Ootoya Washoku

Ok, usually I try NOT to write about chain, corporate restaurants.  However, I have to give Ootoya a nod.  This Washoku style (everday japanese cuisine) restaurant chain is so consistent, and good that I feel it important to promote them here.  I personally eat there 3-4 times a week and it would be immensely hypocritical of me to not mention them.  Ootoyas singular focus is to deliver great quality at low prices-VALUE!

You'll see japanese businessmen, japanese families, and many many middle-upper class thais eat here.

They have curry udon, great hot/cold soba, awesome grilled fish bentos, tonkatsu, japanese fried chicken, and marinated tuna sashimi among many other sets.

The prices are unbelievably affordable as well.  You can eat lunch or dinner there for under 200 baht.  So, short and sweet you can't go wrong here and whether you are visiting or living in Bangkok you will love the quality at Ootoya.  

Ootoya is at most malls, and shopping centers throughout central Bangkok.  J-Avenue Tong lor; Emporium 5th Fl, Paragon ground floor are some specific locations.

The Marie Royal Korean Cuisine

Nice!  

I say this because it's the first word that popped to mind when I saw the decor of this fairly new restaurant.  I've bemoaned that Korean restaurants are hopelessly designed when you compare them with most Japanese counterparts.  It makes No sense either, as Koreans have tremendous sense of personal style and are very artistic.  However, I see pathologically ugly interiors that really give a sense that style is always an afterthought.  The Marie is alternatively tasteful and beautifully designed.  It looks like something out of the set of the hit movie "Winter Sonata".  It makes sense as the husband and wife proprietors are university and professionally trained artists and graphic designers.  So how's the food you might ask?

They offer traditional and fusion Korean dishes sans the BBQ table and thus no smoky garlicky hair and clothing when you leave.  It's much more in the style of Korean restaurant cafes in Japan, but the great thing is that the food is actually cooked by Mrs. Marie so the food has "seoul"!  Excusing the pun, Marie also has a pedigree in traditional chinese herbal medicines (A long practiced art by Koreans as well) from her grandfather, and incorporates healthy cooking ingredients and methods.

The food is delicious and the lunch sets are very affordable at around 150 baht.  Very nice, stylish place to have a lunch or dinner.

The Marie on Tong Lor soi 13, Bangkok inside the Home Place Building 1st floor

Cold Korean Black Soba or Chik Naeng Myun

Ok, when I say that I probably have eaten more chik naeng myun than any other person on the planet in the last 15 years, I'm being more  accurate than most would believe.  I would gladly and on occasion have eaten this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and craved it again late at night. Only Mr. Choi the owner of Yu Chun restaurant in Honolulu that introduced me to this variation of Korean soba has more knowledge and maybe a slight edge in appreciation (although I doubt it) of this dish.

First allow me to "school" you on naeng myun.  It is the dish that is one of the most Korean of dishes.  You might argue kimchi, but kimchi is now eaten all over the world, and to say that pickled vegetables are the bastion of one culture is a losing argument.  

Naeng myun in Korean literally translates into "cold noodle". Now, my research has shown that very few asian or any cultures for that matter have many cold noodle dishes.  Most noodles, pastas, etc around the world are served hot, inside soup, drowned in rich sauce, or stir fried. Koreans and Japanese do enjoy soba noodles and naeng myun cold.  How cold is the big question? I'll get to that soon......

Naeng myun noodles like their soba cousins are mostly made from buckwheat powder, which gives them their unique chewy texture, and grey color.  Anyone that knows the fiber content of said grain will tell you it's extremely high in fiber, and digests very slowly.  This makes naeng myun among the healthiest of noodles one can ingest, and later ahem.....excrete.  The high fiber is great for your colon, and the slow release of carb sugars is a much healthier alternative to any white flour noodles that tend to spike one's blood sugar and thus releases too much insulin.  The variation that I have come to really appreciate is chik naeng myun that is a variety made mostly from arrowroot.  It gives the noodles an even chewier texture, earthy aroma, and the black-purple coloration that is it's trademark.  Like most true pasta lovers can really appreciate the unique qualities of squid-ink pasta; chik noodles hold the equivalent reverence among true naeng myun lovers. 

