Thai in Walmer Castle

In a tiny way, I almost feel responsible. I'm the one who sent him to Thailand in search of low-cost whistles. Filled his head with pseudoerotic tales of my own Opium excursions. Plus, I have him some phone numbers of places he could score near the hotel 

J Peterman (Seinfeld episode “The Bookstore”) 

No I’m not talking about the one built by Henry VIII. I’m talking about the gastropub in Notting Hill. As usual for the area the pub has a Thai restaurant and there is no exception with Walmer Castle, nice laid back traditional pub style downstairs, and upstairs a Thai cuisine world. 

Thai Menu

Keep Calm and Eat Thai

We got a couple starters including the duck spring rolls and crispy squid with salt and pepper. Nice flavours and a good start. For mains we went for Kaeng Kiew Wan the traditional green curry with aubergine and added tiger prawns, and the Pad Kee Mao Talay stir fry noodles with prawns and squid. 

Rolls

Squid

Stir fry noodles

Green curry

The food was good, the curry was better than the noodles, nice flavours but not the best Thai I have had. Probably the Churchill Arms is a bit better. If you’re around and running out of options, or craving Thai give it a go, and the pub is a gem, really lovely with great atmosphere.

Walmer Castle

T: 020 7229 4620

Thai Cuisine / Pub

Approx Damage: £20pp

Area: Notting Hill

Borough: Chelsea & Kensington

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Thai in Sin City [On The Road: Las Vegas]

Away from the hectic strip there is one of the best ethnic restaurants in the USA. Lotus of Siam a Thai heaven in Vegas Nevada. Chef Saipin Chutima took charge of the place in 1999 and based her cuisine with recipes passed down from more than 100 years within the generations in her family. The restaurant has won several awards and accolades including the James Beard Award for Best Chef Southwest in 2011 for Chef Saipin. 

The place

Some of the accolades and awards

I got there around 11:30 a couple minutes before opening because I had a flight to catch in couple hours later. Already a group of people was waiting for the place to open, and within minutes of being sat at my table the place quickly filled with punters going either for the buffet or the menu. Too many dishes and everything looked amazing, I couldn’t made my mind so I asked for the house specialties to the waiter to get some guidance. 

The menu

He came immediately Pad Thai, my answer was “seriously?” So I rephrase for him, if you had only one chance to eat here what would you eat. So he went immediately, as starter Koong Sarong. Shrimps on a blanket, it was amazing, some sort of filo covering the perfectly cooked shrimp, great recommendation. 

Shrimps

Then I add Nam Kao Tod. Crispy rice deep fried, who would have thought about that! The touch of ginger and coriander brought an explosion of flavours. I loved also the acidity of the dish and the aromas. Be careful the dish is quite aggressive a bit over the edge with the acidity levels, I really like it but might be a deal breaker to others 

Crispy Rice

The main and second recommendation was Khoa Soi with pork noodles. I had my Friends moment “Oh My God!” I heard Janice loud and clear as soon as I took the first bite. I started to look around other tables in disbelief of my happiness, am I overreacting? Is this so good really? Everybody seems to be enjoying. It was superb, great the flavours spot on right level of spiciness. The broth or cream based of the curry amazing. Noodles cooked perfectly, some of them fried giving a crispy touch and different texture. The pork was nice but not the main event, it didn’t stand a chance with the overall composition of that dish. Again the use of coriander and basil just great 

The amazing Khoa Soi

I ended with mango sticky rice, nice a bit different the sticky rice with the yoghurty sweet touch and tender mango played quiet nicely. 

Juicy and tender mango

Amazing food was delicious service everything was great. You won’t regret it. 

Thai welcome

Thai cuisine reminds me the Seinfeld episode “The Bottle Deposit” 

Jerry: He pulled an LBJ on you

George: LBJ?

Jerry: Lyndon Johnson, used to do that to his staffers

George: No kidding?

Jerry: Oh yeah. He'd hold national security meetings in there. He planned the Hanoi bombing after a bad Thai meal

Lotus of Siam

T: +1 702 735 3033

Thai Cuisine

Approx Damage: $35pp

Area: East Side

Las Vegas
Twitter: LotusOfSiam

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Let the Curry roll

Let’s face it, I was in Brisbane for approximately 4 months and no good Ruby Murray house there. So as soon as I was back, with all the curry withdrawal symptoms kicking in, I decided to finally visit Dishoom. It has been on my list for a while. A Bombay café, never been in Bombay but let me tell you it looks like a French Bistro with cooler lamps. Great atmosphere, relax place but still you can hear the noises from the kitchen, and similar to any other curry houses all the food gets to you quick and almost together. 

Rules of the house

We started the night with the Pau Bahji. Mashed vegetables with hot butter pau bun. Nice, simple food, apparently Chowpatty beach style, great spicy kick. Then we got the chilli cheese toast. It was ok, but not their finest I wouldn’t mind to try something else instead the toast. Moving on, oka fries. Revelation it was great, spicy touch, nice, I was feeling happy. 

Pau Bahji

Chilli Cheese Toast

Okra Fries

Moving to the mains, I had to have the Ruby Murray, the chosen one was the chicken murray. South Indian style, good spicy level, great seasoning. Then some grills were necessary to complete the feast, nothing like marinated meats grilled open air. First spicy lamb chops, marinated with lime juice and jaggery, warm dark spices, ginger and garlic. Unbelievable, great flavour, charred outside, pink inside as they promised. Then a chicken tikka, family recipe, marinated in sweet vinegar, to complete the flavour ginger juice, turmeric, garlic, and green chilli. Bravo! Again great flavour, charred outside, pink inside, cooked to perfection. 

