May 30, 2012

Mellow Restaurant & Bar


Arguably one of the most successful Restaurant & Bar on Thonglor street, Mellow offers decent modern fusion cuisine with tempting Happy Hour ‘Buy 1 gets 1’ from 5pm to 8pm. (Sun-Thu only)

Most of the food is based on western cooking and enhanced with a touch of Asian seasoning. Yet after several times of visits,  I found it’s better to stick with authentic western food.





Among their various menu , Chicken Tender is my favorite.  Thick cut Chicken and Potatoes are oven-roasted to the right doneness and topped with tangy tomato sauce.
(They used to make the sauce with peeled whole tomato. Now it’s made from canned tomato puree with diced tomato, which I personally wouldn’t take it as a positive improvement.)

Stuffed Pork-chop came in a gigantic huge piece that I couldn’t believe it was really the size of pork chop, not beef rib. The pork was grilled properly resulting the aromatic browning and the juiciness inside with cheese, mushroom and ham as stuffing . Brown sauce seasoned with tarragon and mustard was creative and delightful.

Pan roasted Sea-bass  with seafood dipping sauce is another a-must-to-order for me. The skin is crispy yet the flesh is moist and full flavor.
The sauce is rather too mild to be called an authentic  Thai seafood dipping sauce. Yet I found it the right spiciness for the dish as the excessive zest would destroy that original taste of the fish itself.





Despite those delectable meaty main dishes being served here, I found pasta dishes are not as fancy as I expected. We tried Spicy Carbonara, unlike its name the sauce wasn’t any close to spiciness and it rather creamy with neither zest from cheese nor richness from egg yolk. Penne with Italian sausage and mushroom tomato sauce was better yet nothing impressive.

This is a bar after all, Mellow have groovy appetizer snacks such as Chicken nugget with wasabi sauce, making the perfect snack to go with you brews. Enjoy original fancy beer bomb such as Lychee Asahi or Fruity Shochu Sour like Peach Shochu. Or stick to Classic cocktail like Caipirinha. All of these would undoubtedly make fine selections to refresh yourself.



Mellow Restaurant & Bar

Thonglor Branch :  02-382-0065, 086-338-8560
The Crystal Branch : 02-515-0748
Sun-Thu: 11am - 1am
Fri - Sat: 11am - 2am
(Lunch Set 11am-3pm)
Penny's Balcony, 16 Sukhumvit55 (Between Soi Thonglor 14 - 16),
Bangkok 10110

May 23, 2012

Issaya Siamese Club

As I am not very fond of spicy food,  I rarely visit Thai food restaurant, yet Issaya Siamese Club is the only exception.
Or Addiction might be the better word, as I used to dined at Issaya 3 times in a month.
Issaya is not traditional Thai food restaurant, rather a modern one. The menu is created by the celebrity chef from Iron Chef Thailand, Chef Ian (Pongtawat Chalermkittichai).


My favorite starter would be Kanhom Krok Tom Kha Gai. It might sounds a little bit weird as commonly Kanhom krok is sweet snack, not savory one. Yet surprisingly, the chef manage to make a good savory out of it.
Baby back ribs with Chef Ian special blend spices is another a must to order. The ribs is nicely braised that the meat easily fell off the bone. The thick  sauce pulls a perfect balance between sweetness, saltiness and a little touch of spiciness.    
For main dish, Lamb shank Massaman curry would be the star. The curry is very concentrated and full flavored. Lamb is allowed to stewed in aromatic curry until nicely tender.
Looking for rice for the meal?  Rice menu couldn’t be any fancier with their Khoa Aob Namlieab & Hedpao. Red beans, millet and rice are cooked to the right doneness before seasoned with  Salted Chinese olive (Namlieab) and minced Hedpao mushroom.


Another highlight of the meal is Issaya signature Thai and Western fusion desserts. In aspect of creativity,  Issaya serve arguably the finest sweet in town.
Allow their pastry chef spoil you with the selection of the day by ordering Petite Four Issaya. Taro/Sesame Macaron, Thai traditional Coffee Brownie, Homemade Marsh mellow, and many more depending upon what is the specialty of the day.

Thai Sweet Salim Cheesecake is another fine selection for dessert. Pastry chefs here sure have a lot of effort going far enough to make their own homemade Oreo cookies used as the bottom crust. This rich cheesecake is infused by Thai traditional aromatic smoky to give it a touch of Thai heritage.

Kanhom Kho, possibly widely know as Mochi Ice cream. What is so special about Mochi Ice cream they serve here is that the ice cream are full of both creativity and originality. The ice cream are flavored in to Thai traditional dessert, Kanhom Peakphoon (Burned coconut shell infused soft cake) or Cashew Nut flavor.   


Kanhom Khao Kraya kuu (Pandanus Tiramisu) is my most favourite. A perfect combination of aromatic Pandanus  and creamy mascarpone. What can be the better companion To a Pandanus Tiramisu than a Pandanus Ice cream? The ice cream is very full flavor and arguably the best Pandanus Ice cream in town.  

Another dessert to be mentioned would be , Tangteak (Coconut Souffle crepe in Chocolate bowl). (Coconut Souffle crepe is moist and has light texture. Yet the most outstanding thing about it would be how they serve this dessert. Chocolate bowl with Coconut Souffle crepe inside will be dropped from the middle of the air above the table. The result is Chocolate Bowl breaks before your eyes and Coconut Souffle crepe inside is revealed. A very playful presentation indeed.

Just like other classy places, Issaya also has a small bar inside the restaurant. The drinks are limited yet some of those in the list, Ex: Bangkok Lemonade or Thai Mojito (Infused with Coriander instead of Mint) has high originality and nicely present Thai heritage. 


Issaya Siamese Club
Open Daily
11:30 am – 2:30 pm  (Lunch)
6:00 pm - 10:30 pm (Dinner)
Telephone: +66 (0)2 672 9040-1 Fax: +66 (0)2 672 9042
http://www.issaya.com/