[Travel] In the Heart of Bangkok - Dinner at KubKao' KubPla @ Central Embassy

One of Hence and Tracy's favourite restaurant in Bangkok, located at Central Embassy. Have learnt that during recent experience in Bangkok, if the Grab ride to the destination is 15 minutes, call for Grab at least 15 minutes + (normal duration to reach destination x 2).

Managed to reach Central Embassy around 5.45pm so I was on-time for our 6pm dinner with friends from Australia.

shopfront

menu

interior

According to Google Maps, this restaurant has a few outlets in Bangkok. This one at Central Embassy has a cafe'ish vibe.

will leave the ordering to the experts

coconut smoothie while waiting for our friends

This round, my go-to drink seemed to be coconut smoothie. Maybe it was the heat, so needed some cooling down. Hehe.

Crab Meat Omelette @฿1200

stir fried Chinese broccoli with crispy pork @฿265

Deep fried seabass with fish sauce @฿620

The crab meat omelette was good, with good chunks of crab meat on the outer side (decorative purpose) as well as lovingly enveloped inside the omelette. Turns out Chinese broccoli is kai-lan. The deep fried seabass was superb on its own. The meat was flavourful and cooked just right. There was a dipping sauce but none of us needed it.

Shrimps in fish sauce topped with spicy sauce @฿295

The raw shrimps dish was better than I thought. The shrimps were firm and plump. The marinade was refreshingly tangy, and not too spicy.

Spicy tom yum soup with shrimps and young coconut @฿360

fried chicken wings served with sticky rice @฿185

Dinner was an enjoyable affair. Lovely to meet up with old and new friends, and interesting to hear them share their perspective on various topics.

mango sticky rice @฿189

The mango sticky rice was good. Fresh mangoes sweet and juicy, paired with slightly warm sticky rice. 

Thank you Hence and Tracy for the treat!

KubKao' KubPla กับข้าว' กับปลา

Address: Phloen Chit Rd, Khwaeng Lumphini, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand

Website: https://www.facebook.com/kubkaokubplabyiberry

Business Hours:

Daily: 10 am–10 pm

[Tasting] H&C halycon & crane @ Paragon Shopping Centre

Was invited to H&C at Paragon to try some of the items from the new menu. Thank you Kris and Eugene for the invitation. This time round, we went during dinner time. 

cosy interior

nice seats to watch the world go by

some nibbles before getting the mains?

how about some fancy teas?

Fancy Teas

Since weather was hot and humid, I opted for "Cold Brew Orchid Pu'erh Tea". This was the only cold tea from the fancy tea series. Staff informed that the tea is steeped daily and in limited volume. Ok, let's try it.

Cold Brew Orchid Pu'erh Tea @$10.90

cheers~

Loved the deep amber hue of the Pu'erh tea. It was indeed refreshing and enjoyable.

For teas prepared via the siphon pot, one could watch the tea preparation at the coffee/tea/bar area. These would be the "Beau-tea-ful You" and "Tea-rriffically Healthy".

aesthetically pleasing

Once the tea is ready, staff will bring over the brewed tea to your table (minus the siphon). Staff informed that the volume of water served is optimal for the tea-leaves used.

"Tea-rrifically Healthy" (Buckwheat and Chrysanthemum) @$14

"Beau-tea-ful You" (Mixed Dried Fruits, Rose, Strawberries, DragonFruit) @$14

Buckwheat tea was nicely nutty with toasty notes (unsweetened) while the one with the mixed dried fruits and rose, was mildly sweet and lovely rose fragrance.

Nibbles

Let's nibble on some appetisers while we sipped the teas. 

Crispy Squid @$18

Crispy squid was lovely as the squid was nicely tender. It actually doesn't pack any heat although menu listed it as '1 chili' spicy level. More sweet than spicy.

Hot & Sour Gyoza Soup @$14

Chicken gyoza was decent and the sauce is similar to 酸菜鱼 (sour vege fish) albeit less on the sour scale. Tangy and appetizing.

Sticky Pork Ribs @$15.50

The pork ribs had some crisp bits on first bite with overall flavours from the classic sweet vinegar glaze. Longan was nicely plump and sweet.

Tomato Beef Stew (served with sourdough) @$19.50

Oh, I might have found my new favourite nibbles and that's the tomato beef stew. Hearty, tangy plus beef with some fats? Bring it on! Plenty of tomatoes and potatoes in there too.

Pasta

For the mains, there are noodles and there are grains to choose from. Let's try a few.

Low Cal, Avocado Scallion Capellini @$22.50

Important thing to note is that keep the photo taking moments (if any) to a minimum if you had ordered the pasta.  We took a tad too long and the capellini had begun to dry out a little. So we made the most of the onsen egg to moisten it again once more, before we tucked into it. Hehe.

The scallion capellini had yummy mushroomy flavours that I liked. And, towards the end, I added some beef stew to the noodles to change it up a bit and I enjoyed that too!

