Mia's Bangkok Travelogue: Roast Cafe

Out of the few cafes we've hopped during our #tkgbkk (stands for TK goes Bangkok, if you're curious), I have to say Roast did it best.

There's two branches located quite near each other, one at Thong Lor and the other at EmQuartier, which is at Phrom Phong BTS, which is nearer to our hostel. But somehow, due to no reviews of the EmQuartier branch found online, we took a cab to the branch at Thong Lor instead, on our last day of #tkgbkk trip. 

The Roast is located at the Top Yard of The COMMONS, which is a 5 mins' drive or 20 minutes walk away from Thong Lo BTS station. If you're insistent on not cabbing, I will recommend you visit the EmQuartier branch instead.

The place is so big and spacious I think it's more of a restaurant (that serves great coffee) instead of a cafe. We visited on a Monday morning and it was pretty empty at 10 plus in the morning, but the crowd came soon enough at 11 plus or so and they were pretty much full house. Are we truly maneki-neko or what? 

We did notice, in both CTC and Platinum Mall, that whenever we step into an empty store, a hoard of shoppers will flood in within minutes. 

It worked, EVERY SINGLE TIME, until a point when J and I were kinda bored from the senseless shopping and we just stepped into the empty store nearest to us and true enough a group of shoppers came in seconds later.

There, we brought you customers. Mission accomplished. 

Of course, let's start off with the free bread! HAHA, kidding.

But I have to say that that's really some decent bread, though. 

Caffe Latte

Comparing this with the one at Gram (review HERE), this definitely won, hands down. Proper latte art, smooth and fragrant coffee with the right amount of bitterness, which doesn't require any sugar added. 

Vanilla Bean Shake

A must try for all vanilla fans out there. Extremely rich, creamy and sweet with a strong vanilla taste. 

American Pancakes

served with crispy bacons and whipped butter

Soft and fluffy pancakes, albeit a little tasteless on their own (you know some pancakes has a slight sweetness? This doesn't.), with a shockingly huge glob of whipped butter. Needless to say that glob of fat was promptly removed from the stack and left on one side of the plate. 

Truffle Alfredo

Not a truffle fan (they smells like petrol, yikes!) but due to addition of bacon, ham and mushroom, this has a more complex and rich taste as compared to the one we had at Karmakamet Diner (review coming up real soon!). 

Seafood Stew

market seafood in tomato & white wine sauce, served with toasted baguette

This was my favourite dish of the day. The sauce/gravy was so rich and flavourful, it's a pity they didn't make a soup out of it. The seafood were generally a little overcooked (slightly tough) but that didn't really matter because the gravy was just heavenly. 

Infused with the sweetness of fresh seafood, slightly tangy from the tomato and with a savoury and mildly spicy kick, this is the dish to go for if you're a seafood fan. 

Crab Cake Benedicts 

served with potato rosti, onion jam and grilled veggies

Well, not a fan of this at all. It might be because all the serving portions were so tiny it's impossible to get a good taste of the food when split among 5 of us. That sorry looking piece of potato rosti was literally a one-bite-only, or two, if you have a smaller mouth. 

The crab cake, albeit tasty with the sweet flavour of crab meat, was the loose and crumbly kind of patty, which really didn't go very well with my palate.

Slow Roasted Fried Chicken

48 hr buttermilk and hot sauce marinated half chicken

The meat was slightly dry and tough (because I got the breast meat) but definitely flavourful. The spiciness was discreet initially and slowly creeps on you as you eat, so don't be too quick to comment that it is not spicy at all. But of course, the overall spiciness isn't something unmanageable for the typical Singaporean. 

The extra hot sauce dip serves alongside the chicken totally reminded me of Nandos, somehow.

Cranberry Brioche French Toast

I hated this. French toast and cream cheese just do not go well with each other, period. 

It was such a pity as this dish has so much potential, but they just decided to kill it by giving the french toast a thick layer of cream cheese cranberry compote filling. 

