freakzspeaks

freakzspeaks
Showing posts with label Thailand. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thailand. Show all posts

Thursday, 2 April 2015

Not your usual Thai food @ Go Thai, SS2, PJ, Selangor

I said it's not the usual Thai food because after savouring so many Thai dishes, this was something quite new to me. This restaurant specializes in authentic street food of the Isan people, which is at the northeastern region of Thailand. Their menu is pretty simple, not that many choices but presentable enough for a decent lunch or dinner. 
Panda had the khao kha moo (stewek pork leg with rice and egg-RM 9) while I had the Phad Mee Korat (RM 9) which is a version of pad thai. It was a good thing that Panda suggested a Tom yum seafood to share because it was really good in terms of thickness of soup, spiciness and taste (I'm so gonna learn how to make this in Canada!). However, I felt that there weren't much of a seafood in the soup although it's supposed to be a seafood soup. For RM 12, perhaps, they should consider throwing a couple more calamari and shrimp inside. Panda's dish looked like some typical Chinese stew pork with rice and egg. He did say it was tasty but it didn't really look that tempting to me. My pad thai tasted like a Thai version of char kuey teow (stir fried flat rice noodles) but soggier. Although it tasted good, I think I will stick to the usual pad thai and char kuey teow. This was just too soggy for me. 

For dessert, we shared a bowl of tub tim krob (the famous Thai red rubies-RM 6). I love this dessert because the 'rubies' were really good. It was big, chewy and crunchy enough. It would have been better if they had more jackfruit slices inside to enhance the taste of the dessert. 
Overall, a pretty decent place for lunch and dinner without costing a bomb.

Address: 187, Jalan SS2/24, PJ, Selangor
Website : Go Thai

Monday, 23 June 2014

Royal Thai Delivery + 25% summer special @ Just-Eat, Saskatoon

From now till July 31st, 2014, Saskatoon-ians will get to enjoy Just-Eat.Ca's 25% summer savings for online delivery/takeouts at participating restaurants ! I thought this is a really good deal so decided to try it out myself. For those who are wondering, Just-Eat is an online delivery/takeout service that has been around for quite some time and currently active in 13 countries worldwide. It's really easy, convenient and free to use! 
This is all you have to do when you enter their website :
Adapted from Just-Eat.ca
After pulling an all-nighter to drive through the night from Edmonton (after Michael Bublé's concert ;p), I decided to just order for delivery for my dinner. I've tried out Royal Thai in Taste of Saskatchewan and thought their green curry was quite good so decided to get them again by making use of the 25% summer savings from Just-Eat ;p. There are quite a number of participating local restaurants that are offering the 25% discount in Saskatoon. Delivery fee ranges from free to about $6.00 and within 45-60 minutes delivery time. My order came a little over 45 minutes so it was ok. Well-packed, no spillage, and no greasy paper bags :)
I had the Royal Thai spicy chicken wings as appetiser. Quite tasty with a tinge of lemongrass (commonly used in Thai dishes) and spiciness. The only downside was that it was not as crispy, probably because of the moisture formed in the container. Perhaps, this will be better when its eaten in the restaurant. Maybe pubs should also consider this flavour for wings night ;p
Royal Thai Chicken Wings $7.95 (before 25% savings)
For mains, I ordered Pad Thai-shrimp deluxe with coconut milk. I'm assuming they meant cooking the Pad Thai with coconut milk? This dish was quite good, generous amount of vegetables, shrimp and bean sprouts. I would say this is one of the better Pad Thai in town. However, it was not spicy (although I requested for it to be super spicy…maybe they didn't see my request ? ). Probably to be on the safe side, you can also call them after your delivery is confirmed to make sure they notice your special request especially if its allergy-related. 
Pad Thai-shrimp deluxe with coconut milk $12.95
Green curry was to my liking; thick, tasty and spicy. Coconut-based curry with peppers, basil, string beans and a choice of beef, chicken or vegetarian. Again, you can probably request to adjust the spiciness level. This that I have was already quite spicy (I'm assuming they didn't see my request but general spicy level was medium). This definitely goes well with steamed rice :) A change from the usual red curry or Massaman curry. 
Kang Keow Wan / Green Curry chicken $11.95
Overall, the Thai food is pretty good. I would have preferred them even more if they can top the spiciness level ;p. Try them out by ordering online via Just-Eat! Don't miss the 25% summer savings!

