Ton Tong and dancing shrimp

When in Bangkok, we always make an effort to catch up with Brandon. We spent a bit of time working with him at Parrot Cay, he's a great guy, and must be as passionate about music as we are for food. Which means we always end up at some crazy Thai restaurant / bar out in the 'burbs listening to some super funky Thai folk music. And tonight is no exception !!

We know Brandon is working tonight, so decide to grab some dinner and wait for the call. We end up at Vientiane kitchen down on Suk Soi 36 after some Northern Thai / Loas cuisine. Little did we know we were in for some awful live music / performance. The food was okay, probably just such horrible association because of the deafening music.



Once we get the call we're told to head over to some obscurely random bar in some obscurely random place ... we try to relay to the taxi, but end up calling again and letting Brandon explain. About half an hour later we arrive ..... Andrew, another guy we worked with at Parrot Cay, along with one of his friends was also there. Just nice to catch up and have a chat. We quickly go through a bottle of Thai whiskey and listen to one band before skipping over to the other side of town to Ton Tong.



A few of the musicians who had just played also come along ... again, more Thai whiskey and a bit of food. First up, dancing shrimp; a dish we had not yet tried despite all our visits to Thailand. The little dish arrives and it's as if you can hear them kicking ...... live baby shrimp drowned in a fish sauce, lime and chilli dressing. Brandon gives them a little shake to slow up their movement.



There's loads of fresh vegetables on the side to be eaten along with it .... Then the little fella's are revealed. Kim and I both dive in, wanting to experience the sensation. And it's quite a sensation ... my first bite I actually had them sticking to my lips, tongue and roof of my mouth, the little spiky bits hurting like hell. But a little chomp and there's a firework like explosion of flavors, loads of dried chili, lime and lemongrass and cold, sweet little shrimp.



The next thing we were rather skeptical of was the sashimi. Sure, the fish was live, but it was swimming around in a murky warm water tank. After our time in Japan, I wasn't even keen to try it. I appreciate great sashimi, but really despise bad stuff. The fish is sliced as if a 1st year apprentice did it, there's some vegetable julienne and celery leaves along with enough wasabi to knock out the Japan winter ski team. I guess for Thai's in order to get the chili kick they require from wasabi they need that much?!



Kim tries the sashimi with the verdict that it's bloody horrible, so I just stick to the Thai whiskey ....

A great night spent with friends, old and new!