May Veggie Home

This was my first experience having vegetarian meals and visiting 100% Vegan Eatery as an itinerary during my travel. A different approach and of course an eye opener to me enjoying people watching while immersing ourselves into the home cook vegan dishes. Thanks to our pal's recommendation, else the trip to May Veggie Home would not have materialized.

Maggie Vegan Cuisine

Diners came here not just by words of mouth. In fact May Veggie Home has been also feature in tripadvisor and HappyCow, thus the crowd would would not be just only locals but foreigners too. In terms of its location, they are easily accessible via BTS (Asok Station) or a stone throw away from the shopping mall Terminal 21.

Recommendation on Trip Advisor

There's a merchandise corner for healthy food and you can pick them home.

Merchandise 

With such welcoming decorations in the corner, we find that the environment was rather cosy and unpretentious.

Corner

Good that the restaurant is environmental friendly as they are using paper straws. Both drinks were definitely refreshing to beat the hot weather. For Lemon Grass drinks, diner get to see the original lemon grass plant in the cup and we were all glad that they tasted great without being too sweet.

Iced Lemon Grass & Iced Thai Tea - 59 Baht Each

We started the appetizers with the Grilled Vegetarian Bacon. "Bacon" texture was almost there, crispy and produce a kind of smoky flavor, wrapping around the small bunch of enoki mushrooms. It would be perfect with this bacon were thinner.

Grilled Vegetarian Bacon - 149 Baht

I would comment that this Cauliflower Spicy Wing was an interesting creation. I would have think they were meat balls if we were not in a vegetarian eatery. It was actually made up of cauliflower, battered and deep fried then coated with some spicy sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds. Though drenched under the sauce, the crispiness were still well kept.

Cauli-BON CHON - 129 Baht

Its hard not to order the staple Thai dishes when we are in Bangkok. Vegetarian Shrimp Tom Yum with Coconut Meat was served in an earthen pot, keeping the soup warm. Often I will order the clear Tom Yum Soup and will avoid the orange broth but definitely not for this. Coconut milk was sparingly used in the dish without compromising its taste.

Tom Yum Kung - 149 Baht (Small)

There were still some fiery kicks in between mouthful of sips and I love the fragrance of its lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and other ingredients. 

Plentiful of Ingredients

Pineapple Fried Rice was nicely presented in the fruit itself. The fried turmeric rice was topped with "Chinese Sausage", pineapple, raisin, cashew nuts and shredded soy "meat".

Kao-Pad-Sap-Pa-Rod - 220 Baht

This dish reminds me me of Larb Moo, one of my favourite Thai dishes. Nevertheless, the vegetarian version having fried Minced Tofu in Basil Sauce is also one of the better dishes we had ordered. The presence of basil fragrance and texture from the fried Tofu had already won our hearts.

Krapraow Tofu - 129 Baht

Phad Thai with Tofu just as the dish name suggested. It was nothing fanciful and quite decent as a noodle dish.

Phad Thai Tofu - 119 Baht

Also indicated as one of the gluten free dish on the menu. The stir fried Chinese Kale with "Veg Salted Fish" or "Tofu" was a heart warming dish. Vegetables were crunchy and the gravy together with the "Salted Fish" blends in well and lifted the taste of the dish.

Pad Ka Nah Pla Kem - 129 Baht

The greedy us could not stop looking at the menu and finally decided that we should order something from its Western Menu. Vegan Burger Bun was fragrant, soft and was home made. BBQ Shredded Soy Meat was sandwiched and topped with cashew nut cheese. Presentation had scored points here too with food items served on a cross section of a tree trunk. Besides the burger, platter was served with sides like salad, onion rings , cheesy dip and ketchup.

BBQ Cheese Burger - 249 Baht

The cold drinks we ordered from the start were just not enough for our dehydrating bodies. We had a pot of hot lemongrass too.

Hot Lemongrass - 69 Baht

Overall, the food was interesting and generally tastes good. However, the pet peeve were their service standards. Most of the time we had to wave frantically before grabbing their servers attention, it felt that they were looking at our direction yet not attending to us till we stand up and head towards the counter.

May Veggie Home

Location: 8/3 Ratchadaphisek Rd, Khwaeng Khlong Toei, Khet Khlong Toei, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10110

Website

Ban Khun Mae

Ban Khun Mae went translated, literally means "Mum's house". I went there a couple of years back and they had left me a good impression of their Thai Food ever since. The environment was good with warm Thai hospitality which you can enjoy authentic Thai Food in the environment.

Ban Khun Mae

Place is accessible and easy to find as they are located in Siam Square, popular streets among tourists like us.

Interior

Having visited so many Thai Restaurants during my trip, it was surprising to see Roselle Juice and Lemon Grass drink in the menu. Without second thought, I immediately ordered them.