Address :325 3rd Ave N Saskatoon, SK
Website : Royal Thai Restaurant
Royal Thai Restaurant on Urbanspoon

For online delivery/takeout, log in onto their website ( will be directed to Just-Eat) or directly use Just-Eat . Full menu of all participating restaurants are available in Just-Eat. You will be directed to restaurants that are available for delivery at that particular time, browse through menu, select, tip, special request/comments (home location, spiciness level etc), pay via credit card or cash, confirm and voilà…just wait for your food! Pretty easy!

Because we love you so much, we are also offering a $50 credit giveaway from Just-Eat.ca for a lucky winner in Saskatoon! Check out my next blog post for it~ You never know, you might be the LUCKY one!

You might also like :
$50 credit giveaway from Just-Eat Canada (Contest end July 5th, 2014)

Wednesday, 19 June 2013

Hua Hin (Day 3+4)

Day 3 and 4

As we were staying very near the mini-van station (which is just beside the Victory Monument BTS Station and the Century Plaza Mall, you wont missed it as vans will be parked all along the road/alley), we took a van which can fit up to 14 people. It is only 180 baht per person and large luggages ( larger than cabin size luggage) may need to purchase one ticket by itself as they will have to sacrifice a seat for the bags. Be prepared to wait for probably about 30 minutes or till the van is more or less full before they start moving. Another option is to travel by bus however, as the bus terminal is nowhere near us, it was not a good option. Taxis would be the most comfortable way but be prepared to pay anyway near 1500-2000 baht. 

Journey took about 2-3 hours. Upon reaching, we had lunch at a old-looking coffee shop directly opposite where the mini-van stops. Again, you wont missed it as throngs of people (mostly tourists and even some locals) will be there. Overall, food was good considering the price which was quite cheap. Loved their Thai milk tea! We ate here twice as they have quite a good variety. (we felt that there aren't too many shops for lunch and those available are either just not tempting, no ones eating or felt they were just too tourist-sy.
Pork rice ~40 baht (good, cheap and small portion)

Pork Satay 30 baht/stick (nyum!)

Thai Milk Tea (super-addictive!)

Spicy Seafood Tom Yum 80 baht (super good with lots of fresh seafood and fish)
Seafood noodle 40 baht (delicious with lots of seafood as well but really small portion)
Rest Detail Hotel, Hua Hin
The highlight of our trip was Rest Detail (which was why we were in Hua Hin in the first place:O). This resort/hotel has a unique, modern but not too exaggerative design which gives you a touch of luxury, modernism yet it come with a special feeling (indescribable!). The photos below tells all !
Beachfront
Hotel lobby
Rest Horizon's private jacuzzi-infinity tub!
Room and bed facing facing Gulf of Siam!
Bath salt


A small souvenir upon check-in :) Sweett

Rest Scene : Dinner by the hotel's infinity pool
Appetizer : Crab meat soup
Oglio Olio with bacon - not spicy enough but tastewise is good
Seafood curry rice - super spicy and delicious !

Sticky rice was a bit uncooked. Prefered the one in Mandarin Oriental :p

Room was tidied and presented with this after dinner :) 
Night view-Jacuzzi under the stars :O 
Good selection of Western and Asian cuisines for breakfast!
Delicious chicken kuay chap...yes..its chicken and Freshly brewed Thai Milk Tea
We had a super awesome time in Rest Detail. We didn't really explore the tourist places in Hua Hin as our aim was to have an intimate, relaxing time in the resort. Totally well-spent! More attractions of Hua Hin can be found at their tourism website. The hotel also provides scheduled shuttles to and from to the town.

We took the mini-van back to Bangkok the next day to board a night flight. My advice would be either leave early from Hua Hin or stay overnight in Bangkok before flying home. The after-work traffic jam in Bangkok is undoubtedly terrible ! We nearly missed our flight eventhough we gave a 6 hours time space between Hua Hin to Bangkok ! Also, the mini-vans pit stops at many places along the way to pick up passengers if the van from Hua Hin is not full; so make sure you have enough time allocation for that !













