Phet Lover - Tom Parker Bowles in Bangkok

Good piece on Bangkok street food.. or one man's quest for fire and spice ... from Tom Parker Bowles (TPB) in the latest GQ magazine.

TPB (his mum is Camila and his step-dad is Prince Charles) did the "hard yards" in the culinary sense and top marks to him for trying many dishes, and visiting all types of eateries and restaurants across town.

This is a great primer for food lovers heading to Thailand for the first time. 

Only one small error however -Bintang is the most popular beer in Indonesia not Thailand. Here it's a slug out between Beer Chang and Singha.  

In the Heat of the Night

Public Service Announcement

Not much good stuff comes for free these days but here's something that is.

This Kid Cudi curated soundtrack to new'ish HBO series, "How To Make It In America" is brilliant and a tonic for jaded iTunes playlists.

I love the Duck Sauce, Yacht, Chromeo and Wave Machine tracks - but they are all pretty excellent especially if taken in one listen. I challenge you to stay still. 

The series is also also good - maybe the topic of another post - the absolute star of the show is New York City. As a colleague once told me in a NYC bar (that was once a hair salon) ...."New York City - motherfucking centre of the universe"....

Thanks to cuz Robert for this recommendation.

Download (free and legally) the soundtrack 

Pla Dib

Good times and eats guaranteed.

Memo to Tourism Thailand, your next "Amazing Thailand" promo/campaign should include Pla Dib restaurant.

This Ari dining gem is one of our most loved and frequently visited eateries in BKK. A place we bring many of our overseas visitors - as we did on Friday - with good friends from Singapore.

Over the past couple of years we've also shared fantastic meals with other visiting food lovers including the hungry Samoan, close pals from Indonesia and the Netherlands and family members from New Zealand. Pla Dib has never failed to deliver a memorable and special night.

We love its stripped back, industrial-styled decor and laid back charm.

Most of all... we dig the food.

The incredible seafood ceviche.

While I loathe the "fusion" tag, Pla Dib does fusion superbly, better than any "modern Asian" eatery that we've ever been to. Rather than mixing recipes and ideas to shock or show off, the Pla Dib chefs subtly blend predominantly Japanese and Thai flavours and ingredients to produce interesting, original and most importantly, bloody delicious food.

Regular orders include the seafood ceviche - cubed salmon, tuna, prawns and octopus topped with a Japanese dressing; goyza; salmon laab, soft shell crab salad, beef salad and the blowtorch salmon sushi. Other notable dishes include a perfectly cooked duck confit, crispy wood fired pizza and more.

Pla Dib also boasts a pretty diverse drinks list with a good selection of wine and beer (Stella and Hoegaarden on tap).

Music is a final ingredient that takes Pla Dib into our BKK restaurant hall of fame - specifically, the in-house DJs who provide an awesome mix of soul, reggae, dub, funk, jazz and mellow electronica sounds. A great change from the endless bossa nova endured at other trendy BKK eating and drinking establishments.

Bookings are are must - Pla Dib Facebook page

Trillion Dollar Bill

20 words to describe Bill Withers - soulful, wise, funky, smart, loving, proud, humble, honest (brutally honest), inspirational, profound, funny, generous, poetic, kind, loyal, thoughtful, perfectionist, independent, articulate and compassionate.

Even if you're not familiar with his amazing music, the 2009 "Still Bill" documentary on Withers' life, songs, family, friends, struggles and achievements is worth seeking out. He is a superhuman super human and the author of "Lean On Me," one of my all-time favourite songs..  I even like Club Nouveau's version.

NYT's Still Bill review 

In Praise of the Bluff Oyster

Bluff Oysters - a gastronomic wonder of the world

Back in the Big Mango now after 2.5 weeks of eating, drinking and driving... not at the same time... across the eastern and central parts of New Zealand's (NZ) North Island.

Besides magnificent feasts cooked by family and friends, we visited some super eateries. In Gisborne (my home town), the Soho bar in the wharf area serves a very decent lunch, especially the $25 set that includes a starter, a delicious fish main and a glass of wine or beer. A good value feed indeed. Cafe 1874 in the Poverty Bay Club in town is a terrific spot for coffee and the Provence flavoured Matawhero Vineyard is perfect for an afternoon wine or 3.

