Sra Bua by Kiin Kiin

There are 2 Thai restaurants managed by foreigner that came up to my mind, Naam & Sra Bua by Kiin Kiin. The first one offers an authentic Thai cuisine whilst the latter one serves you the modern Thai cuisine in degustation style. I told Nut we should start with the fancy one first. Chef Henrik Yde-Andersen and Chef Lertchai Treetawatchaiwong from Kiin Kiin in Copenhagen chose to opened their second restaurant at Siam Kempinski Hotel.

Sra Bua offer 3 courses lunch at 1,500++ and 10 courses dinner at 2,400++ at the time we went there (in January 2011). We came here for lunch.

Chilled Lemongrass & Pandan tea, subtle and not too sweet.

'ข้าวเกรียบสาคูกรอบ' Seaweed Tapioca, battered and deep fried seaweed like the Japanese snack.

Nibbling : 'ขนมกรอบถั่วเหลืองเมอร์แรงกับเม็ดมะม่วง' Soy Meringue Roasted Cashews, 'รากบัวกรอบรสมะกรูด' Keffir Lime Leaf Scented Lotus Root and Oyster Dip

The soy meringue was sweet & salty. If you like Tom yum (Thai spicy soup), you will like the lotus root. For me, the oyster dip was the highlight. It tastes like fresh oyster with Thai seafood chilli dipping sauce but in light airy version.

Love it!

Starter: 'ยำกุ้งแม่น้ำกับส้มโอและดอกไม้' Yam goong river prawn salad with pomelo and orchids

Thinly shaved cucumber, daikon, and celery dressed in a spicy dressing added the crunchiness to the dish. First I tasted it "oh, this is spicy !" This made us believed that this place definitely provide us the real Thai flavour, not compromise to the western tongue. However, there were too little pomelo in the dish.

Starter: 'แกงแดงเย็นกับกุ้งมังกร' Gang dang frozen red curry with lobster salad

The way they present the dish made it look a bit messy as you can see the sauce from the lobster at the rim of the plate.

We dig into the middle of the plate and found the red curry ice cream underneath the foam (forgot what flavour of the foam). A little sweet (maybe too sweet for my liking) and spicy as the red curry should be.

Main course: 'ต้มข่านกกระทา' Tom Kha Quail, quail in coconut milk with galangal and mushrooms

There were 2 pieces of quail in different style of cooking; poached breast and confit leg split by super crispy thin skin. The broth was poured by the waitstaff at the table. I am not a big fan of Tom Kha but really enjoy this. The broth was light, flavourful, slight sour and spicy. The meat itself were juicy and chef also gave us a surprise of small pieces of stock jelly at the bottom of the dish.

Main course: 'แกงเขียวหวานปลาแฮรีบัทใส่บีทรูท' Halibut fish in green coconut curry and beetroot

Have you ever seen red green curry? haha. Underneath the foam was green curry and roasted pureed eggplant (which I love) gave a smokiness to the dish. It was quite tasty and need to eat with rice. (We each were served a bowl of rice). The let down thing was the 3 piles of beetroot which were tasteless.


Here come desserts ! I had to admit that I didn't expect about desserts at all. But....

Dessert: 'เค้กกล้วยหอมกับกะทิ' Banana Cake with Salted coconut ice cream and caramelized milk

We were ooh and aah when the huge wooden plate was brought to our table. But it was even better once I tasted the first spoon. Really like this ! The warm banana cake was made from 'Pisang Mas' bananas (กล้วยไข่) which made it more special than normal banana cake. Eating with the salted coconut ice cream and the sauce, Oh my ! Sweet & salty, hot & cold, smooth & crunchy (from the toasted coconut flakes).... What else can I ask for?

Dessert: 'ไอศกรีมชา กิน กิน' Cha Kiin Kiin Jasmine and Earl Grey

While the first dessert was rich and hearty, this one was so light and subtle. The waitstaff told us that the dish consists of Earl grey tea, Thai tea and Jasmine tea. Without asking, we thought that the ice cream was flavoured with Earl grey tea and Thai tea and the white foam was Jasmine tea flavour sprinkle with white chocolate. Another great dessert !

