Showing posts with label Cuisine ~ Thai. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cuisine ~ Thai. Show all posts

Saturday, 10 August 2013

[Day 4] Lunch At Secret Garden, Thai Cuisine And Bakery

Day four was rather a shopping spree where we do last minute shopping before catching our flight back to Singapore on the next morning.  So after our morning breakfast at hotel, we decided to go Central and Platinum Mall via the BTS before setting our lunch at Secret Garden Thai Cuisine which is located at Sathorn Road.

We took the skytrain to Chidlom Station and walk towards Platinum Fashion Mall which occupy six floors that filled with small outlets with most of them specializing in women's clothing and fashion accessories. A good tip to shop at Platinum Mall is to purchase items in bulk (3 items and above) so that you will received discount up to 30% or more per item. (sorry I didn't snatch photos on the shops as we were too busy looking at those "goodies" :p)

And if you are hungry, just like most of the shopping malls in Bangkok there is also a food court which located on the fifth floor along with other cafes and fast food chains too! But before you start getting anything, remember to purchase your food coupons in order to get your food. Below are some of the common snacks that we saw at the food court and there are still many other dishes for you to explore.

[Platinum Mall Food Court] Assorted Rice Roll with Meat or Prawn
[Platinum Mall Food Court] Fried Quail Eggs
[Platinum Mall Food Court] Steamed Topica with Coconut Cream
At one end of the food court, you can find this Bird Nest stall selling red and white bird nest desserts (sweet soup) which comes in two different flavours ranging from 100 - 500 THB (SG$4.00 - SG$20.00). We didn't try their bird nest this round as it don't look appetizing to us when compared to what we have back home. Also we are afraid that it might be something similar to we had over at Mahboonkrong (MBK) the other day.

[Platinum Mall] Bird Nest Stall
Other than bird nest dessert, the stall also offer Bird Nests in different packaging which you can purchase and cook on your own.

After getting our stuffs at Platinum Fashion Mall, we head down to Central World Mall which can be consider as a mega shopping complex in Bangkok. It offers almost everything from brand name boutiques, funky fashion, high-tech gadgets, designer furniture to imported groceries and etc. Guess most of you can spent either half to 3/4 day just at this mall itself.

While we were at Central World Mall, my boy spotted this "enormous" Green Pig which was on display together it's company of little piggy at their Kid's section for toys.


Our lunch was at this beautiful restaurant located at Sathorn Road which is one of the busiest area in Bangkok. Secret Garden Thai Cuisine and Cafe is an English styled white building surrounded by a beautiful garden where you can chose to have either indoor or al fresco dinning depending on your preference / weather.

[Secret Garden Thai Cuisine] Indoor dining area
The indoor dining area has a bright room decorated with green tones together with flowers and large chandeliers which makes you feel cozy.

[Secret Garden Thai Cuisine] Lemon Grass Drink vs Thai Iced Tea
Brother had being to Secret Garden twice so he knew exactly what dishes to order in order to suit our liking. And while flipping through their menu, I realize they do serve a varieties of food from appetizer, main to dessert. Although their price might might be slighter high as compare to some other place but I guess it is still a good place for family to get together and enjoy the cozy environment. 

[Secret Garden Thai Cuisine] Steamed Rice Cake with Preserved Turnips
Thai-style Steamed Rice Cake with Preserved Turnips is something similar to our Chinese "chwee kueh" that serve with preserved turnips and chilli. But as you can see the Thai version, their preserved turnips are less oily and more towards the dry side as compared to our local version. Taste wise still quite good whereas texture of their steamed cake is slightly firm too.

[Secret Garden Thai Cuisine] Stir Fried Black Pepper Beef
[Secret Garden Thai Cuisine] Roti with Yellow Curry Chicken
[Secret Garden Thai Cuisine] Stir Fried Chicken with Basil Leaf on Rice
[Secret Garden Thai Cuisine] Deep Fried Grouper with Spicy Sweet and Sour Sauce
[Secret Garden Thai Cuisine] Fried Morning Glory (ผัดผักบุ้งเส้น)
This is an interesting dish that I would like to recommend as it was prepared in a rather old-fashioned way by stir frying the stalks of the Morning Glory with soy sauce and cut chilli. It's quite an appetizing dish to go with rice or eat it on it's own.

[Secret Garden Thai Cuisine] Raw Papaya Salad with Dried Shrimp
[Secret Garden Thai Cuisine] Steamed Pandan Rice and Green Curry Set
Love their pandan rice that makes from real "pandan leaves" juice rather than artificial pandan essence or paste. The rice has a very fragrance taste and it pairs well with some of the dishes but again if you prefer they also have steamed white rice for your choice. As for this set, I love the spicy pork belly which is soft and tasty and it goes goes well with the noodles.