Matawhero - one of my fave wineries in Gisborne

200 kilometres south in Napier we stayed a night at the very comfortable and well located Mission B&B in Taradale. Host, Robert Simon is a national treasure and should be engaged by Tourism NZ to run hospitality courses. He is a raconteur (in English and Cantonese), wine and music buff and a top chef. He cooks a mean and generous breakfast that sees you right for the day.

His B&B is a stone's throw from the regal Mission Estate - NZ's oldest vineyard - equally famous for its wines and annual summer concerts. The restored seminary building at the vineyard houses a fine restaurant.

As an on-the-road treat we ordered the in-season Bluff oysters. While many food bores rave on about truffles, foie gras and caviar etc.. in my opinion, the sweet, succulent 'Bluffy' lords it over these traditional posh nosh pretenders.

Raw or battered and deep fried, the Bluff oyster is food of the gods. Equally good were our John Dory and  fish and chip orders.

TSG's Salmon and green bean hummus dip 

For the best Cantonese food in Auckland, head to the jam-packed Sun World restaurant in Newmarket. Their steamed cod, stir fried string beans and olives and salt baked chicken were some of the standouts. The meal reconfirmed my view that eating Chinese or Asian offers the best value for money dining in NZ.

And a final mention about the new and impressive Tyler Street Garage (TSG) restaurant in the revamped  downtown area.

While the the TSG food and rooftop space is really good - the service was, to put it politely, variable. We copped some serious 'attitude' from the downstairs wait staff who deemed us unworthy to dine upstairs. Luckily for us, their rooftop colleagues were super helpful and friendly.

And whinge #2 - As they arrived 5 minutes before TSG's 11.30am opening time, my mum and gran were told to wait outside by staff. Come on TSG managers! Would you do the same to your respective mums and grans.. very, very poor form.

  

Representing Memphis

How sweet is this??? Talk about a life of surprises.....

On this beaut new Booker T track, Sharon Jones and Matt Berninger, (The National) sound like they've been singing partners for decades. This is from Booker T's new album, "The Road From Memphis" that also includes contributions/assists from Lou Reed and The Roots and more.

One to very much look out for. And when it comes to songs that mention cities and towns, no writes or performs them as well as American artists.

Booker T. Jones - Representing Memphis (featuring Sharon Jones and Matt Berninger)
More about the album

The City I Live In, The City of Angels

"Bangkok City", the newest track from K-Pop sensations, Orange Caramel. Lightweight pop sure, but a way better song than the other ancient and awful "inter" song with Bangkok in the title.

A Tale Of Two Markets

Back in the the motherland (New Zealand) to reunite with family and friends and enjoy NZ's many, many charms. In Auckland last weekend we visited a couple of food markets that reflect the city's diversity.

Saturday night saw us at the Pakuranga Night Market (PNM). A relatively recent introduction, PNM attracted a pretty decent crowd with most heading to the food vendors lining one side of the market. Asian cuisine was well represented with Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese (northern and southern), Indian, Japanese, Malaysian, Indonesian, Singaporean, Pinoy and Korean dishes offered. While they varied in quality, it was great to see the variety of food available enjoyed by people of all nationalities. Oddly, the the stall with the longest line was the New York hotdog stand!

PNM's biggest downside is its ground floor car park location which has as much charm and appeal as a public toilet. But credit to the organisers for providing a new night out option for South Aucklanders.

Clevedon... easy like Sunday morning.

The next morning, we got up early to drive to the Clevedon Village Farmer's Market (CVFM). While only a few kilometres from Pakuranga, CVFM was a million miles apart in terms of market goers, prices, food and produce on sale, and venue. The scenic country barn and farm setting was filled to the brim with many "Chelsea Tractor" driving "Queen Street Farmers" (rich city folks enjoying a bit of country) and their families and friends.

While PNM was all about sushi, shao lung bao, green curry, pho, chop suey, char kway teow and bugulgi, CVFM was paella, bratwurst, baklava, wild salmon, aged beef and lamb, organic vege, cornish pasties, gourmet pies, crepes, salamis, jams, preserves, chutneys, cheeses and more. High-end food at medium to premium prices. But, if you are in the neighbourhood, feeling hungry rather than hungover, and an early Sunday riser, CVFM is well worth a visit.

Links
Pakuranga Night Market
Clevedon Village Farmer's Market