Dec 31, 2012

El Osito - Sandwiches and Tapas



A small Spanish Tapas Joint located in Mahatun Plaza, El Osito also offers good quality sandwiches to customer during day.

El Osito is a Spanish word meaning 'Bear'. Judging from the name, I figured the portion of the food would be pretty big. And my intuition was right.




We began our mel with Chef Salad (200B). Chicken breast, Avocado, Bacon and Hard Boiled egg. The portion was fairly big.



'New York Pastrami' 270B
Homemade Pastrami, Deli Mustard, Gruyere Cheese wrapped in Seedless Rye Bread.



Look at the stuffing inside. Just how generous this sandwiches joint can be. Seriously, I can use another piece of rye bread for this amount of pastrami.



Here come their famous 'Reuben sandwiches' (310B) Homemade Corned beef, Sauerkraut, Russain Dressing, Deli Mustard, Gruyere Cheese in Seedless Rye Bread.



Again, corned beef was plenty. Corned beef was juicy and rich.



Jambon and Saucisson (250B) French cured ham, cured sausage, Butter, Dijon Mustard, Gyuyere Cheese, Lettuce with French Baguette.



Vietnamese Banh Mi BBQ Pork (210B)
Vietnamese style sandwiches. BBQ pork, Pork liver pate, Steamed Pork, Ham, Pickled Carrot, Daikon, Cilantro, Cucumber, Jalapeno Chillies, Mayonnaise in French Roll. Unlike other sandwiches in our meal, This is considerable a healthy one.



Philli Cheesesteak 270B
Grilled thinly sliced steak, Melted Provolone and American Cheese, Grilled onion, Pickled red/green pepper Hoagie Roll.




Thinly sliced beef was sauteed with onion before topped with melted cheese.  An authentic treat from USA




 
We had a cup of Cafe Cortado to end our meal.



One of the best Sandwiches joints in town is the only short definition I can give to El Osito.The portion was generous and quality of ingredients was excellent. I am more than ready to come back and try out their dinner Tapas menu already.



El Osito - Sandwiches and Tapas888/23-24 Mahatun Plaza, Ploenchit Rd, Lumpini,Patumwan, Bangkok, Thailand 10330

Mon - Sat: 11:30 am - 11:00 pm

02-651-4399

Dec 26, 2012

Quince - Eatery & Bar

Nose to tail eating seems to be one of the most popular theme for newly opened restaurants. Quince - Eatery & Bar is one of the latest one under this stylish theme.

What I found fascinated about Quince is that the team behind the kitchen is very passionated. Their A4 size menu is updated everyday with new entries cooked from fresh local ingredients.

I have been to Quince twice. The first time it was dinner, an impressive one. The second time, I was there for lunch. I wouldn't say the lunch was a sublime experience.


Let's begin with the story of my first visit on dinner. It began with this complimentary bread. Too chewy for me. This came with Olive oil (very fine one) and sea salt.


Croquette Potato, Chive & Smoked Cheese : 40B each
I expected a potato Croquette with slight tint of cheese. But I was wrong. It was very cheesy. This little piece of Croquette is tightly packed with smoked cheese. A very good starter for my dinner.



Soft Tomatoes, Buffalo Curd + Basil Oil and Parsley  : 200B
This is like Quince's original form of Insalata Caprese salad. These white fresh cheese is Buffalo Curd. Even though it's a bit lack of richness comparing to mozzarella, I kinda like its softness and wateriness. Dressing was delectable. We licked the plate clean.



Ricotta Gnocchi, Zucchini, Parmigiano, Mint + Chilli  :270B
One of the most unique pasta I ever encounter. Sourness from vinegar and aroma from mint bugged me a bit, but the Ricotta infused Gnocchi itself was enjoyable.




Hanger Steak Rare, Pressed Rib, Mushroom Fricasse, Dok Kajon   :450B
Skirt steak cooked rare. Accompanied with slow-cooked Beef Ribs. Both were cooked to the perfection. This is the star of our meal. Any meat lover would smack their lips for this. Mushroom Fricassee was full flavor, adding a touch of savoury to the meat. This dish alone definitely make Quince worths a revisit.




 Bugs Bunny Risotto : 400B
The last dish of our dinner was a risotto from the list of special of the day.

I didn't expect Rabbit braised in light soup, served seperately from risotto. This is the very first time I ever eat Rabbit, I am not pretty sure if it tastes like what it's suppose to be. I dont think this is much different from chicken stew.
  

Here is the risotto. Riced cooked in soup, seasoned with carrot and cheese. A bit too sweet to me. Over all this Bug Bunny Risotto thing was another unique dining experience to me.

And this is what I had for lunch on my second visit. During lunch time, Quince serve mainly baguette sandwiches and only a few kinds of starters. Pasta of the day, so as soup, are available also.




Pork Cheek Rillettes, Quince Paste, Pickles  :200B
This is one of the appetizer that was available at lunch. There were chunky pieces of nicely braised pork cheek in the rillettes. The seasoning could use a little more zest. Quince paste was satisfying.




Smokey eggplant, Labne, Sweet Onions, Romesco, Edamame  :200B
The waitress said this is one of the signature dish. Eggplant was grilled to tender and peeled. Dressing was rather sharp and sour. Not a very good company to preserved onion, which is sour also. Refreshing dish, I must say. But it was impossible for me to finish this alone by myself.



