Hungry in Bangkok, the sequel

i can have several sequels to this hungry in bangkok and it will never end, truth is im always hungry in bangkok. or maybe, bangkok makes me hungry. or maybe both.

i find myself at Maha Chai road, by Samran Rat once again. it was a struggle since i was trying not to look to Thip Samai's direction and ignore the smell of the pad thai sizzling in their woks that might as well be bait. instead, i landed at Jai Fai, right next door to Thip Samai.

why Jai Fai?

if CNN travel featured it in it's top 10 best food stalls in bangkok, or some of the best food bloggers and foodies, or locals tell you to go to Jai Fai, you go to Jai Fai. no questions asked.

there's no sign to know you're the right place, at least not in english that i know of. and the crowd in Thip Samai overshadows that of Jai Fai. but ask around and people know where it is.

they are known for their drunken noodles (rice noodles with mixed seafood and basil) and the crabmeat omelette.

i have to admit, for bangkok pricing standards, it's a little more than others, considering it's a street-side eatery. but i guess people won't complain as long as you give them something good on the table. i know i won't.

i was torn whether to get the drunken noodles or the crabmeat omelette. everyone else around me were having the noodles. the serving was big, they weren't stingy with their seafood. by the looks of it, 360 bhat well spent.

but i decided to try the crabmeat omelette. sounds plain, especially for dinner. but people can't stop raving about it. i have to try it. im gullible like that.

mad props to this lady chef, she's a machine. it was an added treat for me to watch her work her magic in the open kitchen, while i wait for my food.

crab omelette sounds boring. but this one is not your usual boring crab omelette. i don't even think it's your usual crab. the meat chunks are monstrous. and i use monstrous because it really is. and that's a good thing.

for a girl who doesn't know how to eat crab even it means saving her life, this crab omelette is bliss. i can just devour it without having to wait at someone's mercy to de-shell the crab for me.

Jai Fai's crab omelette will probably be the best crab omelette you'll ever have in bangkok. but this didn't stop me to get take away pad thai next door. i couldn't resist the bait.

(there's a special feature on Thip Samai in Hungry in Bangkok part I).

i woke up the next day in search for my milk tea. the streets of bangkok always accommodate my cravings.

after some tea and fruits, all courtesy of silom street. my tummy decided it was time for lunch. i was gonna wing it. no prior googling where to eat, no bourdain app on my iphone to be launched. just walk around and see wherever my senses lead me.

at the main road of silom, by the intersection, just at the corner of 7 eleven, a foodcourt was tucked inside the alleyway. it was filled with locals. i knew i was in the  right place.

it was simple. and they basically have everything you want. pad thai, tom yum, and other thai dishes. some pre-cooked and displayed in pots like your usual turo-turo. and some, you just have to wait for it to be prepared.

everything looked good to me. shocker. i ordered the essentials, tom yum, seafood fried rice and this egg salad i saw along the way.

best 150 bhat ever spent! simple. cheap. yum.

bangkok and it's cheap thrills!

cheap and tasty thrills, to be exact.

bon appetit!

Lime Tree Cafe

ive been contemplating moving to Jumeirah. to wake up near the beach, and start my days with lime tree cafe's famous breakfasts. a proof of how crazy i am about breakfasts, and about Lime Tree Cafe.

there's just something about this cafe --it's location, it's interior, it's garden, it's crowd, it's food, that sends you off to another place. a special place where people wake up early and dress up nice just to have breakfast. my kinda place. it has become an institution in dubai, famous for it's breakfasts, cakes, and some organic and fresh options. their food always look, and tastes, fresh and inviting.

breakfast starts at 7:30 in the morning. ends on 11am on weekdays and at 1pm on weekends. we get there on a friday, around 10. the queue was long. as expected. the day's specials were written on the giant blackboard, the rest of the breakfast menu painted on the wall. it was no easy task figuring what to get, everything on the menu looks interesting. the sandwiches and cakes in the chillers are not helping either. there's a reason why the queue was long, gave me time to decide.

the pot of muesli with mangoes were so tempting i was so close to having that for breakfast. but i needed something more substantial.

you'll be mine next!

i decided on the posh one, smoked salmon and scrambled eggs on toast. and the big one for my fiance, which is basically the whole shebang. i guess he needed something way more substantial.

we sat outside, taking advantage of the nice weather in dubai (before it gets almost catastrophic). the flowers and the lime trees out there just completed the experience. but before we experience anything, we had to wait for our food. which was sad to say, took almost an hour. we understand there was quite a lot of people, but an hour? i always believed that good food takes time, but an hour? on second thought, i should've just ordered that pot of muesli and got it out of the way. regrets.

after some time, our food came. the preparation and arrangement of the food was superb. almost made me want to forgive them for my near-to-hypoglycemic-stage.

the eggs were delish. the salmon was perfect. the whole thing was amazing. all is forgiven.

tried the big one, the chicken sausage was yummy that i even forgot it was chicken. the beef bacon was not bad, and i loved the grilled tomatoes. my fiance enjoyed the homemade hash browns, never a fan of those so i can't really say.

if there's one thing lime tree cafe is most famous for, it's their carrot cake. most people say it's the best in dubai, and i agree, without a doubt.

breakfast, check.

cake, check.

ambiance, check.

this cafe easily is one of my favorites in dubai. and that's after they made me wait for an hour to be fed! they must really be that good.