Hot Sauce Prawn Pasta @$27.50

But my favourite pasta that night, was the prawn pasta. The prawns were cooked the way I liked. Moreover, it was served with deep fried kale. I'll gladly eat this vege.

that perfect bite

Grains

Squid Mixed Grains Rice Stew @$26.50

First time seeing squid mixed grains rice stew. Have you tried one before? It was a novelty for me. 

interesting

Salmon and grains were served with slightly charred/roasted romaines, sliced avocado, cherry tomatoes, sprinkling of nori and of course, a piece of well cooked salmon. I'm all for the salmon skin. Crisp and packed with flavours.

Salmon and Grains @$34

But who would've guess, that I'd fall for the stone bowl grains. Same mixed grains as the rest but there's a slight smokey flavour from each spoonful of this. Besides mixed grains, there's potato, mushrooms, chickpeas and fried kale.

Humble Grains Stone Bowl @$16.50

Special thanks to Chu Chu who took care of our table that night, and Chef Eugene for recommending us the dishes.

Read more on our past brunch experience here.

H&C halcyon & crane

Address: 290 Orchard Rd, #03-09 Paragon Shopping Centre, Singapore 238859

Website: https://linktr.ee/halcyonandcrane

Contact: 97275121

Business Hours:

Daily: 9 am–8:30 pm

千両 sen-ryo @ ION Orchard

Located at Level 3 of ION Orchard, this was my first time to this restaurant. Thank you Kris for making the reservation.

The restaurant gave off a slightly grand vibe with its dark themed decor. Greeted at the entrance and was brought to our table after waiting for a few minutes as the staff was also attending to walk-ins.

menu

Opted for the Oyako Don Set and the Premium Bento Set to share.

Oyako Don Set 親子丼セット

Oyako Don Set @$16.80++

Was amused by the Oyako Don Set where the egg and chicken were served separately from the rice.

Nevertheless, the set came with side dishes such as pickles, seaweed, miso soup (these 3 components are also served for the Premium Bento set) and chawan mushi.

closer view of the egg and chicken

smooth steamed egg with a piece of firm prawn

loved these pickles

yummy seaweed salad

Premium Bento Set プレミアム弁当セット

Premium Bento Set @$25.80++

The Premium Bento Set has mini barachirashi don, tempura (1 prawn, 1 thin sliced pumpkin), braised beef, saba, cream croquette, tamagoyaki, ebi maki and warabi mochi. Served with side dishes of pickles, seaweed and miso soup.

braised beef

The braised beef tasted sweet savoury similar to those in gyudon (ぎゅ丼). 

mini bara chirashi don ミニばらちらし丼

One has to request for wasabi separately as it wasn't provided within the bento for the mini bara chirashi.

tempura ebi and pumpkin

cream croquette

I do like the cream croquette. Well fried and tasty. The prawn tempura was of a good size.

ebi maki, tamagoyaki and warabi mochi

The staff almost took away the bento when I haven't had the dessert on the tray. Probably the warabi mochi square was too small to be noticeable. Hahaa.

The place is popular during lunch hour. The ambiance was definitely nice while service was mainly perfunctory. Food was decent and price, considered pretty reasonable at this part of town.

Thank you Kris for the treat!

千両 sen-ryo 

Address: 2 Orchard Turn, #03 - 17/18, Singapore 238801

Website: https://inline.app/booking/-MQjry-X9jTsm5p4QyFA:inline-live-2/-MQjry8em01tWBhLQSga

Contact: +6569746782

Business Hours:

Daily: 11 AM–10 PM

Nozomi @ Star Vista

After work dinner with Eric and Wendy, and Japanese cuisine it was! They had dined there before, so my turn to try, I guess? Hahaha! We were on the waitlist as it was Thursday and the place was busy. It took about 20 minutes before we got a table.

menu

 

I had the Salmon Trio and Ikura Don, while Eric had the Unagi Don and Wendy chose the Scallop Truffle pasta.

Salmon Trio Ikura Don @$24

The don came with their signature red sushi rice. The vinegared rice was rather mild and loved the overall oily mouthfeel of the fatty salmon especially the aburi'd ones. Came with wakame clear soup which was tasty.

Complimentary iced water is available upon request.

Unagi Kabayaki Don @$24

The rice bowls at Nozomi was kind of on the smaller side of things. 

Scallops Truffle Linguine @$36

The overall taste was rather mild for the pasta. Loved the scallops. We were enjoying our talks and dinner until we finally noticed that we were the only diners left in the shop at 930pm. Thank you to the staff who waited patiently for us.

Thank you Eric and Wendy for the dinner treat!

Nozomi

Address: 1 Vista Exchange Green, #02-20 The Star Vista, Singapore 138617

Website: https://www.nozomi.sg/

Contact: +65 9759 3622

Business Hours:

Mon: 11:30 AM–2:30 PM, 5:00–9:00 PM

Tue - Fri: 11:30 AM–2:30 PM, 5:00–9:30 PM

Sat: 11:30 AM–9:30 PM

Sun: 11:30 AM–9:00 PM