The french toast itself also pales in comparison to what we had at Gram, by the way.

Chocolate Souffle

Another meh dish. I guess Roast does savoury hot food better than their desserts or were we just plain unlucky to have ordered what they do not do well? The souffle wasn't smooth at all, and you can taste some grains of sugar here and there. It was supposed to be a chocolate souffle, but the everything 'chocolate' about it ends at the appearance. There's absolutely no chocolate taste to it, just a plain sugary sweetness.

And another boo to poor presentation. Looks like the souffle had a case of uncontrollable-diarrhoea, no? 

Roast is located at 

Unit #T1 (Roast), The COMMONS

335 Thonglor Soi 17, Sukhumvit 55

Klongton Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110

for information of their opening hours and menu, visit their website HERE

Till then,

Mia Foo

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Mia's Bangkok Travelogue: Gram

Our visit to Gram was an impromptu decision made the very morning we woke up and got ready slightly earlier than expected. It was 9 plus in the morning and we were googling frantically for cafes around our hostel (for my review of Analog Hostel, check it out HERE) that opens early enough for us to have our breakfast.

Through blog listing, we were first directed to 24 Owls, located at Ekkamai Soi 12, which is supposedly open for 24 hours. But that turned out to be a hoax (or they've changed their opening hours, who knows?) as they're closed when we reach at 10 plus in the morning and one of their staff told us they opens at 11am/1130am. 

Fortunately for us, the taxi we took to get to 24 Owls from our hostel was still making his u-turn out of the soi, hence we flagged him down again and directed him to Gram, located at Soi Sukhumvit 49, with their opening hours stated as 9am. 

And when we reached at about 1030am, they were open and we were their very first customers! 

Couldn't find #10 table tag to document our small joke-of-the-day in picture. Initially we all thought the cafe is called 10Gram as J has mistaken read pointer #10 of the blog list as part of the cafe's name. 

I was kind of disappointed to know that the cafe was extremely small and fully alfresco seating, with the unforgiving sun beating down on us as we ate our first meal of the day. Would have been an ideal dating place if Bangkok has cooler weather though.

Their latte was decent but seriously lacking in latte art. Due to the outdoor seating, a twig fell from the trees we were seating under and right into my cup of coffee too. 

How lucky of me.

Egg Royale 

Poached Egg, Smoked Salmon and Hollandaise Sauce

You can't go wrong with a well toasted English muffin, flavourful smoked salmon, well poached egg and topped with Hollandaise sauce. 

And here's some #eggporn for you. 

Creamy Crispy Egg

Deep fried egg, mixed mushroom in mushroom cream sauce

This is definitely a dish you shouldn't order when you're starving because there really is just ONE fried soft boiled egg with a miserably small crispy toasted baguette in a handful of mushroom that's drowned in flavourful mushroom cream sauce. 

But, can't deny that it's really yummy though. 

More #eggporn for you? 

 Soft Shell Crab Burger

Crispy Soft Shell Crab, Avocado and Sake Teriyaki sauce

This is just one messy eat.
I guess this will be a good choice if you love avocado like crazy (they literally stuffed the burger full of sliced avocado) and prefer a saltier taste for your burger.
Not for me though.
Avocado overdose with too salty sauce and totally unglam way of eating = a big nono.

Fruit French Toast

French Toast with mixed fruits and honey

This is my favourite dish of the day! 

My preciousssss....

The french toast was perfectly done, crispy on the outside yet soft and fluffy on the inside. And you can see they were extremely generous with all the fruit toppings (all my favourite strawberries, kiwis and bananas!) and drizzle of honey. 

The addition of toasted almond flakes also added a good crunch and fragrance to the dish. 

If you are a French Toast fan, you absolutely have to try this out! 

Ovaltine Volcano Pancake

Ovaltine, Oreo, Condensed Milk and Vanilla Ice Cream

I had great expectation for this dish, but was totally disappointed. I can't be sure if it's because we left the pancake for too long before eating it hence it has turned cold and the condensed milk has harden up the coating of ovaltine powder on the pancake, making every bite of the pancake just... torturous. 

