BryanZ

HC definitely came to mind but some of them don't like pork and wouldn't "get" barbecue. Dealing with rough tastes here. 'ino is a great idea. Didn't know they offered that family-style special. Have emailed and hope to hear back. More recs along those lines would be perfect.

You mean like the Flushing Mall in Queens? ← Haven't been out there. Should probably make a visit. The closest experience I'd had before this trip was some of the Asian malls I've been to in Toronto and Vancouver. Then there's the little food court in the Mitsuwa, which is sort of similar but really not.

Can anyone recommend a restaurant that does something like a family-style meal for large groups of 10+? It also needs to be cheap, like food at approx. $40/person. And not Chinatown, much to my chagrin. And not be so popular that I can't get a reservation for this weekend. Yeah, that's a lot. Thanks for the help.

Bangkok & Chiang Mai, Thailand, reprise Digging deep into my iPhoto library I unearthed a couple more pictures that I'm including for the sake of completeness. Unfortunately I can't edit the original posts themselves as it seems that window of time has closed. The "street vendor" area in the Siam Paragon Food court Fermented pork sausage at Just Khao Soy Warorot Market Fine, it's not the most authentic shot. Waffles anyone? But it's what we got. If you look past those waffles, you get an sense for how long and dim the whole place is.

Chiang Mai, Thailand, cont'd. Clearly a large lunch would not be enough food, so we continued walking through the Old City, exiting through the famous Tha Pae Gate, and had a snack at the open-air restaurant Aroon Rai's. I'd heard a great deal about this restaurant, mostly good, so I thought a stop wise. We had just one dish, a dessert, and some drinks. As I mentioned, fermented pork products are quite common in SE Asia. Northern Thailand is especially known for its fermented pork sausages. Between the lactic acid that builds up in the meat itself and the sour flavoring agents you have quite a distinctive product. Original Aroon Rai's As at Huen Phen there's a lunch counter of prepared items and a kitchen in the back. Fermented sausage, egg, vegetables My closest reference point to this would be something like a Thai breakfast dish. You've got your egg, your sausage, omelet-like fillings, all with a serious Thai bent. This was actually pretty good and totally unlike typical Thai food. Mango with sticky rice A good rendition, though not as nice as the one at the Siam Paragon. This lacked the crispy bits that defined the previous dish. Still, this was a good bit cheaper at about $2. We retired to our Lanna-chic accommodations at the Manathai Village hotel before setting out again for Chiang Mai's famous Night Bazaar. This entire thing is clealry aimed at tourists, but it's worth it to spend 45 minutes just walking through and taking it all in. Vendors in temporary stalls line the streets for blocks selling all kinds of merchandise. I'm not one for trinkets or knockoffs so I wasn't wont to buy much, but snacks were certainly procured. As my mother and sister explore one of the indoor areas--there are a few covered shopping centers with booths in addition to the street stall vendors--I visited the main food area, Kalare Food Court. As I didn't have the camera I didn't get a picture of the pork leg over rice. Though eggless, this dish was less than $2 and quite delicious. Walking east from the southern end of the night market, along the Anusan food street, we passed a roti cart. I'd seen these carts here and there but had yet to stop at one. This woman also seemed particularly adept at stretching the dough. That or she put on a good show. Roti being stretched The motion is quite cool, very rhythmic. Cooking The dough is fried in oil, filled with a cracked egg and sliced banana, then folded. The whole thing is then drizzled with what I think is sweetened condensed milk. Plated For just under a dollar this was a sizable snack. Sweet but also eggy and savory, too. We were big fans. A couple blocks away was our dinner destination, Just Khao Soy. While not screamingly authentic, the quality of the product was very good. And although it charges three-times the going rate for a bowl of noodles, that still puts one order at around $3. Not exactly budget-busting. This place has a solid reputation among food travelers, but I can also see why it's not frequented by the locals. First, they presumably only make khao soy, rendering the menu effectively as limited as a street vendor's. Also, there's the issue of price. And while the restaurant is large and comfortable, it's rather out of the way. As a result, we were literally the only patrons in the restaurant. It was a bit unsettling but the khao soy was very good. My only complaint, not blow-me-away spicy. The Just Khao Soy story Good for a laugh if you've got a few minutes. A slightly different, but similarly hilarious, take can be read on their website. Before our khao soy, we ordered more fermented pork sausage. Due to camera issues, I don't have a picture. Sorry. It was tasty, just strangely dry if eaten without the green garnishes provided. Khao soy Served on an artist's palette for the diner to add garnishes as she chooses. There's shallot, lime, sambal, fish sauce, coconut milk, banana, and sugar. Various meats are offered. We chose the wild chicken (like poussin), chicken drumstick, and pork, I believe. The poussin was my favorite. The next morning we headed to Chiang Mai's largest market, Wororot. Of all the Thai market areas we visited this was actually the most intense. Half is set on the street while half sits beneath a dim permanent shelter whose busy access points are nothing but small passageways between various vendors' wares. Unfortunately the busyness of it all and camera issues prevented many pictures from being taken, but I'll look around and see what I can find. Although the scale of Vietnam's markets was certainly larger, this one perhaps felt the most SE Asian. I prefer the open-air market streets and the relative cleanliness of the likes of Aw Taw Kaw, but this had a rawness that was in some ways more memorable even if we spent but a few minutes walking through it all. If asked to choose between Bangkok and Chiang Mai, I'd probably choose the former, but with caveats. For those averse to big city bustle Bangkok will probably come across as too large and stressful. That the touts are more aggressive and seemingly disingenuous is another mark against Thailand's biggest city. And there's the whole sex tourism thing that really skeeves people out. Still, I think its very brashness is what made it more memorable for me. Chiang Mai feels like an older, sleepy city, with all the benefits and drawbacks that that label entails. After our market stop it was off to Vietnam, where even more delicious food was sure to be found.

