The Girl In A Whirl

What criteria does it take to call a place your favourite restaurant?  For me, living in a culinary paradise like Bangkok it’s a pretty hard call to pick just one. But… if I absolutely had to that place would definitely be Pla Dib.

Simon and I happened upon Pla Dib around 5 or so years ago – when we were first discovering the sights and sounds of Bangkok as visitors.  It was our second visit and we hadn’t had too much luck finding great restaurants up until that point, mainly tourist traps or Europeanised Thai restaurants for corporate expats. We made it our mission to find some hip, fresh innovative places, and after some serious research we came across Pla Dib (which translates into Raw fish in Thai) in the inner city suburb of Ari.

Pladib is in a renovated 60’s house in a predominantly residential street, the décor is probably best described carefree minimalist – it’s cool but definitely not precious or pretentious. It’s a fun – very sabai – place to hang out with friends, eat and drink too much.

The menu is a mix of Japanese and Japanese-Thai fusion with some woodfired pizzas thrown in. Sounds weird but it really works.

Asian fusion is in my experience is generally more of a miss than a hit, but Pladib seriously gets it right on most fronts – their signature dish – Salmon larb – salmon sashimi served with a thai twist of spicy dry larb spices and crunchy ground roasted rice mixed with Japanese soy and fresh mint is a truly clever and inspired dish, and one I generally need more than a single serving of!

Another dish I find my self craving is roast duck breast salad with pomelo (a giant sweet mild tasting Asian grapefruit), Japanese mayo, and mint – a simply stunning combination.

Soft shell crab is also featured in a few dishes on the menu – either rolled in a ‘spider’ roll (above) or in a simple salad.

Another fantastic sushi roll to try is the Salmon inside out roll – raw salmon used as the exterior wrapper in this delicious sushi with super crispy skin inside – it is amazing!

The spicy beef salad is more of a Thai influenced dish sliced beef mixed with a dressing with a serious heat factor balanced with cooling cucumber, asparagus and mint.

There are plenty of traditional Japanese favorites to sample also, the Chicken Kaarage is some of the best you will find anywhere, crispy succulent and delicious, as is the prawn tempura.

We rarely order the pizzas – just because we find it hard to reign ourselves in with all the Asian offerings, but on the occasions we have tried them we have been extremely impressed, the offerings are made with quality ingredients such as parma ham, prawns and rocket on a crispy thin woodfired base.

The menu is huge and there are many more delights than just the few I have described here. But not only is the food fabulous – so are the prices: most dishes range between 140 – 240 baht (between USD $4.50 and USD $7.50).

This place is seriously patronized by Thais and a few local expats – don’t expect to find tourists in their Birkenstocks as they are certainly not encouraged. It is a busy spot so bookings are advised, but don’t be discouraged if they say they are full when you ring – just ask if you can go on the waiting list – usually a table comes up within 30 mins.

1/1 soi Areesampan 7, Pharam 6 Road, Bangkok, Bangkok 10000, Thailand

Phone +662 279 8185

Dinner only Tuesday to Sunday.

It is a little hard to find so I suggest printing out the address in Thai for the taxi driver.  And this map of the area too.

There is nothing quite like spending a typical New Zealand summer with family and friends.

One of the must do’s for us is a trip down to Mt Maunganui in the Bay of Plenty to visit my darling Grandparents – for those of you who aren’t familiar with the area it’s an extremely popular (and populated) seaside destination – a roaring surf beach and white sand on one side and a busy harbor on the other with a volcano rising at the end.

An added bonus of visiting the area is catching up with our dear friends and longtime hospitality aficionados Kirsty and Joseph Goddard.

Joseph and Kirsty’s restaurants VBG and Tuatara defined simple well executed cuisine for me in the 80’s and 90’s as a young adult discovering the joys of dining out.

Roll on 20 or so years, K & J have opted for a life by the sea and still have the same knack of serving fantastic food well in a stylish understated environment.  After being involved with Astrolabe for several years they then established Tay Street Café, and then, more recently, the wonderful Grange Café and Restaurant in Tauranga last year.

We were fortunate to share brunch with Joe and Kirsty and their two lovely daughters at the Grange one sunny morning and the food was, simply put absolutely delicious.

I strongly suggest that if you happen to be travelling to or through these parts that you pop in for breakfast lunch or dinner or even just for a marvelous coffee and handmade cake  - you certainly won’t regret it.

