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: Little Zoo Cafe

First up. if you haven't read about my awesome experience with Analog Hostel for my 2016 Bangkok trip, do check it out HERE.

And so for our 2016 BKK itinerary planning, the 5 of us decided to each come up with 1 place of interest we would really like to go and plan the overall itinerary around them. Needless to say, my google search keyword included animals, pets and cafe and Little Zoo Cafe immediately popped up!

It's a little tricky to get to the cafe, but you may either catch a cab from Mochit BTS or book their shuttle van on their website at just 100 baht per pax per round trip. The shuttle pick up point was simply stated as Exit 1, which caused a lot of confusion among patrons. Well, the real pick up point is actually a short walk away after you came out from exit 1. Just follow the road (towards Chatuchak Weekend Market) until you come to the junction, cross the road and you will see their local police station. The shuttle van pick up point will just be in front of the police station. 

We took the earliest shuttle pick up time of 945am and reached the cafe at barely 1015am and had to loiter around the cafe as they do not open until 1030am. 

But they let a yoga meowster out to the 'holding bay' of the cafe to entertain us while we waited around for the 15 minutes or so, before we were asked to change into their slippers and wash our hands and allowed into the cafe. 

Some shots from my vantage point. Haha, we were given the tables up on the loft, which was a little scary to climb down at first.

But oh well, it's really not that scary after all. For you big feet ladies (like yours truly), just remember it's easier to go sideways than risk tipping your feet over the ridiculously narrow threads. 

The cafe seemed a little too small at first but there's actually level 2 (via the white stairs at the back) with raccoons, more cats and a snowy white owl.

I was hoping to be able to interact with the raccoons, but they were caged all the time we're there. 

Back to level 1, apart from the free roaming cats and a Yorkshire Terrier, there's also a separated room housing the meerkats and fennac foxes. 

The meerkats were just so adorable! They seem to have an obsession with our rubber slippers as they kept pulling them off our feet sneakily and trying to dig through them. Gave us a lot of laughter with their comical actions indeed!

There's three fennac foxes in total, 1 male with 2 females and just so happened that the male fox was in heat when we visited, so he was a little aggressive and protective over one of the female fox (we presume is his mate).

Fortunately for us, the other female fox was so sweet and tamed! They're really tiny and their fur so soft and smooth. 

Still managed to steal a selfie with the aggressive male fox... from a safe distance. 

And now, back to their food! I have to say, we were all blown away by the quality of their dishes!

Though seriously lacking in latte art, their hot latte was still pretty good and I could easily drink it without any added sugar syrup.

 Lava Egg Set

I wasn't too focused with the food ordering (was preoccupied with the animals) but I definitely heard "egg", "lava" and "set". Slightly tricked by the name of 'egg lava' we all thought the bulge in the middle is some oversized poached egg and even video-ed down the slicing process, only to find out it's just fried rice contained within. 

Nevertheless, this is still some tasty "seafood omelette fried rice".

 Fish & Chips

We had a unanimous reaction at our first bite of the fish. 

"Mmm, this is good!"

The fish fillet tasted really fresh and solid, not like the usual thin and flaky type of fish that has more batter than actual fish itself. The batter was also perfectly done; crisp and flavourful yet overly thick. And those waffle fries, how can anyone find fault with them? 

 Waffles with Bacons & Eggs

The waffle was pretty well done, crisp on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside and slightly sweet. But those eggs were so raw we really do not understand the rationale of not cooking them longer. Who eats egg whites raw (see that translucent blob of uncooked egg white there)? Would have been an enjoyable dish if it weren't for the almost raw eggs on top. 

I highly suggest that you make a special order for more well-cooked eggs if you were to order this dish. 

 Ham & Cheese Sandwich

This is definitely a decent ham and cheese sandwich, but simply pales in comparison to the other dishes, especially the fish and chips and the pasta. Or perhaps by the time we got to the sandwich, it has already turned cold so the toast wasn't as crisp as I would like it to be and the cheese not as runny as I would have imagined them to be. 

Crab Meat Spicy Garlic Pasta

This is just heavenly. If you do take spicy food, YOU MUST TRY THIS. I know the blacken pasta (squid ink?) looks a little funky, but I can assure you it wouldn't stain your teeth black. Savoury, spicy and with bits of crab meat and ebikko (shrimp roe) within, this pasta is just bursting with flavour with every bite. 

