Saneh Jaan @ Glasshouse at Sindhorn, Bangkok - เสน่ห์จันทน์ @ กลาสเฮ้าส์ แอท สินธร กรุงเทพฯ

Cuisine: Thai

Map: Saneh Jaan @ Glasshouse at Sindhorn, Bangkok - เสน่ห์จันทน์ @ กลาสเฮ้าส์ แอท สินธร กรุงเทพฯ

Charged Price: THB1,000 per person

Visited: 1 June 2016

Food: 7/10

Atmosphere: 8/10

Value for money: 6/10

Services: 7/10
Scale: [1=poor ---- 5=average/standard ---- 10=outstanding/exceptional]

Recently launched, Saneh Jaan, at the new culinary destination of Sindhorn Tower on Thanon Witthayu: The Glasshouse. It hit the town much later than its neighbours which had been around since last year. What I can say about this Thai restaurant is definitely rather positive. It is fabulously charming as its name: Saneh means charm in Thai.

The atmosphere would have already stunned you upon walking in. Well decorated and rather elegant. Thanks god, it is not in modern style but contemporary. For some, the atmosphere can be a little too heavy to their liking. Just for a tip for both local and tourists, though the place does not state dress code, as I am aware of, it is still best to dress in a smart way rather than casual, especially shorts.

As for food, I personally like it. It is not those kind of royal cuisine nor modern nor Thai food for foreigners nor those harsh and spicy. What I like about food here is its moderation. I mean each dish is rich to the taste but not those highly hot and spicy such that foreigners can consume while the local can still enjoy.

Saneh Jaan @ Glasshouse at Sindhorn, Bangkok

the entrance

rather cosy and elegant atmosphere

We began our meal with a bit of cocktail and mocktails to follow during the course. For cocktail, it had to be Margarita definitely. My all time favourite classic cocktail. I did try Classic Margarita and Blue Margarita (THB220 each). The difference between the two is the use of spirit: Classic one uses Triple Sec while the Blue one uses Blue Curacao. Not bad but not good. I would prefer the one without sugar syrup. To me a good Margarita needs no syrup but a decent quality of Tequila. There was also a small portion of amuse bouche being served before the actual meal. For this visit, it was ปลาแห้งแตงโม (pla haeng tang mo) - Watermelon with Sweet Dried-fish and Crispy Shallot. I like its freshness and sweetness that boosted up the appetite.

Pineapple Freeze and Frosty Orange (THB180 each)

ปลาแห้งแตงโม - Watermelon with Sweet Dried-fish and Crispy Shallot

For the meal, we had กากหมูผัดพริกขิง - Stir-fried Pork Rind with Chili, Salty Egg and Kiffir Lime (8/10), แกงรัญจวน - Gaeng Run Juan (8/10), and กุ้งแม่น้ำทอดกระเทียมพริกไทย - Deep-fried Fresh Water Prawns Marinated in Garlic, Pepper, and Coriander Root (6/10). All of which were nice but stir-fried pork rind with chili, salty egg and kiffir lime seems to stand out. To me, the best way of stir-frying cow-pea is by using pork fat or lard. It would bring out the flavour nicely. In this case, pork rind did its job pretty well. Gaeng Run Juan was pretty delicious too. Love the spices and hot touch of the soup which was not overwhelming. However, deep-fried prawns did not meet my expectation. I would love to see better execution for prawn. Prawn is a delicate ingredient and needs attention at cooking in my view. The texture should be crisp but yet tender. For this one, it was the texture that could be improved. In term of taste, it was enjoyable. Rather local taste.

