2016 All Food Related.restaurants,recipes, Suggestions Etc...

[notmyself]

Once you've had ribs you won't be going back to wings (IMO)

Very nice But I can make better. Wings on the other hand I cannot make better.

[TheLobster]

Once you've had ribs you won't be going back to wings (IMO)

SAM_1904.JPG

Very nice But I can make better. Wings on the other hand I cannot make better.

Fair enough, but I am a rib fan not a wing fan.

Please tell me how do you make your ribs as tender?

[PoorSucker]

Please tell me how do you make your ribs as tender?

I cook my ribs in water and Chinese black pepper sauce for half and hour before the BBQ.

[TheLobster]

Please tell me how do you make your ribs as tender?

I cook my ribs in water and Chinese black pepper sauce for half and hour before the BBQ.

I am using a pressure cooker before the BBQ so I'm getting them tender but not 100% happy with flavour at the moment. Might try Chinese sauce is that black bean with black pepper?

[notmyself]

Please tell me how do you make your ribs as tender?

Low and slow my friend, low and slow, but first you need to remove the membrane and pH the <banned word> out of them. Vinegar or red wine for 24 hours both work well. After a good soak in plain water and a few rinses you pat them dry and apply whatever dry rub you prefer. Wrap them in foil upon a large bed of rough cut onions. Lots of onions..... they release water when you put the package into the oven (135F) for a good 6 hours, which creates steam so they don't dry out. After than you BBQ to get colour and smoke flavour. I don't actually use this method any longer because I have a vacuum packer and sous-vide them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sous-vide

This is not to say that the ribs were bad but just not to my subjective liking. Huge portion of which I have half left in my fridge that I will tighten up for dinner later. Yummo.

[PoorSucker]

I am using a pressure cooker before the BBQ so I'm getting them tender but not 100% happy with flavour at the moment. Might try Chinese sauce is that black bean with black pepper?

This one is only called black pepper sauce.

Under 100 baht in 1 kilo refill package at Makro.

Located next to refill for oyster sauce and ketchup.

[notmyself]

Ate in town last night at some place behind McD's in Lamai. Like a mini food court that is bereft of customers, vendors and staff. Farang runs one place which was staffed and was pretty hopeless at selling me anything so went to the only other place manned. Lady was equally indignant but hey ho... Are your shrimp fresh I aksed her. No, frozen she said. Give me a shrimp Panang and rice (not on menu) then please. It was nothing like a panang other than the addition of one finely sliced lime leaf but I have to say that it was very nice anyway. I'm still alive today.

Also got a Greek salad from the French chap and it was pretty damn good too. I asked him to add some olive oil and got a fresh lime from the Thai vendor.

120 for the curry and 140 for the salad. Not cheap but I did eat it all which is very unusual.

[notmyself]

Went to another place called 'Phen' on the Lamai ring road. Quite a big place but quiet as a mouse. Great service but hard to really judge given the lack of anything else to do. I refused the menu and asked where the chef was from. Thailand she told me.... no sh1t. Where? South. Surat or NST? Had Yai she said, so I asked if she was Muslim and the lady said no, she Thai.

Anyway, since the chef cooks southern I ordered a southern dish of fish in sour yellow curry. Lady took the time to ask if I did actually want it Thai style because this is not something that farangs eat. Hot as ******* and absolutely bloody lovely. It was the kind of dish where you wish you had a doggy-bag in the fridge for later. I wonder what else the chef can cook because I've a huge list of dishes I don't know the name of or ever see on Samui.

[notmyself]

Was writing on another thread an thought I would keep this for here.

These things look nice but they ruin 50% of the fish unless it is eaten in minutes, which I have seen happen. It's already cooked so will continue to cook when it's in the poaching liquid regardless of if it has a tealight below. You want to flash cook one side of the fish using a mono-directional heat source such as a BBQ or overhead grill then let the other uncooked side poach in the liquid at the table. Something I picked up over here but never in a restaurant or anywhere outside of a friend's home for that matter.

It's like those sizzling cast iron hotplates which make a large proportion of your food overcooked and if not then undercooked at first bite.

Picture has been photoshopped but not by me.

