Ciocco

What they gonna do with those thousands of plastic bags with oil etc. ? They gonna dump them on a random place in the nature were are no camera's or what ?

The problem it's how they are doing the cleaning... not what they will do with that rubbish... take a look to the news channels, and let me know if you do not feel unconfortable looking them operating in that way...

Honestly, looking the few different television channels showing the "cleaning" in Samet i cannot realize if it's more tragic or ridicolus... people filling bins with water and oil with bins falling continuely and rolling on the waves mote... others moving barrers uo and down for nothing... others more taking out the sand with toys...

Did you seen the same imagines?

Poor Samet, poor Thailand...

Quackers, I appreciate that note but we actually see this as a positive feature. The hotel has a "shuttle service" that takes guests to the night market/city center. Since the hotel is where we are going to sleep & relax, we would rather this be further from the center and closer to the nicer beaches. We are also considering visiting the Pala-U Waterfall and Khao Tao, and this may be possible through the hotel's "tours service" they have listed. Is the area around HH Ibis otherwise bad in your opinion?

The Ibis hotels are only good for sleep and not for spending any further time in. The location of Ibis HH is between the Centre and koh Takiab. If you are happy waiting for the shuttle service every time you want to go somewhere then OK. If you go to the bars/restaurants in the centre each night then you have a 200 baht Tuk Tuk drive home, Hua Hin centre is busy with people walking around and going to restaurants at night but it is gets quiet around 11/12 and only the soi bintabaht area has noise (not too loud) up to 2am.

Koh Takiab is not a nicer beach then Hua Hin but it has more restaurants on the beach front and the Anantasila Hotel is a nice place for lunch/dinner.

There are many tour shops which will do trips to Pala-U (nice waterfalls and about 1 hour from centre) and koh tao (nothing much there).

There is a small shopping mall near the centre (Market Village) and there is a wine shop at the entrance. The wine shop can arrange trips to their vineyard (that's if you like wine)

If you want an English Sunday roast then the best place is Palm Bistro (usually need to book)

ps. August is during rain season so the beaches are empty

Just to add to your good description a few tips

Walking 2 minutes in Kao Takiab direction you'll find Hyatt Hotel, in front of it (on the same land) they make a not-too-bad night market weekly (Cikada Market) with food street and so on.

Crossing the street from Hyatt, and walking 3 more minutes in Kao Takiab direction you'll find Wilawain, a very nice (for us) place for greakfast/snacks/bakery/cafè...

Also take a thought on BOI (Board of Investment) facilities... a lot of privileges as reduced taxes, duty free foreigner employment and so on...

It require an investmente (but you can do it in about 2 years)...

Just i have no idea if possible for a call center...

It worth to reach informations.

Just leaving Hua Hin in Bangkok direction they are building another one of this "ting tong parks" as my wife she like to call it... The Venezia...

with a small copy of Piazza San Marco palace and (i guess) a few water channels...

To me this kind of places looks little sad, but local people they love it.

Considering mostly of them they will never see the original in theyr life, easy to understand why they like it.

I agree, better to go to take a look (if really cannot skip) on week days avoiding the weekend crowd.

Yesterday we tryed a new (for us) restaurant.

Chef Cha Kitchen, on Petchkasem Road 50 meters before the soy before Sheraton Laguna Hotel (soi to go YaYa), left side arriving from Cha Am before to enter in Hua Hin.

Chef is a plury decorate one, with experience in Four Season, Sila Evason, Baan Isara etc etc

They have a small conditioned room and about 15 tables under a kind of patio.

Clean and well kept (if we exclude the motorbike parked inside the sala...).

Thai and western cooking, with good prices.

Plates have that kind of "best value" that the hand of a good Chef is able to give them.

We tryed a lot of things being 8 people.

- Unusual version of spring rolls, long like grissini and very good.

- Pork chunkle (enough for 2 people), crispy but tender and very good.

- Carbonara (fair good), spinach with cheese (too unsalty), a delicate Tom Yud, a very good sea bass with garlic and chily, and a few of others thai dishes, all good.

We liked so much that we stopped there also today for lunch.

A very good crab in black pepper sauce (probably the best until now), and a few more thai dishes.

They served us very fast, and bringing to the table all togheter as ordered.

We spent around 350thb on dinner, 250 on lunch (drinking water and fruit juices).

