Baan Khrai Wang

When we all know that Hot & Spicy food is always what we will get in Thailand, I had a different perspective when I visited Baan Khrai Wang. Forget about the mainstream dishes you will have in a moment and indulge yourself with light and fluffy pastries as we entered into Baan Khrai Wang.

Baan Khrai Wang

Baan Khrai Wang is a cafe situated by the beach and quite popular among the locals.  After entering the gate, it takes a minute to walk pass the garden and into the exact place where you can enjoy your tea. You will meet this this plump pastry chef ushering you the way into the most scenic area of the restaurant.

Pastry Chef

Ta-da, this is the way! You can laid back and relax enjoying the calm sea.

Way to Beach 

What a wonderful view we have got! Sink yourself into the atmosphere and enjoy the sound of nature while the waves were crawling gently to the shore.

Shoreline

Just within a day of landing in Thailand, we had an overdosed of "Cha Yen" (Thai Milk Tea). Every beverage we order is just Thai Milk Tea and other. The Lemon Iced Tea of course is not the same as what we had back home, using Thai Tea and the lemon they use as spices, it taste totally different.

Our visit to Hua Hin was never sunny. It was drizzling but on a positive note, we were glad that we were not burnt under the scotching hot weather.

Thai Iced Tea & Lemon Iced Tea - 75 Baht Each

Tiramisu with flower? I'm totally in love with the ambiance while having tea with the sight of edgeless sea. Espresso taste from the Tiramisu was not too strong and was good for someone who don't really drink coffee like me. Mascopone Cheese was light with Tiramisu texture being spongy. Most of all, the presentation and environment had already bought me over.

Tiramisu - 120 Baht

Another must try will be the fresh coconut cake. Presented with Frangipani flower, Cake's cream was light and fresh, most of all without being cloying. What a heavenly moment having spongy fluffy cake under the coconut tree. Enjoy some coconut flesh too!

Fresh Coconut Gateau

I'm already missing this place even though I just came back less than a week ago. Seriously I don't mind coming back again if I were in Hua Hin.

Sea View

Rating: 4 / 5

Baan Khrai Wang
Location: 11 Soi 51 Naeb Kehardt Road, Hua Hin, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Thailand 77110

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

The Handburger

The Handburger is one of the stalls under the concept of Soup Spoon Union located in Raffles City Shopping Centre. The concept is not the usual "Order and Pay later" system in most restaurants, instead they did it the reverse with ordering and payment at the same counter.

Concepts of Soup Spoon Union

Once your order is ready, the buzzer will set off and you have to collect your food at the respective counters.

Buzzer

The Handburger practices the healthy living where by the handcrafted burgers includes grilled 100% grass-fed prime beef patties and portobello mushroom sandwiched in wholewheat brioche buns.

I had The Works containing cheese, mushroom, sunny side up egg, juicy thick cuts of tomatoes, handpicked butterhead lettuce and 100% grass-fed prime beef patty grilled to perfection. Making them a meal gives me an option of drink and choice of sides.

The Works - $15.90 / Set

If you knows about Soup Spoon and had tried their soups, this Velvety Mushroom Straganoff should be of no stranger to you. Its stomach filling hot chunky mushroom soups is tastily great item to pair with the meal.

Velvety Mushroom Straganoff

The choice of drink was pretty interesting. Besides having the home brewed Iced Lemon tea, we have the Hibiscus and Sugar-Free Sakura Sencha.

Drinks for the set

The healthy combination of chicken breast, portobello, cheese and honey mustard for the burger. Though the mushroom looked abit on the dry side, the overall taste was just not too bad.

Chicken Porobello

Another interesting item on the menu will be the Union Sampler that gives diner a petite caesar salad and two petitie mains - a soup and slider. The items was served on a wooden serving board that was tailored make to put both the plate and bowl into the sunken slot.

