Copenhagen: Modern Thai Dining @ Khun Juk Oriental, Kobenhavn K - Copenhagen.

I took my first step out of the Netherlands this month.  And it’s to the home of the new Nordic movement, Copenhagen.  The old city is home to several restaurants which are considered to be among the worlds finest.  Over my 3 days of stay, I visited several interesting eateries.  From the morning staple of Danish Pastries to a trendy Thai eatery before finishing on a Michelin starred ecstasy, it was safe to say I ate a lot. :)!

First night out and I am venturing out to a surprise candidate for my late night fuel.  Khun Juk Oriental is a modern Thai eatery Located not too far away from the touristy Kobenhavn area in Copenhagen.  If you fly in late Friday like me, its almost a blessing that most would have already finished their dinner, so I walked in to Khun Juk Oriental without a reservation at 8.30pm with no difficulties!  The sitting area was beautifully oriental and the service was welcoming. A rare combination coming from so many thousands of miles away.  Knowing it was going to be a modern Thai dinner, I did not quite know what to expect.

A hot towel sat waiting and tap water was served.  After refreshing myself, a prawn toast topped with sticky sweet chilli sauce was served complementary of Khun Juk Oriental.   This followed by my order of Tom Kha (98 DKK), a creamy - coconut almost Tom-Yam like chicken soup.  

Slurps!  Nothing complements a hot bowl of soup than a drizzly cold weather.  The fragrance of the galangal root, citrusy lemon grass and coriander just made melodies in my mouth.  It has probably been too damn long since I have had a decent soup from Thailand and this was sensational.  Tender chicken pieces and a creamy consistency could have easily made this a meal with steamed rice!

My main for the night was a very simple Lamb Massaman curry (238 DKK), only if you believe my very definition of “very simple”!  

If you are the type who always feel like their is nothing but sauce in a curry, then this dish is for you my friend.  A perfectly cooked rack of 6 lamb chops.  They were tender and pink in the middle with a lovely charr on the outside.  Served with celeriac chips, a vegetable stir fry, rice and a generous serve of Massaman sauce, it was top notch.  The slightly nutty, spicy and aromatic Massaman sauce is the perfect start for anything.  Use it as a a celeriac chip dip, sauce for the meaty rack of lamb or simply to put on your steamed rice.  It could go with anything!   I really liked how the racks were served like that.  It adds a sense of dimension where you really get your meat worth from the meal! Not just little pieces of piece which hardly adds up to much.  They also serve a similar thing with duck breast, and sirloin steak if lamb is not your kind of meat.

Despite being full, I found it hard to walk away without dessert.  I have had some amazing Thai dessert since I was a kid and I knew that I wanted something.  The menu came and there was only 1 dessert.  No choice dilemma here for sure haha.

Thai coconut pancake with caramel sauce with coconut ice cream and fresh tropical fruits from Thailand (85 DKK).

Piping hot pancakes with a silky caramel sauce and coconut ice cream is like playing with ice and fire together.  Its hot, its cold, and it stupendously delicious.  In fact, the caramel was the tastiest palm sugar I have had in awhile.  Yummy!!  This brings me recent memories of my mom’s sago pudding with palm sugar.

Khun Juk Oriental served me a meal worthy of calling my best first meal on a trip.  The service was courteous, and the food - amazing.  But the delicious food at Khun Juk Oriental does not come as a surprise considering the effort, the taste and the presentation poured into something one normally takes for granted.  My meal at Khun Juk Oriental is not cheap though, so I will not kid myself and claim that this was a simple take away.  I called for the bill and paid 420 DKK that night.  But for what I got, I still thought it was decently priced.  In comparison, a stall side hot dog costs 30-60 DKK and a meal at McDonalds is approximately 100 DKK.  

WenY

Bites NLD: Cantonese food with a touch of home@ Fat Kee, Chinatown

I'm always up for fine dining where over the top precision in presentation and meticulous composition of flavors are usually the highlight of a 4 hour evening. But at times, all that ones craves for is some comfort food that tastes like home. Traveling back from Amsterdam to The Hague, I decided to sample flavors a little closer to home.  Thankfully my veteran friends have a little place in Chinatown for that. 

Stepping into Fat Kee in Chinatown, this well-known Cantonese restaurant offers traditional Cantonese cuisine along with several other Indonesian dishes on their menu. For the three of us who were starving to death, we ordered three dishes which were plenty to go around.

Stir fried Kangkung with Belachan

Simple stir fried in the aromatic Belachan. The sticky consistency of the stir fried greens makes it a close match to what's found at home minus that fragrant "sambal" bite. A noteworthy find considering how most places serve Kangkung that is still wet. 

Mixed Roast - Soy Chicken, Roasted Duck, Roasted Pork and BBQ Pork. 

This large roast combination that we got was a bit of a mixed batch. My two friends very honestly called the Roast Duck an "overly roasted duck". It's not far from the truth but it was yummy. Something like the Hong Kong Violin duck.  However, the Roast Pork was my favourite of the lot with its crispy skin and salty five spice rub bearing close resemblance to what I would expect as a minimum.  The biggest loser would be the BBQ Pork.  The lack of caramelisation and smokiness made it no more than lean pork coated in plum sauce.

Yong Tau Foo stuffed with Prawn Meat. 

The last dish on the table was the Yong Tau Foo. A dish where bean curd and other vegetables are usually stuffed with meat and flash fried before being cooked further in various ways.  At Fat Kee, these were beautifully braised in oyster sauce. Quite delicious I must insist. 

