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TASTE
Taste leisa tyler reports on the latest food and drink news from the region
HAIRY IN HANGZHOU
Hairy Crabs are Hangzhou’s most loved crustacean – revered for a dollop of orange roe that is accessible through a reasonably painful and incredibly messy operation.
T’is the season to be merry, from now until December, with the side-stepping critters gracing the menus of all the good Chinese restaurants around the city and beyond.
Local connoisseurs recommend choosing crabs with the fiercest claws, or the one with the glaring eyes. Just remember not to wear white to dinner!
PLAYTIME IN PATTAYA
Adding groove to Pattaya, the Amari group has recently opened Mantra Restaurant and Bar, a stylish complex just metres from their resort.
Start your evening at the swanky bar, where Arabian nights meet a tea parlour in Marrakech. Super-high ceilings are swathed in rich woods and red lanterns dangle above the glittery glass bar, while a well-stocked wine cellar offers an extensive range of drops from around the world.
Move next door for dinner, where an open-plan restaurant features an array of mostly Asian food stalls along the edge – just like a traditional Thai food hall. There’s dim sum, Thai salads and curries, an Indian tandoori, sushi – and, oddly enough, even a pizza oven (this being Pattaya after all!). 240 Moo 5, Pattaya Beach Road, tel +66 (0)3 842-9591, www.mantra-pattaya.com
GOURMET GUIDE BOOKS
Heading to Bangkok? Pick up a copy of this year’s guidebook winner at the Gourmand World Media Awards. The pocket-sized Not Just A Good Food Guide Bangkok (Marshall Cavendish Editions) serves up everything you need to know about eating out in the Thai capital.
Discover the best restaurants dish by dish, accompanied by price range, nearest BTS station (Skytrain or underground), contact details, payment methods and the author’s top picks.
There’s a restaurant for every budget – from street fare to fine dining – as well as a glossary of terms for tongue-tied moments, handy hints for the culinary traveller, and even where to find the best donner kebab in town when you just can’t face another tom yam goon (spicy Thai soup with prawns).
Available at all good bookshops or online at www.marshallcavendish. com/genref and www.amazon.com
THE LOWDOWN IN LAOS
Laos-born, French-raised Yannick Upravan is the “food designer” at 3Nagas Restaurant, the country’s first fine dining restaurant serving traditional Luang Prabang cuisine. A meal here is the most exciting food experience in town.
What is the concept? In Laos, the majority of restaurants that cater largely to tourists usually take out all the gory-but-traditional ingredients like fermented fish sauce and stomach lining. So we put them back in!
What exactly is Luang Prabang food? Being an old royal capital, food here is high-class cuisine, where a lot of time is spent on preparation and technique. The flavours are very natural and unique – closer to Chinese than Thai.
What’s on the menu? Buffalo laap (buffalo meat spiced, slightly soured and mixed with fresh herbs), stuffed lemongrass, catfish wrapped in banana leaves, and lon som (fish stewed with pickles and coconut flesh).
Beer or wine? Beer Lao! Anything else should we know?
My business partner Gilles and I also run L’Elephant, which serves traditional French cuisine, but with local game, berries and mushrooms from the forest. Fed anybody famous? Both Kylie Minogue and Mick Jagger have eaten at L’Elephant. A young girl called Lucy came here last week, and was so sweet that we nicknamed her “The Star”. I like to think that all of our guests are stars. Sakkarine Road, Ban Wat Sene, tel +856 (0)71 253749
GOURMET GROUPIES The 7th annual World Gourmet Festival 2006 will take place again at the Four Seasons Bangkok from 10-17 September. Employing some of the best chefs from around the world – including Yoshii Ryuichi from Yoshii’s in Sydney, Sarah Schafer from San Francisco’s Frisson and Robert Joseph Jr from the Good Wine Guide, among others, the festival invites foodies from all over to join in a stylish celebration of eating and drinking in the Thai capital. Each chef will host two dinners and demonstrative cooking classes for lunch. Catch them all together at the Gala dinner on 14 September. Bookings are essential. Tel: +66 (0)2 250-1000, email wgf.bangkok@fourseasons.com |
MOONCAKE MAGIC
Celebrate China’s Mooncake Festival (otherwise known as the Mid-Autumn Festival) and indulge in a few of these rich, sweet pastries. Resembling a full moon, the delicacies are traditionally linked with immortality and the Taoist man-nature union.
During this time, these cakes are available in a wide range of fl avours – from the traditional lotus seed, red bean and Jujube paste to modern variations that include chocolate, peanut and tiramisu.
Try the decadent mini snow-skin mooncakes with dark chocolate crunchy pearls, available at the Ra˄ es Hotel bakery (www.ra. eshotel.com, tel +65 6337-1886). Just one decadent choice among many on o˙ er at most fi ve-star hotels and selected bakeries in Asia during this time.
LOH AND BEHOLD
Following the success of his chic eatery Whitebait and Kale in Camden Centre (o˙ Orchard Road), Singaporean restaurateur Keith Loh has recently opened Aerin’s, a bistro-style diner named a˚ er his daughter in the new Ra˄ es Marketplace.
Expect a menu of classic comfort foods such as Warm Brie and Pear Salad, Penne with Chicken and Cherry Tomatoes in Puttanesca Sauce, Oven Roasted Australian Lamb Rump with Mediterranean Couscous and Tzatziki, and Baked Apple and Rhubarb Pie with Vanilla Bean Ice-Cream. 252 North Bridge Road, #B1-11/12, Ra~ es City Shopping Centre, tel +65 6337-2231
ALL ABOARD!
Revamping the classic Hong Kong icon – the junk boat, aqua luna (tel +852 2116-8821, www.aqua.com.hk) is now the hottest thing sailing the harbour.
~ e traditional 28m red-mast sailing ship – handmade and designed in Hong Kong – o˙ ers 45 minute pre- or post-dinner cruises (with a beverage included) between Central and Tsim Sha Tsui. Guests are picked up or dropped o˙ at Aqua or Hutong – the Aqua Restaurant Group and the owner of the ship’s two popular signature restaurants.
For boat-lovers in Bangkok, kick back and watch the sun slide down over the city from the decks of the Manohra Star (tel +66 (0)2 477-0770, www.manohracruises.com), the latest dinner/cruise ship to ply the Chao Praya River. Converted from a traditional rice barge, the slinky ship o˙ ers nightly sailings with a full ~ ai menu.
MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN
There’s a new twist on New World wines with Asian vineyards being the latest to join the world’s wine craze.
Unconventional juice, there are no so˚ mellow Merlots or bright fruity Chardonnays, as these original local wines are specifi cally designed for ~ ai food. Cultivated and fermented in their fl oating vineyards just outside of Bangkok, Monsoon Wines is one such label.
The hot and humid climate produces a sweet punchy drop – totally unsuitable for blander European foods, but a surprisingly good companion for the Kingdom’s hot and feisty food.
Try a dry red or tangy Shiraz with a rich, spicy duck, red curry or a chilled glass of white with a spicy calamari salad.
Tel +66 (0)2 937-0055, www.monsoonvalleywines.com
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