100 Grange Rd, Otumoetai, Tauranga

07-576 3660

Open 7 days for breakfast and lunch and Wednesday – Sunday for dinner.

Salmon,  baby potato, and citrus salad with greens.

Divine brioche french toast with berries.

Feijoa juice

Swiss Cheese omelet with baby sprouted greens.

Fresh baked delights.

It’s been a funny few months here in Bangkok – for those of you who don’t follow the news  -  Thailand has been flooded in epic proportions, many friends, colleagues and businesses were (and some still remain) seriously affected.

We were incredibly fortunate here in Ekamai – didn’t see a drop of water although there were times when it looked extremely likely – we erected flood barriers in front of all the doors on the ground floor and bought emergency supplies. It was all a bit nerve wracking and draining –  I can’t even imagine what it must be like for those who did get flooded, especially those who stayed in their homes over the period.

I have been somewhat remiss in posting for the past couple of months – somehow writing about food and fun while so people around me were suffering didn’t seem quite the right thing to do.

In some ways I am actually incredibly grateful to live in Thailand rather than somewhere else in a situation such as this, the Thai people are so resilient and seem to waste very little time feeling sorry for themselves or being in this situation. Life goes on and life moves on. It will be a hard climb back, but I am hopeful the nation will recover reasonably quickly, such is the nature of the Thai character. .

One of my favorite new haunts – which was, because of flooding, a no-go zone until last week – is the weekend Retro Train market: Talad Rod Fai.

Held in old disused railway yards several kilometres north of the central city, this retro / vintage market is a fab place to hangout  - even if you don’t want to buy anything – great food to snack, pop up bars selling cheap beer and cocktails, music played on vinyl and lots of hip young kids. Plus literally hundreds of stalls full of all sorts things you thought you’d likely never see again – often at good prices – spread out across a couple of acres.

And you can watch the never-ending parade of classic and vintage cars and motorbikes.

Only open on Saturday and Sundays – It officially starts at 4pm but things don’t really get in to full swing until around 7 and  stay that way until around 1am.

The easiest way to get there is by MRT (underground). Take the MRT to Kampaeng Phet Station. Get out at exit 3 (Or Tor Gor Market) then cross the road and walk about 450 meters west on Kampaeng Phet Road, away from Chatujak Market.

Here is a map in Thai – good if you want to get there by cab

Talad Rod Fai

Kampaeng Phet Rd.

Open Sat-Sun

4pm-1am.

Here at last is the long awaited Part 2 of our Bangkok culinary tour / adventures with Blake and Sandra.

Al Ferdos

Bangkok has a long been a trading city and tucked away down a small side alley in Sukhumvit 3 is a bustling Middle Eastern corner – full of bright lights and crowds of people – with a multitude of forms of dress and ethnicities.

There is a myriad of restaurants to choose from, most are blindingly flashy in their use of chrome and stainless steel, predominantly catering for the passing traders who often travel with their families when doing business in these parts – touts loiter on the street crying “welcome sir” to any likely customer passing by.  However, we sail past these guys to our favorite spot: Al Ferdos – a tout-free zone. It is an underwhelming looking place visually – one that lacks the gloss and glitz of its glittering neighbors and is rather tatty around the edges, but it more than makes up for it in by its food and its position.

Sitting on the veranda in the open air, it’s a perfect spot for watching the never-ending stream of people passing (whilst smoking a hookah if you so desire!) in their many shapes and forms. The extremes fascinate: hawkers selling a multitude of tack; Muslim women in traditional dress; prostitutes in mini skirts; and men from Africa, the Middle East and India often in their traditional or religious attire.

There’s also seating in a very brightly lit air-conditioned room inside – next to the hotel lobby – where we have never sat because it has as much atmosphere as – well – a cheap hotel lobby!

But back to the food: huge crispy naan breads smeared with garlic are served on silver platters with a variety of delicious Lebanese dips and salads, falafels and various skewered meats.

It’s your typical Lebanese fare, but extremely well executed for the most part. We do generally tend to pass on the bbq lamb, as it tends to be a little on the tough side, but there’s a vast range of other items to choose from.

Although it is an Islamic restaurant they will quietly serve you beer in big ceramic mugs – discretely invoiced on a separate bill (unless of course it’s Ramadan in which case you are out of luck!) ….