And just judging by that generous serving of condensed milk, you can safely assume that this dish is only for those with a huge sweet tooth. 

Even I cannot....

And so, signing off with a rare (nicer looking) #flaylay food shot from yours truly.

Mains typically ranges in the 200 to 300 Baht range and you can get yourself stuffed to the brim with barely $20 SGD!

Gram is located at
Soi Sukhumvit 49, 1/F 49 Terrace
Nearest BTS: Thong Lo

Till then,
Mia Foo

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Mia's Review: The Lab

Well, it has been more than a month or two (during the Ramadan month) since my visit on a friday night to the highly raved The Lab, located at Jalan Pisang, and I did think about not putting up this review because.... I can't really give you an accurate review of how The Lab did the food they've served me. So I might as well turn this into a rant of poor service I've experienced that fateful night, alright? 

First up, the place did look pretty nice at the indoor seating area, but it so happens we were given the alfreso seating set up in the alleyway....

Which was perfectly fine, still. I understand about the lack of space and trying to maximise space usage, so cramming 5 guests at a very small table is alright... I reckon. 

And since we visited during the Ramadan month, we decided to go for the special Lftar Dinner Set at only $38 nett per pax that comes with a starter, mains, dessert and a drink. 

Kiwi Cucumber Spritzer

Probably the best thing I've had that night, even though it still tasted pretty wash down. I guess it's because ALL the ice has melted and diluted the entire drink. But the refreshing taste of cucumber with the appetizing tangy flavour of kiwi is still detectable. 

Baked Mussels

Packed full with tomato based sauce, it could have been quite an enjoyable dish, for I'm a huge mussel lover, if only it weren't all cold and rubbery. 

Lamb Chop with Pilaf Rice

The coldness of the whole dish apart, the lamb chop was OBVIOUSLY overcooked (or perhaps reheated too many times) until I couldn't decide if I was chewing on food, or rubber. At some point I totally gave up on chewing down the meat properly and risk getting choked by swallowing the huge chunk of meat down. Don't even thinking of reminding me that I should have cut them into smaller, bite size. It was also near unslice-able (if there is such a word) with the dining knife that I had to pick it up by the bone and tearing the meat off like a hungry dog. 

Sticky Date Pudding with Ice Cream & Pistachios

I believe the ice cream is in pistachio flavour, which is really not bad. But not the sticky date pudding. Well, too sweet, and too sickeningly moist. Not my favourite kind of dessert, In fact, nobody at the table finished their desserts. 

Speaks a lot. 

And now, to my experience of a truly poor service.

Well, my friends happen to be early and got seated slightly before 7pm, much earlier than our reservation of 730pm. 

And guess what, even though NOT all guests were seated (I was obviously not early, and in fact, LATE and another friend was also running late although she reached earlier than me in the end) they started serving the food. 

And guess whose food got served first? MINE. 

"It's weird how they serve here. They serve ghosts before the seated patrons."

This was what one of my friends texted along with a picture of my sad looking mussels and lamb chop sitting at the table. 

So my food got served at 7pm and I reached at about 745pm, just 15 minutes later than our reservation and I had to settle for cold, rubbery food. 

And mind you, I did ask my friends to request that they keep my food first to keep them warm because I obviously was not going to reach early enough to have them while they're still hot, and apparently the server replied, "But I can only reheat the food once."

Wait, what? 

You just need to keep the food first, wait until I got seated, then you can reheat the food just that one time and serve, yeah? 

But of course, that didn't happen. Was it because they've already hit the quota of reheating the food before the served it to our table or what, I don't even care anymore. I can be just damned sure that I will never ever return to this darned cafe, ever again. 

And you know what, I'm not even going to tell you their exact address or give you the link to their website or FB page. If you're a fan of poor service and cold, rubbery food. Just go google about them on your own. kthxbye.

