Tang Frères

While I was searching for one TV channel a few days ago, I bumped into the airing, featuring “Thai Food reaches the world”. What really thrilled me is not the food, it is the place they are promoting: Tang Brothers, “ Tang Frères”, in Paris 13e district or Paris’s China Town. My thoughts flashed back to a few years back instantly: noodles, fish sauce, jasmine rice, you name it, I can find them there. Going there from time to time was an addiction for my dear friends, and me and luckily for us, Tang Frères completed our need for Asian food.

After watching the program and heard those two brothers speak perfect Thai, I began to curious about them. So I did a little search and found out the following:  It is inspiring, Bou and Bounmy Rattanavan born in Laos by Chinese parents, and here is the timeline.

  - 1971: Bounmy arrived from Laos and enrolled at INSA Lyon.

 - 1976:Bounmy and his elder brother Bou, create Tang Brothers, an import-

    export of Asian  products.

 - 1995: creation of Tang Brothers International.

 - 2001: Tang Media begins to distribute French films in China.

 - 2006: launch Chinese channels television in France.

Well, I have a confession to make here; I miss the chicken sandwich, which contains the unusual ingredients like pickled vegetables and fresh chili from the small shop near “Tang Frères”. (The style is between the French Bistro sandwich and Subway). I just wish I had a chance to go there once again and live for the moment.


* The logo is from Google search and the timeline of the Brothers are from here.

Rose Garden Riverside 3!

While I was walking back to the place I was staying, I encountered this lovely café, namely Rim Klong. My curiosity brought me inside the café and I suddenly fell in love with their decoration. It is clean, simple, cozy and what more can I ask from the café in the middle of 70 acres property.

As I had a cup of coffee during my breakfast time, and I was thirsty after a long walk, I went for a homemade sorbet, which is sold @35 Bahts per scoop, instead of coffee or tea. Since then, I repetitively go there just to taste as many sorbet as I can during my stay, and at one point, I manage to get my other half to go there with me.  These mangos, coffee, coconut sorbet pictures make my mouth water every time I take a look at them.

One more thing I love from that café is the fresh bakery: cake, cookies, and pastry, you name it, and they have got it. Those homemade bites are quite delicious, and not expensive. Baked okra was unforgettable, and as a result we ended up buying some snacks from that shop. 

A short-order cook!

I have a difficult time of eating new food, cooking new recipe, or trying new things out of my habit. I hope those excuses qualify for my not so great dishes at home, and here they are, my usual meals.I always pan-fry these eggplants before I turn them into one of my favorite dish, Burmese style eggplant dish.

When it comes to shrimp or fish or meat, me and my other half do have our preferences, for example, while I love eating the combination of shrimp and bamboo shoot dish, he definitely goes for pan-fried ground shrimp ball or pickled fish.

Normally, we can’t resist vegetables and here are a few dishes. In truth, I am facing the dilemma of trying new recipes or eating the same dishes, which is such a crushing bore. 

Spicy masala Okra

Rose Garden Riverside 2!

This is a continuant post of Thai Village in Rose Garden Riverside. I was strolling around the village alone, and of course took those not so prominent pictures. I spent one and half-hour there, and headed back to the place I was staying due to hot weather. 

Chinese delights

When I was scrolling my photos this morning, these photos from China Town suddenly caught my eyes. It was taken 3 months ago and now I understand why my beloved other half has been nagging me to go there. The only China Town I know in Bangkok is the area around Yaowarat Road, where gold shops, eating places, variety of shops available. Some of my friends love to shop at China Town as they can negotiate the price or, better than that they can get the wholesale price when they buy 3 pieces or more. Of course you need to be careful of pickpockets, and not to be lost around the network of alleys.

What can we normally eat at China Town? Obviously, Chinese Food, and there are tons of places from stall places to high-end, from dim sum to seafood and most of them are good. Normally we go to a small shop (not the fancy restaurants), which sells soup, and dessert.

Fish Maw Soup

Shark Fin Soup 

The dishes we normally eat are fried rice with crab, stirred fried morning glory, fish maw soup and shark fin soup, accompanied by sweet chrysanthemum beverage. The shop is not grand, the price are not so cheap but affordable, and the food taste great (they don’t put sugar in every meal like most places).  Fried rice is my favorite since I don’t like the texture of shark fin and fish maw in the soup. However, I always help my other half to finish the soup, (but not the ingredients), and always buy something to enjoy the next day. 