Al Ferdos

77/1-3 Schiller’s Inn, Soi Sukhumvit 3/1 (Soi Nana), Khlong Toei, Bangkok, 10110; Thailand
Bangkok

Khua Kling Pak Sod

Simon and I appreciate – love – Thai food from all the various regions but have to confess there is a very special place in our taste buds for Southern Thai food. The cuisine’s highly aromatic and Indian influences really appeal, and being blessed with 2 of the best Southern Thai restaurants in our neighborhood we thought we better share the full and varied experience with Blake and Sandra.

We first read about Khua Kling Pak Sod in BK magazine – in those days it was in Sukhumvit Soi 40 and took a bit of hunting down, tucked away in a little shophouse down a side road.  It was well worth it, even if ordering was almost a lucky dip off the all-Thai language menu.

Things have changed quite a bit since then: the restaurant has now moved into the ground floor level of a house off Thonglor 5 and the menu now also comes in English too – thus we have been able to be a little more decisive about our selection.

Like many of the best Thai restaurants, Khua Kling Pak Sod is family owned and run, started by the matriarch of the family and her 2 adult children when her husband passed away. His presence is still felt though as a wall sized mural portrait of him in his younger days sits over the owner’s desk, quietly observing the proceedings.

The food served here is perfectly seasoned, albeit incredibly hot – birds-eye chilies are sprinkled as liberally as other chefs would use, say, parsley – you need to have a serious chili tolerance to handle this food.  However, if that’s you, you will soon find yourself craving it. I constantly dream of the fragrant (a dry curry dish fragrant with finely chopped Kaffir lime leaves and also the restaurant’s namesake).

Other must-try dishes include the Phad Sataw (those stink beans again!) with the almost caramelized crispy pork or tender prawns, and the yellow curry – Gaeng, with either pork or fish – sour and hot while coconut creamy – it tickles all the senses. Then there is the is the dry chicken curry, or the green beans with crispy pork and be sure to add a Thai omelet to give the over heated tastebuds a brief respite.

A little tricky to find, even after the move, this place is not on the main road, so make sure take the phone number so the cab driver can ring and find out exactly where it is –  look out for the bright yellow sign.  It also closes early – at 9pm – so don’t leave your dinner plans too late.

Khua Kling Pak Sod

98/1 Thong Lor Soi 5

Phone: 02-185-3977

Opening Hours:
Tue-Sun 11am-2pm, 5:30-9pm

It’s always a pleasure to show off the culinary delights of your city to visiting foodie friends, especially when that city is Bangkok.

Blake and Sandra have always shared our love of great ethnic cuisine, and are responsible for introducing us to some of our favorite haunts in Auckland, so when they said that their trip was pretty much going to be about the food,Simon and I took the task very seriously, so much to cover – so little time!

Prior to their arrival we sat over a beer at Tuba and jotted down all the restaurants that we thought they would especially enjoy.  We were stuck with a bit of a dilemma: there were far too many to try in the 14 days / nights they were spending with us.

Taking another tack we defined the important regional Thai cuisines to cover, and balanced it out with some other fantastic foods, such as Italian and Japanese fusion, and a game plan was set.

On the first night  – after a few beers and calamari at our local, ‘Tuba’  we thought we would start at our favorite down home Isaan joint, just 5 mins walk from our house in Ekamai.  A rustic out door metal table and plastic chair affair, it’s not a place we could take some overseas visitors but we knew that Blake and Sandra would totally ‘get it’.

It has some of the freshest and authentic Isaan food I have had anywhere – their Goong Cha Nam pla (marinated raw prawns with garlic chili and ginger) is the best, full stop (Blake pined for these for days afterwards, necessitating a repeat visit).

Another favorite is superfresh prawns marinated in garlic and lashings of white pepper, then dipped in a tempura like batter and deep fried.

Across from the local fresh markets  (next to the D- Mart)  Soi 30 Ekamai

The next evening we thought we would sample a completely different style / region of Thai cuisine – authentic Southern Thai at Phuket town in Thonglor.

This place is a firm favorite with Simon, as the curries from this region are thick and fragrant, strongly influenced by neighboring Malaysia.  Spices like cumin and turmeric feature heavily – as do Muslim / Indian influences seen in dishes like the Massaman curries served with a crispy roti.

There is a thick pungent smell of the sea when you walk into this small shop house style restaurant, probably the result of blue swimmer crabs and shrimp paste being cooked up in the small kitchen in the back.