Besides the many logistical issues in planning this trip, deciding where to eat was a new type of challenge. Unfortunately there's no Michelin guide to help steer the clueless food traveler, nor are there celebrity chefs or wine growing regions or famous specialty shops that receive international press. I guess the closest thing to any of that would be Bourdain's travels, which we did rely on from time to time. While guidebooks provide some insight, they too are prone to many omissions. While Frommer's might feature a streetside restaurant find that's actually quite good, it's more likely to send travelers to an overpriced tourist trap, a fate we try to avoid where possible. To be honest, Chowhound is actually pretty decent for Asia eating recommendations. Singling out the posters who know what they're talking about is always a bit of a challenge, but once I've got find a few seemingly savvy people recommending the same places that's enough for me. And while I'm on the subject I may as well go through the blog roll now and thank those folks out there who document their eating adventures so that others, with less time to explore, can follow in their footsteps. This list is by no means complete but includes some of the cooler, more useful blogs complete with maps, addresses, etc. It should definitely help anyone wanting to plan a similar trip. Thailand - ImportFood.com, Austin Bush Foodblog Vietnam - Gastronomy (so helpful), Savour Asia Singapore - I Eat, I Shoot, I Post, Makansutra Tokyo - Tabelog (Japanese only, translated by my mother when needed)

Chiang Mai, Thailand Bangkok's international airport is the incredibly modern (and difficult to pronounce) Suvarnabhumi Int'l. We spent a good deal of time here, waiting for connecting flights to ferry us across the country and into Vietnam. Unfortunately it's contender to take the title in The Airport Food Showdown left something to be desired. We chose the most crowded airport cafe in the food court and arrived at mixed results. The simpler, traditional Thai items were actually quite good. Fried chicken wings with lemongrass, a tom yum noodle soup with prawns, both these items were enjoyable. A bit more dubious was the roasted chicken, which was more braised in a Western-style brown gravy that somehow tasted quite Thai, probably due to the sugar and white pepper we detected. Worse were the steamed shrimp dumplings. Perhaps dim sum was not a wise choice; I resisted ordering them myself. The most memorable dish, however, was one of the desserts, durian in coconut soup. I'm a big fan of the warm coconut soup with purple starch cubes that is found in more authentic Thai restaurants in the US. In fact, we ordered one of these at this cafe and quite enjoyed it. And although I believe I've had desserts with durian flavoring, this was actually my first exposure to the fruit in its unadulterated state. It really does smell something like a rotting diaper perfumed with a custardy sweetness. In the mouth it really is quite custardy and nice. I actually enjoyed the flavor quite a bit. Burping up durian, however, is a bit unsettling. Durian with coconut soup After finally arriving in Chiang Mai after midnight we went straight to bed. As we'd only have one full day in Chiang Mai, the next morning would take us to Doi Suthep, a famous temple at the top of a mountain that rises above the city. Doi Suthep In contrast to the bold, near garishness of the Bangkok's temples this mountaintop, draped in mist, had a more spiritual aura. Climbing up and down the few hundred steps from taxi drop-off spot to temple surely necessitated a snack. Fried bananas A bit heavy, but addictive. A lightly sweetened batter, warm from the frying oil. Even spending the briefest time in these two largest Thai cities it was impossible not to notice the huge differences between Chiang Mai and Bangkok. Perhaps our taxi driver in Bangkok who told us of Chiang Mai, "That's not Thailand!" should've resonated more deeply. We were well aware of the political instability in Thailand in the months and weeks leading up to our trip but seeing the difference between the northern and southern regions of the country was illuminating. Bangkok is a developed city; Chiang Mai's agrarian roots have hardly been shrouded by modernity. As my mother remarked, Chiang Mai today looks like any one of Japan's smaller, agrarian cities 40 years ago. Despite the city's seeming smallness, it still gave us perhaps the surprise meal of the trip. I had read good things about lunch at Huen Phen in various outlets, but the unassuming restaurant still managed to over-deliver. In a lunch in which we sampled seven dishes, we spent a whopping $3 per person! This was staggeringly good value in an area of the world where cheap food is the norm rather than the exception. I wish I had taken notes with this meal, as we had the waitress effectively choose dishes for us. Oh well. Khao soy A very solid rendition, for less than $1. Khanom jeen Although less famous than khao soy, this is another very popular northern Thai dish. A coconut milk-free broth. The meat in this was so tender and nice. Deep-fried pork chop The blanched okra was an interesting textural contrast with the crispy pork. I think this pork was lightly fermented, too. Red curry Grilled eggplant salad A more sparse version of the eggplant salad we all quickly came to love. Need to make this at home. The mint added an interesting herbal note to go with the bittersweet eggplant. Pork rind salad Ridiculously porky. Some would probably find this offensive but I liked the cool vegetables and crispy pork rinds. Not something you'd find in the US very often. Another type of curry I can't seem to remember this dish. As you can see there were many red curries that were similar but also quite different. Our server here was super friendly and accommodating. And, again, we were shocked at just how low the bill ended up being. Supposedly the restaurant becomes more touristy at dinner, but at lunch it was just locals.

