I tagged along with Mr chef on his work trip to Bangkok so I could see my old friend Prima, ice cream designer extraordinaire. We checked out the latest design project Open House at Central Embassy, something they call a “collective living space”, which is really a lifestyle concept store meets giant bookshop with great food and beverage offerings spread across a whole floor of 7000sqm.
Gorgeous space flooded with natural skylight and a great range of dining options from baos (this fish bun was yum!) to pizza, patisserie and healthy options like Broccoli Revolution for fresh juices and smoothies alongside wraps and salads on the menu.
A berry smoothie.
Classic St Honoré from Paris Miki and strawberry tart.
We also checked out After you Café probably best known for their kakigori shaved ice desserts with Thai flavours and Japanese inspired dessert toast.
We were overwhelmed with choices and ordered the Mango Sticky Rice shaved ice along with a chocolate toast.
Jay Fai Crab Omelette is no longer a secret. Generous servings of more crab than egg in her omelette, Madame Jay Fai sells each omelette at 1000baht which is 30USD or 25 euros a pop for Thai street food.
They only open in the evening, so head over after 6pm and the best thing is they open till late for supper and perfect for chefs who can head over after service.
Alot of wok hei going on there.
Snaking queues for Pad Thai every night here… and a little bit of a tourist pilgrimage. The Pad Thai was really good, but I can’t say it’s worth the long queues with the risk of cockroaches running past your feet!
The pad thai was very flavourful and on the sweet side.
Our Thai friends have always taken us to the “ghost gate” famous Thip Sam mai Pad Thai which is delicious, but a few units down is Jay Fai (name of the chef proprietor grand dame). It’s no longer a secret as celebrity chef Bobby Chin and plenty of bloggers have also made the pilgrimage.
Apart from crab omelette, I really liked her drunken noodles and stir frys. Our Thai friends ordered the works off the menu. Not cheap for street food considering the location, but it’s quality produce made with love and devotion.
Here’s Madame Jay Fai with her ski googles working the flames on the wok. I got the tip from Growing Boy and it’s been Mr chef’s favourite since.
Here’s the address in Thai on google maps in case you need help getting your taxi/tuk tuk over. Jay Fai and then Thipsamai
80/20 was a new restaurant on my eat list, and we had a wonderful tasting at the Bangkok Gourmet summit, but unfortunately was a disappointed by my dinner there. The restaurant’s name is inspired by the Pareto Principle – “law of the vital few”, where 80% of all effects come from the 20% of all causes. I had thought it meant 80% local produce and 20% internationally sourced products – Thai flavours executed in different ways.
Our dinner consisted of hit and misses. The foie gras mango dish with crispy pork fat was a highlight as was the tiny coconut bowl of red curry with very tough chunks of beef. We even ordered a second portion, but got the same chewy chunks of beef served medium rare. And then we were unfortunately told that – “is like that, some customers get the good parts of the meat, some get the chewy unwanted bits.” So, unfortunately for us, we got the unwanted chewy parts twice and we pay the same price for the same dish. So, shame on us.
We also had a fabulous dinner at Sühring by German twin chefs.
If you are looking for recommendations on where to stay, here are our favourite spots to make the most out of Bangkok.
- Anantara Siam Bangkok (former Four Seasons)
- Oriental Residences (excellent service and gorgeous rooms – apart hotel)
- Hotel Indigo (love the rooftop bar)