กากหมูผัดพริกขิง - Stir-fried Pork Rind with Chili, Salty Egg and Kiffir Lime (THB450)

แกงรัญจวน - Gaeng Run Juan (THB380)

กุ้งแม่น้ำทอดกระเทียมพริกไทย - Deep-fried Fresh Water Prawns Marinated in Garlic, Pepper, and Coriander Root (THB780)

Saneh Jaan @ Glasshouse at Sindhorn, Bangkok - เสน่ห์จันทน์ @ กลาสเฮ้าส์ แอท สินธร กรุงเทพฯ

Glasshouse @ Sindhorn
Floor G, Sindhorn Building
130-132 Thanon Witthayu
Lumphini, Pathum Wan
Bangkok 10330
Thailand

Open Hours: daily from 09:00am - 03:00pm

Tel: +66 (0) 35 251 761
Web: http://www.sindhorn.com/glasshouse_overview/Saneh-Jaan
FB: https://www.facebook.com/sanehjaan/

Baan Ice Restaurant Thonglor @ Somerset Sukhumvit Thonglor, Bangkok - ร้านอาหารบ้านไอซ์ ทองหล่อ @ อาคารซัมเมอร์เซ็ท สุขุมวิท ทองหล่อ กรุงเทพ

Cuisine: Thai (Southern)

Map: Baan Ice Restaurant Thonglor @ Somerset Sukhumvit Thonglor, Bangkok - ร้านอาหารบ้านไอซ์ ทองหล่อ @ อาคารซัมเมอร์เซ็ท สุขุมวิท ทองหล่อ กรุงเทพ

Price: THB350 per person without alcohol (what we paid for)

Visited: 26 October 2014

Food: 5/10

Atmosphere: 6/10

Value for money: 5/10

Services: 4/10
Scale: [1=poor ---- 5=average/standard ---- 10=outstanding/exceptional]

As one who enjoy Southern Thai food a lot, Baan Ice Restaurant at Thonglor has long been in the list of must try destinations. Baan Ice is sure a famous restaurant and reservation is highly recommended during weekends and public holidays. When I had made a reservation, I have to admit that I was kind of excited and eager to try this place. Words have been flying around about how delicious this place is. However, I, personally, was not so impressed with dishes here. Overall, they were on average and can be enjoyable but not fabulous.

Baan Ice is located on the ground floor of Somerset Sukhumvit which is pretty close to Soi Thonglor 5. The place is rather spacious and there are 2 floors. However, I did feel somewhat uncomfortable because the way they arrange tables that are so packed and close to each other. Honestly, I try to understand the commercial side of any restaurant but they will also need to understand the little privacy point of some customers too. The most disappointing part of this place is probably service; management within the kitchen to be more precise. Ok, staffs were trying to be helpful during a busy lunch of a Sunday. However, there were a few times during our visit that our order got wrong or even forgotten. Not really sure when happened in the kitchen. It must be chaotic perhaps.

Baan Ice Restaurant Thonglor @ Somerset Sukhumvit Thonglor

rather crowded but easy enough ambient

Well, most of dishes are priced moderately and the menu does come in wide range with probably most of Southern dishes that you can think of. The overall taste is very hot and spicy. I found that the spiciness is overwhelming even though I can take hot and spicy a lot.

The first range of the meal comprised of Moo Hong - หมูฮ้อง (4/10) which is steamed pork with pepper and garlic, Khua Kling with Soft Bone Pork - คั่วกลิ้งกระดูกอ่อนหมูสับ (5/10) which is stir-fried pork with turmeric and chilli, and Stir-fried Sataw and Shrimp in Shrimp Paste - ผัดสะตอกะปิกุ้ง (3/10). Moo Hong was not impressive really. Peppery note overpowered other aroma and it was too salty. Pork was not tender enough. Khua Kling was one of the dish that turned up a little wrong. Instead of minced pork, we did get soft bone pork. This dish was ok but too spicy to be delicious. Stir-fried sataw was another too salty dish and we were disappointed.