Krabi, Thailand Considering the number of flights we had to catch in a short amount of time it's surprising we missed not a one. Though Air Asia would repeatedly delay and even cancel flights on us, we still got to where we needed to go with minimal drama. Perhaps my only regret is missing out on a meal in Chiang Mai due to flight delays, but as you'll see Krabi is not necessarily hard on the eyes. So, Krabi, in the interest of disclosure the food here was certainly the weakest of the trip. That's not to say it was bad, just not up to standards of the rest of our destinations. On the whole I'd rate it at the level of solid Thai food you can get in any decent-sized city in the US. Somewhere between Sripraphai in Queens and your typical Pad Thai Satay Depot. Then again, we chose this area more for the beach than for the food so I'm not going to complain. First, some eye candy. Railay West Hong Island Tubkaek The beach our hotel sat on, at low tide. Beach food vendor A bit of irony here. I wish the picture was clearer, but the image in the sign that strictly forbids beach vendors is a mirror image of the very beach vendor in this photo. We were quite amused. In Krabi we stayed at the Amari Vogue, a very nice property located on the aforementioned Tubkaek Beach. The trade-off for being on such a peaceful, undeveloped beach was that we were nearly 30 minutes from the big tourist town of Ao Nang and 10 minutes from the closest small village. Eating options were therefore limited. Welcome basket The canapes were a bit dubious, something about smoked salmon and prosciutto, well, didn't quite jive with me. The humidity also didn't do the bread or bread sticks any favors. I include this picture, however, to point out the mangosteens in the fruit basket, the dark fruit at the front. This trip greatly expanded my knowledge of tropical fruits. Besides new forms of lychee, I also spent a good bit of time becoming acquainted with said mangosteen, dragonfruit, rambutan, and a few others. Happy hour cocktails The hotel actually had a pretty decent cocktail program. Besides the assortment of overly sweet tropical drinks were a collection of decently made classic cocktails. If only they used harder, bigger ice. The vibrant quality of the fruit and mint helped to elevate the drinks. Assortment of resort Thai food I include these images not because they're particularly exciting but because, to me, they look more like Thai food in the States. Portions are bigger, there's more protein, more nonfunctional garnish. Still, this food was well-prepared and not all that expensive by resort standards. Each dish was maybe $6-8. I particularly liked the crispy pork belly dish with bitter greens. We also sampled the hotel's special dinner buffet one night and generally enjoyed it. While it was far from the best buffet I've ever enjoyed, it was useful to be able to sample a variety of competently prepared Thai dishes. As might be expected, the cold salads and made-to-order satay and noodle soup stations provided the best offerings. A hamburger may have been ordered... But a fine, if unique, specimen it was. It featured mozzarella cheese, a fried egg, and bacon. Other meals and dishes--fried fish, prawns, various stir-fries--were consumed over the three days we stayed in Krabi, though nothing all that exciting worth posting here. For those curious, we had totally decent and cheap meals at Ao Nang Cuisine in Ao Nang and The Terrace in Klong Muang. One dish I would like to call attention to is Yum Makeua Yao, grilled eggplant salad. I think I've had this grilled salad before, but in Thailand the dish is so much more intense. I'm not sure if it's the eggplant itself or the grilling, but the couple times I had the dish were exemplary. Yum Makeua Yao with shrimp The intense smokiness is what makes the dish distinctive. Krabi was beautiful and less developed than what we'd heard of Phuket, the other destination we considered. Despite it being monsoon season we only dealt with passing rain storms in the afternoon, never more than an hour. We were somewhat delayed out of Krabi, thereby necessitating a meal in Suvarnabhumi Airport instead of in Chiang Mai as we had planned.

Bangkok, Thailand, cont'd. Thanks for all the kind words thus far. I get nearly as much out of sharing my meals and travels as I do experiencing them. As always, I welcome any questions. Like I mentioned, after Aw Taw Kaw we headed into the heart of the city to see more the new Bangkok. Here high-rises are the norm, and shopping malls are far more common than markets. But even in this new Bangkok clear discrepancies arise. The older buildings and shopping malls have a distinct feel to them. For instance, the MBK shopping mall is crammed with vendors selling knockoff merchandise and cheap apparel from every sort of stall, cart, and closet-sized store. It's as if the market-culture of SE Asia just moved indoors. It's then nearly shocking to compare this to the likes of the Siam Paragon or Central World, shopping malls that literally glitter with newness and money. The former's collection of international luxury brands rivals anything in the States. SE Asia's largest aquarium is housed in the Paragon to boot. But, more typical, is the food court at MBK. A bit dingy but totally clean. One purchases coupons at a central cashier to redeem at the various stalls. There are stalls for fruit drinks, beer, desserts, and basically any Asian cuisine one can think of. Each specializes in just a few dishes, usually one or two. MBK food court Leo beer Local beer, served with straw. Thankfully this was cold. Beer with ice more common in SE Asia than one would ever hope to see. Stewed chicken over rice Craving something a bit different we went with a vendor that specialized in Muslim food. I believe chicken and mutton were on offer. This was quite good but strangely seasoned to skew toward sweet spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. This was about $2. Central World food court Clearly much newer, brighter, and not even that much more expensive. A very nice food court. Immediately before the food court itself were both a sizable supermarket section and a collection of cold cases with high-end cheeses, meats, charcuterie, and some prepared foods. Pork leg over rice One of my favorite Thai dishes, this evokes one of my favorite Japanese dishes, buta no kakuni. Again the portion of meat is small, maybe an ounce of muscle and an ounce of fatty skin. Chopped, served with an egg, greens, and some rice. I love the sweet-salty flavor and the assortments of textures. Siam Paragon food court By far the most extensive, most crowded, and most impressive, this food court was really something. Bustling with people, the court is organized in a circular fashion around a dining area that must easily seat 1000. It's rather large. We also happened to be there when a special food expo was going on, featuring dishes presented in a street vendor-like fashion, only much cleaner. The quality of these items was really excellent, though a good deal pricier than what you'd pay of the street. Khao soy I love khao soy. There's something about the assortment of ingredients and curry-coconut broth that's rich yet not cloying that really works for me. This was an excellent version. About $3. Sticky rice with mango So simple but so good. The mangoes were excellent, not at all stringy. The crispy bits that sat atop the rice made the dish, however, adding a salty note that served as a great foil. This was also rather expensive at $3. Both the khao soy and mango were from the special expo section of vendors. After a brief rest and some nice cocktails at the hotel we headed out to dinner. On this evening we'd be heading to Lek Seafood, a far more local-oriented restaurant that's also frequently recommended on blogs and other message boards. Lek Seafood As with many restaurants in SE Asia there were both air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned dining areas. We opted for the former. The kitchen here opens to the street. Tom yum goong More sour than spicy, though the heat level here wasn't too tame. Deep-fried fermented pork ribs Fermented pork products are far more common in SE Asia than I would've imagined. It seems that nearly all sausage is based around some kind of fermented pork. These had a bit of a tang but were otherwise inoffensive and quite tasty. Total beer food. Stir-fried clams with basil and chile Not familiar with this variety of clam but they were analogous to a littleneck, perhaps not as meaty. Thai brown sauces tend to be sweeter than their Chinese counterparts. Stir-fried greens I think this was some kind of squash blossom/shoot. I remember them having a distinct pumpkin note. Grilled prawns with chile, mint, rice powder This was a super interesting dish I became obsessed with. The salsa/dressing included chopped scallion, lemongrass, garlic, and various herbs. What made it standout, however, was the rice powder that lent a most delicious toasted, savory note. The prawns themselves were cooked to what I'd call medium-rare leaving the heads just a bit custardy. Quite the visceral dish. Lek is a no-frills restaurant, even by Thai standards. You eat on thin metal tables, servers are brusque to say the least. Dishes aren't so much placed on the table as they are tossed--some sauce flew from plate to my foot as it made its way down to the tabletop. It's loud, harshly lit, but quite delicious. The prawn dish here was among the trip's most memorable. After two full days in Bangkok we would leave the next morning to go to Krabi, a beach area on the Andaman sea.

