Chao Lay Seafood, round 2

We went back to Chao Lay for the second time and sadly we were hugely unsatisfied.  Perhaps we should have stuck to dishes which worked instead of trying new stuff.  

Prawn cakes.  They were actually not bad.

Cuttlefish salad.  I was disappointed that it didn't have vermicelli.  To make it worse the salad had not a hint of dressing.  Even the fresh and nicely blanched cuttlefish did not save the dish.

Stir-fried beef with chili.  I have no idea what cut the beef was but it tasted like shoe leather.  Not only was it tough it was also very dry like beef jerky.  I tried chewing a piece but had to give up as it hurt my jaws.

Fried noodles with seafood.  We got the impression that the dish was just thrown together with a few pieces of seafood.  The noodles were a little strange too and they tasted like instant noodles.  Perhaps the chef was off that day?

Chao Lay

15 Naresdamri Rd., Hua Hin, Thailand.  Tel: 032 513-436

Nem Chua in Thailand!!

I hit the jackpot during a casual stroll in Tesco (of all places!) in Hua Hin.  For those who know me know that I'm crazy about this Vietnamese sausage Nem Chua.  I couldn't believe it when I saw them  stacked along side the regular cold cuts.

On the sign it says Thai fermented sausages.  I had no idea that they are fermented as they sure don't taste anything from a fermentation process.  I wish I can read Thai.

Another Vietnamese sausage I though I'd try.

I didn't think much about the white sausage but the Nem Chua was excellent and just like the ones in Green Cottage!

Chao Lay Seafood

There are a number of shore side seafood restaurants by the Hua Hin town pier and Chao Lay is one of them.  We decided to give it a try as it ranks quite high up on a travel site.  

The menu was full of seafood items, but they would do regular Thai dishes off the menu like green curry chicken etc.

To start we had to have spring rolls.  They were hot, crispy and no frills.  It was a refreshing change to the fancy (and  fussy) Thai food we kept having at the resort.

Tom yum soup.  I think this was a small portion.  It came bubbling hot and despite the chili oil on top the soup was not spicy at all.  I love all things spicy so it was somewhat disappointing for me.  Then again for the first time I actually got to enjoy the seafood without having to gulp water in between bites.  The pot was full of prawns.  Yum!

Green curry with chicken.  Again it came in a big pot boiling hot.  The curry sauce was excellent and in it chunky pieces of lean chicken.  It was so much better than the version at the resort and it was 10 times cheaper also.

Thai fish cakes.  Great taste and consistency.  

Fried rice.  It was the weakest dish.  Rice was soggy and there was nothing Thai about it.  It was as bland as plain rice without any hint of spice.

Steamed sea bass in lime and chili sauce.  The fish itself was very fresh and plump.  The sauce was a little lame in the spicy scale.  Whenever we had this dish it always came in a small table stove.  Without a stove our fish got cold pretty quickly and it wasn't the nicest when it cooled down 5 minutes into its arrival.

Stir-fried vegetables.  Nothing special but at least they were crunchy and not the frozen variety.

The meal came close to US$30.  And it's one of the more expensive places in town - we love Thailand!

15 Naresdamri Rd., Hua Hin, Thailand.  Tel: 032 513-436

Motion, Alila Cha-Am

We have had a number meals at our resort restaurant Motion.  With the LO's early bed time it was difficult to be out for dinners and luckily the menu covered quite a few things/continents and we were able to try different dishes.

On our second night we decided to check out the place.  The night was quiet and warm and we thought we would grab a quick bite.  It turned out to be rather romantic actually with candles and wine.  

Homemade grissinis were served promptly when we were given the menus.  Crunchy and subtly seasoned they disappeared rather quickly.

As we were still craving Thai food we gave the menu's Thai section a go.  Here we have Thai deep-fried dressed crab.  I love crab to begin with but this dish was so delicious my husband was impressed also.  Chunky white crab meat was mixed in with breadcrumbs and Thai spices.  Even thought they were fried they weren't too greasy at all.  We wanted more!

