Showing posts with label Panna-cotta. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Panna-cotta. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

It's a force ... pulling us in! Back at Cyan, the Met., Bangkok

Only hours have passed and we find ourselves drifting back towards the Met. for todays lunch. Also hard to beat the fact that they too are offering crazy lunch deals like we had been finding here and here. Cyan was offering a 3 course lunch set for around 700B. We like lunch deals like this, it let's us go crazy on wine and other extras ..... to which we started out with a glass of white and of red wine.

Bangkok

They came in cute little cylindrical glasses, the white even in it's own ice bucket. These were then poured into our wine glasses waiting on the table, which allowed us to share first the white wine, and follow with the red.

Bangkok

A basket of bread is then placed in front of us, with 2 slices each of sour dough, rye and 7 grain. So soft and fluffy, a scraping of soft butter the perfect accompaniment.

Bangkok

We then tackle our choices. The first choice, salmon carpaccio. The salmon beaten out to a perfect this circle, topped with lemon, capers, parsley, olives and 2 slices of grilled bread. Another familiar dish from our days in paradise but a fine example of great produce speaking for itself.

Bangkok

Next up, an incredible salad of buffalo mozzarella, grilled zucchini ribbons, roasted peppers, parsley, basil pesto and pine nuts. The pesto running down through the salad and coating each bite. Another fine example of exemplary produce.

Bangkok

For main course we choose the chicken and the beef. The chicken is a perfectly cooked breast supreme, crispy golden skin but so moist and succulent on the inside. It's sliced into long lengths, and layered with pieces of crisp prosciutto and a salad of rocket, red grapes, pine nuts, herbs, more pesto and pearl barley. A very satisfying dish, so tasty and delicious. Great comfort food!

Bangkok

The beef, Australian Angus cooked to a blush pink in the centre but the taste of the coconut charcoal grill apparent on the crisp outside. There are 3 'chips' of golden polenta, fried to a golden crisp, but encasing a creamy centre with a touch of parmesan. A medley of grilled vegetables is sitting underneath, including asparagus, red onion, red & yellow peppers, mushroom and a few leaves of fresh rocket give it some life. A caper and anchovy butter giving a nice little bit of saltiness and extra richness as it slides down and over each component.

Bangkok

We had selected our desserts, but Shannon brings out 2 little coconut pannacotta with strawberries, and to hello. A few other 'special' things are on the way ....

Bangkok

The blueberry cheesecake, oh wow !! A biscuit like base but full of nuts holds a creamy cheesey centre, resembling a curd ... plump blueberries are then suspended in a rich blueberry syrup, sprinkled with roasted pistachio nuts with a scoop of blueberry sorbet adding to the decadence.

Bangkok

Sticky date pudding. A classic, but often stodgy and way to heavy. What graces our presence is indeed a show of Shannon's genius; a super light, fluffy, cloud like pudding. A piece of pudding is resting on a chunk of grilled pineapple with caramel sauce and ice-cream. Wow, the pudding though, how to describe the lightness ... definitely some molecular gastro-geniusness.

Bangkok

The last sweet treat to grace our table, something that looks rather familiar. At first glance looking like a profiterole filled with ice cream and topped with chocolate sauce. But it was so damn good, I was seriously in a daze of gastro-pleasure and can't really remember what it was but it wasn't as it seemed. There was some delicious hazelnut, some praline, flavored pastry cream and mmmmm

Bangkok

Another outstanding meal had within the Metropolitan hotel. But now I need to lie down ..............

Cyan Restaurant
the Metropolitan Hotel
27 South Sathorn Road
Tungmahamek
Sathorn
Bangkok 10120
Thailand

Friday, August 8, 2008

The 2nd Sin, Hanoi

Hanoi

We're in Hanoi right? Right. They have a great tradition of French cuisine right? Right. They are the true originators of fusion cuisine right? Right. Which is why we have turned to the web in search of some guidance from above to help find a fabled dish... The Vietnamese creme caramel, we've yet to see one in our daily fossicking. A quick search and thanks to stickyrice's photos we're sure this is what we want .. the picture looks glorious. Easy enough then, just take the address and walk to the place, it's in the old city so shouldn't be to far, or so we thought...... you see Hang Than isn't on any of the maps we have, we looked and looked at the maps, researched the web again and again only to find more tantalising blurbs of the greatness of this caramel and more vague directions, so once again it's back to Cafe Hue for some more local wisdom. As soon as we said where we wanted to go they knew the place and as fast as you could say 'two iced weasels to go please' we were off.

What follows next is a tale of savage gluttony, be warned.....

We follow the directions that lead us to Hang Than (it is there, just not named on our maps) then we see it, a small doorway with a cake stand out side, (don't be put off buy the cakes we weren't that impressed with the look of them either but that's not what your here for). We take a sit on one of the many microstools that litter this section of the side walk and ask for the kem caramel. It takes about fifteen seconds to arrive and really is a thing of beauty ... you could just sit and stare into it's glossy surface for hours, it's the kinda dessert you take home to meet your parents.

Hanoi

We gently probe our spoons into it's surface and a small creme glacier sheers off from the side to drop in to the caramel sea pooled around it...

Hanoi

Lifted into our mouths we have one of those moments where angels sing and the world evaporates away from you. Our whole world became the silky creme, the perfectly balanced bitter sweet caramel for a second time stopped and we were in heaven. And then all snapped back into sharp focus and spoons were dueled sword like and with quite some savagery to get at the remains of the custard. No really, it was that good! So what else have you got hidden away ?? we managed to get across. Next in quick succession we had a set yogurt laced with a jellied mango pudding..

Hanoi

a drinking yogurt with sticky black rice..

Hanoi

and a pannacotta...

Hanoi

All fantastic but we couldn't stop our mind from straying back to the caramel in the end we had to round off our binge with another. We then had to face the walk home heads swimming with endorphins and dairy overload, it's an interesting mix. As we walked past Cafe Hue the enquiries came did we find it? Yes. Did we think it was good? Yup. Did we go to the bun cha place opposite? Bun Cha? Fantastic, an excuse to be back on the same street tomorrow. Now if you'll please excuse us we have some serious lying down to do.

Duong Hoa Kem Caramen
29 Hang Than St
Hanoi