Price wise, it's pretty reasonable. It's definitely not as cheap as the street food, yet significantly cheaper as compared to the cafes we have in Singapore. A dish typically cost about $15 SGD or so. There's no entrance fee to the cafe, but I do believe all patron has to make at least 1 individual order each. 

Till then,

Mia Foo

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Mia's Bangkok Travelogue: Shopping Places

In the last post of my Bangkok travelogue, I'm finally going to share with you on my own list of recommended shopping places to go, if you're keen on some extremely inexpensive buys. 

Yeah, I know. You've had enough of animals, yes?

So, after 3 Bangkok trips over the years with itinerary being shopping, shopping, and more shopping (okay, I exaggerated. I did cafe-hop and visited Kanchanaburi along the way too) I think I can roughly put up a small list for all you shopaholics' consideration. 

Let's get started with the list of To Gos

1. Pratunam Market

-credits to skyscanner.com.sg-

For absolutely cheap apparels, pratunam market is the place you definitely need to visit! A wholesale market, prices generally go down significantly if you take a minimum of 3 pieces per stall. Some stallholders are a little more strict and limit it to the same design as well, so if you happen to travel with another 2 or more friends, say hello to effortless, ridiculously cheap apparels.
Any attempts to slash prices or ask for discounts will get you a, "3 piece, 180 Baht." So yes, save your efforts and just grab that 3 pieces instead.
The place is packed, stuffy and hot, with no air-conditioning, so do pack a bottle of water to hydrate yourself and perhaps, a portable fan for some comfort if the weather gets unbearable.
The market claims to be opened for 24 hours but for apparel shopping, do keep your visit timing from 10am to 9pm.

To get to Pratunam Market, the nearest BTS station will either be Ratchathewi or Phayathai and head towards the Baiyoke Towers.

2. Chatuchak Weekend Market

-credits to www.chatuchak.org-

The CTC weekend market has reached a landmark status and is definitely a must-visit place for all tourists. The 35-acre area is home to more than 8000 stalls that sells almost everything. The usual fashion apparels, to crafts, home & living, and even pets! It's really impossible to name all, but the selection of goods offered at CTC can be roughly divided into the following categories:

1. Clothings & Accessories (sections 2-6, 10-26)

2. Handicrafts (sections 8-11)

3. Ceramics (sections 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 25)

4. Furniture and Home Decor (sections 1, 3, 4, 7, 8)

5. Food and Beverage (sections 2, 3, 4, 23, 24, 26, 27)

6. Plants and Gardening (sections 3, 4)

7. Art Gallery (section 7)

8. Pets and Pets Accessories (sections 8, 9, 11, 13)

9. Books (sections 1, 27)

10. Antiques and Collectibles (sections 1, 26)

11. Misc. and Used Clothing (sections 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 22, 25, 26)

While it might seem like a major maze that puts the Maze Runner to shame, conquering the CTC isn't impossible, even for a first-time visitor. Just remember to grab a copy of the map, and bear in mind that there's only 1 main walkway that encircles the entire market while branching into the small numbered alleyways. Or, if all else fails, head back into the main walkway (the "open") and look for the guards on duty to give you a more detailed direction. 

While some sites claim that CTC is opened on Friday night, I'll highly recommend that you visit on the weekends instead as what's open on Friday night are only the stalls that line the main walkway. It's still enough to give you a few bags full of bargained goods, in 1 to 2 hours work though. But why settle for 2 hours when you can shop for (at least) 4 to 6 hours? 

To get to CTC, simply hop onto the BTS and get to Mo Chit station and just follow the crowd. This method will absolutely NOT fail you, even on Friday night, unless you decided to visit on a Thursday instead. 

3. Rod Fai Market

-credits to bangkok.com-

Apparently, the original Rod Fai market garnered a huge reputation when it was still at its former location next to the train tracks behind CTC market. Subsequently, due to expansion of the BTS, it was forced to move in 2013 and returned at their new location beside Seacon Square Mall and is bigger and better than ever. Although there's no more train tracks, there's definitely more market space for traders to sell a vast array of goods, ranging from fashion apparel to vintage collectibles.

If you're planning to visit Rod Fai, please DO NOT take your dinner before coming as there's an entire row of cool restaurants that line the route into the bazaar section of the market as you walk in from Seacon Square. There's so many restaurants I'll love to try, but because I had my dinner before visiting, I ended up not trying any. And restaurants aside, there's also many snack stalls over at the open air bazaar section, so do not fear about any lack of food!

