Travel | Bangkok 15 to 17 May 2016 | Daeng Seafood

We did our touristy stuff on a Monday by going to the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. Since the floating market is around Mae Klong area, decided to vist Daeng Seafood as Tracy and Hence, have had this before and they liked it quite a bit. Our driver was not familiar with the area so it took some time before we found this hidden gem. Actually, we thought it was hidden, but there's plenty of reviews on Tripadvisor!

outside of the restaurant

walk right in, turn right

The place feels pretty old school but thankfully, there's airconditioned dining area. We reached before 12pm and a large group of diners had just finished their meal.

interior

drinks, self-service

order chit - all written in Thai

None of us could converse in Thai, and none of the staff could converse in English. But they tried. A younger staff got roped in or rather got sabo'ed by his colleagues (he looked like a university student) to talk to us in English. It was still pretty much point and sign language but luckily, they brought out a dual-language menu with pictures!

with this, we shall order!

Our table ordered up a storm, or rather, we didn't practice any restraint. It was a feast, a buffet of seafood! Not in an actual sense, but we ate to our hearts' content. So shioks!

To start, we had the Tom Yum Goong to whet our appetites. A big steel pot with charcoal fire. The soup was spicy, tangy and sharp. Just the way we liked it. Be careful that as it kept bubbling, the water evaporates and the flavours intensified to a level that's just a bit too salty for us. Best to drink it before it boils too much.

tom yum goong ต้มยำกุ้ง @ ฿300

huge huge prawns

Then, dishes after dishes started to arrive. 

The fried rice with shrimp looked more like tomato prawns with a bit of rice. The plate that we ordered was supposed to be small, but it looked more like a medium sized plate to me! Amazingly packed with many 'shrimps' that were quite a good size, attractive reddish hue and good flavours. Would have eaten more of this, if weren't for the fact that there were many more dishes on the table.

fried rice with shrimp @ ฿150 (small)

Another popular dish to eat in Thailand, the fried crab meat with curry. It was heavenly and so convenient to eat! Again, the 'small' plate looks kind of huge! Was getting my mind blown by every 'small' sized dish that appeared.

fried crab meat with curry @ ฿450 (small)

The crab meat in curry was not very curry-like and was somewhat sweet and thoroughly enjoyable. The sweet fresh taste of the crab meat was quite apparent. It was just spoonfuls after spoonfuls of crab meat and sauce into the mouth. Yums.

Got crabs, got prawns and now squid came along. Accompanied by garlic 'puffs'. Cooked whole garlic cloves maketh the puff? Looks like a simple dish and tasted fresh and good. The cooked garlic was not pungent and actually more chestnut-ty than garlicky.

garlic puff squid @ ฿200

fried snapper garlic @ ฿350 (small)

Here's another picture to put into perspective of how small is defined at Daeng Seafood. Size aside, the fish is meaty and firm. Preferred it with sauce, as it was abit too dry for me. But a good price for one whole fish, at just SGD14.

good size, good price

steamed crabs (1kg @ ฿1,400)

enjoying our seafood together

It was a very good meal for 4 adults. It could have easily fed up to 6 pax.Thankful to have the opportunity to be able to experience and to enjoy fresh seafood at a fraction of the cost as compared to in SG.

Thank you Tracy (and your local friend) for recommending this place and the dishes to order.

Daeng Seafood

Address: Mae Klong, Mueang Samut Songkhram District, Samut Songkhram, Thailand

Phone: +66 89 918 6836

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dang-Seafood-Maeklong/795334313928229

 

Travel | Bangkok 15 to 17 May 2016 | Karmakamet Secret World - Aromatic Shop & Diner

Love our impromptu'ness, our spontaneity. In other words, we didn't have a plan. Well, at least not for that night. It was a lazy Sunday, we had our late lunch at Thanying. Ate our meal slowly, almost like a kaiseki course and by the time we were done, it was already late evening. We were too full for dinner and abit too late to go traipsing around. And so, we remembered Elle and her instagram post of a giant candy floss.

That place was really really near Thanying, so we decided to go for it. Let's go! Took a cab and it brought us to some condominium. Then we were stopped by security as cars weren't allowed past a certain point. Ooh, and we saw people walking out and figured, they don't look like residents but more like patrons of a cafe. Went to investigate and true enough, we found the secret diner.

is it really here?

outside

entrance

let's go

This place smells so good. This wasn't my first encounter with Karmakamet. It was way back in 2010 where we stumbled upon this aromatherapy shop near JJ Market (Chatuchak).

step right in, to another world

The soothing aromatics, the cosy ambiance combined with industrial decor...it felt somewhat surreal. Almost anime like. For some odd reason, I was reminded of Fullmetal Alchemist.

welcome

drawers of potions?

Liked the stained menu, feels like old world. I'm charmed. The other diners seemed to be from the artistic/creative crowd.

mostly western

something to drink?

every nook and corner looks interesting

Many patrons were seen taking photographs, exploring the lovely corners. The service staff were all friendly and welcoming.

Ivan's drink (alcoholic)

double espresso @ ‎฿110

the gigantic ball of candy floss

Yes, we did get the giant ball of candy floss. It was named as "Strawberry Shortcake on the Clouds". Such fluffy, dreamy name. Little did we know...we were in for a disappointment.