A very good address to put on the folder!

time to go back, see you on late july, wishing you all a nice stayng

We went at Baan Steak last sunday night, on our arrival we was alone.

5 more peoples arriving later.

Nice to see the Chef jackets on the wall (more nice to see him wearing one while working...).

Bonus for the meat cooking explication card with pictures, never seen in Thailand, good impression.

Unfortunately we waited too much for our dinner, and plates arrived one by one making our normal dinner becoming a 1,5 hour waiting.

Fettuccine with pesto was so-so, but being italian may be a'm too strctly on this.

Thai food was good, but Tom Yam not perfect.

Excellent rib eye steack, with a very well done wine sauce on a side.

Excellent french fries (crispy but soft).

They asked sorry more than one time for the long wait (they say Chef was alone that night) and considering Thai people do not use to ask sorry so often this was a bonus also.

Right priced, simple service, quiet place.

However we will come back to give them a new opportunity.

Going having dinner in Kao Takiab i seeing a new (new for me, may be) place called Wilaiwan, on the right side of the street immediately after the Hyatt.

I was attracted by the label "Bakery"... may be because my job... may be because am a yummy people... but i swear i have to try it.

This afternoon we went there to take a look, the place looks very nice, a wood white building with a lot of windows on a corner of a clean and nice parking, about 100 mt far from the main street...

Nice also inside, playng on white e wood tunes, with sofas and tables.

A lot of staff, a nice display of fresh baked sweet thing like croissants, rolls, buns, and another nice frigider with a lot of cakes (sliced) or in monoportions.

Looks a place where you can have breakfast, lunch and dinner, but also just a cup of coffee and a cake slice.

We tryed the banana cheesecake and the cappuccino mousse.

First one was good, but the cheese cake cream was a little too tick for me (aged), and the two storey of banana bread not too much tasty of bananas...

The other one was excellent, soft and creamy, and tasty in the right way.

Both served with some wipped cream (unsweetened).

You can understand from a lot of different particulars that is not a common place... everything is customized with the Brand, cake slices have on top a chocolate plate with the name also, everything looks enough professional (excluding the staff drinking back from the counter).

Good american coffee, fair iced tea.

3 cakes, 2 drinks, 525thb (cake are priced at 125thb).

A place where i will return to try something more,

but looks really nice.

Another strong recommendation from me and my family is Zab Wer (or Zeb Wer) located on Soi 112 about 3 kilometers from Phetkasem road on the left side (if you come to the first floating market you've gone too far). It is a large open air Thai style restaurant with ample parking and additional sala seating outside the main dining room.

The Thai part of the menu is extensive with lots of Issan (and even Lao) style food and there is enough western food, including breakfasts, burgers, salads, ribs, and fish 'n chips to keep anyone who doesn't want Thai food happy.

My wife is from Issan and this may become her favorite Issan food outlet in town as the food was delicious and the prices very reasonable. We had five Thai meals, (three there, two take-away) one western meal, two orders of rice, water and a large Thai beer all for under 900 baht.... it was enough food for six people or to feed the three of us both lunch today and dinner tonight. Average price for a Thai meal was around 80-90 baht, western meals from 120 to about 190 baht.

Good service in a big, clean open air place and highly recommended from what we tasted today. The only downside was the loud dirt trucks passing about every 4 or 5 minutes hauling loads for the road work going on out there. Not really a big problem but you do have to stop your conversation when one goes by as they seem to have no mufflers at all. They open mid morning (around nine I think) for breakfast and then serve both lunch and dinner (not sure how late though) as well.

Thank you for this tip,

we went there yesterday night.

Foods was good and well priced. Service was a little too short, but they was having theyr birthday party on the back of the kitchen so it could be for this.

The place is far away for us living in Chomsin, but by car is not a big problem .

They have a very nice playground for kids and Elisa get crazy stayng there, just consider it's for kids up to 3 y.o., so better to be carefull with some game/toys.

I hope they will finish the street jobs soon, so that they can skip to stay "sealed" with plastic tents having a kind of non natural heat inside the dining room also when outside it's windy (but for now they needs, if not they will take too much dust from the street...)

Good place!

My wife she love lamb,

she tasted for the first time here in Europe about 7 years ago, she likes from the start, expecially chops, expecially if crispy (roasted or panfried or grilled). Is not a meat we use to eat weekly, but when we have the opportunity she likes a lot.