Till then, 

Mia Foo

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Mia's Bangkok Travelogue: True Love Cafe @ Siberian Neverland

Other than cute furry felines, their nemesis, the handsome fluffy canines are also one of my biggest love. 

SIBERIAN HUSKIES!

(such a cute happy face!)

True Love Cafe is not a cafe you can just stumble upon, for it's located deep among the residential areas with the nearest BTS station a good 20 to 30 minutes walk away. As I was expecting a dog cafe, I didn't even realise I've found the cafe until I took notice of their husky signboard for it looked just like an exceptionally big house with their gates opened. 

True Love Cafe have fixed sessions for interaction with the huskies, so you can't just pop by anytime you like and expect to be welcomed by a hoard of hyperactive puppies. There's 2 sessions (12:30pm and 3:30pm) on weekdays and 3 sessions (one more session at 6:30pm) on weekends. So make sure you drop by around the time each session starts to avoid disappointment. 

It's 350 baht per entry and each ticket is redeemable for a drink and a dessert (cakes or ice cream). If you're feeling exceptionally hungry, you can also get hot (western) food at the cafe at pretty reasonable price.

Iced Mocha

Well, not the best mocha you can find but they'll still make a nice drink with a decent mix of chocolate and coffee. There was a alarmingly large amount of ice there so try not to leave it standing for too long unless you'll like a washed-down tasteless mocha. 

Chocolate Raspberry Cake

Although the chocolate taste is rich, and the tangy raspberry sauce paired up nicely with the chocolatey flavour, the cake layer itself is a little too dry and the generous layer of whipped cream in the middle didn't save it much. 

Taste wise, still good. But it could really be better with a slightly moister cake. 

Oreo Cheesecake

Didn't try much of this, but a special point to note is that the crushed oreo base of this cheesecake wasn't all that crushed after all, as you can see from the picture. You can still see large pieces of the oreo biscuits that's layered upon each other to form the base. 

If you're really a huge fan of huskies, you might want to grab a husky stuff toy or other items like cups or even a tee with their mascot printed on it. 

For hygiene purpose, other than having to queue up to wash our hands with the soap provided, we were also given these ultra-fashionable, super-trendy sky blue plastic foot wraps to wear in place of our shoes when we enter the huskies' interaction area. 

BTW, do you know the pups go crazy over sliced carrots? 

The interaction session kick start with the huskies' snack time and you'll be surprised to find that their 'yummy treats' are actually just ice! 

This greedy pup definitely doesn't want to share as it hogs the entire bowl of ice. 

And right after their icy snack time, it got pretty chaotic as the pups started their rowdy play-fight. And when they got engrossed in playing, it was like a "I don't care if you're in the way human, I'll bang you away!" 

Apparently, huskies are also intelligent enough to say, "you know what, I don't feel like doing this right now." so don't except a lot of affection from them nor expect them to crave for your attention. If you're really desperate to take a selfie with them, do take not to not lean in too close to their jaw for they might not really enjoy having your face that close to theirs. 

 And so, after a few rounds of rowdy play-fights, the pups finally calmed down one by one. 

Some got pretty bored...

 And some just mad happy!

And I finally managed to take a selfie with another grinning pup (after 10 failed tries)! Yay!

 Some started chilling at a corner in style....

Or maybe, not that much style?

Other than 20 over huskies, there's also a handful other cute dogs that aren't of the same breed. So, meet Momo, the Pom x Spitz! 

There's also two handsome Australian Shepherds mingling around with the huskies, which I didn't manage to snap a nice shot of them. 

To get to True Love Cafe, take the BTS to Ari station and go to exit 1. Go down to the Shell Gas Station side of the street and walk a little bit further along the traffic to Soi Paholyotin 7 then turn left into the Soi and you'll get to a tuk tuk station. Most of the tuk tuk drivers will know the cafe really well, for after every session, the cafe will help all patrons to call for a tuk tuk ride back to Ari station. Each tuk tuk ride should cost you about 30 - 40 baht.

For more information, visit their FB page HERE

Till then,

Mia Foo

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