eatBANGKOK: Thai-style Barbecue and Suki @ Best Beef

This post really sucks if you are a vegan.  Otherwise, if you have 250 Baht in your pocket and are looking for endless serves of tasty barbecue meat, look no further than Best Beef in Sukhumvit.  This very local Thai barbecue place only costs 220 Baht (RM24/$AUD9) per person for the buffet with the option of adding a boiling pot of Thai Steamboat also known as Suki for 30 Baht per person.  Surely enough, we had the Suki with no regrets!

If all you eat are scallops, lobster and wagyu, you might want to give Best Beef a miss.  The meat here is typical but not boring for sure.  They serve humble cuts of meat like pork belly, pork loin slices, beef tongue, brisket, bacon, and chicken fillet as well as a list of seafood including prawn, squid and fish.  As ordinary as it sounds, Best Beef has to be one of the tastiest barbecues I have had for two reasons.

Firstly, the basic cooking technique works.   The meat here cooks beautifully thanks to the use of a pan laid over flaming charcoal and NOT gas.  Every one knows it is different when you cook food this way.  The flavours are in many ways tastier when it gets the treatment of the red flames!  Also while the Koreans use nothing on their pan, the waitstaff at Best Beef send you little knobs of butter to ensure your meat does not stick to the pan.  I cannot think of a better way to barbecue the meat!

Secondly, the sauces that Best Beef had were phenomenal.  Each person gets three dipping sauces which blends a mix of spices, and herbs with varying levels of heat and flavour.  One was sweeter whilst the other was more sour.  Dipping the barbecued meat in these sauces before dishing it into my mouth with the complementary serves of garlic fried rice was an amazing experience.  

The concept here is so basic yet so exemplary.  It almost reminds me of my first visit to Tong 86 in Perth before its menu became more compelled to conform to what other restaurants were serving.  Good, cheap and honest.  More importantly, delicious! See the map for directions to Best Beef from the On Nut BTS, the nearest BTS to the place.

WenY

About eatBANGKOK

I have not travelled to many parts of the world, but Bangkok is easily one of the top cities for eating and in this mini series called eatBANGKOK, I bring you what my homeboys Yobi, ZS and I ate through this bustling city.  Everyone boasts to present the cuisine in this Royal loving city best so the quality of food here can quite easily get diluted.  But are you really eating Bangkok’s best? This is WHAT, WHERE and HOW to eat Bangkok’s  popular and hidden eateries.  Keen on a Bangkok food itinerary?  Look no further.

eatBANGKOK: Delicious River Prawns and Crab Claypots @ Jae Piak, Chinatown

If you leave Nai Mong Hoy Tod with a craving for more seafood, Bangkok has a little place beyond the likes of T&K Seafood in Chinatown for you food lovers.  Andrew Weinns from eatingthaifood.com has again introduced something off the beaten track for the adventurous and those who are not inclined towards the common.  Located a good 15 minutes walk from the Wongwai Yian BTS was Jae Piak (or Aunty Piak) with a concept similar to Somsak Poi Od (recommended by Andrew Weinns) where a single chef cooks up delicious hot pots worth of seafood topped with glass noodles.   The menu here is limited but what it does, it does really well.  Note, Jae Piak only open at night when the leather shop is closed.

The map on how to get there:

Unlike Somsak Poi Od that has its fair of online publicity, Jae Piak is something people might considered a copycat and that made us a little worried especially when prices were not displayed which means lost tourists like us might get ripped off! Fortunately, this was not the case at all.

First dish to come to the table was a Prawn and Glass Noodle dish for 220 Baht (RM24/$AUD9).  

The picture shows 2 big prawns on the side but on the underside is another 2 large prawns.  While it was everything you expected, fresh, juicy and tasty, the highlight for me was the cooking.  Generous amount of little peppercorns, and the chef’s special sauce was somehow made into something phenomenal.  Even Yobi who is not a big fan of glass noodles started to think otherwise.  It was that good.  

Looking at how other tables hungrily devour their crab clay pots had us jump onto the bandwagon and ordered one for ourselves too.  This by memory was 240 Baht (RM26/$AUD 9).  