The décor is Kitsch but fun and welcoming – bright mustard yellow walls festooned with red lanterns,  and arches featuring painted murals of scenes of old Phuket.

It’s hard to restrict yourself to just a few choices here, if you’re fond of this type of food – here’s what we had:

If you are dining with Simon the Massaman is non-negotiable; we usually get the option that includes a perfectly crispy roti.  The huge layer of oil on top may concern some, but this is truly authentic and worth the calories.  Trust me you will be dreaming of this dish for days after.

A pad sataw goong – stir-fried sataw with shrimps in shrimp paste, otherwise known as stink beans.  These are actually the tender crunchy large seeds of ginormous beans, which look like something Jack in the beanstalk may have had something to do with. They don’t really smell when you eat them but – erhm – they make other things smell quite strange later on.

Enough said.

They are extremely good for you. That said, for the novice eater, moderation is key.

A thick red chicken curry with fresh bamboo shoots – this one is my personal favorite, once you try this dish, trust me, you will never be able to eat canned bamboo shoots again.  The pieces are giant, plump, tender & juicy, and the reddish yellow coloured curry, fragrant, complex and delicious.

The food here is hearty and delicious and makes a great contrast to many of the lighter regional styles of Thai cuisine on offer around our area.  We also had a couple of the salads, but I forgot to take pictures of these! Next time..

Part 2 of our culinary adventures to follow.

Phuket Town

160/8 Thong Lor Soi 6

02-714-9402

daily 10:30am-10:30pm

Friday was international picnic day (yeah, like you didn’t already know that) so, to celebrate, the clever and talented people behind WTF and Soul food Mahanakorn held a home style Isaan pop up picnic in a brand new event space called Opposite.

Limited to just 35 tickets, the evening sold out fast, a group of like minded individuals munched on deep-fried crickets (beautifully seasoned by Jarrett) -yep even I ate a few – some tips for cricket eating novices / first timers – just pretend they are prawns and all will be well. Also suggest easing yourself slowly into the concept by starting with the legs – mixed their own rice spirit cocktails (recipes were provided) in stainless mugs or drank the lovely Beer Lao and pounded som tum (papaya salad) tableside.

The picnic scene was beautifully composed – on entry we were presented with an Issan hand woven pa kao mar – which, as the invite suggested, also made a handy napkin.  Stylized graffiti adorned the walls, subtitled 60’s Thai movies flickered in the background and a morlam band played tunes with a very cool Jazz sax played by Ralph Thomas in the mix.

We all sat Isaan picnic style on mats and bamboo bench tables, laden with all the necessary items, ingredients and equipment for our Issan feast.   After our step-by-step instructions on making Som Tum - provided by Jarrett – we then were served delicious handmade Chang Mai sausages, grilled chicken and beef, and organic sticky rice out of huge baskets.

It was a strictly no utensil / eating with your hands affair off banana leaf plates with large finger bowls provided under the tables.

Little leaf parcels of steamed bananas and coconut rice along side platters of tropical fruit were then served for dessert.

A feast it certainly was.  Apparently it was the first pop up restaurant event in Bangkok to date, but it most surely won’t be the last. Thanks to Somrak Sila & Christopher Wise of WTF and Jarrett Wrisley of Soul food Mahanakorn for an amazing evening, and Electrolux having the vision to support such a wonderful concept too.

Great company, good times, fantastic food – Can’t wait for the next one.

I adore crisp crunchy sweet sour pickled gherkins – biting into one sends me into a whirlwind of memories: tuna fish mayonnaise sandwiches as a kid or brunch at the famous 2^nd Ave Deli in NYC – where you are served an entire bowl as a complimentary accompaniment.

When I was a kid we were lucky enough to have an American friend who used to make them by the giant jarful, but now I’m all grown up I have to make do with making my own.

I found a great recipe on this blog a few years ago, and have used the recipe ever since,

Unfortunately, Olia Hercules seems to have stopped blogging some time ago, which is kind of a shame because it was a cool concept, but her recipe lives on, although I have made a few slight changes – I put more vinegar and put them in the fridge as soon as they are cool – this makes them crisper.

Baby cucumbers are a Thai staple and the ones we get around here are usually just picked this morning fresh, which -please note – is an absolute must in order to make truly great pickles.  It is also really important to use baby sized cucumbers – your regular salad sized variety just wont cut it.

