Summer

Summer
199 Soi Sukhumvit 49 (Promsri), Sukhumvit Road,
Klongton Nua Sub-district, Wattana District,
Bangkok 10110 Thailand

Spring Tel: 66 2 392 2747-8
Summer Tel: 66 2 392 2757
Fax: 66 2 392 2746

Website: http://www.springnsummer.com/

Opening time: Spring 11.30 a.m.-2.30 p.m. and 6.00 p.m. -11.00 p.m.
Summer noon-midnight
Winter 7.00 p.m.-midnight

First of all, before you read my post, please go to visit their website to experience the beauty of the restaurant first. The restaurant itself is so fantastic but I can't get the good photos to show you its beauty, and I think their website show its beauty just as the way it is.

The way I found this restaurant is so memorable. My dad drove pass this restaurant (to my favorite Taiwanese hot pot shop) when the owner still decorated the house and it was so stunning so I started to find out what this place would be but can't find any details. We kept drove pass it (for Taiwanese hot pot, of course, LOL) and one day that we drove pass it again, it became a restaurant!!!

This restaurant composes of 3 parts; spring, summer, and winter. Spring is the part of Dining room. Their food is Thai Fusion food and it is so fantastic. (The owner took cooking course at Le Cordon Bleu, Thailand. Before this, he was the famous actor in Thailand and also artist. He created all menu in this restaurant.) Summer is the chocolate bar and Winter is the bar located in the lawn in front of Spring and Summer; they put the big bean bag pillows with the tiny table on the lawn and we can sit there and look at the star (perrrrfect for winter!).

I went to Summer (as my lunch, LOL) for I missed their Molten Chocolate Cake and nice coffee.

This was the view from my window. The lawn you saw in this picture is the place that Winter bar located.

The small kitchen here, for they served many menu baking at the shop just before serving, like my molten chocolate cake, warm chocolate chip cookie in a cup with icecream (called Cup C) and souffle (new menu, i saw it on my table and you can see it on the next picture, they have mascapone one and chocolate one. will try next time)

This is what I came for. The name is Better than Sex. I'm serious!!! I can't order it by the full name, so I (and others) always call it as BTS (and they also state this abbreviation on their menu, LOL.) Actually, it is freshly baked molten chocolate cake served with whipped cream and chocolate flavor cream.

My first bite, the lava was coming!

If the lava in previous picture is not enough for you, I have another one, LOL. This was after my second bite...look at the lava. For me, this is the best molten chocolate cake in Bangkok! Soft, tender, using good chocolate, nice cream...what else you want more here (maybe vanilla icecream? LOL)

Drink to help me survive from Thailand Summer (April is the hottest month in Thailand), Frozen Cappuchino. Quite good, not too sweet. Normally, I ordered hot drink here but I need ice one for summer...their cafe latte was also good. and i found another tempting drink, hot chocolate with kualua, must be good...don't you think?

Saboten Shinjuku Tonkatsu

Saboten
7F Isetan (opposite to Kinokuniya Bookstore), Central World
Bangkok, Thailand

I saw lots of people queuing in front of this shop and my friends also told me that their tonkatsu (japanese deep fried breadcrump pork) is good, so I want to try :)

We ordered Tenderloin Tonkatsu set, Sirloin Tonkatsu set, and Tonkatsu sandwiches.

They served us free green tea, hot or ice one. I chose the ice one for the weather in Thailand is so hot now (welcome to Thailand summer!)

For the set menu, they served it will refillable cabbage, rice, and miso soup.

They had 2 choices for salad dressing; sesame dressing and Shoyu dressing. Both are good, but I preferred the sesame one. The cabbage was so crispy and cold. It refreshed me and prepared me for the main dish.

Sesame, for the tonkatsu sauce. You have to crush it yourself and you would get the fresh aroma of sesame. I am the sesame lover, so I love that they provided this.

What is in this?

Tonsatku sauce.

After crushing sesame, you have to mix it with the sauce.

My mom's Sirloin Tonkatsu set and my aunt Tonkatsu sandwiches served with french fries. (If you order Tonkatsu sandwiches, it will not serve with rice, cabbage, miso soup, and sesame)

My Tenderloin Tonkatsu set.

Another picture to show the pork.

It was good. Breadcrump was so crispy and not oily. The pork is so tender. For sauce, as I love sesame, so I like that they didn't serve us just the sauce, but with the sesame. The sauce itself is just normal, the taste is like the brand one named bulldog.

Miso soup with seaweed and beancurd. Just normal or maybe I was too full from the pork, LOL.

Complimentary dessert, green tea ice cream. Not too sweet, just a bit sweet and bitter as my like. I love this one. Maybe the reason I will go back to this shop again is not for Tonkatsu, but for complimentary dessert, LOL.

Overall, I love this shop. The food is good. The location is good (Central World is the huge department store located in the center of Bangkok). I can go there to shop for cloth and books (it's opposite to Kinokuniya) and drop here for lunch or dinner :)

Le Normandie

Le Normandie
Mandarin Oriental Hotel
48 Oriental Avenue Bangkok Thailand 10500
Tel: 66-2-659-9000
website: http://www.mandarinoriental.com/bangkok/dining/restaurants/le_normandie/

Mandarin Oriental is known as one of the best hotel in Thailand and Le Normandie is known as one of the best luxuary restaurant in Bangkok.

I went there with my parents and my grand-father's friends (so it was quite hard to take photos when they were around but I really want to do the review, so I pretended that I was busy with my mobile, LOL)

Start with butter, quite nice and of course with good quality (because it is Oriental Hotel!!!) but they had us to share one butter for 2 persons. I shared with my mom.