I have eaten chik naeng myun in my hometown of Honolulu, LA, Seoul, Sydney, Singapore, and Manila. Most chik naeng myun I've eaten was in a chain of Korean restaurants called Yu Chun. However, recently in Singapore and Manila I have found very very good copycats at Seoul Garden at the Esplanade in SG, and BiWon on P.Burgos street in Makati.  

The noodles are only part of the equation.  The yook-soo or cold beef soup broth that is served slurpee style (ice cold) along with the fresh cucumber, garlic chili paste, shredded Korean bbq-beef, and hard boiled egg all combine to give your mouth a tremendous taste EXPLOSION! Nothing in my eating life has turned out to be sooo good and SOOOO addictive.  

Everyone has asked themselves if I could only eat one dish for the rest of my life what would it be?  I would have to walk down the aisle with Chik naeng myun.

Elbert's Steak Room

This is a restaurant with no signs, no advertising, lots of exclusivity.  

Word of mouth among Manila's elite have made Elbert's the talk of the steak town.  Adrian the chef and brother of Elbert does an amazing job serving up great steaks in an elegant yet cozy dining room.  These guys really understand how to run a great steakhouse.  It's actually the KISS principal.   Keep it simple stupid.  

1. Great, over the top rated USDA aged prime cuts chilled-never frozen
2. simple menu offerings, that empahasize freshness.  Baked potatoes, grilled vegetables, fresh salad, and some nice desserts!
3. dark, classy ambience

I finally got a great steak after months of trying to get one.  It's true that I am an unabashadly great admirer of grain fed USDA prime beef.  The taste is second to none.  It gets it's taste from the bone, meat, and aging rather than the marbling and tenderness that wagyu does.  For a bloodthirsty carnivore Elbert's delivered and then some.

Elberts is in makati on Delacosta somewhere.......you are in for treat if you can find it.

Gilak Middle Eastern Restaurant by Hossein

Gilak's is Mr. Hossein's latest restaurant newly opened at Greenbelt in Makati.  I was luckily invited there by my customers who have been long time diners at his Hossein's location on Makati Avenue.  I will say that middle-eastern is NOT always my favorite, but like my Dad used to correctly state, " great cuisine is found everywhere, and it doesn't matter how it's cooked, as long as it's cooked well".  Thars some wisdom in dem words Pa!  Mr. Hossein went on to knock my socks off with the wonderful talent with which he showcased in the meal he served us.

We had braised lamb shanks, shrimp arab with yogurt sauce, naan, salad, and tandoori chicken.  All these are dishes I've had before, but he does them exceptionally well.  Think a steak from TGI Friday's vs. a steak from Mortons...

for more pics and details on Gilak check out my friend Rica's blog: http://heart-2-heart-online.com:80/2008/10/12/gilak-by-hosseins/

TSUKIJI

PURE QUALITY comes to mind when I think back to the dining experience I had at this premium Japanese restaurant in Makati a few days ago.  It's NO secret that well heeled filipinos have tremendous spending power and Tsukiji offers them the best of the best that japanese cuisine has to offer right in their backyard-for a hefty price.

They get their name from the world famous fish market in Tokyo where they also happen to get direct shipments of the best fish cuts 3 times per week.

The restaurant is located on Pasay right behind the Greenbelt shopping complex.  From the street it's very unassuming and appears to be inside a lowrise office building.  Once you take the lift to the 2nd floor and you enter the restaurant it looks like any standard japanese restaurant with the obligatory private rooms where you sit on the floor and a sushi counter with wooden seats.

However, open up the menu and you realize that this is going to be an expensive meal.  For  good reason though as most of the items are premium ingredients imported directly from Japan.