Roselle Juice - 60 Baht & Lemon Grass Juice - 60 Baht

Comes in a set of 5, you can't go wrong with these deep fried Thai Fish Cakes. They were springy and yummy. Dip them into the sweet sauce to enjoy the bites.

Fish Cake - 150 Baht

The boyfriend prefers chicken thigh meat to chicken breast as texture was quite tough. As for me, the style of though chicken satay is totally different from what we had in Singapore. I find it quite healthy without being too oily and there are no pork lards in between the meat stick. Gravy on the other hand was on a sweet side and of course style was different too with hint of coconut cream taste.

Chicken Satay - 150 Baht

While I'm craving for "Larb Moo" (Minced Pork Salad), we ordered something not shown on the menu.

Larb Moo

The size of pineapple rice shocked us totally as we did not expect it to serve in a small pineapple but it was good for us as we were really very full during then. We were very pleased with the pineapple fried rice as compared to the one we had in Thailand in the previous day. Ingredients such as pineapple cubes were sweet. Prawns, cashew nuts, Chinese sausage were part of the dish too.

Baked Rice in Pineapple

I won't hesitate to recommend Ban Khun Mae to anyone who is travelling to Bangkok.

Rating: 4 / 5

Ban Khun Mae
Location: 458/6-9 Siam Square Soi 8, Rama 1 Road, Patumwan District, Bangkok 10330, Thailand

Sabx2 Wanton Mee

While we all thought that we have enough of queuing in Singapore but it was not so true that we don't have to queue for food in place like Thailand. Yes! We are talking about the Wanton Mee in Pratunam Bangkok that was talk of the town sometimes back among our Singaporean Friends.

Long Queues

Queues

"NO BRANCH IN SINGAPORE" was plastered everywhere in the shop, including the road banner which I wondered is that really necessary? Not only that, in the dining area, you can see that they even went into the extent of taking out pictures from the Facebook of "SOI 19" and marked a cross on it.

The Stylo cook

What's Cooking?

Braised Trotters

Preparing Orders

Chopping into Pieces

Environment was crazily cramp while dining and we were told to sit side by side to each other, worse or similar to what we had experience in Hong Kong "Cha Chang Teng". Service standard was kind of below par with mixing up of orders, basically they were quick in clearing your plates too.

Overly emphasis of No Branch in Singapore inclduing Facebook Articles

Cramp Environment

Noodles were served shortly after we seated. Bowls were big which make the servings in the bowl looked extremely little but fred not, that means I have more stomach space for street food. Noodles were toss in oil and alot drier if you were to compared to the full of sauce Wanton Mee we had in Singapore. Thai Version is oily and comes with crab meat, however it was tasteless to me. Char Siew was lean accompanied by some blanched vegetables and Wantons are pretty average.

Wanton Noodle

While I have totally of no interest in the Wanton Mee after a few mouthful, I diverge my attention to the plate of brasied pork trotters with intestine. The gravy was peppery and on a salty side whereby the braised item were simply soaked in the yummy braised sauce with sides like hard-boiled egg and preserved vegetables. Dont leave this place without having them.

Braised Pork Trotter and Intestines

Frankly, when I mentioned the stall name to my local friend, they have absolutely no idea about its existence. What the verdict after queuing up about 30 minutes of our travelling time? Well, I would say totally not worth it if you are expecting good Wanton Mee.

Rating: 3 / 5

Sabx2 Wanton mee
Location: 6, 2/6 Soi Phetchaburi 19, Thanon Phaya Thai, Ratchathewi, Bangkok 10400, Thailand

Thip Samai Pad Thai

Thip Samai Pad Thai is raved as one of the best Pad Thai in Bangkok not only among the Tourists but also the locals. They have been around since 1966 and is always packed with snaky queues without fail.

Thip Samai

I'm glad that my Thai pal had suggested to bring us here for a dinner during our recent trip to Bangkok. To avoid the crowd, we reached the place rather early at about 5pm plus in the evening for dinner. Luckily the queue was not that long.

Cooking 

While waiting for our orders, we enjoyed cups of Icy Coconut Juice while catching up. The Coconut Juice was cooling and refreshing. They were served in cups of melted ice make of coconut juice.

Icy Coconut Juice - 30 Baht

Thipsamai pride themselves as the origin of Padthai that uses shrimp oil and various thai herbs to achieve a perfect flavour. Known for its variations of Padthai served in Thip Samai Pad Thai Shop, we ordered its basic version to have a try of how traditional the padthai is. Padthai is regarded as one of the staple dish for Thai, however there were just too much ingredients in the dish that often, the locals would rather choose to buy from outside than to spend long hours of preparation at home just to cook a dish like that.

