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

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 :)

Bangkok Delight Part 4

The food below are from Nara, a restaurant serving authentic thai cuisine in Central World. The sign in front of the place shows that Nara has won "Best Thai Restaurant Award" for a few times. Judging from the queue and the nice decor, I was instantly hooked and decided this to be our last dinner in Bangkok.

 Kang Kiew Wan - Chicken Green Curry

The curry is a tad too sweet for me. I actually love Thai Green Curry since it offers something different in the world of curry. One thing this dish is missing is the WOW factor. It's a yummy curry but not yummy enough to make me lick the bowl clean.

Moo Phad Kraprao - Pork with Chili and Basil

I love this dish. Chili and basil are the perfect combination. Another well balanced dish from Nara. The pork is tender and doesn't have a slightest sign of foul smell. The portion could be bigger tho

 

Kang Phed Ped Yang - Roast Duck Red Curry

As expected of a thai curry, rich spicy flavor bursting with aromatic sensations. The spicy level is next to nothing (or maybe my palate is starting to numb from all those bird eye chili). The duck is nothing special but the curry is a well balance dish.

 

Gai Hoer Bay Toei - Chicken Pandan

One of the best I've ever tasted. The chicken is well marinated, cooked perfectly. YUMMY!

This place has adjust it's taste to foreign clientele so the dishes will not be that super spicy u need 3 bottles of water to cool your tongue. I like the fact that all of the dishes are well prepared, all yummy off course and the servers are excellent. Recommended!

Location: Central World, Bangkok

 

Bangkok Delish Part 3

Samurai Burger and Fried Chicken from McD

Burger, sooo yummy! Maybe it's because I never try pork burger before but trust me it's addictive. The fried chicken is more crispy than Indonesia's but less spicy and flavorfull. The chili sauce is NOTHING compared to Indonesia's...

Meiji Plain Milk and Rare Cheese from Farm Design (Central World)

Meiji milk is ohhh sooo creammyyy. Love love love it. The rare cheese is also yummy! Too bad the blueberry topping is a bit bitter, dunno why.

Oyster Omellete (Platinum Zone 2 Food Court)

The best during my trip to Bangkok. The omellete is eggy and fragrant and juicy and oily and nom nom nom 

Pork Mixed Rice (Platinum Zone2 Food Court)

Something is wrong with this dish. The pork, no good. Chewy and tasteless. The gravy is so sweet, I couldn't finish it.

Mixed Thai Dessert (Platinum Zone 2 Food Court)

Mixed small bites with mung bean filling covered in jelly, so so and nothing special.

Bangkok Delish Part 2

Another food parade from my recent trip to Bangkok...

Mango Sticky Rice 

Cheap, yummy and addictive. Perfect combi of sweet mango, savoury coconut milk and sticky rice as the balancing bland rough texture. Don't know why but Jakarta's doesn't tastes as good...

Breakfast at Grand Fourwings Hotel

Nice convention hotel, breakfast not bad. Butter is awful, ughhh

Deep Fried Soft Shell Crab

Thailand has many cheap yet yummt treats! This is from Pattaya Floating Market, crunchy and spicy.

Grilled Pork with Sweet Sour Sauce

 

Another treat from Pattaya Floating Market. Just sit on one of the many stalls selling anything from Pad Thai to Fried Scorpions. The grill pork is okay, nothing special.

Chinese Food by Royal Dragon Restaurant

Said to be the biggest restaurant in the world (definitely not the best and the most delicious) Mediocre to bad chinese food, no further comment.

Bangkok Delish part 1

Hello patients, this post will be about food in Bangkok. Went there with fam two weeks ago and soooooo addicted to the yummy food there :)

Spring Rolls and Prawn Rolls

This one if from a chinese restaurant in front of the food court, each plate cost 80 Baht. Fresh praws, quite good. 