It would be nice to say that these things are 'only' gimmicks but they are actually good methods. But... they are not easy methods and nobody uses them and I know this because most of my friends are Thai chefs. Oh, that's not true. 2nd place for sure but most would be ladies seeking gainful employment for a short term that included dinner, supper, 7-11, breakfast and likely lunch too.

[notmyself]

El Dorado: Lamai

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g1188000-d3148149-r348785016-El_Dorado-Lamai_Beach_Maret_Ko_Samui_Surat_Thani_Province.html

https://www.facebook.com/eldorado.lamai

No website that I can see.

Friend is looking for a job and claims to be also a good western cook. Took her to see an old friend of mine, a Thai chef for the last 16-17 years that I have known him... At El Dorado's, where I know he works, he has been head chef for a long time so I figure go for dinner and get my friend to talk to him. Always worry so asked him to ascertain if she could indeed cook western food with a fondness to Italia. He said she could after talking for a while.

Anyway. Menu has changed lots, it's Mediterranean based and quite diverse but not huge, that is a plus for me. The Greek salad my friend ordered was faultless as far as I'm concerned. I ordered a mixed meat kebab which came with chips. I may have been offered bread, mash or whatever at the time but don't recall. Sole (steamed) was also on the menu so ordered one of those too, so my friend 'on a diet' could have some. Obviously frozen at some stage because it's imported but y'know... Some fish get trashed by excessive cooling but Sole is not one of them and the dish was pretty damn good.

Since I'm positing a review I should again mention another great place to eat which is just up the road from there, toward the ring-road.

Food is awesome and I'm a complete **** when it comes to food. Problem is that few people even know of Indonesian cuisine and they refuse to even try it, more so Thais. Try the beef Rendang because it is to die for.

Oops.

This is made with quality beef only, and I know because I have seen it.

Edited May 16, 2016 by notmyself

[notmyself]

Went to another place called 'Phen' on the Lamai ring road. Quite a big place but quiet as a mouse. Great service but hard to really judge given the lack of anything else to do. I refused the menu and asked where the chef was from. Thailand she told me.... no sh1t. Where? South. Surat or NST? Had Yai she said, so I asked if she was Muslim and the lady said no, she Thai.

Anyway, since the chef cooks southern I ordered a southern dish of fish in sour yellow curry. Lady took the time to ask if I did actually want it Thai style because this is not something that farangs eat. Hot as ******* and absolutely bloody lovely. It was the kind of dish where you wish you had a doggy-bag in the fridge for later. I wonder what else the chef can cook because I've a huge list of dishes I don't know the name of or ever see on Samui.

I went back and managed to order a southern dish that I don't know the name of. 120 Baht which is not cheap for a pork dish and rice but it was oh so wonderful.

[PoorSucker]

I went back and managed to order a southern dish that I don't know the name of. 120 Baht which is not cheap for a pork dish and rice but it was oh so wonderful.

Muu phat bai yira?

Love it with fish.

Best place, Bangkram restaurant.

Opposite only family mart coming from Nathon going north, sign only in Thai.

[notmyself]

I went back and managed to order a southern dish that I don't know the name of. 120 Baht which is not cheap for a pork dish and rice but it was oh so wonderful.

Muu phat bai yira?

Love it with fish.

Best place, Bangkram restaurant.

Opposite only family mart coming from Nathon going north, sign only in Thai.

Not sure mate

What I actually got was not this dish but very close to it. Could be regional variation I guess. What is written is from a friend who has a restaurant in Lamai and she makes it for me when I ask for it.

Think I'll pop down now and see if 'Phen' restaurant can make it for me, camera in hand.

I could nail some spring rolls but Bali restaurant is closed Thursdays. Made in-house rather than bought at Makro or some such. 70 Baht for veg and 90 for chicken. Very good.

[notmyself]

Think I'll pop down now and see if 'Phen' restaurant can make it for me, camera in hand.

It's normally made with chopped long green beans but sometimes, depending on season, it is made with sato beans. I had to drive through the old market and someone had them for sale so I bought some and took them to the restaurant. It's a strange world where you go to a restaurant and take ingredients with you.

120 Baht plus 20 for a plate of sliced cucumber and 80 for a Singa beer. It was very very very nice.

Long beans....