Add yourself

On the first mouthful of the Padthai, I can totally comprehend why people are regarding it as a "Must Visit" place in Thailand. The sweet and aromatic dish was well combined with various seasoning and ample of ingredients, giving a consistent taste. The noodles had a special charcoal charred flavour which I felt is the highlight since most of us cook noodles under the gas stove nowadays. And should you prefer even stronger taste, feel free to help yourself with chili flakes, crushed peanuts, fish sauce and sugar that is available at every table.

If you are looking for other food in there, you got to be disappointed as they sell nothing else except Padthai.

Padthai with dried shrimp and egg (Basic Padthai) - 60 Baht

Superb Padthai is recommended by numerous TV programs like MasterChef, Lonely Planet, BBC, theguardian and even National Geographic. The presentation is totally familiar to us (if you are an asian - it looks like Nasi Pattaya) as the Padthai noodles were nicely wrapped up in a beautiful yellow egg. Unlike the basic padthai, shrimp oil was used over here which gave the noodles a orange coated appearance. Fresh deep sea prawns were used too. Don't miss it while you are in Bangkok!

Superb Padthai - 90 Baht

Revealing the Padthai

Some thoughts might be running through our minds if that is a tourist trap, my answer will be a straight no as I still find that the pricing reasonable for a plate of noodles like that and worth at least a try. Through the words of the locals, I understand that Thip Samai Pad Thai may be not the best in Bangkok as they find the taste might be a little too bland for some. However, at least in a tourist point of view here, I find the noodles scrumptious.

Rating: 4 / 5

Thip Samai Pad Thai
Location:  511 , Maha Chai Road , Samran Rat , 10200 Phra Nakhon , Bangkok, 10500, Thailand

Bangkok Day 4

We wanted to try something different for the breakfast but we ended up in True Cafe due to the closure of business over the New Year Period.

We only learn of True Fitness and never know that they do have a cafe on its own selling all day breakfast. Since there was no other eateries in Exchange Tower in operation during our visit we headed into True Cafe.

True Cafe

It was real empty in the dining area, I thought perhaps everyone was still on Holiday Mood. And with the flight of stairs leading to True Fitness at the second level.

Dining Area

Starting off the morning with a cup of Hot Chocolate and flipping through the pages on their local newspaper.

Hot Cocao - 65 Baht

While the partner think it was quite hot outside and ordered a cup of Thai Milk Tea.

Thai Milk Tea

Morning Special was beautifully done with 2 sunny side up eggs, few pieces of ham, a well cut thick and juicy sausage with salad.

Morning Special - 219 Baht

Other then the vegetables, items on plate were all fried.

Special Breakfast

These toasts with strawberry jams and butter were part of the special breakfast too. Dining in True Cafe gave us a peace of our mind, at least we knew food were served on a healthier side just like we were served with whole meal breads.

Toasts and Spread

Omlette was beautifully done, just like hotel style.

Egg Omlette - 159 Baht

And here comes our boat trip at Saphan Taksin!

Saphan Taksin

As expected the counter for Chao Phraya Express Boat was crowded and took us a while before purchasing our tickets.

Chao Phraya Express Boat Counter

And 40 Baht for Single Trip tickets had been purchased.

Tickets

It took us quite a while to board the boat as the place was simply too crowded and even though it was sheltered area, the sweltering heat had turned us sweaty.

Station

Even securing a seat on the boat was an issue.

River City

The bridge

We alight at one of the station and I was amazed by the Street Food there.

They even got

Pork Trotters

As soon as we were there we were approached by a neatly dress man who carried a map and asked where we want to go. After striking a conversation with us, he asked us if we want to take his Tuk Tuk Service at 20 Baht around the island and to part of the places of interests and grand palace as ending point (our ideal destination). We agreed and he issued one of his Tuk Tuk drivers to service us. Initially I was skeptical about the 20 Bath rate but slowly... I uncovered more things along the way.

Wat

Our first stop was Wat Inharavihan while we did our prayers and took some pictures around.

Luang Phor To Wat Indharavihan Thailand

One of their Temples

This was the Tuk Tuk we sat and the driver was practically waiting for us at every station we stop. I'm not sure if this was a scam but in between the places of interests. The Tuk Tuk driver had "to clock" their visit or have their card stamped by bringing tourists like us to the places.

Tuk Tuk

Along the way, we were told to visit some places. "Just go in and take a look, no buy nevermind." said the driver. Bangkok Royal Gems Co., Ltd was our first stop, it was a very old school Jewelry shop which I suddenly felt I was back into the 70s, everything was dull and furnishings were indeed very old. I went in less than 10 minutes and came out.

2nd Stop, we alighted at James Tailor Fashion. Staff was very professional and well dressed. Just too bad that even they could tailor something by end of the day with promotional pricing. We still find it a rush as having tailored clothing never come across our mind at such point in time. Nevertheless, the gave us a friendly goodbye and we left peacefully.

