Still lunching with the ladies, le Beaulieu, Bangkok

Day two of our lunch with the ladies tour, Le Beaulieu is just around the corner from where we were staying at Suk 11 so it was just a quick albeit hair raising scooter taxi ride away. We're a bit early so we just kick around in the reception area for a bit before being ushered in.



One wall of the restaurant is a large window into the kitchen, great for guests not so for chefs..



Once again the seats are quickly filled by Japanese housewives (I think they are single handedly supporting Bangkok's restaurants). We are given a menu with the wickedly great lunch deals, three courses with three choices of each for 450 baht, sweet.

We quickly make our choices, with a basket of fresh baked bread to keep us company while we wait.



We started off with baked cheese feuillete with organic salad and balsamic and an onion tart with rocket and truffle cream. Mmm melty cheese wrapped in puff pastry, the tart was topped with a wisp of truffle infused foam.





For our second choices we had a traditional bouillabaisse marseillaise with rouille and garlic bread, a decent piece of white fish and squid sitting in a pool of rich seafood broth, along side a generous slice of toasted garlic bread and rouille to make the dish even more rich.



The braised beef neck, fresh fettuccine and herbs was another super rich dish, large chunks of tender fall apart beef piled over a mound of fresh noodles, while it was delicious it was quite impossible to finish being so rich.



Whilst I was now starting to feel full Kat being in possession of the second dessert stomach that all women have was ready as our desserts arrived. White chocolate Charlotte with fresh fruit, a slice of the Charlotte laid on the plate and topped with macerated fresh fruit.



The other a freshly baked apple tart vanilla bean ice cream, you can't go wrong with that. A disk of pastry topped with thinly sliced and baked apples and soft ice cream slowly melting its way down over it all.



Really for these prices you can't complain, so I won't.

Le Beaulieu

the Sofitel Residences
Sukhumvit Rd., soi 19
Bangkok, Thailand

11-Gallery Restaurant, Suk 11

Sometimes while staying over the Sukumvit side of town, we would miss our regulars haunts of the Banglumphu side of town. But Suk 11 and it's surrounds had some little gems. For instance, the 11-Gallery restaurant right at the entrance of the little sub-soi.

A beautiful wooden two-story structure, we're ushered away by a beautiful Thai girl in a Sabai (cloth wrap) and decide to perch upstairs. We sit at the tiny little ledge,



with a pleasant view down to the happenings on the street and get to watch the little pinto's being carried from the downstairs across-the way kitchen over to the restaurant.



Kim starts with a gin fizz, a delicious refreshing combination of gin, soda and lime.



I start with a young coconut juice,



as well as a pandan juice. The pandan juice is served with a little syrup on the side, but I find myself adding the pandan to the coconut as I slowly sip down ...



The menu gives a nice little run down about the balance of Thai food and the way it should be eaten (you can also check it out on the website). We're almost seasoned pro's so dive right in !! First up, our salad, fried bits and curry all arrive carried in a little yellow and green pinto, a tiered / stacked set of little boxes.

The yam ma keaur yow - eggplant, shrimp and pork mince salad with boiled egg was dressed with a tangy tamarind dressing and the perfect way to set of on our gastro journey.



The next stop on our gastro journey, gai ta kai - crispy fried chicken that's topped with a dried and shredded lemongrass floss. The floss is textural explosion of flavor and adds a bit of zing to the fried, salty chicken.



~*woot woot*~, chu chee goong.  A rich red curry thats rather mild and full of coconut cream. The prawns, sweet and delicious, and the kaffir lime adding another dimension.



We take a little detour, and find ourselves feasting on some pork toasts. Resembling that of the Chinese style prawn toasts, this version a nicely seasoned pork minced is slathered onto white bread and fried until golden. A cucumber and chilli dressing cutting a bit of the richness.



The tom yum goong ma phrao oon was one of the recommended dishes. I love Thai soups and I love coconut, so the idea of a soup served inside a coconut, awesome! The only disapointment was they had ran out of coconuts ;( They still served us the more expensive option (claiming there was still coconut flesh in there ... well then where was the coconut?!) I even thought to offer up my drinking coconut so they could make the soup in there ;) But it was divine, none-the-less. Rich with coconut, but still somehow light and fresh with all that lemongrass and tamarind leaf.



The last pinto to pull in for the evening contained a typical Thai dessert.



More a palate cleanser, nice and refreshing and not to sweet ... red beans and tapioca floating in a salty/sweet coconut cream.



Definitely discovered some art we liked at 11-Gallery, and were lucky enough to take it all home in our bellies !!

11-Gallery Restaurant

1/34 Soi 11, Sukhumwit Rd

Bangkok, 10110, Thailand

P: 02-651-2672

Porky goodness at the end of Soi 11

Staying over the Sukumvit side of town meant a whole new world of discoveries. We found an awesome foot massage place a few soi's over, and conveniently we walked past a charcoal grill full of porky goodness so we always found ourselves stocking up just because .....

The charcoal grill would usually have a few fresh things sizzling away ...



but there was always the tray at the front that was piled with all sorts of pig, you just pick up the sticks you want, place them on the end of the grill to warm them up and you're away.



The chosen sticks would then be packed into a bag with chunks of cabbage, Thai herbs, scud chilli's and slices of fresh ginger.



A perfect walking snack on the way to another wonderful massage ...

Breakfast at Suk 11, Bangkok

Being on holidays ... sleeping in ... aah, so lovely! But we found ourselves wanting to get up when staying at Suk 11, as to not miss out on the morning breakfast. We would always head downstairs just in time, and it was always so nice looking down into the communal area that was bustling with morning madness, coffee's, breakfast, check in's and check outs.



We'd go straight for a tea and a plate of the daily offerings. Today we have little banana's, sticky rice parcels with coconut braised banana and a little cup filled with taro, black rice and corn swimming in a sweet coconut milk.



I could never resist a slice of toast with Thai-ya. What we were calling a Thai version of Kaya jam, that was made with coconut, sugar and Thai tamarind tea.



Always a good start to what was always a great day in Bangkok!

Soi 38 Night Markets, Sukumvit

Staying over the Sukumvit side of town we had all these new places to explore. One thing we heard is that Soi 38 turns into a bit of an evening food market that runs until about 3am. Perfect! We take the MRT and upon leaving the station look down to see Soi 38 alive .... this is a good sign!



I start with a coconut milk shake and we take a walk.



We settle back at the beginning for some firey pad Thai. The guy working the wok at the front is giving a little show with each wok of noodles being fried, and his little cart is plastered in awards and newspaper articles.



We order the noodles and also a plate of crispy pork and vegetables. The pork arrives first, so we beginning picking at this.



I then sneak away to take a few shots of him cooking our noodles ...



Then the pad Thai arrives. It looks pretty good, but the flavor just isn't quite there. We pile on the chili, peanuts and fish sauce.



The whole time we're eyeing off the sticky rice and mango cart across the way.



We get a mango sticky rice to go.



And enjoy it back at Suk 11, sitting in the little Soi and watching the night go by ....

Oh how I love Thai salads ...

On our walk back from Yong Lee we were contently full ... Until we spotted a hawker selling the delightful yam nam.



This is one of my most favorite Thai salads, fermented pork along with boiled pork skin is tossed with crispy red curry rice cakes, ginger, shallot, peanuts, lime, chilli and fish sauce.



Served along with it, a bag full of crunchy cabbage wedges, cucumber and a forest of Thai herbs. We sat back at the outdoor oasis at Suk 11 and enjoyed this tasty treat.



It was a fair effort, but we both much prefer the hawker we've found over the Phra Artit side of town and her flavour packed yam nam.