KimJu Korean Royal Cuisine

KimJu Korean Royal Cuisine
64/98 Crystal Park, Ladprao
Bangkok 10230 Thailand
Tel: 02-515-0763

Rating: 3.5 / 5 Stars

Today is Mother's Day in Thailand!!! So like a good daughter that I am, I treated my mom and dad out to lunch. I really wanted to eat Korean food so badly because I haven't had any since I came to Thailand in March. :) This would also be my first time eating Korean food in Thailand too. We found one place at Crystal Park mall that offered only Korean food and it was Kimju. There was another restaurant at Crystal Park but it was a combination of Japanese & Korean cuisine and I don't recall the name of that place.

First, I looked at the menu for KimJu to see if this place offered a wide selection of Korean food and this place offered a decent selection. The pictures of the Korean food on the menu looked tasty, so I wanted to give this place a try. My parents and I didn't order any Korean BBQ entrées because the hostess said that we would have to sit outdoor dining area to BBQ the meat at our table. Since it was scorching hot outside, we decided just to order individual dishes and eat indoors with the AC on. :) For lunch, I ordered the Pork Bibimbap. I thought that it wasn't the best that I had. The rice looked and was a bit moist. There weren't any traditional Korean vegetables too. It was just your basic vegetables (i.e.: carrots, zucchini, lettuce, shiitake mushrooms). Plus, they already added a big spoonful of the red hot pepper paste (Gochujang) and I didn't notice until I mixed the rice together. It's like....I didn't even have to add any more of the hot sauce. Sadly, I couldn't even finish this entrée alone because the bibimbap was so spicy! :( I should have informed the waitress not to make the bibimbap spicy. [But usually, from my experience from eating bibimbap the sauce isn't added beforehand though and it's on the side for you to add.] With every entrée, we got some small dishes (i.e.: soup, broccoli, kimchi, and pickled daikon). The sides were very good. Too bad that this place didn't offer a large variety of side dishes though.

The service here was good and quick. It's restaurant is small as well. There were probably 5-6 tables inside and a couple of tables outside the restaurant. I don't know if I'll come back to this place though. The food was OK and it wasn't the best Korean food that I have had.

Three Mangoes

Three Mangoes
25/3 Moo 8
Bang Talat, Pak Kret
Nonthaburi, 11120 Thailand
Tel: 02-574-0909-10
Hours: 10:30am-midnight

Rating: 4.5 / 5 stars

Our neighbors invited my parents and I to have dinner at Three Mangoes yesterday. I had a very nice experience. The exterior and interior decor of the restaurant is amazing. The place had a feeling of a local coffee shop. There are small toys being displayed on bookshelves and magazines for people to read. We sat in the air conditioned room [around the cash register area] and I saw that each dining area is unique and different. There is also plenty of outdoor seating where you can enjoy live music at night. Sadly, we didn't sit in the outdoor area [that didn't have shelter] yesterday since it was raining outside. :(

Three Mangoes offers a variety of traditional Thai dishes and desserts [i.e.: cake slices]. I don't remember how many dishes we tried but it was a lot though. I know that I left the restaurant being stuffed. My friend recommended me to try the "3 Mangoes Iced Coffee" since he said it's a popular drink here. You can see from the picture below that there is A LOT of whipped cream in the iced coffee and the drink was very creamy. Most of the entrees came out pretty fast. I had no complaints about any of the entrees because the food was fresh, delicious, and flavorful. For dessert, we ordered and shared three cakes and ice cream. I was a little disappointed with the "Red Velvet Cake" because it's a little bit different from the ones that I tried in the past. The red velvet cake here had strawberry sauce drizzled around the cake. I also thought that the cake was a bit dry. However, the "Crepe Cake" was good and it was moist.

The service was great and as I mentioned before the food came out pretty fast. I would definitely here come again and I would also have to try the tiramisu dessert since I didn't try it yesterday. Plus, I want to dine in the outdoor seating area to listen to some live music! Hopefully it won't rain next time.

Pepsi Cheer

http://www.pepsithai.com/pepsi2010/

Rating: 3.5 / 5 Stars

Pepsi Cheer is a limited edition soda offered by PepsiCo during the FIFA 2010 World Cup event. This product is similar to Pepsi GOLD which came out for a limited time during the FIFA 2006 World Cup. I decided to give this soda a try because it's unique and it's a limited edition drink! I don't think you can find this product in the US. I brought this soda from 7-Eleven Thailand for 17 Baht [about 50 cents US]. Overall, this soda is OK. This soda tastes very similar to ginger ale but with the added orange color.

Hachiban Ramen @ Fashion Island Mall

Hachiban Ramen [@ Fashion Island Mall]
http://www.hachiban.co.jp/english/index.html

Rating: 3 / 5 stars

Hachiban Ramen is another typical Japanese franchise in Thailand. You'll see this place in many malls or grocery store chains [i.e. TESTCO Lotus] in Thailand. This place is specializes in ramen. The first time that I ever try this place about 5 years ago at TESTCO Lotus in Rangsit.

A few weeks ago, my parents and I came to Hachiban Ramen for dinner. [Originally, my mom wanted to go to Fuji Restaurant, but there were 11 groups of people ahead of us. :P]  It was a Friday night and the place was pretty busy. As we entered the small restaurant, I can clearly see that the place was understaffed. There were a few tables that weren't cleaned up from the customers who had already left. There wasn't a hostess to greet people at the door. The cashier was the only person in the front and she was busy collecting payments.

