Hits and Misses

Last week I was quite positive about Zorse Cafe. This Sunday ex-colleague and his family were down from Chiangmai and I suggested we meet at Zorse for Sunday brunch. Real bummer when we had more misses than hits with the food there. I suppose this happens quite often with new cafes.

Caesar Salad

The caesar salad looked very promising – using a scotch quail eggs instead of soft boiled eggs. The lettuces were fresh and crispy but unfortunately they were dripping with dressings, instead of a good balance of oil and light dressing. Hit and miss.

Beef Nam Tok with Steamed Rice

Beef Nam tok

I ordered beef flank nam tok which normally would come with sticky rice. However the waiter said that there was no sticky rice that day and will serve with steamed rice instead. Without thinking too much, I said it is fine, only to realise that this is another hit and miss. There is a reason why sticky rice is chosen to accompany beef nam tok. The sweetness and chewiness of the sticky rice would blend very well with the spiciness of the nam tok flavour. First miss for this dish – the huge portion of the steam rice! Too much rice to go with small dish of beef nam tok. Second miss – the steam rice does not have the sweetness or flavour of sticky rice, so they should have bit more nam tok juice to coat the steamed rice. Another miss – where are the cabbage and snake beans? They are vital to the dish – the rawness and crunchiness of the cabbage and beans complement the nam tok flavour. They should not substitute or play around with their national dish!

The third miss – two of my colleagues ordered the ciabatta sandwich and complained that the ciabatta bread is dry and stale. The bread is supposed to come from one of the top bread supplier in Bangkok. Hate to think what their reaction would be to find that a cafe was serving stale bread. I had their french baguette last week and had raved about how crusty the baguette was. This week, the ciabatta was stale. The fourth miss is that when we mentioned this to the waiter, he did not do anything or reflect this comment to the kitchen – either he did not know what we saying or it was just another farang complaining.

Fifth miss – I raved on and on about how great the pear pastry was last week. We ordered the lemon cheese cake this week on strong recommendation. The lemon portion was tangy but it was not baked enough to have that light burnt taste. The pastry this time was quite sweet and I could taste sugar.

Chocolate mud cake

The consolation was the chocolate mud cake – very chocolaty and moist.

Overall I was quite disappointed this time with Zorse. The place was quite busy and I hope it is only us that did not choose the right food, that the other customers had better successes with theirs.

Friday Dusk

Another Friday has arrived but this time with the awful news of MH17. At 4pm, all I wanted on this Friday evening was to have a glass of wine to reflect that we are just passing through this world. The afternoon shower has stopped. The sky has turned blue and serene with wispy clouds still clinging on. It will be a nice dusk.

Asoke – Ratchdapisek

Instead of going to a crowded and noisy bar, my colleague and I decided to head to a roof top bar to watch Bangkok drift past against a backdrop of natural hue of colours interrupted by neon lights. Long Tables is on the 25th Floor of the Column Towers near Asoke BTS. It has a wide balcony bar with uninterrupted view of the Bangkok skyline and overlooking the Queen Sirikit park. The balcony area was not crowded that evening and we had great table with astounding views.

Bangkok Skyline

The cross breeze added to a nice serene and contemplative evening.

Bangkok Skyline

 

Bombay Gin Martini

Nice glass of gin dry martini for me and jack daniels for my colleague. We then shared a bowl of pasta and some spring rolls. I then had the house cabernet while my colleague continued with his JD.

Long Tables Chocolate Lava

Long Tables Apple crumble

To round up the evening, I had the apple crumble while he chose the chocolate lava. As I had wanted, it was a nice contemplative evening.

And to the families of MH17, 节哀顺变。

Quick Gyudon Bowl for fast recovery

It is said that we need to replenish loss fluids and burned calories within 45 minutes after an intense work-out. My gym is on the top floor of Ekamai Gateway adjacent to the Ekamai BTS. Ekamai Gateway has two floors of restaurants and cafes, mainly Japanese food, and hence is absolute convenient for fast recovery after a heavy workout.

Sukiya Gyudon Bowl, Ekamai Gateway

My favourite eating establishment is Sukiya Bowl – serving fast and reasonably priced gyudon bowls – beef, chicken and curry.

Teriyaki Chicken, Soft boiled egg and kimchi

I normally go for the teriyaki chicken bowl, topped with soft boiled egg – protein intake. The good thing about Sukiya is that they offer ‘less’, ‘normal’ and ‘more’ rice. Being careful with my carbs intake, I go for less rice! To make sure that I have ‘vegetables’, the kimchi gives the chicken bowl a bit of a spicy kick.

mix the soft boiled egg into the teriyaki chicken rice bowl

There is something about mixing the soft boiled egg into the rice – sense of childhood warmth and comfort!