Oyster Omellete

From the same restaurant, in Siam Paragon. I didn't know that oyster omellete is a common food in Thailand. I'd say bravoo Thailand :) More yummy thai food for moi

Pad Thai

Signature Thai dish, one of my fave during ourstay.

Papaya Seafood Salad

This is from one of the stall in Siam Paragon Food Court, cost us 70 Baht (Rp. 22.000) Super delish, sour, sweet and salty in one bite. Very refreshing!!

Breakfast in Grand Fourwings Hotel

Pork and Chicken Sausage, Kidney beans, Pork Ham and Mixed Omellete. Standar hotel breakfast with pork sausage as the highlight

See u in another post patients, more delish to come :)

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Kuppa

Uda lama banget gw pengen nyobain Thai resto yang namanya Kuppa ini. Kayanya ampir tiap kali gw ngelawatin Kuppa, gw penasaran gitu makanannya enak ga ya... Secara di PI cuma ada2 Thai resto dan gw selalu makan di King of Thai, jadi nya ampe sekarang blom perna nyoba. Nahhhh kmrn ini gara2 si Asmet ribut mau ke atm ngecek gaji, ngelewatin lah si Kuppa ini. Tiba2 ada tulisan disc 50% pake Mandiri, langsung napsu deh gw hahaha :p


Dari luar seh tampilan nya lumayan keren ya. Dark interior yang bikin ni resto posh banget gitu dahhhh. Gw bingung pas masuk, kok dari luar keren tp begitu di dalem memble gini. Menurut gw berantakan, decor nya ga jelas tema nya apa en keliatan worn out gitu. Not good


The food:
1. Tom Yum Goong (Rp. 68.500)


First impression, SAYUR ASEM!!! Sumpa ni rasa nya 90% sayur asem... Sejak kapan yang namanya Tom Yam Goong tuh rasa nya manis en banyak cabe mengambang di kuah nya, persis sayur asem. Udang nya medium size yang agak overcook 2 biji dengan jamur yang cukup banyak. Agak kecewa sih gw, kurang pedes en kurang seger layak nya Tom Yam Goong biasa nya.

2. Crispy Gurame Sweet and Sour Sauce (Rp. 62.500)


Begitu dateng gw uda ilfil berat, kok letoy gini nih si crispy nya. Kalo emank ga mampu bikin gurame goreng kering yang dagingnya bisa ngaceng gitu ya at least diakalin napa... Potong2 aja daging nya kecil kecil, kan keliatan nya lebi appetizing. Ini ga jelas banget, kaya ngasi ikan goreng stega mateng gitu. Dari soal rasa juga minus. Ga asem, ga pedes, ga seger jadi cuma manis doank. Trus di saos nya banyak bener bawang putih, aneh aja gitu saos nya bertaburan bawang putih cincang...

3. Chicken Pandan (Rp. 45.500)


Finally something good. Walopun begitu, chicken pandan nya juga kurang enak. Pertama, dia pake daging dada untuk semua chicken pandan nya. Tau donk karakteristik dada ayam yang kalo dimasak lama jadi batu itu? Kering en bikin nyangkut di gigi... Untungnya rasa nya cukup enak dan saus nya enak! I dipped that chicken a lot during the whole time I dined, simply because it's the only flavorful dish that night.

Servis nya jelek banget, agak kesel gw cuma karena laper ya sudah lah. Pertama muka nya jutek semua. Dari manager sampe waiter, semua nya jutek! Mau pake alesan puasa ato cape ato rame ato apa lah, pantang yang nama nya kerja di restoran pasang muka jutek! Bikin napsu makan ilang aja. Uda gitu, ordernya ketuker sama meja sebelah, grrrrr. Yang tamba parah, selama terjadi chaos akibat ketuker nya tu makanan, mereka tereak2an di tengah2 kita makan, nyebelin kan. Gw ga peduli deh salah siapa but bring me my food ASAP!!!!!!!!!

Rating: 5/10
Location: Plaza Indonesia F3