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Sunday, December 28, 2014

Lost in Bangkok - Part 2 - Nahm

Still about Bangkok patients! This post is all about Nahm, 2014's Asia's BEST restaurant. When we was planning this trip, Ms. Momo the fine dining enthusiast already put this restaurant on the top of the go-to place. I was a bit reluctant since fine dining comes with hefty price tag. I was surprised with the quite affordable price! The set menu costs 2200 baht, cheap rite?


Nahm's decor is nice. Wooden table with elegant yet down to earth setting. Spacious and intimate, the place is not as fancy as those fine dining place around Jakarta. We choose the set menu so we didn't pick any of the dishes. I don't remember the details about the food since it was months ago but i'll try my best to tell you guys about that dinner

We started with appetizers.... Nahm served 4 canapes, all 4 has to be eaten in a certain sequence to experience the best mouth explosion. Each canape has a different taste, texture and taste. My fave is the blue swimmer crab one. Oh soooo goodd


The concept of Nahm is traditional Thai food. So just like in Indonesia, we get big plates of food to be shared. Here we go...

 Fresh Tamarind Relish with minced prawn, pork and chilies

 This one is like a sort of salad dressing but warm and meaty. Kinda yucky in a way...


Salad of fresh river prawn, pork and asian pennywort

A really fresh salad, the prawn is incredibly fresh. Balanced sour and sweetness, one of my fave dish of the night.


Grilled pork cheek with smoky tomato sauce

What more do u need? PORK. CHEEK. PERIOD

Coconut and turmeric curry with blue swimmer crab and kalamansi lime

Curry should be the star of the dinner but this curry relies heavily on the yummyness of the crab. Tastewise, just okay. Nothing special IMO.
Clear soup of roast duck with thai basil and young coconut

A really fragrant soup (maybe consome is a better word) Clear soup with young coconut and mushroom, gives a sexy texture to the soup.

Next is dessert :) We choose many desserts to sample and I must say all the dessert is good... BUT not special. 

 
Super fresh!!!! Young mango with pandan sugar, oh so gooddd
 
My verdict...

I don't get why this place has to be crowned Asia's best. The food is just okay, tastes good of course but I don't find it mindblowing. I had high expectation so I was a bit disappointed. Maybe because I come from Indonesia so the herbs and spices don't surprise me?

Tips: DO NOT ORDER THE SET MENU. IMO, if you order the food ala carte, the price is cheaper. After all, the set menu is just picking one menu of each section, not a special set.

Location: COMO Hotel, Bangkok
Rating:7.5/10

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Lost in Bangkok 2014 - Part 1

Hello patients. wassup!!!! It's been 5 months I guess from my last post, all thanks to my laziness, guilty. Since I am too lazy to give honest review about restaurants around J Town as usual, I'll be sharing my last holiday in Bangkok. Here we goooo

Last September, I went to Bangkok with a couple of friends. Since we are living in different countries and provinces, we decided to go on vacay in Bangkok. A vacation that was planned almost a year ago and yet Ratu Lebah didn't make it. Shame on you Ratu Lebah!

I and Nenek Lampir bought this really cheap CGK-DMK return ticket from Lion. Should've known better but we are so cheap we sacrifice everything for the ultra cheap 1.200.000 IDR ticket. We were fooled... The schedule is changed over and over again, we decided to get a refund for the DMK-CGK ticket. Booo!!!!

Anyway, Nenek Lampir and I arrived in Bangkok around nood and we went straight to our hotel. We stayed at Centara Watergate Pavilion Hotel. A new 4 star hotel around pratunam. Walking distance to Platinum, located steps away from Paladium Shopping Mall. The hotel itself is located on top of a shopping mall but not a very good one. I highly recommend the hotel, excellent service, affordable price and great location.

Nenek Lampir couldn't hold her excitement and forced me to have a mini tour while we're waiting for Ms. Momo and Fab Doctor to arrive. First, we grab some food. OMG we're starving... I took Nenek Lampir to the food court in Platinum. I love the place, cheap eats, authentic thai food and yummy!!

We went to Jim Thompson's House after lunch. Jim Thompson is a bule a.k.a caucasian (forgot where came from :p) who lived in Bangkok around the 50's. He was a rich guy and have good relationship with the royals of Bangkok. His house was amazing! Located on the riverside, the house is a combination of traditional Thai house with a touch of european elegance. We can see lots of antiques that Jim collected. The collection was impressive, ancient statues, ceramics and some ancient paintings that Jim recovered from all over Thailand.

Dr. B Tips: While travelling in Bangkok, don't be a cheapskate. Bangkok is even cheaper than Jakarta in terms of living cost. So grab a taxi or tuk tuk, don't waste your energy on the sky train. Short trip by taxi or tuk tuk cost around 100 baht (33.000 idr) You can share with friends so it is very very cheap. A trip using sky train cost around 50-100 baht, not that cheap right?

Later that evening, we went to dinner. Ms Momo and Fab Doctor had arrived around 7 PM. We decided to grab a bite in Central World Mall. Looking for a thai restaurant (i know, it's so cliche), we grab a random restaurant since Nara is full.

 
The food was good (not great) The taste is just okay, not much different from the ones in Jakarta. The som tum is excellent! This you can't find in Jakarta :( We ended the night at Vertigo, a sky bar on Banyan Tree Hotel. I'm not a huge fan of sky bar, it was just ok. Nothing special, just another dark and windy bar with pricey drinks.

Me - Nenek Lampir - Ms Momo - Fab Doctor

Last... I'll skip to breakfast. The next morning, after extensive googling, we decided to have breakfast in this little cafe called Cafe Tartine.  An expat place with pricey food. I was not impressed at all. The place is cozy but the food is sub par. Good coffee though :)

 Cafe Tartine - One meal and coffee costs around 200-300 THB

Okay patients see you around :)