But first, where is the strawberry shortcake? Though, it was also rather fun to dunk a chunk of the floss into the espresso to see it disappear and also to act as sweetener.

strawberry shortcake?

yoghurt?! I want cake!

Luckily, the group ordered another dessert. The usual chocolate lava cake and a creme brulee. Lovely parmesan cracker too. That scoop of ice cream was good too. This dessert was more agreeable than the earlier fluffy one.

chocolate lava and creme brulee

Karmakamet is suited for intimate dinners. The ambiance, lighting, mood was all quite romantic.

lovely ambiance

signage

Karmakamet Secret World - Aromatic Shop & Diner

Address: Metheenivet, Klongton, Klongtoey, 30 Soi 1, Khwaeng Ram Inthra, Khet Khan Na Yao, Bangkok 10230, Thailand

Contact:  +66 2 262 0700

Website: http://www.karmakamet.co.th/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karmakamet

Business Hours: 10am to 1130pm

Travel | Bangkok 15 to 17 May 2016 | Thanying Restaurant Genuine Royal Thai Cuisine

It was an impromptu decision to visit this restaurant. Was pretty hungry since touched down in Bangkok and it wasn't till 2.15pm before we finally decided to meet up for late lunch. Four of us took a cab to Thanying and it was a pretty long ride, due to the traffic condition as well as an unexpected closure of a lane that forced us to take a detour. The cab uncle was shaking his head through out. Oops.

Finally arrived, and the restaurant looks cosy on its private premise of an old house in Pramuan Street. It gave off a tranquil vibe and we did arrive at an odd hour to have a meal. It was almost 3pm then.

stepping in

nice courtyard

reception cum bar

dining area

This is the kind of restaurant that made me want to talk in whispers. Smart casual dressing is appropriate.

menu

Was famished and thirsty, so ordered up a Thai Milk tea to quench the thirst. When in a group, we'll do communal dining. Each of us was responsible to order one dish of our choice. Collectively, we decided to go with the four curries set, a couple of appetisers and dishes that were recommended by Tracy's Thai friend.

looks like my kind of drink, except it wasn't for that day. Singha @ ‎฿110

coconut slushie @ ‎฿120

my first glass (and only glass!!) of Thai Iced Milk Tea @ ‎฿100

Must say that the beer pricing was rather good. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed the Thai tea though the tea flavour wasn't as I'd like.

First up, appetisers of Miang Kha Na, sweet corn fritters and rice crackers with pork.

Miang Kha Na (เมี่ยงคะน้า) @ ฿180

lovely flavours

Fell in love with the Miang Kha Na, kid you not. Chinese kale leave as the wrapper and toss in a couple of dried shrimps, crispy pork fat (deep fried lard), peanuts, ginger dice, fresh shallots, bird's eye chili, lime and a good dollop of that sweet dried shrimp paste equates to an explosion of flavours. So yums and refreshing. Have to bite slowly though as the dried stuffs are pretty hard and requires good teeth.

Sweet Corn Fritters (ข้าวโพดทอด) @ ฿160

Khao Tang Hna Tang (ข้าวตังหน้าตั้ง) @ ฿160

Second favourite appetiser was surely the crispy rice crackers with minced pork. Again, the flavours shone through. The coconut milk dip of the minced pork was a winner and eaten with crispy rice crackers was a joy in terms of texture.

For mains, we had a set of 4 curries; sweet beef massaman, sweet chicken curry, prawn green curry with sweet basil and roasted duck in red curry. At one shot, we had tried half out of the 8 available curries.

Set of 4 kinds of curries @ ฿480

tom yum goong (ต้มยำกุ้ง) @ ฿180

Tom Kha Gai (ต้มข่าไก่) @ ฿160

Also had a taste of the soups; Tom Yum Goong and Tom Kha Gai (chicken in coconut broth). The versions here would be leaning towards the sweet side of things and of subtler flavours.

Roti Gang Gai @ ฿180

The Indian roti was nicely crispy and fluffy. So tasty on its own.

Yamm Tua Poo (ยำถั่วพู) @ ฿170

Crab meat with curry @ ฿320

The crab meat stir fried with omelette, seafood and some curry broth was good with its fresh seafood, and the winged beans was nicely crunchy much like the Malay ulam (salad).

Late lunch was enjoyable and do come with an open mind. The flavours here is much subtler and sweeter. Allow at least an hour and a half to dine here. The ambiance is relaxing and service was friendly. The meal costs ฿2,879 in total and fed the 4 of us comfortably. The cost was about SDG30 per pax.


Must orders: Miang Kha Na, Khao Tang Hna Tang (crispy rice crackers with minced pork), crab meat with curry, Indian roti

signage

 

Thanying

Location: 10 Thanon Pramuan (Pramuan St.), off Silom Rd., between Silom 17 and 19, Bangrak, Bangkok 10500, Thailand
Nearest BTS: Surasak BTS Station
Website: http://thanying.com/
Contact: Tel (66) 02-236-4361, (66) 02-235-0371 Fax (66) 02-635-0113
Email: kriangkrai@thanying.com
Business Hours: Daily from 11:30am and last order is at 10:00pm
Cuisine: Genuine Royal Thai
Price: Reasonable ($$)