Lime tree cafe branches are in Jumeirah Road (opposite Spinney's supermarket), Ibn Battuta Mall   (China Court), Media city (opposite Royal Mirage Hotel) and Al Quoz (near Times Square Mall). All cafes closes at 6pm, except for one in Ibn Battuta mall that closes at 9pm on weekdays and 10pm on weekends.

Happy Sunday, everyone!

Yalla Momos

this funky little place in Karama is the first ever momos joint in the UAE. fell in love with momos in our visit to nepal, so you can imagine my excitement finding out i can have them in dubai.

we stepped in and were instantly impressed by the hip vibe the place have. that, and how clean the place was. their menu was basic. which i like, keeping it simple. they also have noodle soups that we're saving for next time. for now, we decided to have what we came here for. we ordered both chicken and shrimp momos, and both fried and steamed. of course, kadak chai.

Momos are basically dumplings, originated in Nepal, and largely popular in India as well. the filling can either be any meat (chicken, goat, shrimp, buffalo, pork), or vegetarian, or cheese. since we're in dubai, don't expect the pork. you can have your momos steamed or fried.

their momos come with the chili sauce. the medium spicy and the spiciest one. it works well with the momos.

my fiance and i were smiling in delight, stuffing ourselves with these tasty dumplings. the nepalese cooks did a great job bringing nepal to dubai. we enjoyed it too much we ordered another one of the fried chicken momos. this one's our favorite. not as healthy as the steamed ones, but what the heck. it's good.

we're happy to find this piece of momo heaven in Karama, just behind Park Regis hotel, opposite Bikanerwala. Yalla Momos, my dumpling fix in dubai.

taste of Kerala

that one night of laziness to cook, and googling where to eat, led us to Salkara Restaurant in Lulu Hypermarket's foodcourt in Qusais.

ive always been planning to go to Kerala. for now, this is the closest i can get to it. Kerala cuisine for this lazy, hungry girl. 

Kerala cuisine is influenced by it's abundance in seafood and coconut. well, that and of course it's spices. Salkara focuses on the classic Malabar cuisine, which is found in the north-eastern part of Kerala.

the foodcourt was quite busy. there were only about 3 restaurants in that big room, but it was obvious everyone was there to eat at Salkara. even their take out counter was full. 

lucky to find an empty table, the friendly staff approached us. he was happy to recommend a few dishes. same dishes i already had in mind, after my research.

although i wanted to have the karimeen pollichathu, or let's just call it the spicy whole fish. im not entirely sure what kind of fish it was, from the picture it looked like tilapia but it was covered with spices, so i can't really be sure. the waiter advised us that it would have too much fish bones so we should have the hammour fillet instead.

my fiance seem to have a phobia with fish bones, i spared him the agony. hammour fillet, it is. then we got the chili chicken, which the waiter warned us it would be too spicy, we nodded with delight. had the appam (fermented bread made with rice batter and coconut milk). looked like string hoppers to me, the ones i had in sri lanka. i think they're the same. or at least of the same kind.

it's like pancakes. but the middle white part really tastes like puto to me.

the waiter wasn't kidding with the chicken, it was really spicy. and this is from someone who can tolerate her spices. my first bite took me aback. but after i knew what was dealing with, i was gorging on it non stop.

the yogurt went perfectly with it. any dish that comes with yogurt, two thumbs up for me.

the spicy hammour fillet, wrapped in banana leaves stole the show.

usually hammour for me is bland, but the spices and the way they cooked the fish made this dish so flavorful. i had to drop my cutlery and use my hands. everything tastes better when we use our hands. plus i wanted to blend in with all the others in the room eating with their hands. except my fiance of course, i've learned to accept he can't eat with his hands. diva. works for me, someone can take my photos.

everything on their menu looked good, i wanted to try them all. but ill save room for next time. 

the mutton soup, fish curry, spicy prawns, beef dry fry, whole spicy chicken and even their special tea are already on my list. their lunch combo looked promising too. more reasons for us to come back. dinner for two for roughly 60 aed (675 php). this place, easily is one of my top indian restaurants in dubai. 

Salkara also have a branch in Sharjah, Al Ansar Mall on the 6th floor. 

waking up to curry

i woke up today with the thought of paratha and curries for breakfast. chai compulsory. 

it's easy to crave for these when you're in Dubai's Al Nahda and Karachi Darbar is just a stone's throw away.

One of Dubai's oldest restaurants, this Pakistani eatery is popular with cabbies, and just about anyone who enjoys kebabs and biryani at a cheap price. 

the place was basic. tables with pitchers of water and tissue boxes. the staff were friendly. although it can be difficult to converse with them in english, they try. and with a smile on their faces. 

 

our version of big breakfast. daal (lentils), mutton curry, egg bhurji (scrambled eggs) paratha (indian flatbread) and milk tea. 

i will choose this over ihop any time of the day. 

my favorite is the daal and the paratha, and the milk tea of course. it's the perfect pair. wasn't really much of a fan of their egg bhurji and mutton curry, though. 

the samosas looked promising, but our big breakfast was already big enough. 

maybe next time. breakfast for two that costs 29 dirhams (320 php), im sure there's going to be a next time.