I ordered:

 

Sashimi moriawase (mixed raw pieces of fish)

This dish is always about freshness and quality of fish.  Super high marks for both requirements. The tuna belly (o-toro), salmon, hamachi (yellowtail), squid, uni (sea urchin), and salmon eggs were among the best I've EVER tasted.  The uni in particular deserves a nod.  Uni is by far one of my favorite foods and I've tasted uni around the world.  This was uni from the icy siberian waters of Hokkaido Japan.  The consistency was like eating spoonfuls of mayonnaise.  Probably just as full of fat as well because the cold water requires the uni to develop a high fat content.  It was also bright orange/red; a color I have never seen before in uni.  Easily the best I've had.  Yes, even better than the Santa Barbara uni......sorry Cali.  

Wagyu Yukke

This is Korean steak tartar.  It's a raw chopped beef dish marinated with soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, and garnished with asian pear, cucmbers, spring onions and chili powder, and the force-de-resistance a raw egg yolk on top.  Furthermore it was decadantly made of fresh Wagyu beef that is among the best in the world.  The first bite of this dish at Tsukiji was a life-altering experience.  I grew up on eating dishes like this as a Korean.  However, I never thought the best yukke in the world would be eaten in a Japanese restaurant.  It was such a bittersweet moment as my taste buds viciously betrayed my nationalistic feelings.  But it was definitely NOT hard to swallow.

Kani Fry

this is deep fried battered oyster and I kick myself for ordering this dish in a high end restaurant like Tsukiji. 

I washed down the meal with cold sake and green tea.  This was easily a top 3 dining experience in my life.  Unbelievably delicious.

They offer a 13 course menu called Kaiseke that basically is a chef's selection of all the best and freshest ingredients.  However the catch is you have to order 3 days in advance and a minimum of 3 persons is required.

Expect to drop about 5,000 pesos ($120)  if you order premium fish and beef.  Worth every single peso-trust me.

Cha Cha An Japanese restaurant

This is yet another of a myriad of Japanese restaurants that has opened up in the Sukhumvit zone from Sukhumvit 24-Ekamai.  It makes sense as there are a tremendous amount of Japanese expats and also well-heeled Thais that tend to appreciate Japanese food in this area of Bangkok.  

Cha Cha An opened 5 months ago after renovating an old house On Ekamai soi 10/4 right behind the large Healthland.  I know the place very well as it's in front of my house.  Understandably, it's first few months were very quiet.  I rarely saw a car parked in front.  However, it's really picked up during both lunch and dinner.  So, recently I went for lunch. 

The decor indicates an attempt by Cha Cha An to create a premium atmosphere.  Basically it looks expensive.  However, upon examining the lunch set menu, the prices are down right affordable.  Salmon grill set runs 200 baht with sides, rice, and miso soup.   Most of their lunch items run from 160 THB - 350 THB.  Many choices ensure that Cha Cha An is a great place to lunch at least once a week for locals around Ekamai/TongLor.  

The regular menu did indeed have some premium items like Kobe Beef sukiyaki, and uni-ikura sashimi.  However, it seems that Thailand now has regular suppliers for such items that were until recently only avaialable in the most premium of japanese restaurants here.

I'll be going back as the atmosphere inside is beautiful and serene.  My goal is to try every lunch item by the end of October.  The fact that they have free wi-fi internet access inside is a big plus as I usually lunch alone.

The only negative was that I had to ask them to change out my grilled sawara white fish as it was dried out and had a hint of freezer burn.  It could be that it was frozen solid, and then defrosted in a microwave.  Rather than being light, moist and flaky it was dry and crunchy especially on the edges.  However, they graciously handled the problem and the salmon grill that I chose to replace the fish disaster was suitably good.

to your next great meal!

Lunch

20 oz of Silverside ground beef - Nuff said!

Thai Beef Salad

pronounced Yam neua yang

This is one Thai dish that I really love-along with most people who try it.  Like most Thai "yams" salads it's a pungent fiery dish balanced with sweetness.  Most salad dressings balance sweet/sour but the Thai beef salad reigns supreme on a kick-your-ass taste experience.  

