4 x 4 = 16 Thai Dishes for Dinner

High end hotels around the world are known for hiring some of the best chefs. Years and outstanding skill make an executive hotel chef. Outside of the US, many Michelin rated chefs are from the league of these hotels.

In every city we travel, my family makes a point to eat in at least one of these hotel restaurants. In Bangkok, we are repeat customers of both Mandarin Oriental and The Peninsula's Thai restaurants. They are completely authentic and high quality with the most beautiful riverside settings.

At the Mandarin Oriental, Sala Rim Naam is a must-try. You have a choice of the Thai lunch buffet, a la carte dinner out by the river, or a set dinner while watching traditional Thai dances. Or, if you don't want to choose, you totally can go back and do all three. The lunch buffet is my favorite buffet from around the world right now. It's such a fun and extensive spread.

On my most recent trip back to Bangkok, the four of us enjoyed 16 dishes, 18 including dessert. 4 salads, 4 appetizers, 4 dips, 4 curries, and 2 desserts. Sala Rim Naam's menu lets you have these assortments of 4 dishes and you get to choose the 4 in each category. I love variety during meals, and this was totally the way to go. It's also a great way to try out new dishes to learn more and more about this amazing Thai cuisine.


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The slide show here runs on Flash. If you can't see it, check out my Flickr album: Sala Rim Naam

Back at The Oriental Thai Cooking School!

Back in Bangkok.. and back to The Oriental Thai Cooking School! This is my third time in Bangkok, and this is my third time taking a class at the cooking school.

I love the format and the detailed explanations from Chef Narain. It's not just the menu or the atmosphere of the school, it's really the chef/teacher that keeps bringing me back. I learn so many new things about cooking techniques and Thai cuisine every time.

Aside from learning about the dishes, you also discover new ingredients that you can use in other cuisines, aside from Thai. Plus, after the class, we make a list to shop for ingredients and certain brands at Paragon to take home.

Thai food has instantly become one of my favorite cuisines. The flavors are really exciting to the palate, especially with the combinations of salty, sweet, sour, bitter, and spicy packed in every bite. I can eat it multiple times during the week. Thanks to all these lessons, I have a growing list of recipes to make at home. I can't wait to go back to learn more!


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The slide show here runs on Flash. If you can't see it, check out my Flickr album: MO Bangkok Cooking Class

Off the Grid at Golden Gate Fields

When I'm planning my trip back to the Bay Area, I always look at the schedules for concerts, Giants games, Niners games, Sharks games, and food events. One such food event caught my eye. Off the Grid was having an event at Berkeley's Golden Gate Fields. The poster totally sold me: Food Trucks, Racing, Big Hats, and Bloody Marys. What's not to love?!

The food truck spread had a pretty good variety with a nice Asian representation. It was really great to see some creative Filipino trucks, too. I tried some Sisig Fries from Senor Sisig. Totally not the real deal for sisig (which consists of pig head parts), but it's a clean, fun version. It's basically tender cuts of pork meat diced and really well seasoned. You also have a choice of chicken or tofu. It's all put together with a very Californian influence. The Sisig Fries are basically like San Diego's Carne Asada Fries.

The Bloody Marys were a bit weak and not as good as a bar, but it's was still fun to drink a huge cup during the event.

As for the races, it was a memorable afternoon at the tracks. We were fortunate to meet the marketing manager who gave us a front row tour of the tracks. We were able to get right up to the rails to get a great view of a photo finish. We even took pictures with the winning jockey (who's height matched our Asian lady height).

The slide show here runs on Flash. If you can't see it, check out my Flickr album: OtG

Kara's Cupcakes

The cupcake trend is still alive and thriving! Whenever I travel out of the Philippines, I indulge in all the sweets my stomach can handle. (Sweets here in Manila can be waay too sweet because of the Filipino palate. I'd rather not have sweets in Manila and overindulge while traveling.)

While I was living in the Bay Area, my go-to cupcake place was Sprinkles. Light, fluffy, moist cupcakes. They have some really great Red Velvet cupcakes. I had tried Kara's Cupcakes once before, but I found my Fleur de Sel Chocolate cupcake to be on the rich side. Delicious, but rich.

Kara's has done an excellent job expanding, and they are now in the Town & Country Village in Palo Alto.. right near Howie's Artisan Pizza. So after enjoying my soft serve with butterscotch sauce at Howie's, I went right next door to Kara's for dessert, round 2.

All because of one cupcake, I'm a total Kara's convert. I'm in loove with their S'Mores cupcakes!! It's so light, moist, and totally my favorite cupcake right now. Each time I go to Kara's now, I order at least a box of 6 (which is gone in 2 days). It's soo good. I highly recommend this for cupcake lovers, marshmallow lovers, chocolate lovers, graham cracker lovers, and all the above combined.


Place your cursor above "Notes" below to read the captions for each photo.

The slide show here runs on Flash. If you can't see it, check out my Flickr album: Kara's

Pizza in the Peninsula

Every trip to the Bay Area feels soo short. There's just too much to do. It's a challenge fitting in visits to favorite restaurants and trying out new restaurants. There are some restaurants that we visit everything single stay, even if it's just an overnighter. One required restaurant for every Bay Area visit: Howie's Artisan Pizza.

My family and I have been fans of Chef Howard since his Marche days in Menlo Park. He's a five star chef who has followed the trend of chefs opening up more casual dining experiences. What I love about this trend is that the food is more affordable, the atmosphere is more relaxed, AND the food is still of five star quality. You can't beat that formula.

Place your cursor above "Notes" below to read the captions for each photo.

The slide show here runs on Flash. If you can't see it, check out my Flickr album: Howie's