For the bread, they had various kind of breads for us to choose. I chose Brioche, quite nice.

This is the pre starter. Tuna rolled with spinach served with beetroot jelly. The presentation was good. The waiter came to introduce this dish to us (which is good because I want to know what is inside but for other dish, they stopped doing this, quite disappointed). The dish was good as it looked and it was a good start for the meal.

My entree is Gelee de saumon a la tomate et aux courgettes (Salmon and tomato jelly with fennel and zucchini). It served with salad and mayonnaise. Interesting dish but the taste was just normal.

Another picture for this dish.

Move to main course, I chose Les noix de coquilles Saint Jacques poelees, mitonne de poireaux et pomme de terre aux moules (Seared scallops with leek, potato, and mussels). Quite good. Potato was made in gnocchi and it was the cream base dish which is my like. The best thing in this dish was mussels (not scallop, sorry) for the mussels kept the creamy sauce inside and it splashed out when I bited it. Scallop (don't put "s" on the menu because they served me just one scallop, LOL) is a bit too thick to my like. The sauce was good and gnocchi was normal.

For dessert, we can choose from the dessert trolley or the dish. On Dessert trolley, they had around 5 types of cakes, e.g. berry mousse cake, fresh cheese cake with fruit on top, and chocolate cake with macaron, cookies, and fruit. You can get 3 slices of cake for 1 plate. But for me, I chose this one, it is Le Mille-Feuille croquant aux fraises de Thailande et citron vert, glace au fenouil (Strawberry and lemon mille feuille with fennel ice cream).

Look from the side.

Actually, it was strawberry and rubarb mille feuille...for i found rubarb inside which was quite nice, i think they used both strawberry and rubarb from the Royal Project. Mille Feuille was a bit different from my thinking for i always think that mille feuille needs to make with puff pastry.

For ice cream, I can't taste fennel that much, but the glace fennel was good...like the crispy candy.

Cafe Latte. It was good comparing to Thailand standard. For Melbourne standard, just so so. Nice milk frost and good coffee.

Petit Fours to accompany with coffee. We had 5 persons and they gave us 2 plates to share, so I can't taste everything...but all I tasted was good.

In conclusion, the meal was good but I think the service was a bit worst than their standard several years ago but it was still good compare to other restaurants.

Jasper Coffee

Jasper Coffee
Fitzroy
267 Brunswick Street
Open daily 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. (Sat 9 a.m.)
Phone: 03 9416 0921

If you are really into coffee, Melbourne is one of the place you have to visit. And if you are really, really into coffee and in Melbourne, I think Jasper Coffee is the place you should come.

I tried my first 100% Jamica Blue Mountain (if I'm right, it is 220 AUD per kg.) here (unfortunately, I can't find the photo and of course, I tried the espresso). Good that I don't like it, haha. I think it's good for blending, not using 100%.

My latte, looks good and taste good. They provide 2 blends daily. You can ask them which one suits your drink.

Staffs here love coffee so much, ok, talking in other way, they are crazy about coffee. You have around 30 kinds of coffee for your selection to buy back home. I even bought 2 bags of coffee, 250 g each, back home: one is Blend 9 (I am on this bag now) and another one is Indian Yelnoorkhan (both are 44 AUD per kg.). I just used my nose for smelling and asked for their help, LOL.


*editing
Finally I found the photo of my 100% Jamica Blue Mountain Espresso (6AUD) :)

+39

+39
362 Little Bourke St, Melbourne
Phone 03 9642 0440


What they said on their wall is true, Life is too short to be eating average pizza, so I came to +39 :)

I know this one from Tummyrumbles (again, LOL) and within a week, I think I went there for more than 5 times, for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and Post-dinner dessert.

This one is taking on my lunch. It is pumpkin and stringbean pizza. Quite good, actually. But my favorite one here is the one on my sister's blog http://nutmegscafe.blogspot.com/2009/04/39-part-ii.html it is lobster and cavier pizza...this is really, really good.

For dessert, I tried Pannacotta, Tiramisu, Nutella and Strawberries Pizza (complimentary from Carlos, thanks ^^) and Ricotta cheese one.

This is Pannacotta, we can choose to have the berries topping or chocolate topping, both are great. I tried it for several times and each time it tasted different. My favorite one is strawberries with lemon peel with the pannacotta without bitter red liquor (I can't remember the liquor name but that one is sooooo bitter).

This is Tiramisu. The mascapone is soooo good, so creamy. The first time I tried I think it contained not enough coffee but it is good accompany with my cappuchino. The next time I tried is perfect...more coffee inside with the creamy mascapone :)

This is the complimentary Nutella and Strawberries Pizza after I told Carlos that I came to his shop 4 times during Friday to Monday (and they close on Sunday), LOL. It came in hearted-shape. I saw from other tables that this one came in half-fold with Nutella and Strawberries inside. Inside the rim of this pizza is ricotta chesse. I think it's quite good but that day we are too full.

This is the ricotta cheese dessert. Honestly, I preferred Pannacotta and Tiramisu. This one is so good with one of the dessert liquor (at first we think it was too thick and the chef heard that so he explained to us and gave us some liquor to prove and it's true).

I also have espresso chocolate tart here. Quite tasty and thick. But it is so good with latte or cappuchino. (my method to eat this is putting milk frosting on top of the tart, yummy!!!)

Ok, the real reason for me to keep coming here is coffee...as they are italian, you can guess that they are crazy about coffee...and trust my, their coffee is sooo good. The milk frosting is so thick and creamy (ok, and the price is good, 3AUD for everything).

Another style of Cappuchino...

This is the one for breakfast. Bowl of caffe latte with ladyfinger...so good as always