Lamb chop time

Chicken Tikka

Chicken Ruby Murray

Finally we end with the Guju chocolate mousse, and a cinnamon ice cream. Both were nice, the ice cream was interesting flavour, creamy. The mousse was excellent. 

Cinnamon ice cream 

Chocolate mousse

Nice food, great atmosphere, great service, not sure why it took me so long to go there.

India reminds me the Seinfeld episode “The Betrayal” 

George: Alright, Nina, you have to decide right now. Jerry or me? 

Nina: Alright, neither

George: What?! Well, what are you doing here? 

Nina: A free trip to India. And by the way, you can take off those boots. Everyone knows you're five six 

George: Five eight! Five seven!

Dishoom

T: 020 7420 9302

Indian Restaurant

Approx Damage: £24pp

Area: Covent Garden

Borough: City of Westminster

Twitter: DishoomLondon

 

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Follow the White Rabbit [On The Road: Melbourne]

One busy place in Melbourne was no doubt Chin Chin. Hectic restaurant, noisy, quite busy, Asian influence, including Thai and Vietnamese dishes, open every day but Christmas day, walk ins only, actually just one 10-12 people table that you can reserve, modern industrial décor, and the rolling stones trembling the walls. 

The place

Décor

My first visit was a starter attack, after studying the menu I decided only to eat starters, first the spicy corn and coriander fritters, beyond imagination, crunchy texture created by the iceberg where you wrapped your fritter, good spicy kick from the chilli jam, excellent execution. Moving on to one of my favourites chilli salt chicken wings, one of the best I have had, the battered spot on, chilli, saltiness, and acidity thanks to the lemon, excellent. Then wok fried salt and pepper squid, finally a spot on the white dress, it was good, nice flavour, but the texture wasn't the correct, a bit too chewy. Finally the Pork roll ups, back to top performance delivery, full of flavour, the red braised suckling pig outstanding with the sweet sauce a perfect pair. 

Fritters

Fritters close up

Wings

Squid

Pork

My second visit got the son in law eggs with chilli, the chilli sweet jam was awesome, good combination with the boiled egg. Then moved to scud city, jungle curry, wild boar, pickled garlic and ginger, really spicy, to the point you start to lose the flavour of the dish, the texture put me off a bit, not their finest.

Scud city

Son in law

For drink they have a decent selection of local beers, my choice a dirty granny, you have to love Australian's beer names. 

Dirty granny

The bar

Food is so good that as soon as you tasted you forget all the noise and racket, just get immersed into the strong aromatic flavours. Service a bit inconsistent, good at full throttle then got a bit relaxed. 

Policy

Menu

Granny reminds me the Seinfeld episode “The Non-Fat Yogurt” 

Newman: Well, I wouldn't hear of it. I said, nice try, granny! And I sent her to the back of the line! 

Jerry: Hello, Newman 

Newman Hello, Jerry, say, this yogurt is really something, huh? And it's non-fat! I've been waiting for something like this my whole life, and it's finally here!

Chin Chin
T: +61 3 8663 2000
Asian Cuisine
Approx Damage: AU$60pp
Area: CBD
Melbourne
Twitter: chinchinmelb

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A Thai named Basil

When you talked about Basil a couple things come to mind like Basil Fawlty from the acclaimed British sitcom Fawlty Towers, even a pesto sauce, but the last thing I would had think of was a Thai place in Charleston. 3 Locations in the Carolinas, I went to the one in the Historic Centre. The offer refined Thai quality cuisine made with fresh and fine ingredients by chef Suntorn, having achieve and received so far many awards and recognitions.

Basil where is Manuel?

Kitchen is visible thanks to the Glass Ktichen

We got plenty of things Basil Rolls, shrimp, rice noodles, lettuce, bean sprouts, and basil, served with house sauce, also got some egg rolls, and finally a special wonton they had on the menu. Everything was on point, nice flavours, specially the wonton was superb. 

Rolls

Wonton

We couldn’t missed the Pad Thai, National dish of Thailand, rice noodles stir fried, chicken, shrimp, eggs, bean sprout, scallions, peanuts and pad sauce, it was great amazing flavours. Then the crispy red curry duck, a signature dish, boneless duck deep fried with vegetables and red curry sauce, also was spot on, great flavours were amazing. Got a chicken green curry with bell peppers, bamboo shoots, eggplants, green peas, and basil. Great flavour not as good as the red curry but it was also good. Finally a Pad Prik beef, basil, ball peppers, and onions, with Prik King curry sauce. 

Green Curry

Pad Thai

Beef

Red Curry Duck

All the dishes and food were extremely tasty, definitely one of the best Thai places I have been so far. 

Thai cuisine reminds me the Seinfeld episode “The Bottle Deposit”

George: So he walks out of the stall, he's been talking the whole time 

Jerry: He pulled an LBJ on you 

George: LBJ? 

Jerry: Lyndon Johnson, used to do that to his staffers 

George: No kidding? 

Jerry: Oh yeah. He'd hold national security meetings in there. He planned the Hanoi bombing after a bad Thai meal

Basil

T: +1 843 724 3490

Thai Cuisine

Aprox Damage: $23pp

Area: Peninsular Charleston

Charleston

Twitter: EatAtBasil

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