The other thing I use here is whole sprigs of fresh green peppercorns. I always throw a bunch of these in as well (you can just use the regular dried black kind in other parts of the world).   Fresh dill is also used in a lot of Thai cuisine, so gathering the ingredients to make these glorious pickles is as simple as walking around to my local market around the corner.

PICKLED GHERKINS

• Water – 1 litre
• Coarse sea salt – 5 tbs
• Sugar – 3 tbs
• White vinegar (6%) –  6 – 8  tbs
• Garlic cloves (peeled, whole) – 4
• Black  or fresh green pepper corns – 8  or a sprig of fresh.
• Coriander seeds – 2tsp
• Fresh or Dried dill – a small bunch
• Celery leaves  (optional)
• Gherkins (baby cucumbers)
• Fresh red chili sliced length wise (optional)

1. Wash your gherkins – around 500 – 800 grams is good, but whatever you want.
2. Put cold water, salt, sugar and vinegar, and pepper corns, into a large pot and bring to a boil.
3. Put the gherkins with the herbs and pepper into the hot mixture for a minute.
4. Using tongs put the gherkins in a sterilized jar and pour the hot liquid over them to completely cover.
5. Leave the jar to cool on the bench and then, after around 3 hours, store in the fridge.
6. They need to be left for at least 3 – 5 days before using so the gherkins develop flavor (I know – this is the hardest part.. but it’s worth the wait!).

We decided to check out the new bar opening in Seenspace, Ekamai last week, to find that the someone in the press had been a little overly eager announcing its opening, as, although the door was open, unfortunately it still wasn’t ready for business.

Since we were there we took a look around inside anyhow.

It is an interesting concept: a ‘green’ bar (as in eco) with lots of imaginative décor courtesy of the owner, Ashley – of Iron Fairies and Fat Gutz fame.

Ash (as he likes to be called) kindly showed us some of the features, such as a kinetic ceiling sculpture made of silver plastic balls, and clear resin table tops with tiny pined led lights shining through. There is also a take on a wine wall – which I have seen before – but this time featuring plastic bottles.  I’m looking forward to seeing it in all its finished glory – I’ll take some proper photos then.

We decided to head around the corner to our usual haunt, Iron Fairies, for a drink instead, but alas it wasn’t to be either, as they were having some sort of maintenance power cut, and, although Iron fairies is pretty dark at the best of times, sitting in pitch black with no A/C wasn’t quite what we had in mind.

So off we wandered down the road again to Fat Gutz, and had a few drinks there. I’m not sure what sort of publicity is going around for that place at the moment, but one suspects that The Guardian, or British airways have done a feature on it, as the crowd is typically Thai, but this evening it was overrun with British tourists hankering for Fish and Chips.  The smell of vinegar was overpowering!

We were getting hungry by 8pm and decided to stick to our original plan to check out Bonchon Chicken – back in the new Seenspace complex.

There has been a lot of hype here about this place, and claims that it is the best fried chicken ever.  That is quite a claim in Bangkok, especially as I am pretty certain that the guy who has the stall at the end of my street makes the best darn fried chicken in the world AND with sprinkles of deep fried garlic chips – my daughter will back me on this.

No seriously, the fried chicken here in Thailand is incredible, I have never been fond of the American Southern style stuff.  Here they seem to render all the fat out of it until the skin is thin and crisp, and the garlic marinade permeates the skin, it is heavenly – especially when eaten with a green Papaya salad, some piquant homemade chili sauce and sticky rice.

So how was this South Korean / American franchise supposedly taking Bangkok by storm?

Well from what I can gather from our meal experience I would put the point of difference down the addition of a sugary coating during the deep-fried process.  It tasted like it had been double fried, but it was still really oily / greasy and incredibly sugary.

It’s also really quite pricy by Thai standards, a drumstick from my guy down the road is only 15 baht (okay he’s selling it at a streetside cart on Soi 30 but…). Bonchon’s drum stick set of 5  is 260 baht including a small side of coleslaw – plus 17 % tax, so if you don’t count the tiny coleslaw and pickled turnip that’s 60 baht a small drumstick.

I know – you are probably laughing at me complaining about spending US$2 for a piece of small chicken, but honestly, I’m spoiled – I can buy a whole amazing meal for that at lots of places (or 4 drumsticks elsewhere).