She don't like beef so much, but she can eat also if not her favourite...

I think it's one of the biggest bullshit ever seen...

To eat (drink) coffee take from the shit of some animal... and be happy about this, payng it like gold... i cannot imagine how they are laughthing about us "farangs"...

I mean... it's ok to look for something special... but i think we passed the line with this...

To be clear i need to say i tryed Kopi Luwak years ago (i didn't like it at all) because my job.

I found it a kind of fake-for-rich-customers-who-like-to-buy-something-exclusive-and-expensive... not because really hi-quality product...

Coffee from Hawai could be particular, Jamaica Blue Mountain could be really a good one... but... but... to drink something passed from the intestine and taken from shit... c'mon... people really like to be faked...

A few weeks ago they show a kind of documentary where they show that in Thailand someone is tryng to do something similar with elephants... ah ah ah... i can imagine the business... elephants produce a lot more of shit rather than zibetts... just need to feed them with coffee...

Can you imagine how happy we will make Thai's involved in this business? Selling to farangs coffee coming from shit, making them payng 100 time more than normal...

Do we really need this?

Many thanks Ciocco, this sounds easier than I thought

One more question if you dont mind...if there is serious flooding like last year, does this route get particularly congested with people exiting the city?

Easier will be depending on the traffic, sometime could be terrible...

Am not able to answer the second part of your question, not being there on that particular moments... but it's one of the most important traffic line of the country, am sure they will do the best to keep it safe and open...

The product is not too bad...

But the producing company i dislike 100%... Nestlè... have the hands everywhere... water, babies milk powders, coffee, food... and lot more...

My feeling is far away from them,

small things can change the world.

IMO, of course.

We have one BH also in Hua Hin, pretty new... shining, charming (as an hospital could be...).

They make a huge advertise everywhere, more than Haagen Datz...

Am not surprised it's so overpriced and "money-addicted"... spending hundred thousands just for advertise it make understanding how they will get back the money...

Last year i need to make a blood test too my daughter (3 months at that time), about 2,5 hours for a blood test, with plenty of anestetique on harms (to relief pain, we agree)... at the end they need to take it out from a foot (where anestetique was not spreaded)...

But they billed everything...

At the end was just a few thousands, and compared with european cost was exactly the same of the tickets we pay here...

Considering where we was i thougth it was expensive and too long time for the job...

Next time will consider to use a different one...

I think I'll just swear off mushrooms! Or just eat farm raised.Thanks for the good info.

Was not my intention to make anyone scared about wild mushrooms or to suggest to skip eating...

I love wild mushrooms, are fantastic in a lot of ways, dried into a meat sauce, fresh and raw in a salad, grilled, fried, braised... with eggs,pastas, rice, meat...

Just eat what you really know, or coming from a people you can trust, or from the market (here have to be certificated from the Health Office who check them one by one).

The word "wild" just to make the difference between the cultivated and the others,

no contest...

Wild for ever

All mushrooms are potentially poisoning for uman liver, some in a light way, some in a strong one.

Also edible mushrooms have to be eaten carefully, however are usually hard to digest and it's better do not exagerate.

A lot of mushrooms are poisoning if eaten raw, but become edible once cooked, do this just if expert.

This is because a good part of this kind of poisons are thermolabile.

Here in Europe we have a few very dangerous, a couple of them can kill a man in 24/336 hours (yes, 14 days...) destroyng the liver and the kidneys.

Unfortunately this kind of poison make very deep damage and usually when you understand it's already too late.

Amanita Phalloide, Amanita Muscaria, Amaniya Verna, Amanita Virosa are all deadly.

Amanitas are dangerous because very easy to be confused with very good and popular other mushrooms.

Another one often confused with the good ones is the Entoloma Sinuatum, someone say that cooked loose the poison, but a lot of people died however.

Another one very dangerous is the Cortinarius Orellanus, very easy to be confused with a popular one. This is the one who destroy the kidneys, in 1/14 days after be used.

Of the same group the Cortinarius Semisanguineus, more dangerous because confused for its red color with another very popular one, as the other is deadly and don't leave any escape.

Last one, the most dangerous, is the Cortinarius Speciosissimus, who attack liver and kidney togheter. Also a few grams are enough to kill a man.