Sato....

Parkia speciosa

Parkia speciosa (petai, bitter bean, twisted cluster bean, stinker or stink bean) is a plant of the genus Parkia in the family Fabaceae. It bears long, flat edible beans with bright green seeds the size and shape of plump almonds which have a rather peculiar smell, similar to (but stronger than) that of the Shiitake mushroom, characterised by some as being similar to natural gas.

[..]

The beans or other Parkia species (Parkia javanica and Parkia singalaris for example) are popular as culinary ingredient in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Laos, southern Thailand, Burma, and northeastern India, and are sold in bunches, still in the pod, or the seeds are sold in plastic bags. Pods are gathered from the wild, or from cultivated trees: they are exported in jars or cans, pickled in brine, or frozen.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkia_speciosa

[slipperylobster]

Have to give an Indonesian restaurant in Lamai a shout out as it has been well over a year since last time. It is quite an extensive review with lots of information about Indonesian food in a general sense also.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/788311-2015-all-food-relatedrestaurantsrecipes-suggestions-etc/

Bali.jpg

In the review I posted a menu picture which I said was pre-opening.... and it was hard to read.

New menu....

menu.jpg

Take Nasi Goreng for example.

Nasi goreng, literally meaning "fried rice" in Indonesian and Malay, can refer simply to fried pre-cooked rice, a meal including stir fried rice in small amount of cooking oil or margarine, typically spiced with kecap manis (sweet soy sauce), shallot, garlic, tamarind and chilli and accompanied by other ingredients, particularly egg, chicken and prawns. There is also another kind of nasi goreng which is made with ikan asin (salted dried fish) which is also popular across Indonesia. Nasi goreng is sometimes described as Indonesian stir-fried rice,[3] although it is also popular in Malaysia, Singapore and the Netherlands.

Nasi goreng has been called the national dish of Indonesia,[4][5] though there are many other contenders. It can be enjoyed in simple versions from a tin plate at a roadside food stall, eaten on porcelain in restaurants, or collected from the buffet tables of Jakarta dinner parties.[6]

In 2011 an online poll by 35,000 people held by CNN International chose Indonesian nasi goreng as the number two of their 'Worlds 50 Most Delicious Foods' list after rendang

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasi_goreng

It's all in the seasoning. Get that right and you have ******* nailed it.

What, I sit here wondering, would be the Thai equal to the comfort aspect brought by the dish? Pad Thai isn't a real dish so maybe Som Tam. I'd go for a bowl of Jok at 5:30am any day of the week.

Have a couple of new photos too!

Daging rending:

SAM_1469.JPG

Nasi Rames:

SAM_1470.JPG

I consider Indonesian food to be one of the undiscovered delights. Along with Nigerian, Ghanaian, and Yemini food.

Worth a visit 100%

[edit]Free wifi

Looks real tasty. Wife and I will hit that spot late this week.

[notmyself]

Have to give an Indonesian restaurant in Lamai a shout out as it has been well over a year since last time. It is quite an extensive review with lots of information about Indonesian food in a general sense also.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/788311-2015-all-food-relatedrestaurantsrecipes-suggestions-etc/

Bali.jpg

In the review I posted a menu picture which I said was pre-opening.... and it was hard to read.

New menu....

menu.jpg

Take Nasi Goreng for example.

Nasi goreng, literally meaning "fried rice" in Indonesian and Malay, can refer simply to fried pre-cooked rice, a meal including stir fried rice in small amount of cooking oil or margarine, typically spiced with kecap manis (sweet soy sauce), shallot, garlic, tamarind and chilli and accompanied by other ingredients, particularly egg, chicken and prawns. There is also another kind of nasi goreng which is made with ikan asin (salted dried fish) which is also popular across Indonesia. Nasi goreng is sometimes described as Indonesian stir-fried rice,[3] although it is also popular in Malaysia, Singapore and the Netherlands.

