.5 hour spa treatment near our hotel. The treatment consisted of an organic body scrub and aromatherapy massage. It rained heavily on our way back to the hotel and was so bad we had to hail a cab to reach the spa. The annoying thing was that it was just a turn away from our hotel!

(Erm in case you are wondering why i look so 'dry' in this picture, this picture was taken in the morning when we went to book our treatments)

This is the front door to our spa. It's quite cool isn't it? The door really is round and when you open it, it comes out full circle. Abit on the spa experience, it's decently priced at 1750 bht for a 2.5 hour treatment. But how good your treatment is depends on your masseuse. I got a much better one as compared to CK. He was so pissed with his masseuse he really didn't want to give her a token tip, but oh well, he relented in the end.

Anyway for dinner tonight, we had planned to enjoy something really special. READ: Expensive. So we settled on French food since I never really had real french food before. The restaurant we went to is called Philippe Restaurant, located on Sukhumvit soi 39.

Strongly recommended by the dark suited Thai restaurant manager, we started with (1) an appetizer of duck foie gras stuffed in home-made pasta, accompanied by with a delightful truffle reduction; and (2) a classic lobster bisque.

Duck foie gras pasta

I will go on and describe the duck liver pasta appetizer. Ok here goes... this is like one of my most memorable pasta dishes I have ever eaten. Truly a perfect matrimony of taste, texture, sensation and smell. The smoothest, creamiest duck liver lovingly encased in freshly made pasta, shaped like a rectangle. Take a bite and the foie gras melts on the tongue, at the same time interacting with the wonderful truffle flavours from the sauce. The pasta itself was very fresh, cooked al dente. Providing an excellent textural balance to the creaminess of the duck liver. I am in heaven.

Lobster bisque

Above is the lobster bisque. I feel it exemplifies the essence of French cooking: the complexity of simplicity. It's like how difficult it is to make a good cup of coffee, or to fry a perfect plate of char kway teow. It's simple, but so hard to achieve excellence. Well, the lobster bisque was just that. This one really impressed me. It was creamy without coming across as cheap. It has the right amount of lobster flavours without any of the 'fishyness'. The taste was subtle yet flavourful. Superb.

Next came our mains. CK ordered a roasted veal dish with foie gras sauce (done medium rare) while I had the grilled tenderloin with some kind of black pepper and cafe de paris butter sauce (medium rare too).

Roasted veal

This was the veal which was good but still not as good as my tenderloin. For me, I always refrain from ordering veal as I feel it lacks a strong beefy taste. The veal was rightly done and the foie gras sauce was very very nice but overall my main still outshone the veal.

Grilled tenderloin. Yum.

Ok now for my main. I give it 10/10 for the doneness of the meat. It was spot on. I loveee my beef done this way. All pinky raw in the centre with the outside scorched perfectly for the right amount of smokey grilled taste. The only bad thing I can think of is that this is prolly Aussie beef. If it had been US or Japanese beef for that matter, a stronger beefy fatty taste would have lifted the dish up even more. But still, all in all, I totally enjoyed this. Also, an added bonus was that the accompanying asparagus and grilled tomato were extremely fresh.

While i have no basis for comparison, this being my 'first' visit to a french restaurant, Philippe exceeded my expectations at all levels. The duck liver pasta was a real star.

Just a bit on info on where I put up at this time. I stayed at Le Fenix Sukhumvit at Soi 11. A new boutique hotel that is groovy in design but poor in finishing ( looks like a rushed job when you look closely). What stood out was the location of this hotel. Soi 11 is home to Bed Supperclub and Q bar, 2 of Bangkok's hottest nightspots. This time round, I had no problem with cab drivers not knowing where my hotel is. All I have to do is tell them to head to Q bar and my hotel is right opposite. Tried and tested, every taxi or tuk tuk for that matter, KNOWS where is Q bar.

Here are some photos of the hotel.