In north europe they use often to eat the Gyromitra Esculenta (looks like Morchellas)... easy to found also in the fresh markets and canned. This mushroom is very dangerous because poisoning if raw, and still toxic if cooked. But it's still on the market, also if the Law ask to write on label that it is potentyally dangerous also after cooked (after a number of people died).

A lot of dangerous mushrooms looks and smell like the good ones...

So, be carefull, and just eat what really you know.

Also consider that a poisoning one who stay in the basket with the good one can poison the others with spores...

Just pick up what you know, leaving on the ground the others.

Porcini for ever!!!

Does Dutch Mills taste like powdered milk or real milk? shd be easy to tell.

Dutch Mills taste like fresh milk, but not like the same i use to buy in Italy... it's normal i guess

I also guess your question have no answers...

it's fresh and good, but not exceptionnel like the fresh i can buy here...

But also is not similar to reidrated milk...

Thank you for this first answers.

Nutella is very famous here, every one kid of my generation used it for breakfast almost for a few part of his life, and also if a real junky food... it is so good to forget it dipping the spoon inside the cup... the one founded in Thailand comes for Australia, but it's same same as in Italy...

Ritter me too i consider pretty good product, Lindt i don't like so much.

A very nice chocolate shop in Bangkok is Cherubin, in Sukhumwit soi 33, next to Bella Napoli pIzzeria.

But i seen a lot of chocolate shops growing in the malls in the last two years, and a'm sure the consumption will grow very fast here also.

Just the heat is a serious limit...

I'll continue to study

Stayng in Thailand,

which kind of chocolate are you used to buy? Do you find every you looks for?

And which kind of chocolate it's your favourite (cakes, bisquits, bars, candies, mousse, beverage...)?

Do you miss anything around chocolate there?

Or... any chocolate dream who cannot be satisfied in Asia?

A'm really, really interested...

From airport follow to Dao Kanong

from Dao Kanong follow to Bang Kae

passing the city you have to cross the Rama 9 bridge (have the huge Kasikorn Bank Building on the right)

from Bang Kae follow to Samut Sakhon

from Samut Sakhon follow to Samut Sonkram

from Samut Sonkram follow to Phetchaburi

then to Cha Am

then to Hua Hin

you will drive on number 4 mostly of the way.

Thanks a lot guys for those recipes and some of them are causing me to hang a bucket around my neck to catch the drool.

I don't have an oven yet and I am not sure if it is worth buying a gas one or one of the small table top electric fan assisted ones something like this.

I have it, same same (if the one ventilated).

Is pretty good, i use it for bread, pizza, focaccia, cakes, bisquits, flans, meats, potatoes and so on...

The only one hazard it's it became really hot on the outside, but once know you don't get any problem.

This one sounds like a real winner although if I can find them I would make with goose or duck liver instead, easy to find in Udon (not much difference in price), not easy here in Pattaya.

With goose or duck liver you can use a little less parsley being that meats more delicate than chicken.

Envying you who can find ducks so easely, in Hua Hin was not so easy, just frozeen in Villa... but loving to prepare duck meat sauce for pasta... it worth the same.

This is the recipe of Tuscan Chicken Liver Patè, the one we use to spread on unsalted toasted bread.

In a large pan put all togheter 500gr chicken livers (i prefer just the liver), 250gr veal meat chopped in pieces (or pork if veal too difficult to find), 3 large chopped onions, a large deck of chopped parsley, 150gr of butter, salt, pepper, 1 garlic clove, a few sage leafs.

Make it boiling all togheter for about 30 minutes, using the liquid made by meats.

Once start to dry and take colour add some Marsala whine (or Porto, or Cognac) and leave it evaporate.

Add a large hand of capers (unsalted, better if in winegar) and a few anchovies fillets (or some anchovies paste).

Mince very fine with a chopper/mincer.

Put again on a low fire, add some more butter (150 gr more) and if needed a few stock.

Boil for a few minutes and check salt and pepper.

We use it warm on toasted bread,

you can keep in the frigider for a week, if freezed also months.

tips

to make a more tasty sauce panfry in olive oil liver and meat before to put in the pan with others ingredients, making it brown.

Hello,

i seen a kind of forgiveness cerimony where a man was layng down kneeling and making wai with the tradinional flower armlace on the hands, bowing down until to touch the feet of the people in front asking something who sounds like a forgiveness...

Do someone knows if it is something common in Buddhist belief?