Fat Kee is my first venture into the Cantonese food scene here in the Netherlands. The food is simple, humble and ridiculously tasty. So do not be surprised to come any day during dinner and find the restaurant jam packed. The good news is that Fat Kee serves the food really quick and so the turn over is only 10-15 minutes long. The three dishes including the usual suspects rice and tea would set you back 43 Euros which is pretty decent!

WenY

Bites NLD: (just a little..) Street Food Culture!

Looking for street bites while in the Amsterdam?  This post might just be for you because street food in the Amsterdam can be a handful if you do not know where to go.  For every food someone has told you about, there would be 10s of reinterpretations of it scattered within close proximity of each other.  Confusing? I did all the touristy homework for you. So sit back, relax and prepare to feast.

Its fresh, its touristy and its also more expensive than other markets in town.  It is the Albert Cuyp Market.  The location of the market is convenient, and for this reason alone it should be everybody's first destination.  After all, who's got time for that hipster market 1 hour away?  From Amsterdam Station, board tram no.4 towards Station Rai.  Take the stop at Stadhouderskade and Albert Cuyp Market is just a short walk.  Not many stalls at 10am but that would have to do for my tight schedule.

At one of the many Halal Chicken Stands, you can get freshly cooked chicken off the rotisserie.

I had three drumsticks for €2.50 and boy were they good.  Piping hot with a sweet sticky marinade that is also a little spicy.  Closer to the bone, the flesh can get a little blend so feel free to mix up your favourite concoction from all the sauces they have.

Further down the road, some research led me to believe that I have found the best Stroopwafel in town.  Commonly known as "that guy at the Stroopwafel stand",  little did I know how amazing a freshly made Stroopwafel could taste.

Fresh off the press, he spreads a thin layer of syrup before putting on another layer of freshly cooked wafel.  Before he handed it over to me, he advices me that the Stroopwafel (€1.50) is to be eaten laying flat so the syrup does not spill.  First bite in and it was amazing.  A warm oozy centre paired with a crisp wafel is something rave worthy for newcomers like me.  A hint of cinnamon spice felt existent albeit very mild.  No way in the world can you say you have eaten a Stroopwafel if you have not had it fresh.  The difference is simply too big!  

Not too far away from the Stroopwafel shop is another Dutch street food classic, the Poffertjes.  These mini pancakes are traditionally served with a tiny knob of butter and a heavy sprinkling of icing sugar.  But do not be fooled, butter and icing sugar is just one of the many ways to have it.  You can get chocolate, berries, honey, and syrup too!  The possibilities are endless.

Light, fluffy and warm, these were sinfully easy to devour.  $2.50 for about 8 pieces seemed like pretty decent value.  It was truly yummy.  Was this the best place to have it?  No idea at all.  But did I like it?  I sure did.

Mini Pancakes (Poffertjes) at the Albert Cuyp Market.

Recommended by Johanness Van Damme who was one of the most influential food critics in Netherlands until his passing in 2013, I ended up at Café Luxembourg. What for you might ask when I was supposed to be eating street food?  Simply for its famous Kroket or Croquette.  You can find Krokets anywhere but Johanness states that Café Luxembourg is the place to be.

.. and he is absolutely right.  Anywhere on the streets two Krokets would be €4.00, so was there any value in paying €10.00 for two veal Krokets? I  have been feeding on Kroket, Bitterballens and Frikandels at the lunch bar and none of them have came close to achieving what Cafe Luxembourg does. The perfectly crumbed Krokets were outstanding and to that tasty-gooey centre was oh so very good.  To enjoy the Kroket with the rye, start by spreading butter and mustard on the bread.  Cut the Kroket into half along its long side.  Place it on the bread and there you go, the BroodjeKroket or Croquette Sandwich.  Enjoy it with the little gherkins and pickled onions. Simple but every bit enjoyable.  (P/S: eating technique was by a Dutch guy seated next to me lol).

My final street food for the day was none other than the infamous Frites at Vlaams Friteshuis Velminckx.  

The kiosk looked plain,  a sign of humble beginnings.  In fact, one might get a little confused to see so many people holding little paper cones filled with frites with no fast-food joints around.  But it is in this little shop where its Frites were officially graded in 1984 and held a 9 out of 10 which still holds true for today. 

Vlaams Friteshuis Vleminckx does what every other Friteshuis do but with a lot more love.  Its assortment of sauces are nothing short of authentic and it was seriously good.  Double fried to perfection, and topped with the famous oorlog sauce (a mix of frittesaus and sate sauce, topped with onions), it was amazing how everything came together.   You get a crisp Frites with that creamy slightly tart flavour from the Frittesaus which contrasted with the sweet and nutty Sate Saus.  The toppings of mildly pungent onions gave the Frites a nice onion fragrant to sum up the whole experience.  This was easily one best Frites I have ever eaten.

1 week late I was back so Frites in the morning?  Why not if its for three?!  Coming off the station and across the first canal, we walked pass the super famous Manneken Pis. But that was not of our interest. Further down, you see Vlaamse Frites where its owner wears a catchy lab coat. But is it all for show or is there some magic in this place?

The fries came out quick!  His Oorlog sauce is generously topped with the lovely peanut sauce mixed with the usual suspect Frittesaus.  Finished with diced onions, each bite was unusually delicious.  Its some amazing Frites I must say.  Not that far off when compared to Vlaams Friteshuis Vlemnickx.  In fact it was almost difficult to tell them apart.  These were some seriously good Frites that Vlaamse Frites make.  It was pretty sensational.   From a sauce perspective, Vlaams Friteshuis Vleminckx had a less sugar sate sauce which helped the pungent onion shine a bit more.  So that wins by a dismal margin.

A few more things to strike of the list now.  But I have still got that apple pie so I am definitely heading back to Amsterdam lol. So keep a lookout on this space because it is surely to grow in the next few weeks :)!

WenY