My presentation sucks but I did not want to destroy the whole plate so I only managed to bring half a shell out from the base :P!  Cooked in a  similar way like the prawns, this is an absolute steal for seafood lovers.  The large meaty claw saw little efforts be rewarded with juicy flesh.  Droolworthy~!  The body parts are a little small but still every bit worth the dollars we paid.  Go anywhere else and be prepared to pay more!

Despite not being able to go to Somsak Poi Od, I cannot help but feel glad to part of an accidental discovery.  A truly special one too.  Maybe if you had come to Jae Paik based on my recommendations you would might not be too chuffed but otherwise, damn it was good.  Many thanks to Yobi who  suggested us to try somewhere different.

WenY

About eatBANGKOK

I am no expert in eating but I have no hesitation in claiming Bangkok is easily one of the top cities for eating. In this mini series called eatBANGKOK, I bring you what my homeboys Yobi, ZS and I ate through this bustling city.  Everyone boasts to present the cuisine in this Royal loving city best so the quality of food here can quite easily get diluted.  But are you really eating Bangkok’s best? This is WHAT, WHERE and HOW to eat Bangkok’s  popular and hidden eateries.  Keen on a Bangkok food itinerary?  Look no further.

eatBANGKOK: Sweet Cravings @ Petite Audrey, Mango Tango & Mr Jones, Siam Central

While I am no sweet tooth, it is finally time to kick back and relax after a fill of savoury courses.  3 places frequently mentioned are Petite Audrey, Mr Jones Orphanage & Mango Tango.  All of which are in Siam Central area.  Here we have the famous trio where the hygiene conscious can get their dose of quality desserts in a clean environment away from the Bangkok heat.

Petite Audrey, Siam Central

From the front, Petite Audrey is a French Cafe serving a mix of Thai and Westerns savoury delights but it also seconds as Bangkok’s most popular Mille Crepe or million layer Crepe place.  Their Thai Milk Tea Crepe is to die for and pictures do not lie.

The thickened Milk Tea sauce at Petite Audrey is simply sensational.  It was fragrant, not too sweet, mildly acidic from the potency of the tea and as a whole complemented the fluffy Crepe.  For 130 Baht (RM14.50/$AUD5.50), it is not exactly cheap but its French chic ambience paired with its crowd winning Thai Milk Tea Crepe makes Petite Audrey a great value hangout.

Mango Tango, Siam Square Soi 3

But if English patisserie is not you cue, head on to Mango Tango in Siam Square Soi 3.  If you have not noticed just yet, the streets of Bangkok is laden with quality mango sticky rice desserts but no one serves a more elaborate mango dessert than Mango Tango.  Housed in a small container off Siam Square Soi 3, this mango inspired dessert house in Siam Square specialises in everything mango.  Here I ordered the Mango Sampler for 165 Baht (RM18/$AUD 7).

Ripe mangoes, stick rice, refreshing mango sorbet and a light mango pudding.   What is there not to like?  I tend to go about having the sticky rice first as it is the heavier meal of the lot.  But considering the small amount of stick rice given, it was not all that bad!  The crispy Mung beans at the top gave the fragrant sticky rice some crunch to go with the mango.  Absolutely delicious.

Mr Jones Orphanage

Last but no least is Mr Jones Orphanage situated in the same building like Petite Audrey.  Its venue is build around a child’s playground concept.  The food is decent, and the price you pay is for the uniqueness of its setting rather than amazing dessert.

The cakes at Mr Jones Orphanage is what you would call acceptable but not truly satisfying.  The cakes were a tad dense and the icing was at best mediocre, but thankfully the tea was fine.

Verdict?  My biggest fancy was most definitely Petite Audrey and Mango Tango. Both venues served desserts that brings the flavours of Thailand to the dessert plate in a different way.  Petite Audrey more contemporary than Mango Tango, but both without a doubt are modern in presentation. So why have one when you can have two!?  The serving sizes as both are a lot smaller than what my pictures suggests. So have two!

WenY

About eatBANGKOK

I am no expert in eating but I have no hesitation in claiming Bangkok is easily one of the top cities for eating. In this mini series called eatBANGKOK, I bring you what my homeboys Yobi, ZS and I ate through this bustling city.  Everyone boasts to present the cuisine in this Royal loving city best so the quality of food here can quite easily get diluted.  But are you really eating Bangkok’s best? This is WHAT, WHERE and HOW to eat Bangkok’s  popular and hidden eateries.  Keen on a Bangkok food itinerary?  Look no further.