If yes, the most important part became to understand if after this they expect to be forgiven, so "cleaned up" or not...

I mean... easy to do something wrong, ask for forgiveness and after start again as nothing happens...

Sorry for my ignorance on this,

OT mode on:

Every Chef has a few tricks up their sleves, and to be fair I've seen a lot worse.

Using clarified in hollandaise is a pet hate of mine (and the chef I trained under), as Mr Red said it's a sauce thats been 'bastardised' over years and even by some very good chefs. But it's the milk in the butter that makes a butter good, so why throw it away when making a hollandaise?? I've seen so many chefs add water to the mix when it gets too thick, why? Add the buttermilk thats where the flavour is!

Although I don't have one next to me now, I'd bet my life that if you look in Le Répertoire it would say melted butter, not clarified.

Sorry for going off on a chef rant, but I'm loving the way that this topic on packet bearnaise is turning into a discussion of real food.

Bernaise is and was a kind of "litmus test" for a lot of Chefs and places.

I was a very young commies when in a very important hotel on the Tuscan coast an Executive Chef was self-dismissed after a very bad incident about Bernaise and Chateaubriand.

It was early '80, Classic Kitchen was a hotel must.

An evening in winter, not so many guests in the hotel.

The order asked for Chateaubriand x2, avec Sauce Bernaise.

This Chef (was there coming from one of the most important hotels in Rome for to sobstitute the resident Chef who was on holiday)... also he was very full of himself, like romans are famous to be. A kind of fear/respect was around him... like it used on that age. Still a kind of full kitchen brigade working.

Garde Manger Chef asked him how do he want the fillet.

Excecutive gone himself to cut and put on the grill a kind of double paillard... everyone on the brigade was surprised and look at this in silence (in that years no one dare to discuss with a Chef)...

Once ready he ring the bell on the pass to call the waiter and send the order.

Waiter didn't check under the silver cover and bring it outside.

In a few minute was back, "sorry Chef, may be i call wrong order... it was a Chateaubriand x2..." with that kind of fear that was normal into going back for a mistake...

Chef went again in Garde Manger and this time he cut again something similar to the previous paillards... and start to grill it...

I still remember the scene, as a movie, silence and embarassment...

Garde Manger Chef look at me (in that time i was replacing the Entremetier Chef who was sick, upgrated on field ) like to say "what the hell he is doing?"... but no one dare to do or say nothing again... and in a few minutes the meat was again on the pass.

This time was the Chef de Partiè who comes to take the order, and he dare to open the silver cover.

Maitre comes on the pass, calling the Chef, saying with low voice that probably his guys wasn't clear... but Customer asked for a Chateuabriand...

Chef told "Oh... sorry... my fault... i misunderstand... just give me a few minutes..."

This time the Garde Manger Chef was tryng to help him taking a whole beef fillet to cut the piece, but the Chef once again want to do it himself, cut two fillets and start to grill...

At that point really no one know what to do or say... just the Saucier was a little more smart and ask if he can prepare the sauce for him, because it looks like if he want to do everything himself... like to show us it was able... of course he answer not...

The Maitre was on the pass, taking personally the meat. He probably decided it was time to feed the Customers and exit with the fillets, the waiter ask if Bernaise was ready. everyone looks the other to see how it's going this kind of candid camera...

Chef, talking normally like if it was really normal he say "oh, sorry, just a minute and i'll prepare..."

Waiter was enough experienced to understand, and exit sayng "ok, thank you..."

He never started to prepare it...

On what we knew about that, Customers they was just disappointed but they don't claim more than normal...

But the shame of this thing fastly run all around and probably the Chef was gone to check on the book what Chateaubriand and Bernaise it mean... because the morning after he was left, without saying a word to no one, gone back in Rome.

Months later i was sent in Rome for a change, already Chef de Partiè, and i meet him again.

He was a very good Chef in Rome, on that time that hotel restaurant was very popular. One afternoon, being on guard, he passed next to me to tell me that in Viareggio, months before, he was very confused because they don't serve that kind of cut in there... like to ask sorry for something he felt like a shame...

It was cute... and i smile to him.

But that incident make him loosing the job a few weeks later, when his contract ends, and i never seen him again.

I never really understand if he was just underfitted or if he just went in panic for something... but about this story they talked for years in that group.

Long stories around Bernaise...

i was 17... and it was many time ago

OT mode off.