All this for only Thai Baht 125 – US$3.75.

Protein, carbs and vegetables – nutritious intake and fast recovery formula to replenish and rebuild the muscle mass after a heavy workout!

1881 by Water Library (pictures)

 

Duck Salad with Onsen Egg

chicken balls

Pork Neck

Hachis Parmentier

Lamb Belly

Chocolate Brownie

Lemon Tart

1881 by Water Library

1881 by Water Library – Groove Central World

Couple of my running mates and I got together for an overdue get-together dinner last night. Decided to try out one of the restaurants at the swanky new Groove at Central World – we chose 1881 as we have never tried any Water Library restaurants before. Small restaurant with interesting decor – very industrial looking.

1881 from outside

It was another Buddhist holiday and no alcohol was served in many public places including 1881. We had to settle for some mocktails instead. 1881 is designed like a gastro bar, featuring tapas, starters, salads, main dishes, burgers and sandwiches – ecletic but dishes have bit of Thai/Asian influence.

Siam Chicken Balls on Sticks

For starters we tried the Siam Chicken ball on stick and duck salad with soft onsen egg. Siam Chicken balls were unusually presented (see photo).

Duck Salad with Onsen Egg

Duck salad was nicely dressed and mixing an onsen egg gives the mesclun leaves a nice coating – I like onsen eggs, can’t do without them in my ramen.

Lamb Belly

For the mains, one of my mates chose Lamb Belly – he does not eat pork or beef and lamb belly was quite unusual. However half of the lamb was fat. I had a taste of small slice of the lamb – nice and tender but those averse to lamb and mutton because of the gamey taste, would be put off by this dish.

Hachis Parmentier – beef stew

The other mate opted for Hachis Parmentier – beef stew dish. We did not know what Hachis Parmentier dish is and being a smarty pant, I jokingly said that it is haggis. It turned out to be a glamorous version of shepherd’s pie – mash potato gratin topped with loads of parmesan cheese enveloped the beef stew. Comfort food indeed. My mate was quite full from this dish.

Slow Cooked Pork Neck

I chose the slow cooking pork neck dish because I have a penchant for the Thai grilled pork neck (kor moo yang) but this dish no where resembled my desire. The pork neck was huge – must be a big hog! Plain taste, hardly any charring which would have accentuated the taste.

Lemon Tart

We then settled for 2 dessert dishes – lemon tart and chocolate brownie. Aside from the presentation, nothing to terribly wow the taste buds – they are nice and tasty (tangy for the lemon tart) but not enough for me to do a When Harry Met Sally.

chocolate brownie

Overall impression of 1881 – great looking decor and ambience, good selection of dishes not found elsewhere but I would not say that the dishes stood out, not for the few dishes we had.

Central World is connected to the Chidlom BTS by a walkway. Groove is the newest wing – 3 storeys of shops and eateries. 1881 is on the 3rd level.

Zorse Cafe (Part 1)

Zorse Cafe (part 2)

Experimenting with Blog writing. Had done a piece on my visit to Zorse but when I tried to post it, the text had disappeared! Darn. So will try again to re-create my previous prose.

Did not have much expectation about Zorse – it could be another one of those pop-up cafes that are becoming the trend now in Bangkok. Zorse is at the rear of Benjasiri Park where I do my weekly runs. The menu wasnot that extensive. I was looking for eggs benedict but it was not on the menu. They had scrambled eggs with smoked salmon instead. I opted for Pork Belly banh mi, thinking that it is a twist on the traditional vietnamese banh mi.

Pork Belly Banh Mi

The baguette was crusty and fresh, the pork belly quite tasty without been overly fatty; but alas there is not enough pate and pickles to give it the zest.

 

 

Lychee & Lemongrass Thai Iced Tea

The Thai iced tea was again twist on the traditional thai tea – with lychees and lemongrass – none of those sugar syrup, so it was nice and tangy!

 

 

 

Pear and Frangipanni Tart

The surprise of the lunch was the dessert – pear and frangipanni flan. The pastry was light and not too buttery short cake; the pear had a light taste and not pre-soaked in sugar syrup; the clotted cream that accompanied was light. Superb combination – nothing overpowered each other. My fork dove in with rapid cadence! Very satisfying. Zorse is worth a second visit.

Zorse Cafe is situated behind Benjasiri Park, Phrom Pong BTS, within a residential complex.