Bangkok, Thailand, cont'd. So here's where things get tricky. What does one call street food eaten in the morning after breakfast. A snack? I guess, but these were proper dishes you might order off a menu in the States. Brunch? Lacking the requisite mimosas, so, umm, no. Indeed, traveling is hard. After our very nice hotel breakfast enjoyed tranquilly looking over the Bangkok skyline, my sister and I headed off to one of the many market street that seemingly spring from nowhere. Passing by skyscrapers, laundromats, and dubious looking massage parlors, one suddenly passes a side street literally crammed with people and street vendors. Fifty yards further and it again looks like any other big city. These side streets link the larger throughways, in our case Silom and Surawong Roads, and offer a glimpse into real Bangkok life. Besides food, one can find clothing, toiletries, auto parts, whatever. We chose food based largely on what was crowded and what looked tasty/clean/somewhat identifiable. Large woks filled with various curries and stir-fried dishes sit out on the street. In semi-covered wet market areas one finds seafood ranging from fresh to suspect and meats of all cuts and types. We stuck to safer items for this early morning market foray. Stir-fried pork with green beans Red curry with pork While this wasn't necessarily better than what you might get from a decent Thai restaurant here, each plate of food was less than a dollar. While the portion wasn't huge it would make a perfect snack, and along with a few satay and some fruit or grilled banana you'd have a nice meal for maybe $2.50. Grilled banana with syrup The bananas here are kind of interesting. They're small, like apple bananas, but a bit starchy, kind of like a nearly ripe plantain. They're often grilled or dipped in batter and fried. Here, you see the former variety. Having tried both styles on this trip, each has its merits. We also got some satay for less than a dollar and a large bag of doughnut-type things. While nothing was rapturous everything was totally serviceable. Tourists could eat nothing but this food without a problem and save a lot of money. In fact, while we avoided tap water and ice we ate pretty much everything else. No real gastrointestinal problems to report throughout the trip beyond a little discomfort most likely attributed to overeating. After this bit of food we headed out to Aw Taw Kaw, a market that's built up quite a reputation as a food tourism destination in Bangkok. It's easily accessible by public transportation yet away from the hustle of downtown. It's also quite clean and well-lit as far as open-air markets go, so the casual visitor isn't likely to be offended. Still, the smell when one walks in is nearly overpowering. Durian lingers with dried fish, tropical fruit, and spices. For some heady; for others disgusting. There are various stalls selling all kinds of wet and dry goods. Curries, sold to-go, sit out amidst the heat. The only thing held on ice is seafood. It's all quite clean but far from the American supermarket. A typical stall selling food to-go Chiles Wall of garlic About half of the garlic used in our dinner last night. King lychee A bitter sweet memory here. These were huge, like three times the size of normal lychee, and incredibly delicious. But I have to admit my mother got hosed on the price. We were offered a sample, got overly excited as to how good they were and paid about $6 for a kilo. We later saw them being sold from a bit over $2.25 to about $4 for the same weight. Again, you have to be aware. Grilling chickens At the end of the market is a less densely packed area for the food court There were probably a couple dozen stalls selling various foodstuffs. While most sold foods meant to consumed on-site some items could also be taken to-go. The most commonly blogged about stall here is 12/5, famous for a dish called he ba mi, a noodle soup with roasted meats and dumplings. He ba mi Subtle, but nice. Stingray (we think) with peppers over rice The texture of this was very much like skate but denser. We think it has to be stingray. As you can see, portions in Thailand are quite small. You might get only an ounce or two or protein in a serving, be it fish, pork, or whatever. This was true across the board. As you so often read but rarely see in this country, it's really all about using the protein to augment the vegetables and rice. Satay Grilled over charcoal, served with a bright red peanut sauce and nice quick pickles of cucumber and shallot. Oyster pancake Perhaps the most dubious of the offerings, the raw oysters and other shellfish were stored on a banana leaf set over some minimal quantity of ice. Still, it was quite tasty if a bit oily. The pancake is cooked as a thin batter augmented with scrambled egg, sprouts, and the aforementioned seafood. The most expensive item of our lunch, this was probably $2 and change. After a morning spent sampling Thai cuisine in rather authentic surroundings, our next stop would be the malls of downtown Bangkok, both low- and high-end. This would be our first exposure to the glories of the Asian mall food court. We need food courts like this in the States.