Moo Hong - หมูฮ้อง (THB160)

Khua Kling with Soft Bone Pork - คั่วกลิ้งกระดูกอ่อนหมูสับ (THB180)

Stir-fried Sataw and Shrimp in Shrimp Paste - ผัดสะตอกะปิกุ้ง (THB220)

The second in the range is deep-fried dishes. Deep-fried Pork with Salt - หมูเค็มก้นครัว (4/10), the dish they had forgotten (T_T)", is probably one of the favourite menu for many people. Not really Southern Thai dish in my opinion but always enjoyable to eat. Deep-fried pork with salt here was too hard on the texture. I presume that pieces of pork were cut to largely. The next one was Deep-fried Silver Whiting with Turmeric - ปลาทรายทอดขมิ้น (6/10). This was a more savoury dish. I always enjoy the aroma and taste of turmeric. Decent deep-fried skill to crispiness. Would not mind to order again if have a chance to revisit.

Deep-fried Pork with Salt - หมูเค็มก้นครัว (THB160)

Deep-fried Silver Whiting with Turmeric - ปลาทรายทอดขมิ้น (THB200)

Lastly, we had some curry dishes and they are sure something not to be missed when having Southern Thai food. Kanom Jeen Khun Ya - ขนมจีนคุณย่า (6/10) in which I believe it is fish based curry served with vermicelli, boiled egg, and fresh vegetable. This was a rather nice dish here. It can be very spicy but still at acceptable level (for me). Eating Kanom Jeen with fresh vegetable is such a compliment. The last of the meal was Beef Curry with Garden Chilli - แกงเนื้อพริกขี้หนูสวน (7/10). It was spicy definitely but I did enjoy it. Beef was tender. Curry was rich and flavourful. This is a dish to enjoy with nice jasmine rice. Additionally, just to mention that beef was Australian beef as emphasised in the menu, probably local beef would do similar job in my opinion. No need to put higher cost of imported beef in the menu really when there are decent local beef around.

Kanom Jeen Khun Ya - ขนมจีนคุณย่า (THB120)

Beef Curry with Garden Chilli - แกงเนื้อพริกขี้หนูสวน (THB300)

Australian beef!!!!

Baan Ice Restaurant Thonglor @ Somerset Sukhumvit Thonglor, Bangkok - ร้านอาหารบ้านไอซ์ ทองหล่อ @ อาคารซัมเมอร์เซ็ท สุขุมวิท ทองหล่อ กรุงเทพ
Floor G Somerset Sukhumvit Thonglor
115 Soi Sukhumvit 55
Sukhumvit Road
Khlongtan Nuea, Wattana
Bangkok 10110

Thailand

Open Hours: daily from 11:00am - 10:30pm

Tel: +66 (0) 2381 6441-2
FB: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Baan-Ice-Restaurant-Thonglor/439210452804120

Raya (ระย้า) @ Dibuk Road, Phuket, Thailand

Cuisine: Thai (Southern)

Map: Raya @ Dibuk Road, Phuket, Thailand - ระย้า @ ถนนดีบุก จังหวัดภูเก็ต

Price: ~ THB350 per person without alcohol (what we paid for)

Visited: 20 December 2013

Food: 7/10

Atmosphere: 6/10

Value for money: 6/10

Services: 4/10

Visiting Phuket for a short vacation, it is perhaps a must thing to do these days to pop by Raya which is currently one of the most famous restaurant on Phuket Island. Raya is located on Dibuk Road, just by the corner where Dibuk Road (ถนนดีบุก) and Thepkasattri Road (ถนนเทพกระษัตรี) intersect. It is pretty easy to locate the place. It is an old build with two storeys and there is a big "Raya" sign to spot.