We were so full at this stage but still discussed about having coffee & petit fours (additional 325 Baht++). Finally our gluttony won !

Nut had Doi tung espresso and I had ginger tea.

Petit fours Clockwise - Marshmallow dusted with shredded coconut, White chocolate coated frozen green grape, White chocolate crispy rice, Peanut butter truffle, Coffee macaron (the middle) and Salted & Sichuan pepper chocolate

Sorry to say but they were all disappointing. If I could change, I would stop at the dessert to make the meal happy ending.

Overall, we had a great time enjoy the food which taste authentic but presented in the modern way. I really like the nibbling and the dessert. If they improve their petit four, that would be great !

Sra Bua by Kiin Kiin
Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok
991/9 Rama I Road, Bangkok, 10330
Tel : +662-162-9000

Ohana Fresh Cafe'

The best coffee I have had in Bangkok !

As you may know, living in Sydney & Melbourne, 2 seriously good coffee cities creates such a troublesomeness for you to have coffee. Fortunately, many friends of mine recommend me this place since when I was in Sydney.

Walking about 10 minutes from Phrompong BTS, finally you will see the glass-box entry hidden among beautiful greens. The menu is simple; pastas, sandwiches, salads, soups and some homemade style desserts.

As the owner is so into the coffee, of course you gotta try it when you come to Ohana. This was my second time here. The first time I had a skinny cappuccino and a croissant. I tell ya, both were great. The smooth creamy shiny milk froth with an aromatic strong coffee, the french-made buttery, melt in the mouth croissant... heaven ! I immediately thought that I had to take my mum here, she also loves coffee (also I can try more food :P)

A cup of lovely cappuccino ฿90, took the picture from another end of the table... blur.. haha

Mum's flat white ฿90. Not so many cafe in Thailand serve flat white, perfect for the people who don't like lots of milk froth as in Cappuccino and too weak in coffee like latte. (my mum is one of them)

Oh la la.... My mocha ! ฿110

It was the darkest cocoa powder on the coffee I have seen. Once I sip... OMG, sooooo goooooooood ! Not too sweet, just perfect ! I couldn't stop sipping it, finished it in one go.

Ohana also serves a good looking green tea latte and iced coffee, I wanna try as well but can't help myself from not ordering cappuccino or mocha... haha... We did try some food. There are lunch sets which are quite value for money.

Spinach soup


Pumpkin soup

Both soup were not so fancy, quite light and easy to drink.

Spaghetti with chicken & mushroom cream sauce.

mmm.. too light for my liking.

I couldn't remember what this sandwich is -_-'' I think it was roasted beef with ham? Whatever it be, it was so delicious. Love the balance of toasted bread and tasty filling.

Duck confit sandwich with onion marmalade, grilled cos and melted cheese

Looked really good but it would have been done better. The buttery bun would be a lot better if toasted and the duck smell was a bit too strong for me, maybe it was like that only that day.

A not-so-wow brownie. I heard that they do the good waffle, should try next time.

Since then until now, I keep telling people where the best coffee place is.... Now you know :)

Ohana Fresh Cafe
50/4 Sukhumvit Soi 24, Wattana, Bangkok
Tel : +662 661 1930

ISAO Japanese restaurant

I am always happy when my mum come to Bangkok with me, why? It means I will have chances to go eat at many fancy places with no guilty. Bringing mum to eat a good food, such a great daughter :P

At 5 pm. I was trying to make a booking at Isao, the modern US twist sushi place for 5 at 8 pm. (I know it was a bit late). The other end of the line said that they were fully booked till 8.30 pm. but they will call me back if there are any seats available before that. Mmm... I thought I'd better find another place, don't wanna have dinner that late.

About 7.30 we parked our car and about to enter to another Japanese restaurant. Suddenly my mobile was ringing. Aha... the staff from Isao called to let us know that now they had some seats ready for us. I asked mum whether she mind to go Isao since we were at Sukhumwit 55 and Isao is at Sukhumwit 31. She said just choose the one I want ;)

Finally we were here.