Bangkok, Thailand Getting from the rolling (and rainy) hills of New Jersey to the lobby of the Sofitel Silom in Bangkok required approximately 30 hours of travel time. It was a lot. A lengthy layover in Tokyo served as something as a respite, as we were able to relax in the Delta/NW lounge for drinks and nibbles. The quality of food offerings here versus the quality of those in Newark is marked. I'm absolutely kicking myself for not taking a picture of the automatic beer dispenser in the lounge. So cool. That the tap beers are Asahi and Sapporo and not Bud Light made it that much better. But, back to the main event, the food. Our first meal in Asia would actually be in Tokyo. We would be returning in a few weeks' time but for now udon would suffice. Narita would put forth a strong contender in this first round of The Airport Food Showdown. While various bowls of udon were ordered, this is the kitchen sink version. This included tempura, sauteed beef, fried mochi, a hot springs egg, tofu skin, nori, and probably many other items. I think it's quite cool that an airport feature a restaurant that makes its own udon and soba, but then again that's Japan. Arriving in Bangkok, even at midnight, one must deal with touts right from the start. If I have one problem with Bangkok it's that you feel like almost everyone is trying to fleece you. Tourists are continuously quoted exorbitant prices for transportation, be it by "metered" taxi or the quintessential motorized tricycles called tuk-tuks. Thailand is a place where you have to be aware and savvy at all times. One of the most ubiquitous scams involves a "helpful" stranger or taxi driver who tells you an attraction is closed for the morning/day/afternoon. Instead, said person offers to set you up with an appealing alternative tour (that is always paired with high-pressure shopping stop). It's easy to feel like you, the consumer, is not in control. Bargaining is the rule, and day-to-day activities require a certain attention that isn't necessary in the US, Europe or Japan. To me, Thailand seems to be at a kind of developmental crossroads. Bangkok is a modern city with a new and efficient public transportation system, museums and malls, high-end hotels and office buildings, etc. Yet there seems to undercurrent of traditionalism at play here that seems at odds with with the recent development of the last couple of decades. The difference between rich and poor is significant, for instance, and further underscores the idea of two Bangkoks that we witnessed. But rather than delve deeper into the city socio-economic climate, there are pretty things to see and delicious food to eat. Bangkok's temples and palaces were the most impressive we'd see on the trip. A reclining Buddha The world's largest, I believe. Wat Po Almost a caricature of what one thinks of as Thai architecture. At least that was the case for me. Grand Palace What I found most interesting was strange mixture of Thai and Western architectural features. Can't say that Greco columns and Thai roof lines work all that well together. Wat Arun Climable, dubiously. Our first meal in Thailand would actually come the next morning, at our hotel. I highly recommend the Sofitel Silom. The Club Level rooms are a great value for all the extras you get, namely cocktails and this super classy breakfast spread. The service was very good, too. Breakfast I should note now that a few pictures, such as the two above, were taken using an iPhone and therefore are terrible quality. Sorry. The Sofitel does a really nice job balancing French and Thai, as seen in the charcuterie spread and congee. Both were very good quality. French pastries were presented with housemade tropical fruit jams. Can't complain. Our first proper meal, however, was enjoyed at Chote Chitr, a restaurant popular with the foodie set. There's a semi-onery marm who presides over the small restaurant on whom a fair amount has been written. She speaks English just fine and set us up with a nice assortment of dishes. I should note that the heat across the board in Thailand was not nearly as bad (or good, depending on your worldview) as I'd heard. We asked for everything extremely spicy and though there was a decent burn across the board nothing was blow-you-away spicy. Granted my spice tolerance is very high, but even dishes made in advance that couldn't be toned down for foreigners and are reportedly very spicy were usually just warming and rarely hot. If I'm being honest, I wanted more on that front. But anyway, our lunch was as follows. Mee krob A sticky, sour rendition. This would be the first of many times where I would be impressed at just how intense Thai food can be. Thai in the US tends to be over-sweet. In Thailand the tamarind and kaffir lime and lemongrass really dominate the show, even more than the heat. It was refreshing and different. Banana flower salad with chicken and coconut red curry The mee krob and this salad are signature dishes here. Very nice, and I'd never had banana flower before. This would be the first of a few exposures. Grilled prawns in red curry This curry was richer than the one in the salad. It was spicier and creamier. Nicely cooked prawns, too. Fried river fish with mango salad The mango salad was the star here. The fish was fine but could've been cooked a bit longer to get it just a bit darker and crispier. Again the sourness of the salad was bracing and quite pleasant. All in, this meal was maybe $7 or $8 per person. Actually quite expensive for this restaurant, where we'd ordered two pricier seafood dishes, but you can't complain about the value. I'd heard great things about Samboon Seafood so we decided to go for dinner on our first evening. The place is known for its curry crab, a rather expensive dish by local standards. As a result the restaurant is more popular with tourists and businessmen, mainly Japanese, but the quality was really quite excellent. This would be one of the better meals of the trip, in fact. Before getting to the food, however, I'd be remiss not to mention this only-in-Bangkok situation. One block before the restaurant are a collection of tuk-tuk drivers seemingly just hanging out on the corner. As tourists approach the corner they casually ask, "Are you going to dinner? Do you like seafood?" Even if you ignore them and keep walking toward the restaurant they press harder, "Seafood, not that way. Let me take you." And so and so on. There's actually another famous scam that's been mentioned on more than a few blogs where diners are taken to Samboon-dee Seafood. The -dee in that restaurant's neon sign is conveniently dark and unaware tourists are then led into the imposter restaurant. Samboon's website even warns customers of this scam. But, we got there unscathed and had a most delicious meal. Prawns with chile and garlic The amount of garlic in this dish, the fish and morning glory was just insane. I'm not exaggerating when I say there must've been a full head of garlic in the dishes. In this prawn dish the sauce was bound together by a sticky, sweet sauce of sorts. Delicious. Fried fish with crispy basil, garlic, chile An excellent whole fish. Quite spicy, too. There's also some stir-fried morning glory, a type of slightly bitter green, in the background. Curry crab Awesome. The egg in the curry really made the dish, adding a really interesting silky note. While I think I might've just barely preferred Singapore's famous chile crab, this dish was just great. I think this rather large crab was about $27. By Thai standards this restaurant is quite expensive. We paid just north of $20/person and felt like we got a great bargain. The restaurant is very clean, well-lit, and the menu has nice pictures with descriptions. Not exactly the most local spot but I really can't fault the place at all. Highly recommended for folks not quite ready to jump into street food or the like. As a related cultural aside, one could call restaurant service in Thailand and Vietnam hovering. Apparently it's considered a good thing for servers to stand immediately by your table as you peruse the menu, go over the bill, and pay. Often times asking for some time to consider drinks or what to order was met with confusion, then an awkward couple of steps back. Even after food was delivered servers would, somewhat awkwardly, just watch us eat. The thought process seems to be something like, "As a server you now have my full attention. Whether you want it or not." It was kind of weird. And so ended our first day. We'd had Thai food that bore similarities to what I was used to yet was somehow different. Again, I think it's all about the usage of aromatics. In the US lemongrass, tamarind, and kaffir lime leaf are something like novelties. In Bangkok they served as the very building blocks for the cuisine. Imagine French or Italian cooking with limited access to onions, shallots or garlic. That's the kind of difference we're talking about here.