Bangkok (Day 1+2)

Day 1
Arrived in Bkk in the afternoon. We forgot that the airport has a 'normal' cab stand outside the airport. Hired the proper airport cab cum Mercedes and paid 800 baht for it ! Normal cab outside might only be about 200+ baht ! Early check-in into Royal View Resort (www.royalviewresort.com) was allowed. 

Later at night, we took a cab to Mandarin Oriental. Made a reservation with Terrace Rim Naam for a riverside dinner. Most reviews online mentioned Sala Rim Naam, which is a performance cum dinner package (2300++ baht/adult). Since its not our first time to Thailand, we weren't really interested with the performance. Instead, we reserved the romantic riverside terrace dinner which is directly outside the hall (Sala Rim Naan). It was sooo beautiful and romantically lit and best of all, we get to choose our dishes ala-carte. 

When we arrived at Mandarin Oriental, we were ushered to their Riverside Terrace (another of their restaurant). The hotel provides a barge service to go across the river where Terrace Rim Naam and Sala Rim Naam were. Since we felt that the normal Thai dishes can be found at other places for cheaper prices, we decided to take the Grilled Seafood Basket (for two). Mind you, it was so huge that we felt it was enough for 4 people; that not including the rice that comes together with it which we skipped!
Complimentary barge service that ferries customers from Mandarin Oriental hotel to Terrace Rim Naan across the river
In the barge

Complimentary fried yam
Starters: Herbed fried noodles with minced chicken and shrimp (300 baht)
Lebua Tower : Sirocco Sky Bar, highest sky bar in the world
Grilled Seafood Basket (for two) 2900 baht
A passing dinner cruise
Our favourite Thai dessert: Coconut sticky rice and mango (280 baht)

We paid almost 5000 baht for the dinner but from the start till the end, it was totally worth it !

Restaurant : Terrace Rim Naam (outside by the river) is open daily from 5.00pm to 10.30pm serving an A La Carte menu or set menu by their Executive Chef.
Sala Rim Naam (Inside) is open from 7.00pm to 10.00pm, serving set menu only including a Thai dance performance from 8.15pm to 9.30pm. Set menu is priced at 2300++ baht (adults and 1800++ baht (children) excluding 10% government tax

Directions : Sala Rim Naam restaurant is located on the other side of the river by the Oriental Spa opposite from Mandarin Oriental. Access via hotel main entrance through the Riverside Terrace to the private pier and take a short boat ride to Sala Rim Naam. Alternatively, you can drive and park your vehicle in the private parking by driving through Charoen Nakhon road between street 7 and 9 

Day 2
Shopping day at Siam Square !
Siam BTS Station is directly in between Siam Paragon, Siam Discovery and the Soi 1-7 (street shopping). First stop, the highly reviewed and much talked-about Som Tam Nua on Soi 5, a casual and trendy air-conditioned restaurant which is usually packed with people (according to others!) but luckily, since it was a weekday, there was no queue and we got a table almost immediately.



Fried noodle with pork skin and floss. Not to our liking
Spicy pork ribs soup. Super good! (If you like tom yum going)
Deep fried chicken wings. Almost every table ordered this!
Som Tam with salted egg. Small amount and not enough spicy! But its freshly made !
Overall, food was pretty good. Som Tam was good but I would have preferred it to be spicier. The chicken wings are pretty good and addictive. The spicy porks ribs soup was really good and spicy though. Loved it ! We paid about 510 baht in total ; quite decent for the food and ambience.



Restaurant : Som Tam Nua
Opening Hours: 10:45 a.m.-21.30 p.m. 
Address: 392/14 Siam Square Soi 5, Rama 1 Road, Bangkok T

It was then whole day of walking and shopping along the streets and boutiques. Sweaty, humid and tired, we then decided to hang out in Siam Paragon and catch a movie. Dinner was a simple affair at the Siam Paragon Food Court. Since it was raining, we skipped the night market along Siam Square and had heavenly dessert at Swensen's after movie :)
Special Fried Egg with Shrimp. Simple and good ! ~70 baht
Kuay Chap (too much offals...:(( ) 57 baht
Swensen's Chocolate Lover Sundae