The place is more relaxed homey feel than what I thought, informal style.

The warm welcome from the attentive staff is impressive. We asked for the recommendation and got a detailed explanation of the entire menu. One of us is allergic to prawn, the staff pleased us by making sure that all dishes we ordered had no prawn in.

Seaweed salad ฿100 : marinated seaweed piled upon a bed of cucumber.

An oldy goody.

Gomaae ฿60 : Blanched spinach chilled and served with sweet sesame sauce.

This dish here was a bit different from the one I have had before. Normally the sauce was white, sesame taste. This one was on the sweet side and got miso taste. Still like it.

Fried tofu ฿100

It was hard tofu which I less prefer than the soft one.. but the flavour of the sauce is awesome.

Gy0za ฿100

Mum's the must-order dish in Japanese restaurant. I did not try it but believe it was good.



Vocano ฿250 : Baked scallop in spicy sauce. (sorry for the blur picture)

It was a bit sweet and spicy yet so creamy. Not everyone's cup of tea but I do not mind :)



Winter ฿250 : Ebi, crab meat, spinach, avocado, kaiware, carrot, daikon, wrapped with cucumber sheet served with miso sauce.

Really like it, super refreshing. First I was a bit worried about the crab meat that gonna be fishy but it was not. Love the crunchiness of the cucumber and all those fresh ingredients.



Sushi sandwich ฿300 : Spicy Tuna and Salmon stuffed between layered of sushi rice with tempura batter, ebiko and scallion.

My mum who is not a raw food fan, however, really like this dish. The crunchy of the tempura batter, the fresh soft texture of the fish and their special sauce easily win one's mind.

Dragon ฿ 420 : Prawn tempura, ebiko, crab meat and cucumber wrapped with fresh water eel and avocado.

My all time favourite, eel & avocado, how can this combination go wrong?

Chicago spicy crazy ฿ 295 : Salmon, tuna, white fish, avocado, scallion with ebiko.

I don't think I detected the spiciness, nevertheless, it was nice as it should be.

Spider ฿290 : Soft shell crab roll with avocado and ebiko.

Most of the time I eat sushi roll, I tent to order Dragon & Spider. Juicy crispy soft shell crab... yum !

Blurry me and my mum

Mum's young friends ... hehe

ISAO Japanese Restaurant
5 Sukhumvit 31. Khlong Tan Nuea, Wattana, Bangkok 10110
Tel : +662-258-0645

THANN Boutique Cafe

Thann is a famous brand for a spa product, the cafe is also very impressive with the decoration of myriad cardboard leaves

The place makes me feel calm and relax.

We came here for an afternoon tea, sadly looking at the cakes display, not many cakes were there.

N'Dream had a cup of tea. I couldn't remember, maybe it was an earl grey.

I, of course, opted for a cappuccino. Not too bad.

Brownie Trifle caught our eyes, it looked very attractive among all those typical cakes. The chocolate brownie & chocolate sauce at the bottom, white chocolate custard and whipped cream. Once my spoon dig through the whipped cream, I felt it was interesting, I even took the picture of the cream before I tasted it, it looked very different from whatever cream I had ever seen. After we tried that whipped cream..... speechless. It got the weird gritty texture, imagine the over whipped cream that the fat & the water separated, fold-in nuts into it, even worse. The rest of the dessert was okey though. We asked the waitstaff about the cream (it was that bad) and we were more surprised to know that it was their signature dessert and the weird texture whipped cream is the chef's intention o_O

Sorry we couldn't eat it, the waitstaff was professional enough unexpectedly offering us a brownie instead.

Luckily the Blueberry cheese pie was well-balanced flavour.

The brownie with a too icy vanilla ice cream

Sorry, are we too picky? Maybe we expected a lot more from this hi-class place. By the way, my friend told me that the food there is sensational. Okey, we chose the wrong thing.

THANN Boutique Cafe
1/F Gaysorn Plaza 999 Ploenchit Rd., Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330
Tel : 66 2656 1061