A year ago I returned from a three-week, whirlwind eating tour of Western and Central Europe, the spoils of which can be viewed, here. In 2009, in lieu of starhunting my way through more than a few temples of gastronomy, I would alight to Asia where more exotic (and much cheaper, if I'm being honest) culinary delights were sure to be found. This trip would bring my family to Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, and Japan, allowing us to sample a wide breadth of Asian cuisines. Surely Thai, Vietnamese, and Japanese dishes were enjoyed in abundance, but those from Malaysia, India, and China would also make repeated appearances owing to the amalgam of distinct cultures that influence the region. In sharing this travelblog I hope to return to this point at greater length. Although each country remains unique, it becomes and more apparent how much cultural exchange occurs in the region. As with travelblogs past, this will feature an excessive amount of photo documentation. The format this time around, however, will be slightly different. The concept of a meal is hazy, for instance. With portions small and prices low, eating becomes less centered on large, multi-course meals and more centered on grabbing a dish or four here and there. Without set mealtimes or clearly printed tasting menus--or menus at all for that matter--my powers of recollection are sure to be challenged. I hope that those with more expertise on these cuisines will chime in and correct my surely numerous errors to come. So, we begin. Expect everything from dubious street vendor mystery meats to refined kaiseki cuisine. From Bangkok to Krabi to Chiang Mai to Halong Bay to Hanoi to Saigon to Singapore to Tokyo to Atami in three week's time. It was quite the trip, and I hope others will enjoy coming along, too.

Continue to frequent this place when I want a light meal around Astor Pl. and Union Square. A sandwich and an ear of corn is about perfect. There are more specials now. Though I haven't really tried them, they certainly sound good. The veal meatball is hard to leave.

Took me a while to get this report up, but I went to a Mets-Phillies game the other week. This was a few weeks after visiting the new Yankee Stadium for a game against the Twins. I'm far from a diehard sports fan, and perhaps for this reason I feel qualified to objectively comment on the food programs at each. No allegiances here. I also have some experience working with and designing institutional dining programs so it's not like all this is foreign to me. With that said, it's not difficult to see how superior the food program is at Citi Field, at least for casual fans like me who are far from VIP and care as much about the atmosphere as the baseball. The lines at Citifield at the USHG concepts are long, but they move quickly. Shake Shack was daunting, but waiting for fries, tacos, and barbecue took no more than 10 minutes at each restaurant. Granted, waiting 30 minutes seems quite a while, but if you go with friends and split up, as you probably will, you'll be eating in what I consider a reasonable amount of time. I should also note that the more "typical" vendors had shorter lines than what I saw at Yankee Stadium. The Daily Catch, or whatever Pasternack's concept is called, was also far from mobbed. Beer prices are expensive but not entirely unfair. Can't say I saw the pints of Brooklyn Lager for $6.25. Raji, you'll have to take me to a game and show me your ways. The quality of the food was actually good, and very good for stadium food. Much better than typical fast-food offerings and surpassing most all suite/box food I've had at corporate events and the like. The pork sandwich at $9 was downright generous, literally overflowing with pork. I do concede we might've gotten lucky and received a particularly large specimen, however. The bacon mayo with the fries could use some refining but is undeniably tasty. The taco combo plate was perhaps the least remarkable, and the most expensive, item but the carnitas would be at home in any reputable Manhattan Mexican restaurant. So all in all, a success. I think I paid $32 for my (cheap) ticket, maybe spent about that much on food and beer and was pleasantly sated. $65ish for a night's food and entertainment is not bad at all.

The drive from SLC to Park City is a pleasant one. This year the lower reaches of the mountains were particularly green. In Park City I cooked pork braised in a charred tomatillo salsa, also a few bo ssam. Lots of pork. What else is new? Might I also note that Park City might be among the whitest places on earth? Between Blue Hill @ Stone Barns and Park City, it's really a toss up. But I digress. Within about an hour's drive of Park City is the Uintah range. At the base of the mountains is the town of Kamas. In Kamas is the rather idiosyncratic Hi Mountain Drug. Hi Mountain Drug Grill, Sporting Goods, BOOKS, ICE CREAM. What more could you possibly want? Root beer float, strawberry ice cream soda, limeade These offerings were totally awesome. Great ice cream from a local creamery. The ice cream soda was like a carbonated shake. The limeade was, mercifully, not too sweet by any means. The place is known for its burgers. We obliged. Burgers The burgers were good, not great. The place on the whole, however, was truly memorable. Beyond Kamas you drive past gorges and summits and stop at every possible turnout because your father is feeling nostalgic. And see views like this. A beautiful part of the country and actually quite tasty, too.