Well, I ordered a set entrée for dinner. I had the pork ramen set and it came with fried dumplings & a glass of Coke. It was about 100 Baht [around $3 US]. My dad also ordered the same thing as me. My mom just ordered the duck ramen. I thought that my meal was good but the ramen entrée was kinda boring because there weren't many ingredients in the ramen.

The service here that Friday evening was awful. As mentioned earlier, the place was understaffed. It took awhile for my parent's entrees to come too. My dad also ordered another entrée but that never came and he cancelled it because it took FOREVER!!! My dad kept reminding the waitress that his order didn't come yet. I saw that my dad was very pissed off. lolz...And that doesn't happen often too. =X

I would definitely go to Hachiban Ramen again because the ramen is pretty cheap and good. But probably not at Fashion Island Mall though.

[NOTE: Pictures taken from my NOKIA E63]

CHABUTON

CHABUTON
258, 258/1-4 Siam Square Soi 3
Rama 1 Road, Patumwan
Bangkok 10330 Thailand
Tel: 02-252-9353
http://www.chabuton.com/index.html [Japanese website]

Rating: 5 / 5 stars!!!

My little cousin recommend us (my uncle, her little brother and his friend, and I) to go try ramen at CHABUTON. She said that she came here before with her friends and said that the food is really good. She also said the owner was the winner from a Japanese series called "TV Champion." So, we came here for lunch on this past Saturday and the place was pretty busy. We waited for 10 minutes to be seated. The place was average size too. I ordered the "Shio Tonkosu Ramen" in a small size for 130 Baht [about $4 US]. This ramen was oh so good! The broth is very flavorful. The ramen contains scallions, pickled bamboo shoots, pork, and a sprinkle of sesame seeds. My uncle order some fried gyozas (dumplings) for us.  The gyozas came out piping HOT and they were also delicious. These gyozas had a pork & leek filing and they reminded of the dumplings that I can get from Flushing, NYC. For drinks, we all got the iced cold Japanese green tea and it's UNLIMITED REFILLS!!! I think that I drank a lot green tea here because I was so dehydrated prior to coming to the restaurant.

Overall, this places deserves 5 stars in my book. The food was very mouthwatering and delicious. The service was good as well. This place is a MUST TRY!

Coyote Bar and Grill Sukhumvit

Coyote Bar and Grill Sukhumvit
575, 577, 579 Sukhumvit Road
Klongton-nue, Wattana
Bangkok 10110 Thailand
Tel: 02-662-3838
http://www.coyotebangkok.com/home.html

Rating: 4.5 / 5 stars

This would be my first taste of Mexican food in Thailand! The food at Coyote Bar and Grill Sukhumvit didn't disappoint me one bit. My little cousins & their friend and I came here for dinner last Friday night. The place wasn't as packed at around 8pm. We sat on the 2nd floor of the restaurant, because I didn't want to sit at a stool table. There were a few tourists eating at this place too. The decor of the place looks very similar to the Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut, USA. The food seemed to be a combination of the places that I have ate in NYC before and they are Sophie's Cuban Cuisine and Chipotle Mexican Grill.

We ordered the following:

1. Shrimp Quesadillias for 225 Baht [about $7 US]
2. Chicken Tacos for 355 Baht [about $11 US]
3. Big Burritos for 385 Baht [about $12 US]
4. Chicken Enchiladas for 385 Baht [about $12 US]
5. Four Pepsi's for 70 Baht each - NO FREE REFILLS!!! [about $2.18 US]

The portions were big and very filling. We were all stuffed by the end. The rice and beans tasted very similar to Sophie's Cuban Cuisine. The tacos reminded me of the food from Chipotle Mexican Grill and ingredients in  the tacos were very fresh. The food was full of favor and very mouth watering. I really wanted to give this place 5 stars because the food was extremely good, the decor was amazing, and the atmosphere was good [it was a little bit loud during some moments because people were watching the World Cup]. BUT...when my cousins and I asked if there was a TV upstairs so that we can watch the World Cup and they said yes and there wasn't any TV! You can't get refills for your soda. I think I haven't been to a place where you can't get refills on soda before. So, I had to give a 4.5 stars rating. Oh wells.

25 Baht meals for lunch!

Guay Jub and Pork Balls Noodle Soup [from a food stall at TOPS' supermarket food court @ Fashion Island Mall]

Rating: 5 / 5!!! [For both the guay jub and pork balls noodle soup]

My parents and I go to Fashion Island Mall a lot [almost every week] for the past few months. It's a gigantic mall with many shops, restaurants, a movie theater, a bowling alley, and even karaoke!!! So, when my parents and I went grocery shopping at TOPS' we noticed a food stall that sold food for 25 Baht! Before we usually eat lunch at the food court on the 3rd floor near the movie theater, where some meals cost 30-40 Baht [about $1 to $1.25 US]. We decided to try the guay jub and the pork ball noodle soup for 25 Baht each [about .70 cents US] which is a PRETTY GOOD DEAL. For those who are unfamiliar with "Guay Jub" it's a broad square noodle in a pork soup. I requested to only have crispy pork, fried tofu, egg, and vegetables in my soup. If you wanted all the fixings, there would also be liver and pig blood. If you ordered the "Guay Jub" to go, it would cost you 30 Baht [about $1 US]. The pork ball noodle soup is your standard typical noodle dish. Both of these dishes were very good and it's also probably loaded with MSG. Anyway, I have tried these noodle dishes quiet a few times already but I haven't had a chance to write about it until now [partly because I didn't have time. :P] I wouldn't be full from eating one bowl of guay jub or one bowl of pork ball noodle soup though. I would have to buy dessert afterwards or eat two bowls of either noodle soup just to be full.