its chinese food promotion month at siam paragon, how fekkin' great is that?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

last month was italian food and everyone went absolutely bat shit eating cheese, cured hams and every other italian delicacy, now it is chinese food month. leave it up to the siam paragon folks to hit balls out of the park one right after another.

i was on my way to doing some of that great sunday banking they have at paragon mall when i spied the peking duck stand. i have always been a big fan of duck, prepared any way at all, and to have it peking style is always a treat.

when i was the food and beverage manager at siam city hotels in pattaya a few years back each of the two sister hotels on beach road had fantastic chinese kitchens that served peking duck. whenever i was on duty, and i saw an order come in, i would run and stand in the kitchen and wait for it to be served so i could scarf the carcass and all the great tidbits that cling to it. i also got a rush when the gas was fired up in the duck ovens that put that great glaze and crispness to the skin. the amount of pressure and the loud whooshing sound makes it seem like you are at an airport right on the tarmac when a jet is revving its engines.

did you know that the skin is always cut int he exact same pattern, the exact same number of pieces and its done with a big ass clever, not a small little knife as one might think? some chefs are so adept at carving ducks that they can perform the entire procedure wearing white cloth gloves that remain spotless form beginning to end.

i was in such a hurry to eat my serving that, again, i forgot to take a picture, but then i bought 4 more portions for take away to give to my friends that i would be meeting shortly thereafter. so here are some shots of the booth, the assorted foods, and some peking duck fast food style. price: 150 baht or $4.47 usd per serving. right, under 5 dollars and there are 10 pancakes with all the trimmings.

portions on display.

chinese style kao-kaa-moo, braised anise scented pork leg.
these were some of the largest i have ever seen.
and they looked just great.
but alas,
no room for moo today we will be stuffing our face with duck.

simmering soup, is that cooker big enough for ya?

fried bean curd items.

i had an assortment plate and it was great.
not greasy at all, and meatless, too.

steamed pork buns and duck roll ups in rice pancakes.

this lady was great.
she loved that i loved her duck so much
that i came back and bought 4 more orders for my friends.

this is peking duck take away style.

and again, lid open.



ready to nosh.



what the inside looks like.

my friend khun ice enjoying a box of peking duck.
she was amazed that anyone would have thought to bring some for others to enjoy.
she ate an entire box by herself, and she had just eaten an entire meal of thai food.

i just love to watch girls eat with their hands, don't you?

the best food court in the city could very well be at siam paragon now

i had to go to the bank today, sunday, and unlike most other cities, bangkok is very civilized and user friendly. banks have full service branches in the local malls and they're open 7 days a week, and usually from the moment the malls open, until the doors shut. where else can this be done? nowhere as far as i know.

so after i finished my banking i decided to have lunch. i was in siam paragon one of bangkok's newest, largest, and swankiest malls. on the ground floor you will find all the banking and all the food. miles of it. simply awesome to behold. every cuisine, country and taste is represented. i would think that there is not one thing you could think of, from anywhere in the world, that would not be there, unless it is an endangered species, or on re-call by the fda.

i took a cruise through the food court to see what was on for today and a beautiful bowl of duck leg and chinese egg noodle soup caught my eye. so i got my food court debit card from the cashier and ordered a bowl with one extra thigh just for good measure. total cost 200 baht, or $6.00 usd. i was in such a hurry to eat that i forgot to take the picture until i was half way through it, sorry. but i think you'll get the idea.

the duck was falling off the bone when the girl went to slice it, and the noodles were a perfect al dente, just as i like them. tossed with a bit of toasted garlic, mild chili paste and a small spoon of soya, it was as, i always hope to say, simplicity and elegance.

after having my bowl of soup i was in the mood for a pastry and an espresso, so i cruised across to the french patisserie lenotre. there are a few of them in bkk, but this one seems to have the best assortment, and it is all the freshest. most likely because they are doing way more business than the others do.

i had my favorite, mille-fueille. it looks so plain and as if there is nothing to it, but if i could make one half as good as lenotre, i would be very pleased with myself, and a hell of lot pudgier than i am. typically the cream in these things anywhere else gets a tough skin on it and tastes like the bag or the box the mix came in, and the pastry is either soggy or to hard. lenotre seems to have solved both of these problems (i can not imagine having one made buy the chef who taught the locals how to do it - that would be pure heaven no doubt). i took a quick stab at the top and my fork easily pierced through the crispy light leaf of puff. i then turned the fork on it's side to cut off a mouthful. it simply went straight through and the cream, although it smooshed just a tad, held its own and did not squirt out the sides. a truly miraculous feat of patisserie.

upon lifting this treat to my mouth i could smell its subtle aroma and the pleasure that awaited. i placed it on my tongue and i could feel the cream simply melting on touch. perfect taste and not too sweet like so many of the bake shops in this town (and across asia for that matter). the pastry was flaky, and it too began to melt as i savored the moment. just like the soup, it was all gone in a flash. i cleared my throat with half of a double espresso (i was quite surprised when they told me the beans come from bon cafe , thank god they weren't from starbucks), popped the perfect pistachio meringue cookie in, and then finished it all off with the remaining half of my double. total cost for that, 251 baht or $7.60 usd. i remember paying that much for 2 hard-as-nails-dry-like-sand cookies in nyc just a year ago.

all in all, a great 2 course lunch, and a great trip to paragon mall.

some really low quality video clips i took at pargon when it had first opened.

i only had a little nikon cool pix s1, which is what i use to take all of these images and videos.

small, easy to use, easy to transfer to pc, and the software works quite well too.

i simply keep it on my belt in a nylon holster.