Spent a long weekend in Salt Lake City and Park City for a family reunion. Though I'm East Coast born and raised, my father's family hails from SLC, so, as I mentioned upthread, I've spent a good of time in the area, usually over the holidays. We had one night and one half-day in Salt Lake. Excessive consumption was surely in order. We hit all our mainstays. In Park City, we mainly cooked but managed one rather tasty, highly unlikely meal in Kamas, a small town at the foot of the Uintah range. Perhaps SLC's most famous restaurant is Red Iguana. Most everyone goes here, locals and tourists alike. I was also amused to find that it's kind of transformed into a hipster hangout. The restaurant is known for its mole sauces, all of which I find quite delicious. I've not traveled extensively through Mexico so I can't judge their true authenticity, but I've repeatedly found these mole to be better than anything I've had in the States. We headed here immediately after landing and picking up our truly tragic looking Chevy HHR. At 9 pm on a Wednesday night we waited just over 30 minutes. In SLC that's, like, ridiculous. We ordered an appetizer of jalapeno peppers stuffed with shrimp, deep-fried, then topped with a red sauce and cheese. Surprisingly light given the heavy description. No picture, though. Mole pictures abound, however. Mole negro with turkey The most complex of the bunch. Totally delicious. Stuffed pork loin with mole de alemendras That's mole with almonds for you gringos. I think. Mole verde with chicken So fresh-tasting for a mole. You could totally taste the green squash, avocado, and herbs. Carnitas A very good rendition but not as memorable as the mole. At any other Mexican restaurant I'd be thrilled to receive a plate of pork this good. The spread Yeah, we're pigs. There was also a little cup of red pipian sauce. You could really taste the pumpkin here. This place is seriously, seriously delicious. Service is brisk, the restaurant is kind of a shithole, but it all works. Day two would start off with my braising pork for 20 at my aunt's house. Then it was off on a whirlwind tour of eating. Our first stop was Lone Star Taqueria, another famous SLC eatery. They specialize in grilled fish tacos here, not the fried rendition I often found along the Riviera Maya on the Yucatan Peninsula. Again, these tacos and burritos are seriously delicious. I've loved this place for years and this visit didn't disappoint. Because they rotate their fish offerings here I was perhaps a little disappointed that we arrived on a cod day (a bland fish) as opposed to perhaps salmon day (more strongly flavored). Sitting out on the patio is great, basking in the warm sun, drinking Mexican beer, and watching the clouds roll over the mountains. Fish tacos They're known for their sauces as much as the tacos proper. Fish burrito Rather large, but surprisingly light given its imposing stature. Fish burrito, split Immediately after our brunch at Lone Star we headed to Iceberg Drive Inn. Not sure what the "inn" refers to, but getting shakes and malts here is pretty much a tradition. To be honest they're less shakes than they are hand-mixed loose soft serve with your choice of flavorings/mix-ins. I opt for a berry combo of black raspberry (I'm guessing this is blackberry), blueberry, and boysenberry. It's quite refreshing, as far as things like this go. My father, however, opts for a malted shake with chocolate fudge, chocolate chips, and banana. I find this combination unbearably cloying and rich. But that's me. After a brief stroll down memory lane for my parents at the UofU we continued eating. Another SLC favorite of mine is Crown Burgers. Get ready for some gratuitous burger shots. A Crown Burger, Jr. Crown Burger, onion rings, fry sauce, soda My mother and sister shared the Jr. I ate the full-size myself. Natch. Closer The Money Shot Boom! I personally think this is one of the all-time great fast food hamburgers. Arctic Circle also does a version of the corned beef-fast food burger and while it's a noble try it lacks the excess of a Crown Burger. And in about three hours we've all consumed vast quantities of food and feel borderline ill. A great half-day if you ask me.

Chiming in here with less than useful information, but just something to think about. Las Vegas clearly has a world-class collection of restaurants at the high- and mega-high-end. This is hardly debatable. With that said, for people who travel nearly exclusively for food, the prospect of dining in LV can feel derivative or, worse, boring. If you're the kind of person who travels to NYC to eat, why eat at the LeC in LV? Similarly, why go to Bouchon if you frequent Napa? The same could be said of the Mina and Ogden restaurants, right? On an even grander scale--a scale that can be attributed to UE in this case--eating at Guy Savoy in LV seems to lack the romance of eating at the restaurant and Paris, replica Eiffel Tower and Chanel marquee be damned. Even singularly Las Vegas eateries like Picasso seem to me to lack a definitive culinary flair, probably because the menu doesn't change all that much. Bartolotta and Alex are the only restaurants I can think of that are exempt from this in that they are destination restaurants in and of themselves, without clones elsewhere. I don't know enough about Bar Charlie to pass judgment on it at present. Don't get me wrong, dining in LV certainly has its merits. I think this particular discussion is yet another facet of the debate surrounding the soul/terroir of LV's cuisine.

Early trip out to Montauk proper this year. Going during the week so I hope to avoid the weekend rush. Anyone got anything? Staying at a friend's house so I intend to cook a lot but am always up for a new recommendation.