Nasi goreng has been called the national dish of Indonesia,[4][5] though there are many other contenders. It can be enjoyed in simple versions from a tin plate at a roadside food stall, eaten on porcelain in restaurants, or collected from the buffet tables of Jakarta dinner parties.[6]

In 2011 an online poll by 35,000 people held by CNN International chose Indonesian nasi goreng as the number two of their 'Worlds 50 Most Delicious Foods' list after rendang

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasi_goreng

It's all in the seasoning. Get that right and you have ******* nailed it.

What, I sit here wondering, would be the Thai equal to the comfort aspect brought by the dish? Pad Thai isn't a real dish so maybe Som Tam. I'd go for a bowl of Jok at 5:30am any day of the week.

Have a couple of new photos too!

Daging rending:

SAM_1469.JPG

Nasi Rames:

SAM_1470.JPG

I consider Indonesian food to be one of the undiscovered delights. Along with Nigerian, Ghanaian, and Yemini food.

Worth a visit 100%

[edit]Free wifi

Looks real tasty. Wife and I will hit that spot late this week.

Closed on Thursdays

[Rooo]

Closed on Thursdays

It's only Tuesday.

[islandguy]

The fairly new Kitchen/ hotel shop, just about 100 mts before you turn on the oneway system coming from Samui Immigration has some Japanese crock pots, left side as you go in the the door.... not cheap starting at about 1400 baht to 2700 baht. The sign says they are good for stove or oven cooking....

This store has just about everything for the kitchen.....

From experience the cheap ones sometimes seen in Tesco mall, will crack very easily....

Just bought a quite small slow cooker 'crock pot' at Home Pro. About 550 baht. Only used it to heat up milk so far but looks good for slow cooking a small meal, good for single people.

[islandguy]

Went to the Bali resto last year, nice to see the expanded menu. Owner very friendly. Agree that Indonesian food is largely unknown but can be quite good.

[notmyself]

The fairly new Kitchen/ hotel shop, just about 100 mts before you turn on the oneway system coming from Samui Immigration has some Japanese crock pots, left side as you go in the the door.... not cheap starting at about 1400 baht to 2700 baht. The sign says they are good for stove or oven cooking....

This store has just about everything for the kitchen.....

From experience the cheap ones sometimes seen in Tesco mall, will crack very easily....

Just bought a quite small slow cooker 'crock pot' at Home Pro. About 550 baht. Only used it to heat up milk so far but looks good for slow cooking a small meal, good for single people.

Any chance of a picture?

[samuijimmy]

The fairly new Kitchen/ hotel shop, just about 100 mts before you turn on the oneway system coming from Samui Immigration has some Japanese crock pots, left side as you go in the the door.... not cheap starting at about 1400 baht to 2700 baht. The sign says they are good for stove or oven cooking....

This store has just about everything for the kitchen.....

From experience the cheap ones sometimes seen in Tesco mall, will crack very easily....

Just bought a quite small slow cooker 'crock pot' at Home Pro. About 550 baht. Only used it to heat up milk so far but looks good for slow cooking a small meal, good for single people.

Any chance of a picture?

Who and what are you asking for a picture? The shop in Nathon or the crock pot?

[notmyself]

The fairly new Kitchen/ hotel shop, just about 100 mts before you turn on the oneway system coming from Samui Immigration has some Japanese crock pots, left side as you go in the the door.... not cheap starting at about 1400 baht to 2700 baht. The sign says they are good for stove or oven cooking....

This store has just about everything for the kitchen.....

From experience the cheap ones sometimes seen in Tesco mall, will crack very easily....

Just bought a quite small slow cooker 'crock pot' at Home Pro. About 550 baht. Only used it to heat up milk so far but looks good for slow cooking a small meal, good for single people.

Any chance of a picture?

Who and what are you asking for a picture? The shop in Nathon or the crock pot?

The small crock pot Jim. Could come in handy for single people.

[islandguy]

Sorry, no luck resizing a photo file down to 100mb. It is an Otto brand, model SC-201, 1.5 liter capacity. Has low, high, and auto controls. Didn't check, but auto should take it to high temp and then reduce to low. Outside part is this aluminum but inside is pretty hefty ceramic with glass lid.

[islandguy]

I got it thinking of cooking beans without having to stir them all day, but have been using it for milk for chai tea and cooking oatmeal while we shower so far. Not fast, but it is a slow cooker ?