SECRET GARDEN THAI CUISINE AND CAFE
117/1 South Sathorn Road (Thanon Sathorn Tai)
Sathorn, Bangkok 10120
Telephone: 02 286 2464

Opening Hours:
11.00 am - 10.00 pm

Note:
- Depending on which direction you board the train, the Chong Nonsi BTS and take a walk toward Sathorn road about 10 minutes.


Secret Garden Bakery which is next door to their main dining area at Secret Garden Thai Cuisine.
After lunch we decided to hope over to their cafe which is just next door. I love the English design concept of the furniture, colours, flower prints and etc in their cafe which makes the diner feel so homely. Also from what I read-up Secret Garden Bakery is famous for their crepe cakes as well as wide varieties of tea cakes.

[Secret Garden Cafe] Strawberry Cheesecake
[Secret Garden Cafe] Crepe Cake with strawberry sauce
[Secret Garden Cafe] Banana Chocolate Cake
[Secret Garden Cafe] Ice Chocolate
Initially our aim was to take a look at their cake menu for future visit as we were still too full after lunch.  But their cakes are really too tempting that we actually ordered 3 different flavours to share among the six of us. As you can see, we order their "famous" crepe cake with strawberry sauce and it does taste really awesome. Each layer of crepe skin is so smooth and soft, layer with fragrant cream and top with generous amount of 'real" strawberry sauce which balance the taste of the cream in it.

After all we do enjoy their crepe cake to bit and other than crepe cake, their strawberry cheesecake is also quite good with rich cheesy taste that we love. So if you need a good place to hangout for tea and cake, this is rather a good place too or you can check up my previous post on Afternoon Tea at Agalico too if you prefer something more classic with garden sitting.


After dessert we took a short walk to the nearest BTS station (Sala Daeng BTS) along Silom Road where we by-pass Le Table de Tee which is a french restaurant situated at the back alley of Soi Sala Daeng. Since the restaurant is rather small with only room that caters 20 diners, it would be advisable that you make a reservation before heading down.

At Le Table de Tee one can enjoy well-presented delicious French food such as their set menu that comes with five-course at only 950 THB (SG$ 38.00++) per person. Initially we planned to try their set menu during one of our four nights in Bangkok but as we can't make it on most of the nights we have no choice but to KIV it till our next visit to Bangkok.

Le Table de Tee
69/5 Saladaeng Road
Silom, Bangrak, Bangkok 10500
Thailand
Telephone: +66 2 636 3220
Website: http://www.latabledetee.com/

Opening Hours:
6.30pm - 10.30pm (Tuesday to Sunday)


Street Vendors selling Thai Salad and Noodles.
Fresh Fruit Juice Stall Along the Street
Fresh Fruit Stall
Further down the street towards the BTS station which is near Silom Complex, we also saw some street vendors selling local Thai Food like salad, snack, drinks, fresh cut fruits and etc along the roadside. This type of street vendors are very commonly found in Bangkok along the street near shopping mall area or along busy street where tourist or patrons can easily access them.




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Tuesday, 16 July 2013

[Day 2] Health Land and Mahboonkrong (MBK)

After spending the whole morning at Chatuchak Weekend Market till almost 1.00pm, we decided to visit Health Land which is located near Asok Station (about 10 minutes walk) where we could pampered ourselves with Foot Reflexology And Body Massage to re-fill our energy level and continue the shopping spree. Furthermore, foot reflexology is one of the common spa services that tourists love and it could be easily found at most shopping malls, shops along the streets and even in their night/weekend bazaar too. And the face is it really cost much cheaper (around half the price or less) then what we usually paid in Singapore.

Health Land has a few branches (location here) available in Thailand which opens daily from 9.00am till midnight. It provides a range of spa services such as Aromatherapy Body Massage, Therapeutic Massage, Foot Reflexology, Facial Treatments and etc which helps to release tension and stress as well as improve circulation and restoration of body state.

Waiting for BTS train from Asok Station back to Victory Monument Station. Between Terminal 21 Shopping Mall is just next to Asok Station too.
After our spa treatments, we took the BTS Train back to our hotel to take a short rest before heading out to Mahboonkrong (MBK) in the evening.

Alighting at Victory Monument Station, there is small waffle stall outside the exit toward the link bridge walkway of Century Movie Plaza and the station. From a glance at photo above, you could see there is a wide range of flavour from Chocolate, Raisin, Corn, Red Bean and etc pricing from 15THB (SG$0.60) for the small waffle and 30THB (SG$1.20) for the usual size waffle.