So soft opening to the public was last night. Reservations in the main dining room were booked until 10 so I walked in and got a seat in the bar/cafe area with three friends. The fact that these bar tables are not overseen by the host stand is a little bit perplexing. It gives the bar area more of a disorganized atmosphere that doesn't really benefit anyone. In addition to the usual masses of people stalking bar seats, you have parties stalking tables. It's kind of of awkward. I kind of lucked out in getting a bar seat right away for a pre-dinner drink while my friends quickly found a table. I could see this being very frustrating though, especially if you're not willing to be all eagle-eyed and pushy with the tables. The fact that couples took up four-tops and groups of three and four were forced to sit at tables for two doesn't seem all that efficient. I will say the space is rather striking. The dining room is set a little below street level and you immediately walk into this glass foyer that looks over the entire restaurant. The beer list and text scrawled and imprinted on the glass mirrors that circle the top of the room are all but illegible, making them kind of pointless. The much blogged pans from famous chefs across the world are cool I suppose but don't make much of an impression in this busy space. If you didn't know you'd be hard pressed to think they're any different than the copper cookware in any bistro or brasserie. Servers were harried but friendly. It was their first night so I'll cut them some slack, but our table was about the only one in the bar area that had to request both a bread basket (with our two plates of charcuterie) and a condiment rack (with out burgers and sausages). It's super busy so don't expect coddling. Our food came quickly, perhaps too quickly, but everything was prepared very well. The bar menu is a rather abbreviated version of the main dining room menu. Oyster, two types of charcuterie, three dogs, three burgers, some cheeses, and perhaps a salad. The variety of sausages and composed dishes available on the full menu are not offered in the bar. Still, we put together a well-rounded meal. There are a good number of well chosen beers on tap, but they're all rather expensive. A couple $6 selections, and it goes up from there. No $3 PBR cans or $5 Brooklyn Lager specials here. My favorite of the three burgers was actually the Yankee, the most basic of the lot. I felt as though the pork belly on the Frenchie and pulled pork on the Piggie were perhaps a bit distracting, though both were wholly enjoyable. The grind and cooking on both burgers was exemplary. Loosely formed, juicy, very tasty. Burgers are a few dollars more expensive than what was shown on preview menus, so while tasty they're not particularly cheap. To start we also tried the two charcuterie items on offer. Both were very good, but should be served with more than a single slice of crusty bread. The bread in the bread basket itself was, surprisingly, forgettable. The dogs were the weak point for me, and the DBGB dog was the weakest dish of the night. It was fine but the filling was too airy and smooth. If I'm being honest I find Thuuman's dogs to be much more flavorful and snappy. Also had the Tunisienne, a very skinny merguez sausage on a bun. Flavor was good, but the sausage itself was a bit dry; the bun-sausage ratio was a bit off which further contributed to the perceived dryness. Desserts were classic but really intense. The coffee ice cream in our chocolate-coffee sundaes was pleasantly bitter. The sweetness came from rich brownie squares that managed to shy away from being cloying. The souffle was technically great, with strong Grand Marnier flavor. Would like to try the Baked Alaska for two, but at $18 we weren't ready to take that risk on a somewhat bizarre sounding dessert. After tax, tip, and one beer I spent about $46. One could spend less, but not much less. Of course, the sky is the limit with premium items like the seafood towers and more expensive plated dishes available in the main dining room. I thought it was a good value given the level of quality in the ingredients and unimpeachable execution. Wish service was a bit less harried but that will hopefully work itself out in the coming weeks and months.

Sardinia, hmm. You didn't ply me with the most delicious things I ate in Miami. Those would probably be the lechon and chicharones at Palacio de los Jugos. I confess to finding some execution issues with both food and service, but I took more away from this meal than I did a meal at Michy's two nights later. Overall, I didn’t find the servers particularly professional and the food didn’t knock my socks off. With that said, I appreciated how boldly rustic the restaurant was. This was especially true with the two secondi we ordered. A hulking lamb shank and huge slabs of suckling pig from all over the animal. Both dishes required some surgery to enjoy, but there was something satisfying about taking them apart and dishing them out to my friends. Others would surely disagree and even find all the bones and non-crisp pig skin downright unappetizing, however. I also liked how the salad and one of the pastas we ordered were unapologetically bitter. The former paired arugula, radish, and radicchio; the latter included a strong pesto made from rappini, flecked with large hunks of boar sausage. Again, I liked this, though some of my friends (who admittedly have very conservative tastes) couldn’t even eat more than a couple bites. They surely enjoyed Michy’s more, so take everything that I’m saying with a grain of salt. Overall, I don’t think Batali has anything to worry about—the pastas were oversauced, the cooked produce was unimpressive—but the meal will stay with me and was quite enjoyable. ETA: I hate to mention this but I really should. It wasn't a big deal for me, but some people get totally freaked out by this kind of thing. On our suckling pig there was the tiniest bit of aluminum foil still stuck to the meat, presumably left on from being reheated in the oven. We just picked it off and didn't mention it to the staff, but it was large enough that you would've noticed it (unpleasantly, I would think) had you taken an unlucky bite.

Michy’s was tasty but very safe. Too safe, I think. I thought the food was cute but lacked a certain excitement. I think I can best sum it up as comfort food made by a chef rather than comfort food for a chef. This is likely a reflection of a more conservative dining public, but I feel like you can have more fun in semi-affordable, chef-driven restaurants in NYC. One thing that I thought was weird was that a couple things were underseasoned. A couple friends ordered the churrasco and both pieces of meat were undersalted. I really liked the sweetness with the short rib dish, but the carrots were rather bland. Didn’t taste like particularly high-qualty carrots nor did they have enough seasoning. Desserts also felt like throwaways. Was able to find a solid ‘02 rioja for $55 though, so that was a nice surprise. Favorite dish of the night was the ceviche with all its accompaniments. That was a fun one. I think Michy’s succeeds in pleasing a lot of different people. There’s not much challenging on the menu, and everything is packaged and sold in a cute, easy-to-swallow (pardon the pun) fashion. Sardinia, my other big meal in Miami, was much the opposite, and I think I liked the lesser-known Italian restaurant more because of this.

The Feedbag reports that it'll turn into something like a late-night industry hangout. If so, that's cool I guess. On a more salient level, if it stays open until, like 2 am, my life will be markedly improved.

The JG promotion also runs early in the evening, until 6:00. It's also four courses, the length of the standard JG prix fixe meal.

What's in this Del Re?

BTDubs, two stars from Bruni this week. He liked it.