I guess you are also sitting in Seenspace, the latest hip addition to the Thonglor area, so you expect to pay more for your designer branded chicken, but it also seems the price point is no guarantee of good service,

We were presented with a plate of chicken about 30 minutes after ordering (the slowest service I’ve ever experienced in BKK) – it wasn’t what we ordered, but the waiter was pretty adamant it was ours.  I was ravenous by this time, so I picked a piece up and then – suddenly – another guy came rushing over and took the plate away and gave the manhandled chicken to the table next to us!

I indulged Simon in a plate of fries, these came out shortly after the misguided chicken and were cold – so I sent them back, as cold fries are definitely not my favorite thing.. The seasoned fries are sprinkled with Parmesan, which makes them very rich. Finally, around 40 minutes later, we finally received our 5 chicken drumsticks and the seasoned fries about 5 minutes after that.

The chicken is tasty but really greasy, and still quite fatty – they reminded me of eating Kentucky fried or something, probably not helped by the fact that there was no relief in other dishes like the Thai salads and greens that we usually eat with deep-fried food here in Thailand.

The place was far from packed on a Thursday night, but it still seemed to have plenty of people spending up large.

Simon thought that it tasted pretty good (but then he likes plates of deep fried pork belly too). I felt sick, and so decided to leave after sharing our one plate and went around the corner to our favorite little Thai, and had a fresh BBQ beef Yum salad and a zingy spicy chicken larb, for a grand total bill of 150 baht – and it tasted soo good!

I’m not sure why I had high expectations for Bonchon, I guess it’s because Thais in general really know their food, although this can be very influenced by trends or fads too in certain sectors of society.  It will be interesting to see how this place fares as time goes on.

One thing I have definitely learned living here in BKK is price point is no real indication of deliciousness.

Last month I managed to coerce my dear Facebook friends to vote for me in an online photo competition, and, as a combination of luck and perseverance may have it, Simon and I soon found ourselves a few weeks later spending a couple of nights in Hong Kong – in a one bedroom suite at the Jia Hotel – designed by Phillipe Stark no less.

Here are a few photos of our room – very selective, as we had already messed it up a bit!

The Jia is a few years old now, and, yes, it is a little tired around the edges in a few places, but it was still a very comfortable, stylish hotel, full of signature designer ‘Stark’ touches, incredibly central, and enough room to spread out if you had a bit of work to do in the city, or wanted to spend time in your suite – although the latter is something that we rarely do in Hong Kong.

The hotel also had some great perks, such as a 24 hour complimentary mini kitchen in the lobby laden with snacks, fruit, juice and mineral water and a self serve espresso machine; Continental breakfast in the morning; yummy cakes in the afternoon, and wine in the evenings,

One then perched oneself at the communal bar table, which was laden with design and lifestyle magazines. It was a great way to chill out and rest your sore over-shopped limbs.
The hotel really suited us, I would definitely consider staying there again.

Simon and I also spent quite a bit of time just wandering around the hypnotizing streets of Hong Kong, and, of course, shopping and eating lots of fabulous things – which we always do.
However, one of the major highlights on this trip was getting out the central city for a weekend adventure with our good friends Cora and Felix.

I also ended up spending a bit of time at the fabric sample market – that area is a magnet for me – it is a treasure trove of amazing textiles and accessories. I’ll probably cover that at a later date, as there is a lot to be said there.

Cora and Felix met us at our hotel then whisked us off for a swish yum-cha lunch at the Hong Kong Royal Golf Club, quite a treat not only because of the food: it is a very exclusive club and apparently you have to go on a waiting list and somebody has to die – or something – before you can become a member.

It was fantastic dim sum, classic items, beautifully executed, so much so that I was so enjoying the food I forgot to take any photos!
However, I did remember to take some photos by the time dessert came around. There was one quite unusual item, a deep-fried egg paste drizzled in Honey, called Dan San in Chinese, which, so I am told by Felix, is also a form of insult – kind of like calling someone a bimbo or something: light, fluffy and insubstantial perhaps?


Next, we headed off to a small seaside area in the New Territories, Sai Kung, and we got a real flavour of what Hong Kong used to be like years ago – fishermen selling their wares out of small boats on the water and groups of old ladies sitting around gossiping and chewing the fat.  The area is also lined with seafood cafes, so, although we weren’t exactly hungry we decided to have some more to eat… as you do in Hong Kong!

Felix selected some clams, which we chose to have cooked in a chili broth. Plus some sea prawns, which were just simply blanched and were delicious – if a little messy – but finger bowls were provided.