I personally love the grilled variety but it can be made with roasted or even fried beef.  Overall, the grilled variety made (mai souk) med-rare really allows for the taste of beef to combine with the other strong flavors in the salad.  

Like most great dishes it's simple to make but long on taste. 

Basic Ingredients:

dressing

• fish sauce
• fresh (manao) thai lemon juice.  Substitute FRESH lime or lemon juice ok
• minced garlic
• palm sugar (reg. sugar ok to sub.)
• fresh spicy-ass thai  chilis (sub. scotch bonnet or habanero OK)

salad ingredients

• sweet fresh julienned onions
• cucumbers peeled and diced or sliced thin
• tomatoes chopped chunky bite size
• fresh celery leaves (important ingredient and hard to sub.-offers unique seasoning) these can be trimmed from a full stalk of fresh celery.  In Thailand these leaves are more available than the stalks of celery themsleves.  Another insight to cultural/market differences
• grilled beef to one's liking (recommend med. rare)

this dish's preparation is really a to one's taste kind of thing.  However, the true Thai way is to make the entire dressing in a large wooden mortar and pestal bowl.  

Step 1

place garlic into bowl and mince or pound.  

place chilis in and do the same as garlic

add palm sugar

squeeze in fresh juice

add fish sauce sparingly to taste until it tastes right.

*note that the dressing should be very strong in taste at this point as it will mix with the natural water in the cucumbers later and become fairly diluted.

Step 2

toss in the dressing with all the other salad ingredients. mix well and let it marinate for just a few minutes.  This dish can be served warm if you want to add the just cooked beef last.

if the taste is too light one can add fish sauce, sugar, or juice depending on if you need to pump up the salty, sweet, or sour taste.  Always remember that balancing those three flavors are the key to a great Thai dish!

Enjoy!

DK

PRIME aged Thai Beef-Don't believe the hype

Steak, glorious marbled, striated, delicious juicy steak.   Thailand is NOT a place well known for steak, as a westerner would know it.   However I will talk a bit about my Chokchai Steakhouse experience in Bangkok.

Chains like Ruth's Chris and Mortons really do a tremendous job mostly because they understand the basics.

1. Great (aged) USDA Prime beef cuts.
2. Super heated cooking methods that allow for serious searing of the meat
3. heated plates, great ambience, and nice sides to complement the steak.

Chokchai is probably one of the most well-known chains for steak in Thailand. They do a great job marketing their fresh milk ice-cream products from their respective dairy farms through the brand called Umm-Milk!  However, the beef doesn't quite follow the success of their dairy division.

I ordered what they call on their menu the Prime 30 day aged steak platter (T-bone cut)  The smaller portion was surprisingly hefty-a plus.  However, the meat did not meet the initial excitement I had upon reading that the meat was actually aged.  In Thailand aging is not a common or even well-understood concept.  

I enjoy my steak "pittsburghed" or black/blue which means it's charbroiled & seared black on the outside and red-rare inside.  A true steak lover will always eat their steak this way. However, the meat was not even as tender as the Thai-French version that I buy from Villa markets when I want to fire up the bb-q for home-made steaks in Bangkok.   Furthermore, the med-rare steak was presented on a sizzling cast iron platter.  The presentation is nice, but the problem is that the steak keeps right on cooking in front of you; and half way through, despite my frantic cutting and swallowing, the steak turned med-well...urrgh!  Also, no great steak ever needs to be served with brown gravy sauce like they do at Chokchai.  Sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper should be the only seasoning needed.

Overall Chokchai is worth taking in a steak as the prices are decent and the restaurant is appealing.  Think of it as more of a family steakhouse rather than a great premium one.   

Thainese Take-Out's inaugural post

Hello and welcome to my food blog that is "Thainese Take-Out". A foodie since birth, I have decided to elevate my netizen status from taker to giver/taker. This blog will chronicle all my adventures in food and lifestyle from my home base in Bangkok to other spots throughout Asia/Pacifica and the US. I hope you love my blog as much as I love great food and I look forward to sharing it all here with you.

here's to your next great meal!
DK