Seafood salad with vermicelli.  This dish has to be one of my all-time favourite Thai dishes.  I always wanted to find out what exactly is in the dressing, as there has to be more than just lime and chili.  The version in Alila looked very dainty but it was full of punch.  I reached for my glass of water very quickly!

Stir-fried prawns and asparagus.  While we liked the taste we felt the presentation was too fussy.  The fact that it looked interesting did not distract us from realising that it tasted blah.  And for what they were charging they were two very expensive prawns too.  

Green curry with chicken.  The curry sauce was fragrant and yummy but then it'd be difficult to mess that one up.  The big disappointment was that there were only about 3 pieces of chicken in the pot?  The rest were some kind of sliced vegetable which might have been bamboo shoots but it tasted more like wood.  

I specifically asked my husband to put his hand in the shot to demonstrate relative sizes.   In the little bamboo shoot lied our pad Thai noodles.  It was definitely not for sharing.  And again, it looked very cute in presentation but the taste was nothing special.  

We were happy with our meal because service was good and it was romantic.  The food, however, was marginal.  If "gourmet Thai" means small portions and fussy plating then we will pass.

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On a different day we were back for lunch.  Even though I had decided to give the gourmet Thai menu a miss I couldn't resist spring rolls when I saw them on the menu.   I hate to say this again but they were truly unremarkable.  I do like the way the served it.

My husband's pizza with prosciutto was actually freshly made and surprisingly nice.

My pasta with clams was very well made as well.  The garlic and white wine sauce was neither too garlicky nor overwhelming, and the clams were meaty and fresh.  The chef responsible for non-Thai cuisine is a gem!

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Another evening, another supper.  Where were the grissinis tonight?  The rolls here were no match to the grissinis.

Nicoise salad with seared tuna.  It looked great and tasted equally as nice too.

I had to have another Thai seafood salad with vermicelli.   I think there were more seafood here then the first time we had it.  
The pizza was so good my husband decided to have another one.  This time around there were olives!

Spaghetti with creamy chicken and green peppercorn sauce.  It was very delicious indeed and I loved the interesting taste and texture of green peppercorns.  I must find the recipe and try making it at home.  

Mango sticky rice.  We are back to stingy portion again whenever we order Thai food from the menu!  We loved the dish but we could definitely use more mango.

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Another supper and I was more than happy to try another pasta dish.  It didn't disappoint - a generous amount of salmon was seared and infused in a nutty pesto sauce.  Nice!
My husband had a pizza again.  They must be good!

All in all we were quite happy with the variety and quality of the food. The prices they are charging are of course way more than normal street restaurants but they are not extortionist.  The only problem we had was the fact that we got charged for bottled water when it is free anywhere else in the resort - a bit cheeky if you ask me!

Alila Cha-Am

Cha-Am Thailand

Hua Hin Market Village

A quick meal at the Hua Hin Market Village Mall.  The meal cost us US10 and even though it would have been cheaper to eat in the market area we were happy to be sitting in the air-con.  And as a bonus the food was pretty tasty too.

My Tom Yam.  When asked if I wanted noodles with it I thought sure what the heck.  I actually loved the combination!

Some stir-fried pork dish we picked from the photo-menu.  Simple but nice.

Mixed veggies.  I am never keen on mixed veg as they tend to be frozen or tin veg and it's always cooked to death and pappy.  In this case it wasn't that bad and at least the veg was crunchy.

Green curry fried rice.  Totally enjoyable.

Pad Thai in egg omelette.  I hardly got to eat any as my husband wolfed it down very quickly, which I take must have been really good.

breakfasts, Alila Cha-Am

I could get used to breakfasts at Alila.  The selection was not big but it was very sufficient.  Everything was very nicely cooked too and we got to eat outdoor most days when it wasn't too hot.  Most importantly it was nice and quiet and it was indeed a very refreshing alternative to your usual resort buffet breakfasts.

I was determined to try something different each day since we were there for a week.  On day 4 I discovered the fried rice with crab meat and I never looked back.  It was the nicest fried rice I ever had!  The freshly picked crab meat was the best and it's just out of this world.  At first it was a little hard to bring myself to have rice first thing in the morning but I sure got used to it.  Too bad this dish is not on the lunch or dinner menu or I'd be having it all day.

room service, Alila Cha-Am

We were staving by the time we got to Hua Hin.  With the Little One in bed we decided to binge-order from the room service menu.  I thought we had over ordered but then we realised the portions were not very big at all. 