James Tailor Fashion

Next we went to the TGM (Thai Gem Mart), the furnishing was old but not as run down as the first one. In the end I got some pendant I wanted after much negotiation. Happy.

TGM

The last station we went was BB Fashion, its a small shop and I would say their attitude was atrocious. They were very pushy in the service and kind of insist that we could get the tailored shirts within hours. We left the place unhappily.

We alighted near to the Grand Palace and bidded goodbye to the driver. If you ask me if its a scam, I will said that its a Win-Win Situation to have sat the Tuk Tuk. I'm travelling with an opened mind, even though some of the places the Tuk Tuk stopped were "extra" to us, we soon realized this is the Thai Style of doing Business on the Island. At least, from some stops, I bought some of the things I like. Therefore, its not too bad after all. :)

Road Side Peddlers

We saw the Grand Palace and was quite excited seeing swarms of people strolling into the area. There was less people in shorts. In order to enter the Palace, it is a respect to be fully dressed. No slippers and shorts are allowed.

Grand Palace

Even if you do wear less, ensure that you get something to cover up yourselves before entering. We were both on shorts and wanted to buy but the ticketing queue was way too long that we decided to give it up.

Near Grand Palace

We decided to explore other places while on our way back for the boat river.

It's really hard to resist such kind of food on the street especially after a long walk under the sun and the stomach was groaning as we breathed in the fragrant from the deep fried stuffs.

Chicken fillets were good! No regrets! But of course if you are quite health particular about the hygiene, forget about having such street food.

Fried Chicken Fillet

Gluttony in us went on and we stopped by this ice cream push cart to check out their local taste of homemade ice cream.

Ice Cream

They have "exotic" toppings which I had never seen in Singapore. Not those chocolate, rainbow rice but rather some preserved fruits.

Ice Cream and Toppings

Cone or Bread? And we decided to have 4 flavours on the bread. Luckily they were not too sweet.

Ice Cream on Bread

And while walking into the antique streets where you can see alot of roadside stalls selling Amulets. How interesting! You can even get to see the aged man /woman holding a magnifying class scrutinizing every piece of the amulet.

Bicyles on Wall

It seemed like our appetite grew bigger! Curious by what this lady was selling on her bike. We took up this small challenge.

What is this?

The round fried fritter like item was deep fried on the street then cut into pieces using the scisssors and metal tongs, rolled onto the bed of sugar crystals and black sesame seeds. What can those be? Well, they are none other than the "Muah Chee" we had in Singapore just that there was some crisp on its top layer.

What are these snacks?

And passing by the famous stall with long queue. It was one of the recommended things to buy from Trip Advisor but since we had so much bites earlier on, we gave this a miss.

Queue

Statue

One of the Must Go places in Bangkok will be Khao San Road, a centre of backpacking universe.  You will get to see a long stretch of counless guesthouses, backpackers inn, mid-range hotels, restaurants, massage parlours, travel agents, tattoo shops and many.

Khao San Road

So much that even in the day time you get to feel the party spirit in mid air. The atmosphere was rich and filled with night life scenes. Since its day time, I would say its full of young hipsters with interesting on goings. What caught my surprise was those street peddlers making fake identity cards, licenses card or any certification you can think of.

Restaurant

You can even find food stalls in the middle of no where. Look at this Phad Thai Stall!

Street Food

What's after Khao San Road? We walked back to the Pier and rode the boat back to the main land.

It was Friday evening and we decided to check out the stalls in Chatuchak but unfortunately we were told by one of the securities that many of the stalls owners were still not back from their New Year holiday and most of them would either return on that night or the following week.

Chatuchak

Roads were narrow and we could see that vehicles gradually drove in as the sun set completely. At least we started to see some light from those who were working that day even though we were bearing the disappointments after walking pass those rows of unopened stalls.

A few stall that Opened

I don't know which portion of the market when we were but the food stall did perk us up.

"Wait for Noodle Soup with chicken" Food Stall

We walked in further and was attracted by their chicken rice which stated "oily rice with steamed chicken".

Stall

Sitting at the makeshift tables and chairs enjoying a simple plate of their oily rice with chicken which cost us less than $2 SGD. Juding from the plate, the rice and chicken was not as oily as described. Soup was rather tasty with fluffy fragrant rice.

Oily Rice with Steam Chicken - 50 Baht

Chicken was tender but not too much of additional taste and it boiled  down to the point to its original kampong's chicken taste. The skin of the chicken was in dull yellow color and went well in the set.

Drumstick

Besides taking BTS, you can take MRT as an alternative as it send you direct to its door step.

MRT

Night at Chatuchak

The day may seem hectic with so much movements on the island and into their night market but all were worthwhile spending our time.  We rewarded ourselves with a sumptuous dinner at Suda Restaurant before calling off a day which also marked our last night here in Bangkok.