Soup of the day - Lentil, Vegetable, Jamon  150B
A light one and easy to eat. Tomato's slight sweet&sourness harmonizes the flavor of all ingrredients.




Tomato Mozzarella + Rocket Pesto   :200B
One of their lunch baguette sandwiches. The baguette was the same one as the complimentary's. It disappointed me a lot that they use complimentary bread on something we actually order. The stuffing inside was enjoyable but the bread is too harden and chewy to me.




 Pork Belly + Cabbage Coleslaw + Pickle  :200B
The pork could have been more tender. Coleslaw was creamy and tasty.




Roasted Peppers, Chorizo, + Sheep Curds  :200B
The best one among sandwiches we had that lunch. juicy Roasted pepper and zesty Chorizo was a nice combination. Sheepcurd was sharp and smelly, like a goat cheese, which I personally found it satisfying.




Pasta of the day - Penne, Pork Sausage, Cherry Tomato Ragu   :150B
Nice quality and quantity for the price given. But on Sukhumvit road there are so many restaurants serving better pasta than this.


Overall, I found Quince a nice place for dinner. The menu is very creative and passionated. Only during the lunch, Quince isn't showing out what they really are capable of. The wolf turns itself in to a rabbit during the day. Menu is limited to a few casual and homey treat. So Lunch at Quince wouldn't be an option for me. I am willing to visit Quince again for dinner. 



Quince Eatery & Bar
Sukhumvit soi 45, Bangkok, Thailand 10110 Open Daily : 11:30 am - 1:00 am
02-662-4478
http://www.quincebangkok.com





Dec 17, 2012

Tong Lai Shun 東来順

Number of Beijing cuisine restaurants in Bangkok is limited to handful, especially when it comes to decent ones. While Bangkokians in Silom area are blissful with Boon Pochana, Yong-her or Kiew Liew Ning, Sukhumvit people is blessed to have this scrumptious Beijing cuisine restaurant, Tong Lai Shun (東来順) in Sukhumvit soi 41.



Tong Lai Shun's Beijing cuisine is considerable a local and rustic one. Homemade noodles and Dumpling are their signature dishes. So why would I stop myself from ordering this delectable steamed Dumpling. The skin is very thin, yet chewy. Stuffing inside, made from minced pork and green leek was very juicy.



Another 'a-must-to-order', their tasty homemade Noodles. This is called Zhajiangmian. Hot noodles topped with ground pork stir-fried with soybean paste. Accompanied with thinly sliced cucumber. Chewy noodles was a good combination to salty and savoury soybean paste.



This one is called Chinjao Rosu, Green bell pepper stir-sried with beef. The beef was tender, even though I wish it could let the flavor of beef shine through a bit more. The beef was thinly sliced, almost too thin, that the true flavor was overwhelmed by seasoning



Shirmp balls with Tofu. Shirmp balls have balanced flavor that goes well with Tofu, Vegetable and mild flavor sticky sauce. Although the shirmpball could have use a bit of firmness.



A very 'playful' dessert they have got here, Caramelized Apple. The caramel sauce was heated sugar in some kind of fat (Probably lard). This was served hot, too hot that the sauce kept bubbling for few minutes after the plate landed on our table. 




The waitress showed us how to eat this without getting our tongue burnt. She brought us a big bowl of iced water, dipped the caramelized apple in to iced water so that the caramel sauce hold its shape. The sauce became a crispy toffee coating on the apple. This is a kind of basic molecular gastronomy, I must say. 




This is how the caramelized apple look like after being dipped into iced water. A truly enjoyable dessert indeed.



Ton Lai Shun
2/52 Sukhimvit 41 Wattana Bangkok

11:30-14:00 / 17:00 - 22:30

02-259-0765 



Dec 9, 2012

Ginzado Japanese B.B.Q.

Beef has always been my all time favourite choice of food. And when it comes to Yakiniku (Japanese Style charcoal grilled beef), The best dining hall I can ever think of is nowhere  else but Ginzado.



Thongkor is packed with a number of Yakiniku places, yet Ginzado is arguably the best of them all IMHO. Premium grade beef is perfectly craved in to the ideal cut. What else do we want more from a Yakiniku house.


We were there with a party of 10. SOme of us prefer pork than beef, but there wasn't problem at all. As other than premium grade beef, Ginzado serve delectable pork also.




Tokujo Karubi is my favourite cut here. Karubi refer to Short Rib, the best part with tender meat and fat mable.




Also Katabara (Beef Brisket) is a must for beef lover. Mable level is not as great comparing to Karubi. The merit is that red meat is more tender and delicate.




This is one of my favourite dish, Yukke. Korean style steak tartare made from raw ground beef seasoned with sauces and egg yolk. Creamy and full flavor. 





Here comes pork for non-beef lover. This one is pork belly, flavored with salt.




This pork belly is seasoned maribated with sauce.




Pork collar also came in choice of slated one or sauce marinated one.




Who said Kimchi is limited to only Cabbage? Kimchi made from Cucumber and Radish also available here.




What can be a better side dish than a nice plate of garlic butter fried rice.




Just can't remember how many plates of Tokujo Karubi we had there. These beef are enjoyable. Definitely one of the best meal I had in months.  




Complemantary fruits are served at the end of meal. This end my sublime dinner perfectly.



GINZADO Japanese B.B.Q.

1st floor Panchit Tower.
117 Sukhumvit 55 Rd. (Between soi 5 and soi 7)

17:00 - 23:00


Tel :023923248