Banting's Beggar Chicken

Somewhere in mid November 2012, we planned a trip to Banting on a Sunday late morning to eat at the famous Restaurant Bukit Jugra. The restaurant has been around for decades as I used to come here with my school friends 30 years ago. The last time I was here was more than 10 years ago and I was excited to see whether the food is still as good or not.

One thing for sure, the journey there is much faster and the roads are in much better conditions and in the past. The surrounding area of the restaurant has changed so much and looks much more suburban than years ago as it was on the verge of a swampy land.

However, there was not much change to the actual restaurant building, still the same Chinese village look.

 

One of the highlights to the restaurant is also to see how the beggar chickens were made. Not much has changed in the way they cook the dishes.

Now back to the food. The restaurant is famous for it's Beggar Chicken but apart from that, there are also a few other dishes that are popular. We ordered the glutinous rice and pork leg, both cooked in the clay and baked. A chicken herbal soup, oyster omelette and a fried fish (deboned and meat reconstructed).

Glutinous rice

The beggar chicken after breaking off the clay

The chicken ready for eating

 "Oh jien" or fried oyster omelette

Pork leg

Fried deboned fish

Herbal soup

All of us agreed that the pork leg is better than the chicken (not than it's not good) and surprisingly the glutinous rice was very good. The herbal chicken soup is also very good. However, the fish and oyster was just average.

Together with drinks and some vegetable, the bill came to about RM 250. There were 7 adults and 1 kid and while we were not stuffed, the food was enough.

The details of the restaurant are as follows. Please note that it is advisable to book and order your food at least a day before going. When we were there, all table were booked and a number of cars arriving without reservations and to be turned away. However, you can "ta pau" home the food.

Restaurant Bukit Jugra (Banting)
03-31202525
Bukit Jugra (Permatang Pasir),
42700 Banting,
Selangor.
Opens from 1 pm to 8 pm.

Until the next time, cheers.

Somboon Seafood Bangkok

Somboon Seafood Restaurant is one of the more popular seafood restaurants in Bangkok. It is especially popular with Japanese tourists. They have a number of branches all over Bangkok but the main branch is located on Suriwongse Road and is normally packed.

The company logo on its menu

The menu is generally what I would term as Thai Chinese food with emphasis on seafood. Thai Chinese food may have dishes of a fusion nature sometimes. The menu is quite extensive and although the place may be packed, food is served quite promptly.

The signature dish here is the fried curry crabs. Many restaurants in Thailand has tried to copy this but they cannot even get close to this dish. Most of my guest and family who come here agrees with me on this.

The famous fried curry crab. A must try.

This trip in December 2012 to this restaurant is with my family and so we did not really indulge in all the rich food. We had kind of a more balanced meal.

Seaweed with tofu soup, a popular dish in Thai Chinese restaurants.

One of my favorites in Thai seafood restaurants is fresh oyster Thai style. In the west, this is normally eaten either with some lemon or tabasco sauce but in Thailand, a host of condiment are added which include fried shallots, 2 types of chilli sauce, a type of "belacan sauce" and a type of vegetable which I can never remember. This vegetable if eaten by itself is bitter but when eaten with the oyster, turns sweet. Very strange but delicious.

Fresh oyster Thai style

One of the popular items here is crab meatballs. This is a popular Thai dish and the ones here are pretty good.

Deep fried crabmeat balls

One of my favorite dish is also fried fish in fish sauce. This is done crunchy on the outside and soft in the inside. When eaten with the sauce, yummy!! This is also a classic dish in Thai restaurants.

Deep fried fish in fish sauce

We ordered this Chinese dish but didn't find it as authentic as in Hong Kong or Malaysia. Normally, we do not order very traditional Chinese dishes because the taste has evolved.

Sea cucumber with mushroom

There are also a number of other interesting dishes which I have not included here and maybe I will post an update later.

One can also order all types of crabs, prawns, shark fins, abalone, squids and all types of meat too. Prices are not cheap by Thai standards.

Large crabs ready for cooking or grilling

Large prawns on the grill

For more information, you can visit their website at www.somboonseafood.com.

Until the next time, cheers.

Assumption Cathedral Bangkok

The Assumption Cathedral in Bangkok is located in the old part of the city, a little off Charoenkrung Road and very nearby to the famous Oriental Hotel. It is also a stone throw away from the Chao Phraya River.

This church has been renovated very beautifully inside in the style of a European style church.

A status of Blesses John Paul II outside the church

The inside of the cathedral

Another view of the inside

Photography was not allowed, so I took just a couple of quick photo. We attended the Saturday sunset mass.

A view of the entrance

The main facade of the cathedral

The contact details of the cathedral are as follows :

ASSUMPTION CATHEDRAL
23 Oriental Avenue, New Road,
Bangkok, Bangkok 10500
Tel: (02)234-8556,
(02)234-4592, (02)233-7120
www.assumption-cathderal.com

The only problem is the website is not in English although there are English sections. You can also get more information of the cathedral from following wikipedia page, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assumption_Cathedral,_Bangkok

You can also have details of mass times for the various churches in Bangkok on this webpage, http://www.stjohn.ac.th/Department/info/ch_schedule.html.

Until the next time, cheers.