[islandguy]

Sorry, no luck resizing a photo file down to 100mb. It is an Otto brand, model SC-201, 1.5 liter capacity. Has low, high, and auto controls. Didn't check, but auto should take it to high temp and then reduce to low. Outside part is this aluminum but inside is pretty hefty ceramic with glass lid.

Thin aluminum, not 'this' aluminium . Pretty cheap, but for about 550 can't complain.

[Neilly]

Sorry, no luck resizing a photo file down to 100mb. It is an Otto brand, model SC-201, 1.5 liter capacity. Has low, high, and auto controls. Didn't check, but auto should take it to high temp and then reduce to low. Outside part is this aluminum but inside is pretty hefty ceramic with glass lid.

More info here...

http://otto.co.th/products/product_detail.php?group=1}&subgroup=6&id=79

[notmyself]

[notmyself]

I'm back home. Been in the UK for 7 weeks so not had any opinion on the Samui food scene. I needed a holiday after all that so just got a hotel room in town, as it were. No kitchen so I gotta eat out regardless. I went to Bali restaurant in Lamai intent on a beef rendang but I always have that so I took Ayam Besengha

 

 

Stewed chicken is tasty but if you stew it too much it will be dry and tasteless. It is made with chicken filets which makes it even harder as they contain a low amount of fat. Not a bit of it.... chicken was lovely as was everything else on the plate I didn't quite finish. Also  fancied spring rolls but no way was I going to be able to eat both.

 

 

It's a good place for dinner. I'll attest for good food and the place being very peaceful whilst also being good value. it's comfort food, soul food to the extent that it makes you think of past times. The owner and chief bottle washer, Leo, is Dutch and therefore historically significant to the story. The British absorbed much of Indian food while the Dutch absorbed much of Indonesian food. You want that dish you used to have as a kid that Mom made? Soul food. Food that creates an emotional response. That is what 'mmmm' signifies in most cases, a recollection of a previous time and that releases endorphins. I'm not Dutch nor Indonesian but it still works for me anyway.

 

I've posted about this place previously

 

Comfort food, soul food, call it what you will but when you walk out of a place and say thank you for the food.... the food you just paid for.... that means something.

 

 

 

[TheLobster]

On 4/25/2016 at 6:40 PM, notmyself said:

Very nice But I can make better. Wings on the other hand I cannot make better.

 

Went for some ribs today and they were not the same, not tender at all .......... disappointing. Has something changed? there was also a loud grumpy old American guy in the middle of the bar making a lot of noise trying to clean a grill with a drill and a scourer.

[notmyself]

5 hours ago, TheLobster said:

 

Went for some ribs today and they were not the same, not tender at all .......... disappointing. Has something changed? there was also a loud grumpy old American guy in the middle of the bar making a lot of noise trying to clean a grill with a drill and a scourer.

 

The American chap is the owner is likely getting a bit irate because the motorized rotisserie keeps breaking down which means they have to cook on the grill. The locally built rotisserie is run on a small electric motor driving a chain and the whole unit is made from mild steel and rusted to Hell. The side plate is warped (where the motor is mounted) due to excessive heat and thinning because of rust (salt air). It is not in line with the gear driven by the chain meaning the motor has to work harder.  The 5 foot skewer that it turns is also very warn and does not go through bearings causing more friction and therefore more work for the motor. He needs a more powerful motor but has nothing to mount it to! Sometimes in life you have to accept that something is not worth fixing, you need a new one. I told him and his staff a week or two ago.

 

Ribs need to be cooked low and slow and to do that on the grill is not easy unless you have a very good idea of what you are doing. He knows but the staff have no idea because they have never been shown how. I say how, it takes a keen eye to do Texas style ribs which takes many years of doing it to get your eye in. If he cares about his food then he has a choice... cook it himself every day or get a new rotisserie. He has had his monies worth out of it so time to reinvest.

 

I will keep my eye on the place so as to inform other members but I only buy the wings take away and they are deep fried anyway. I'm out for lunch tomorrow with a couple of friends (picture) just maybe 5 minutes away so will swing by there on the way back. I could offer to make one myself but my TIG/MIG welding is not very good at all and some would need to be made out of stainless.

 

picture