Sakura Macha Kit Kat

Rating: 4 / 5 Stars

My grad. school friend when to Japan for about 1 week back in February 2011 and brought back some "Sakura Macha" flavored Kit Kat for me and my other grad. school friends. The Kit Kat tasted pretty good but the green tea flavor wasn't strong enough. It tasted more of a vanilla flavor. There are 4 Kit Kat sticks in total (2 in each small package). This type of Kit Kat could only be found in Japan or on a website that sells Japanese candies/snacks.

HOT POT Buffet @ Fashion Island Mall

HOT POT Buffet @Fashion Island Mall
http://www.hotpot.co.th/

Rating: 3.75 / 5 Stars

Food coma is bound to happen after you come out eating from HOT POT Buffet. I wanted to eat here for quite awhile now but didn't get a chance until yesterday. Wednesdays is the best day to come to HOT POT Buffet since they offer 25% off your entire meal. It's usually 290 Baht (almost $10 US) per person without the discount.  Not a bad deal indeed. I came here with my parents just to have an early New Years 2011 celebration. We got there around 2:30pm and waited about 30 minutes to be seated. This place was busy and there was a long queue. The place gives your party 90 minutes to eat. It's plenty of time to eat, relax, and enjoy your meal.

I thought that this places was quite small for a buffet. It felt kinda cramped too. The isle where you go get your food is narrow. I don't know if the other HOT POT Buffets franchises are like this though. Anyway...HOT POT Buffet is a combination suki (hot pot) and food buffet all in one. You can get unlimited beverages, hot pot food items, dim sum, sushi, salad bar, and dessert. I thought that sushi was delicious. There were a few California rolls that was prepared in different ways (i.e.: California rolls with small roe on the outside, or California rolls topped with shrimp and mayo). The hot pot food items were decent. Plenty for meat, fishballs, and vegetables to make your hotpot meal. For dessert, you get ice cream or create your own shaved ice dessert.

I would come back here again at the Fashion Island branch but probably at 11am when the mall opens. The place looked kinda unorganized during the busy hours and some of the food wasn't being refilled by staff.

Ovaltine Nature Select Soy

Rating: 5 / 5 Stars!!!

This isn't your typical Ovaltine drink. Many of you may have seen the coco malt flavor Ovaltine at your grocery store, but not Ovaltine in soybean powder form. For the past few months I have seen the Thai advertisements on TV for Ovaltine Nature Select Soy. I was a bit iffy about buying the product at first because I was scared that the soy drink would taste terrible. But, I got to sample the soy drink at BigC a couple of weeks ago and I have been hooked on the drink ever since.

There are about 15 single pouches in the Ovaltine Nature Select Soy pack. It costs about 90-100 Baht (around $3 US). All you have to do is pour in hot water into a mug with the soybean powder. This drink tastes like real soy milk and it doesn't taste very sweet too. Highly recommended!

Jele Super Light [Orange Flavor]

Rating: 5 / 5 Stars!!!

You can get this drink in the supermarket (i.e. BigC) in Thailand. It comes in a 6-pack for about 17 Baht (60 cents US). I never saw this drink in the US before either.

Well, this drink is a combination of Jello and juice. I noticed that there is a difference between Jele Super Light and Jele Light. There's tiny coconut/lychee chunks in the Jele Super Light. I have only tried the Orange flavor for both Jele drinks. It's a yummy and refreshing drink on a hot day. :)

Sizzler @ The Mall Bangkapi

Sizzler @ The Mall Bangkapi
http://sizzler.co.th/en/index.php

Rating: 4 / 5 Stars

I haven't eaten at Sizzler in years!!! I think the last time I went was about 5 years ago in Thailand and probably over 10 years in NYC. I used to go to the Sizzler located at Rego Park (Queens) in NYC, but before I came to Thailand I saw that Sizzler closed down and is now a bank.

Anyway, my grad. school friends and I had lunch at Sizzler a few days ago. I got the Crumbed Fish entrée for 179 Baht (about $5-6 US) and it also included unlimited helpings at the salad bar. Both this entrée and there was the Pepper Pork Loin entrée that are currently on promotion for 179 Baht each. The Crumbed Fish entrée looked pretty small but I helped myself with the unlimited servings at the salad bar though. I was so stuffed after eating soup, salad, my entrée, fruit, and half of the green tea mousse (dessert). The Crumbed Fish entrée was good and I choose the buttered rice as the side dish. You could have order the baked potato, French fries, or the butter rice side dish. I also really enjoyed the food that I sampled at the salad bar. Everything was very fresh and I saw that the staff stocked up the replenished food at the salad bar often.

I would definitely go back to Sizzler and probably try the Pepper Pork Loin entrée. But, I think I would go to the Sizzler at Fashion Island Mall, because it's closer to my house. :P

Fuji Japanese Restaurant @ Fashion Island Mall

Fuji Japanese Restaurant @ Fashion Island Mall [2nd visit here]
http://www.fuji.co.th/2009/EN/home/index.php

Rating: 4 / 5 Stars

Fuji Japanese Restaurant is another typical Japanese franchise restaurant that you'll see in many shopping malls in Thailand. I'm such a fan of Fuji and I just love the food here. Everything is very tasty and fresh. Sadly, it seems like I'm never full just eating only 1 set entrée. So, I came here with my parents for dinner today and I ordered the Futomaki Set for about 140 Baht (about $4-$5 US). The Futomaki Set consists of 4 different pieces of futomaki sushi rolls, a yakisoba dish, miso soup, a fried fish appetizer, and kimchi appetizer. I really enjoyed this set entrée but I wasn't full from eating everything. :( I ordered an additional entrée and it was the cold soba noodles with dipping sauce on the side [I don't remember the exact name of the dish, but you can point to the picture on the menu.] It was good and it finally made me full.

The service here was good. It took about 8-10 minutes for our food to come after placing our order. I would definitely come here again too. This place can get crowded too and the wait could be pretty long. Luckily, my parents and I came here for dinner early. I think we came here for dinner a little bit before 6pm.

To end this blog entry, here is a picture taken from my NOKIA E63. My dad ordered the grilled octopus set [Sorry, I don't remember the exact name!!!]. I thought that I saved a picture the Futomaki Set entrée on my smartphone but apparently I didn't. You can check out Fuji's website to view the menu. :)

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.