Union Sampler - $12.50

The original Slider was bite size, perhaps a few bites and you could have done with the burger. It consist of beef, cheese, grilled onions and honey mustard.

The Original Slider

Fresh greens with bacon bits, dried cranberries and croutons and vegetables were dressed lightly in its cream sauce.

Petite Caesar Salad

Overall, I like the concept as more choice are available apart from the usual Soup Spoon, however in terms of quality and standards, its quite of an average fare.

Rating: 3 / 5

The Soup Spoon Union
Location: Raffles City Shopping Centre #B1-61/62

Seng Kee Black Chicken Herbal Soup

Popping by the East Side of Singapore and we got ourselves dinner at Seng Kee Black Chicken Herbal Soup. It has been a while since I visited them a few years back and I was surprised by how much they have expanded from just a stall front to a few in the same place.

Seng Kee Black Chicken Herbal Soup

Queue was unavoidable during peak period and to be honest parking around the vicinity is not an easy task though Free Parking is available.

Free Parking

Orders were quick to serve, although the soup may looked watery with spring and fried onions. The consistency of herbal taste is good. Rather, it was addictive and I would say there is a good "depth" in the soup.

Herbal Soup Mee Sua

Texture of Mee Sua was just right and was not too lumpy. I had totally enjoyed the simple tastes through the bowl of soup in mix pork.

Mee Sua

Portion was reasonable and lean meat was tender. Kidneys had been well handled leaving no trace of foul smell and what I like best was those thinly sliced livers that was not overly hard to bite on.

Mee Sua and Ingredients

Besides being famous for its kidney Mee Sua, they are quite famous for their Cze Char too.

Stirred Fried Vegetables with Garlic

Prawn paste chicken was notable, at least alot better than my last round of prawn paste chicken else where. Exterior was very crispy and at the same time also burning hot as they were just taken out of the oil pot. Just alone without the lime and belachan, they were good enough.

Prawn Paste Chicken

The settings of the eating place make me feel like dining in Malaysia although the currency conversation rate can't really match the comparison.  Overall, such specialty is rather unique in Singapore and they had maintained a reputable name throughout the years.

Rating: 3.5  / 5

Seng Kee Black Chicken Herbal
Location: 467 Changi Rd, Singapore 419887

Living Room Bistro & Wine

This is the first stop to Dessert and I was quite surprised that we are having pastries desserts over tea time in Thailand. It's definitely no longer the Thailand that I used to know. Passing through the garden, you will find Living Room Bistro & Wine which is just located next to the beach / sea.

Living Room Bistro & Wine

It was a little bit drizzling during that time and we took the outdoor seating under the big beach umbrella to shelter ourselves away from the rain. However, we could not stay any longer not because of the rain but the flies that came disturbing us.

Facing the beach

We requested for an indoor seat and was ushered into a sheltered area. We felt so exclusive as it gave us a feeling that we were in the private event room while the server switched on the air conditioned unit solely for us.

Private Area

While waiting for the rain to goes off, we got ourselves some beverages and cakes to pass the time. Very Coconut Cake was served on a wooden board topped with coconut flesh on the cake. There were alternate layers between the sponge cake and fresh cream. Light and fluffy, bet you will eat them without any guilt!

Very Coconut Cake - 140 Baht

What a special way to pass a wonderful afternoon in Hua Hin, pushing back all your worries and issues that we had in Singapore. Smoothie was chocolaty and was not dilute, it was thick till the point that I thought having more sips of that will kill my throat.

Smoothie Chocolate - 100 Baht

An absolute beverage not to be skipped if you are in the Land of Smiles. Thai Milk Tea smoothie was authentic, on the sweeter side, just like what most Thai preferred. However, if you were to drink the chocolate earlier on, it aids abit in reducing the sugar rush on your tongue.

Smoothie Milk Tea - 100 Baht

Rating: 3 / 5

Living Room Bistro & Wine
Location: Hua Hin, Hua Hin District, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Thailand