Now, showcasing the food I've had that night I was there at Rod Fai...

 Egg-Sausage
chicken franks enveloped in egg, drenched in teriyaki sauce and then sprinkled with shredded seaweed

 BBQ Scallops
 fresh scallops on shell, grilled with thick layer of cheese and sprinkled with chopped spring onions

 And there's the Jeju Soft Serve Ice Cream too!

And even French Macarons, which was pretty disappointing.
I'll suggest that you don't buy them. Heh!

Rod Fai Market is open every Thursday to Sunday, from sunset to midnight. To get there, just hope on to a taxi and get to Seacon Square Shopping Mall (the market is located behind the mall). However, if avoiding the massive traffic jam is a must, you can take the BTS to Udom Suk and try to grab a taxi from there. I know some tourist-sites suggest On Nut, which was where I alighted on my way over, but I find that it was still pretty far (chalked up 100 over, almost 200 baht taxi fare on meter) and when we left for our hotel, asking the taxi driver to get us to the nearest BTS, it took us barely 10 minutes and only 80 baht on meter to get to Udom Suk.
  

4. Siam Square

-credits to bangkoksite.com-

Siam is known to be one the more expensive shopping place and I'm not going to refute that. Apparels here are really way more expensive than the cheap finds you can get at the markets, but I'm highly recommending this are due to 2 (or 3) places.

1. A&W (for lunch!)
If you're Singaporean, you'll know that if you ever see A&W overseas, you WILL eat it. So head down to Siam Square for a day of endless shopping and have your favourite curly fries and root beer float while you give your tired legs a break

2. Siam Square One
Home to Hello Kitty Cafe Bangkok, this will naturally make Siam Square One a must visit for all HK fans out there. In addition to the cafe, there's also a wacoal store here for you to buy up your 1 year worth of lingerie supply at one go. In addition to the original cheap pricing of Wacoal in Bangkok, it so happened that Wacoal is having a store sale when I visited, so I ended up bagging home 4 sets at the price of (perhaps) 1 set in Singapore!

3. Eve and Boy

-picture credits to Lala Totem-

The most apt description I can give to Eve & Boy is, the Bangkok/Asian version of Sephora. So all you beauty junkies out there, remember to drop by and take a look for yourself.
There was really SO MANY items I wanted to buy because everything felt so affordable. But due to worries of an overweight luggage, I only bought one bag full of products in the end.

Locating Eve & Boy might be a little tricky as I only found it during my 2nd visit. Just remember to turn to your right as you exit Siam Square One to the streets of Siam Square and head all the way down until you see Watsons and Eve & Boy should be nearby.

On a side note, I've heard from multiple sources that MBK is also a good place for affordable shopping but over the 3 times I've visited Bangkok, I actually didn't get to shop at MBK. Next time, perhaps?

Then, let's move on to the No Gos

1. Platinum Mall

-credits to platinumfashionmallbangkok.com-

Well, add on aircon to pratuman market and you end up paying almost twice the price. Go or no go for you?

I do admit that there's much more variety of goods at Platinum Mall, but what they have to offer in terms of quality and designs of their fashion apparels is really not that different from what you can find at Pratunam Market. So just grab your portable fan, water bottle and brace yourself for the heat in exchange for a much more money-saving shopping spree just across the road.

2. Asiatique

-credits to bangkoknightmarket.com-

For a chillax night out, drinking beer by the river and munching on a plate of raw oyster, Asiatique will be the place for you to visit. But when it comes to shopping, I'll say it's better elsewhere. Even though you may find some unique pieces over here, the price that comes along with it really wouldn't justify for the quality you get. So while you 'splurge' on a few pieces here and there, do bear in mind not to overspend.

 And because I mentioned beers and oysters...

The day was too cloudy for me to enjoy a beautiful sunset but hey, the Hoegaarden Rose was just pure awesome!

T had a great time gobbling down these oysters. Pricey, but it's okay to splurge once in a while, especially when you're on holiday, right?

T also bought me a Doraemon balloon, which unfortunately, has to be left in the hotel when we left Bangkok for our return. 

So this concludes my humble list of shopping places - to go and not to go in Bangkok. Feel free to leave me a comment for shopping places you'll recommend in Bangkok!

Till then,

Mia Foo

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