Satays.  To be honest I don't remember what they tasted like, which probably means they were nothing special.  The presentation was very different though.

Prawn cakes.  Again the presentation was impressive and there were actually little chunks of prawns in the prawn cakes as supposed to the usual bouncy and slightly rubbery texture.

Potatoes wedges.  My husband might have had a few already when the picture was taken, but there weren't many to begin with.

Beef burger with fries.  It looked pretty good but the meat was actually very gristly and not very nice at all.  I am guessing the hotel is trying to do gourmet food so why use nasty beef?

Grilled salmon with pesto.  The pesto was overpowering , although the fish was grilled to perfection.  All in all we were happy with the meal and even though it's expensive by Thailand standard it was rather reasonable compared to other room service menus we came across.
Alila Cha-Am

Cha Am, Thailand.

Thai Airways

Now I thought I remember Thai Airways advertising their business class being "smooth as silk".  Well the truth can't be more disappointed.  Perhaps it was the old aircraft and therefore seats were pretty small and cramped.  Service was not particularly impressive, and the food was actually pretty nasty.  We felt like we paid extra so we could get on and off the plane first and that's about it. 

When I saw that horrible aloe yogurt my heart sank.  Why is this yogurt following me around?  It's on all the Dragon Air flights too and I never saw anybody eating the stuff.  When will they learn to have a look at what's left on the tray?  Or better yet how about tasting the stuff before serving it to passengers?

Lunch option #1 beef with rice.  While it didn't look too bad my husband said it was way too salty and chewy.  As hungry as he was he didn't touch the rest of it after a little taste.

Lunch option #2 noodles with mystery meat.  Again it was very salty and to add insult to injury the noodles were nuked to death.  They were so soggy perhaps they had been cooked 5 times over somehow.   
Luckily I brought biscuits with us.  I can't tell you how many times we had to resort to biscuits when we fly these days.  Are airlines really that tight in budget?

Element Fresh

There's a new menu at Element Fresh!  On top of the our regular favourite sandwiches and salads there are now a number of rather ambitious items.  We were actually excited to try them out.

Beef pho (RMB54).  It came in a pretty big bowl steaming hot and it looked promising.  We were wrong.  The broth had no taste at all and the beef was really fatty despite being thinly sliced.  By the time my husband removed all that fat there was not much left.  There was also pieces of what looked like tendon swimming in the tasteless broth.  I understand that in a pho broth beef tendon is often presented along with tripe.  The thing is the tendon in question here was not even properly prepared: we could see veins!!! It was rather gross.

Toppings which came with the pho.  Instead of sprouts we had cabbage instead?  Very odd.

Steamed mussels with chorizo (RMB68), another new addition to the menu.  The description of the dish sounded so nice:  mussels sauteed with diced chorizo, white wine, shallots, red chillies, and fresh herbs.  Garnished with lemon-aioli.  My heart sank when it arrived.  The wine sauce seemed so thin and there were not a lot of chopped shallots or chillies or herbs.  One taste confirmed my suspicion: it was as bland as drinking water.  Actually more like fishy water.  Yuck.  When the dish is cooked properly with fresh mussels it's very simple and beautiful.  I guess it's difficult to get fresh mussels here?  They can at least clean them properly nonetheless.  The mussels all had beards on them and there's no excuse for that.  

Macaroni and cheese with added grilled breast (RMB58 for macaroni, RMB28 for chicken breast).  While the chicken breast was seasoned and cooked perfectly I can't say the same about the macaroni.  How hard is it to make macaroni and cheese?  Actually the question should be how could they possibly manage to make mac and cheese so bland?  For the first time in years I reached for the bottle of salt.

Perhaps it was us being too adventurous in ordering all the funky stuff but the meal was truly disappointing.  We won't be running back in a hurry.

Element Fresh

4/F KWah House, 1028 Huai Hai Rd. (nr. Donghu Rd.), Shanghai.  Tel: 5403-8865