Raya @ Dibuk Road, Phuket, Thailand

the old house-converted building

The interior has been perhaps kept with most of original feature. I kind of like the old fashion ambient myself. The place is rather large. I guess up to 100 customers can be held at once. Range of food here is local Southern Thai food. Although, there are some of those famous Thai dishes available but please do not bother with non Southern dishes. On the pricing side, it is not cheap but not so dearly cost.

still kept the old fashion interior

more rooms on the upper level

One of the dish that we could not really miss was crab meat with curry and coconut milk - แกงเนื้อปูใบชะพลู (7/10). This is probably the most famous dish from the Southern part of Thailand. The dish itself was nice and lovely. The curry paste was flavourful. The overall taste was not too spicy and I guess foreigners can take the dish with care. They were fairly generous with the fresh blue crab meat in the curry. Though the dish was nice, the overall taste however was not as expected by the local. It tasted more like the recipe has been adjusted to suit the liking of Bangkokian and travellers. You may perhaps try the crab curry in a more local place to compare. I would not say I do not like this dish but I am not so fond of it. One of the knowledge that we have learnt from the local was chaphlu leaves (piper sarmentosum or wild betel) are never an ingredient for crab curry. Well, it may be Raya's own recipe.

The other soup base dish that we had to order was prawn and pak meang in coconut milk - แกงกะทิผักเหมียงกุ้ง (8/10). Pak Meang is a local vegetable in the South of Thailand. It can be a great ingredient for coconut milk base soup as well as to go with omelette. This soup was lovely indeed. Thick coconut milk with fresh leaves and fresh prawn. So simple and so authentic. Love it. (ps. I could not see it in the menu but you sure can ask for it)

crab meat with curry and coconut milk - แกงเนื้อปูใบชะพลู (THB600)

zoom up to crab meat

prawn and pak meang in coconut milk - แกงกะทิผักเหมียงกุ้ง (THB350)

prawn and pak meang

Steamed pork with pepper and garlic - หมูฮ้อง (6/10) was somehow less enjoyable than expected. I think that the overall palate was overwhelmed by pepper. I would personally love to see less pepper and a touch more of sweetness to balance. The pork itself, on the other hand, was wonderfully tender. I suggest asking for the belly part. The pleasure of a bite that combines both tender meat and fatty/gelatin part was wonderful in fact.

The other dishes that you may not like to miss were stir-fried sataw with shrimps - ผัดสะตอกะปิกุ้ง (7/10) and deep-fried pork with salt - หมูคั่วเกลือ (6/10). Sataw was fresh and delicious. Some may say that the natural scent of sataw can be unpleasant. Well, I disagree with the claim and would encourage to really try the dish. It was stir-fried nicely with shrimp paste. Deep-fried pork with salt is almost everyone, every gender, and every generation favourite dish. No strong chili or herbal taste. The texture is the part that comes into play. Crisp and light salted. Terrific indeed. Only if pork could be sliced in a thinner form, the dish would be perfect.

steamed pork with pepper and garlic - หมูฮ้อง (THB350)

tender piece of pork

stir-fried sataw with shrimps - ผัดสะตอกะปิกุ้ง (THB350)

deep-fried pork with salt - หมูคั่วเกลือ (THB200)

For dessert, something cool and sweet is really a compliment for hot weather in Phuket. Grass jelly with longan - เฉาก๊วยลำไย (6/10) is not the one to pay attention to. You can find this anywhere in Thailand. Lukchok in syrup - ลูกชกลอยแก้ว (7/10) is, on the other hand, the one you should try if it is available. You would not see much of lukchok elsewhere in Thailand. Lukchok is similar to lukchid (palm seed) but in a smaller form and round. The texture is chewy just like palm seed but firmer.

All in all, Raya is a lovely restaurant with nice ambient of local atmosphere and nice food. Some may have been transformed to suit the modern day liking but still enjoyable. For me, I would not really chase for it much but if you have not tried, why not?

lukchok in syrup - ลูกชกลอยแก้ว (THB30)

grass jelly with longan - เฉาก๊วยลำไย (THB30)

Raya @ Dibuk Road, Phuket, Thailand - ระย้า @ ถนนดีบุก จังหวัดภูเก็ต

48 Dibuk Road
Talat Yai, Mueang
Phuket
Thailand

Open Hours: daily from 10:00am - 10:00pm

Tel: +66 (0) 76 218 155