We also had some Mantis shrimp, which although tricky to eat, are one of my all time favorites, they taste quite sweet and tender, a lot like New Zealand crayfish; and some calamari. Both these were deep fried in an egg yolk batter and were stunning. All washed down with some Tsing Tao beer and Chinese tea.

Unfortunately after such a delicious meal, our time in Hong Kong was over, Felix and Cora dropped us off at the MRT and we took the train to the border to Shenzhen to catch our flight home to Bangkok.

We never seem to have enough time in Hong Kong. I truly adore the city, although it is strange, whenever I am asked what to do there by others, I am kind of stumped by what to specifically recommend, as the place totally consumes me. I’m truly happy – day after day – just wandering around and absorbing all the sights, sounds and tastes that this fabulous city has to offer.

To be perfectly honest, I was never much of a fairy kind of girl, unlike the other girls at school. I’d never really felt a great urge to dress up in tutus, wings and such like – witches are a whole other story – but mix them up with some industrial gothic and a dash of liquor, and well, ok, now you have got my attention.
Iron fairies in Thonglor, Bangkok, was the brainchild of Australian born Ashley Sutton, who was also wrote and illustrated a book of the same name.

According to various press, Ashley fell into the idea in a roundabout way after doing some fairy illustrations as a side hobby, while working in the mines in Perth.

He then ended up opening up a bar in his, rented, shop house, which he was using as a foundry – simply as a way to get a glass of wine without having to fight for a table at one of the other many bars that line Thonglor – well that’s how the PR goes anyhow..

One of the great pluses of living in Bangkok for creatively minded, architecturally inclined, folk, is that you can conjure up some imaginative crazy idea –  Iron Fairies truly is that –  and your design is virtually unencumbered by the bureaucracy found in other countries: regulation stairs, universal access and fire egress.

Oh sure, I understand the importance of such rules in a broader context, but there are a times when rickety narrow stairs just add to the character of a place – and ensure you keep tabs on exactly how many cocktails you’ve consumed  - so you can descend gracefully in one piece!

The décor is cleverly and creatively thought out: a spiral staircase at the entry of the shop house leads to nowhere, making it the perfect perch for the Jazz musicians who regularly feature.  Silent black and white movies flicker and loop on lcd screens in the most unexpected places, and giant metal claws lurch over a seating area.  Sewing machines lay ready to sew little leather fairy bags, surrounded by bobbins, reels of cotton, and scissors.

The menu is fairly limited, probably due to the available space in this narrow little shop house, and features mainly giant burgers, fish and chips and a few salads.  Small wooden chests of whole roasted peanuts are offered on tables as a complimentary snack – you are encouraged to scatter the shells on the floor, which always feels a bit naughty.

There is a good range of interesting cocktails and options also include little antique style medicine bottle portions of Absinthe and such like. No doubt one would be seeing green fairies beyond the physical after a couple of bottles of that stuff.

They also offer some good New Zealand and Australian wines by the glass, which is quite unusual to find in Bangkok.

Although Iron fairies is no longer news here, as it’s just over a year old – ancient in terms of the fast paced and forever fad hungry Bangkok – it’s still extremely popular and definitely one of our favorite haunts.

Even arriving at opening time – as we often do – the atmosphere is such that you don’t feel alone, not just because the staff are busily crafting fairies, filling bottles of fairy dust and little ditties – maybe its the presence of those naughty little fairies themselves.

Ashley has since gone on to open another themed bar called Fat Gutz, just a couple of doors down from Iron Fairies, a fish and chip whisky saloon.  It doesn’t quite seem have the same depth of creative feel / thought in the décor, but can still be rather fun, featuring, as they do often, fantastic live acts including American blues musicians and frenetic young Thai rockabilly bands etc.

Fat Gutz attracts a predominantly a ‘hi soi’ (high society) crowd, who nibble politely on their fish and chips, immaculately dressed. I sometimes wonder if they know the slightly red neck / rock and roll origins of this particular theme?

It appears that Ashley is on to his next venture now, just across the road in Soi 13, with a bar under construction in the new Scene Space 13 with his signature all over it, we wait with some baited breath to see what comes next from this talented man’s imagination.

Iron Fairies

394 Thonglor Road (Sukhumvit Soi 55)

Near soi 10 and opposite Ton Krueng Thai Restaurant

Bangkok
tel +66 (0)84 425 8080