Rose Garden Riverside 1!

Recently, I have had a chance to experience garland making, fruit carving, rice pounding and cultivating, etc. in Thai Village @ the Rose Garden Riverside, which is located an hour drive without traffic from Bangkok. Though I am interested in art, I will not succeed in making beautiful flower garlands or fruit carving for sure. 

I have heard so much about fruit carving from my teacher, and sadly for me, it is not even possible to hold the knife to execute the designs.  By the way, fruit carving is the part of Thai heritage, and they are meant to enchant the table and create the fabulous visual arts.

What can we do @ Rose Garden riverside? We can spend our morning @ Thai Village and Thai Village culture show in the afternoon. The entrance fees for each program is 500 Bahts/person and for the moment they have promotions: only 390 Bahts/person/program including International Buffet lunch. I missed the Cultural show as the show time slips my mind. I have noticed a lot of students were there to learn the culture and I believe they have had a great time. 

Hello Bangkok, Goodbye Yangon 11!

A quick recap of my recent trip to Yangon would be the following: the growth of my youngest nephew, the improved health of my father, the rainy days, a few insults from a never before met so-called acquaintance, the lovely family from Sakura Dental clinic (Thanks a lot, Ma Ma War for the presents and discount), and most of all busy as bee dear friends. Anyway, we are trilled to have friends like them, calling us from time to time, and treated us with a lunch or dinner.

Normally I would have lunch at home, but this specific day, we got a call from his childhood friend who wanted us to experience Burmese food @ this famous shop (Feel), as if we were not Burmese.  So there we were, shocked by the variety of dishes, sweated it out in the shop, which has only one entrance, a few windows in the front and a few fans which can function only one direction.  It was dark, noisy, and so-so dishes and yet crowded. I am sure that the rest of us won’t perceive the same, as I am such an uncooperative, pessimistic person in my milieu.

We were also invited by his friend’s couple to have dinner at Shwe Kaung Hot Pot. I have never been to that place even though it is located in the township I live. It is an open-air shop and I don’t have to worry about my claustrophobia or acousticophobia. The only thing I don’t like is the price, though we are not the ones who pay. We can select vegetables, seafood, and meat of our preference first and let’s the feast begins. They provide clear and the spicy soup, and without doubt I love the spicy ones, which reminds me of Yunan province.

Remarks:

I love the pizza, though the shrimps were not supposed to be dried, the cake and the fresh fruit provided by the airline. Just like Ma Ma KOM commented before, the Yangon trip will always be “never ending story”. Even so I would like to end my most recent trip with this post and personally wish to have more new posts under this “ Hello Bangkok, Goodbye Yangon” title. 

Hello Bangkok, Goodbye Yangon 10!

Snacks of my last trip would be puri, vadai and dosai from different teahouses. The above vadai and tea were from Mercury teahouse, located across from B.E.H.S No (5) Batathaung.  They were delicious indeed but it was the presentation, the smell from the kitchen, and the young students who didn’t care the surroundings, bothered me the whole time I was sitting there. I can’t imagine what kind of life they are living, school, lunch at teahouse, tuition, learning with special guide at home, tv, computer games, and yet the parents have to figure out what kind of Batik the teachers like.

These puri, dosai and unforgettable tea were from one of the Golden City teahouse branches, one of favorite places to have Indian food in Yangon: not really dirty, reasonable price, and can get refilled for the side dish whether you order curry or dosai. However, some branches can be noisy, crowded and hot.

Season

Zaw Gyi House

Coffee Circles

Enough with the Indian snacks and tea, and let’s talk about coffee that I had from Season, Zaw Gyi House and Coffee circles during my last trip. Excepting the Premier 2 plus 1 coffee that I drink every day, I love the one from Zaw Gyi house. Coffee from Season was not so memorable, and the one from Coffee Circles was so strong for my taste. Anyway, I am content with the wifi service from Coffee Circles and Pwint Thit San Café, which is situated on the Kabaaye Pagonda Road, Bahan Township.