Delicious Rains and Corn Waffle for 30THB (SG$1.20) which is crispy on the outer skin and yet soft and yummy within.
[Night Bazaar] Local Thais getting ready for the usual night bazaar market outside Century Movie Plaza
[Night Bazaar] Deep-fried Banana Balls
While waiting for the Tutu Service to bring us back to Pullman Hotel we bought this delicious Deep-fried Banana Balls from one of the street stall at the night market bazzar. These little gems were indeed very addicting with crispy outer skin and sponge texture within.

[Night Bazaar] Night view of the Bazaar outside Century Movie Plaza which is underneath the Victory Monument BTS.
Around 6 plus in the evening we took the BTS Train from Victory Monument Station to Siam Station and board the transfer train to National Stadium. You could easily see Mahboonkrong (MBK) even before the train reached the station. Upon arriving just follow the crowds and walk toward the sign pointed MBK and access to the mall through the bridge walkway.

Some of the shops in Mahboonkrong (MBK)
Local Thai Snacks that we found in one of the retail shop in MBK
Local Thai Snacks that we found in one of the retail shop in MBK
Fried Bamboo Worms
Have you seen or tried these Fried Bamboo Worms (炸竹虫) during your visit to Bangkok? For someone like me who is afraid of insects and wriggling worms, I have no courage to give it a try even though they are not alive.

Just for your information, Bamboo Worms (bicho de tacuara) are often describe as a tasty insect larvae snack which is high in protein, fiber and low in fat. And the taste and texture is similar to corn puff snacks but with more more nutritious values. 

Crispy Pancakes (Khanom Buang)
Crispy Pancakes (Khanom Buang) is one of the popular Thai local snacks which you could easily find in streets and shopping malls in Bangkok. Although it might look similar like those Mexican tacos but these Thai pancakes are topped with coconut cream before various sweet/savory toppings (such as egg yolk strips, shredded coconut, cheese and etc) are placed on them. 

[Mahboonkrong (MBK)] Food Court at Level 6
For dinner we went up to the Food Court located at level 6 which has a good varieties of choices and wallet friendly pricing. First walk around the stalls and to check out the dishes, next proceed to the ticketing counters located at the corners of the food court. You would required to purchase pre-paid food coupons  in order to get your food from the stalls.

[Mahboonkrong (MBK)] Dessert Stall
I am always fascinated with their Thai dessert stall which has a lot of colourful ingredients to pair with their mouth-watering desserts. And my favourite is always their Thai Mango Sticky Rice, Cheng Teng and Red Ruby.

[Mahboonkrong (MBK)] F-1 Shark Fin's
MBK has a well-known Chinese stall selling Claypot Shark Fins Soup and Bird's Nest Soup which is easily recognized by it's "huge" fins on display at the front of their stall.

[MBK Food Court] Shark Fins Shop @ 180THB (SG$7.40)
[MBK Food Court] Bird's Nest With Gingko Nuts @ 55THB (SG$2.25)
We have tried both the Shark Fins and Bird's Nest Soup during our last visit 5 years ago, and we find that quality and taste of the food is not as good as what we expected it to be. But come to think about it, for the the price that we are paying it still quite decent for its experience.

[MBK Food Court] Durian Sticky Rice @ THB60 (SG$2.45)
As for dessert, I was quite regretted because I should have get the Mango Sticky Rice instead of Durian as the taste was a bit blend and it rather different from those we had in Singapore.

[MBK Food Court] Fried Seafood Bee Hoon @ 50THB (SG$2.00)
Fried Seafood Bee Hoon was good with wok hei, not too dry or over cooked and it had a generous mixture of seafood like squid and prawn in it too.

[Mahboonkrong (MBK)] Fresh Fruit Stall
Durian is an expensive fruit in Bangkok. Two or three seeds a box like those shown above cost around THB 200 - 250 which is approximately SG$8.00 - 10.00 per box. And don't be surprised you won't get those good quality of creamy texture durian like what we did in Singapore.


[Mahboonkrong (MBK)] Lulcchub @ THB50 (SG$2.00)
Lulcchub (luk chup) is a colourful Thai dessert that made with green bean. They are often made to look alike like various kinds of fruits and vegetables such as chillies, bananas, carrots, cherries, mangosteens, oranges and etc in miniature. So do grab a box of this during your next visit to Bangkok and you might fell in love with these colourful sweet snacks too.

MAHBOONKRONG CENTRE (MBK)
44 Phayathai Road
Patumwan, Bangkok

To Get There:
- Alight at National Stadium BTS Station and walk towards the shopping mall using the linked sky bridges.




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