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Baan Peeraka Garden Restaurant

Baan Peeraka Garden Restaurant

Baan Peeraka Garden Restaurant

Besides visiting the good ol’ Hua Seng Hong Shark’s Fin and Bankhunmae on every Bangkok trip, we decided to venture beyond the lesser known central touristy area of Bangkok for some authentic Thai fare. The family-ran Baan Peeraka Garden Restaurant has been highly recommended by locals for their authentic and reasonably priced Thai cuisine.

(clockwise from top left) Deep Fried Sun Dried Pork; Papaya Salad; Peppercorn and Squid with Basil; Squid with Basil

The Deep Fried Sun Dried Pork, not commonly found in Thai restaurants, made a good appetizer. The pork belly was diced and deep fried to full crispiness. They were salty and pretty greasy on their own. Thankfully, the sun dried pork came in small cubes and when we wrapped them with the accompanying greens, their intense flavours were reduced by the refreshing crunchy cabbage, long beans and mint leaves. We also ordered the Papaya Salad and the Spicy Crispy Pork Salad. The Papaya Salad was mediocre but the Spicy Crispy Pork Salad was unique. There was hardly any hint of meat in this Spicy Crispy Pork Salad as the crispy pork had a texture and taste likened to that of deep fried yam/tapioca strands. The spicy sweet sauce drenched over the crispy pork was not overly spicy and made the overall meaty dish light and refreshing. The Tom-Yam Koong was rather average, perhaps not of a level of spiciness to our liking.

The Squid with Basil and Peppercorn and Squid with Basil tasted similar in terms of preparation and sauce, saved for the garnishes added. These tasted like the ordinary Zi Char or Chinese restaurant fare of stir-fried squid in garlic oyster sauce. The only Thai element found in them would probably be the basil leaves.

(clockwise from top left) Stir-fried Chili Fresh Water Fish; Deep-fried Sundried Fish with Mango Salad; Stir-fried Sunflower Sprouts; Stir-fried Chinese Cabbage

The Stir-fried Chilli Fresh Water Fish consisted of a steamed fish with chopped green chilli and garlic toppings. The steamed fish was very fresh and tender while the mildly spicy accompaniments accentuated the overall taste of the fish. A very healthy and appetizing dish. On the other hand, the texture of the Deep-fried Sundried Fish with Mango Salad was a stark contrast from the fresh water fish. The deep fried fish was less juicy but crispier and harder. There was also no hint of fishiness. It tasted bland on its own but the sour and mildly spicy Mango Salad saved the dish. This Mango Salad was more appetizing than the Papaya Salad as it was more sour and of a harder texture compared to the papaya.

We ordered two vegetable dishes – Stir-fried Chinese Cabbage and Stir-fried Sunflower Sprouts which tasted average

Deep Fried Pork Knuckles

Another dish which impressed us has got to be the Deep Fried Pork Knuckles with mashed potatoes. Originally a German dish, the Baan’s version was one with a less crispy pork knuckle skin, where the numerous risen bubbles in the deep fried skin were not visible. The pork was tender and flavourful. It went well with the creamy mustard or the specially concocted Thai green chilli sauce.

(top to bottom) Fried Rice with Crispy Salted Fish; Fried Rice Noodles with Shrimp

For carbohydrates loading – Fried Rice Noodles with Shrimp and Fried Rice with Crispy Salted Fish. The fried noodles were interesting and unique. It did not have the starchiness of typical noodles but had the crispiness of fried vermicelli. The golden brown delights came in small strands and possessed a characteristic salty fragrance. In fact, it was akin to those deep fried garlic garnishes or Japanese dried garnishes that would have gone well with plain rice. And that was exactly what we did to the Fried Rice which was on the bland side. The crispy salted fish in the fried rice did not turn out to be salty after all. In fact, it resembled more of deep fried fish skin.

Thai Banana in Syrup Topped with Coconut Cream

Baan does not serve the typical Thai desserts like syrup soaked yam or tapioca and red ruby ice. We were recommended to try their best seller – Thai Banana in Syrup Topped with Coconut Cream. The puny Thai banana was aged with syrup and drizzled with coconut cream. The star of this dessert has got to be the coconut ice cream made with young coconut. The coconut ice cream was not overwhelming with intense coconut milk flavour, but had a light flavour akin to the coconut water within the coconut. One would occasionally bite into some chewy coconut flesh with texture likened to Nata de coco/sea coconut. The dessert was also lightly salted at some parts of the base, which added new dimensions to this dessert.

For refreshments, we had the Iced Lime and Honey. The freshly squashed lime juice was refreshing. The extreme sourness was well balanced with the addition of honey which sank to the bottom. This beverage came in handy to soothe and take the heat off the spicy Thai meal.

The entire meal was around SGD110 which was satisfying and value for money.

Baan Peeraka Garden Restuarant
41/37 Romklao Khwang Min Buri Khet Min Buri
Bangkok 10510

Hua Seng Hong Shark’s Fin 和成豐鱼翅

Hua Seng Hong Shark’s Fin has expanded over the years from a warm and cramped restuarant to a more spacious and air-conditioned one. This has definitely made our most recent visit a more enjoyable one. This resturant will not strike a chord with wildlife activist but this is definitely a place to go for shark’s fin lovers. Priced at a mere Baht 300 (S$12), one would be served a generous portion of shark’s fin stewed to perfection in a piping hot, thick and flavourful soup. One would never get such a bargain in Singapore’s Thai or Chinese resturant, not even Rama Thai which often offer Shark’s fin soup promotion. The fish maw soup (Baht 200, S$8) was an equally good deal.

Shark’s Fin Soup with Crab Meat in Red Soup

Stewed Fish Maw in Red Soup

Another dish not to be missed here is the egg noodles/green noodles with crab claw and shrimp dumplings. The green noodles (not shown here) are unique to Thailand, though we could not tell the distinct difference in taste between the egg noodles and green noodles. Nevertheless, they are still worth a try. A seemingly simple and ordinary noodle dish, this was well flavoured despite not having any apparent sauce (like those in Wanton noodles) added to the dry noodles. We gathered from the slight saltiness of the noodles that fish soy sauce could have been added to accentuate the overall taste of the dish. Another perk is the generous portion of shredded crab meat which allowed us to enjoy the crab meat while saving us the untidiness and hassle of handling the crab.

Egg Noodle with Crabs Claw and Shrimp Dumpling

The crab cake and the oyster omelette did not fare as well. No doubt the paste was generously filled with crab meat, but we felt that the crab cake was a little too oily from the deep-frying and this process seemed to have diminished the very taste of the crab. The omelette though not over-starchy, was a little too thick and soft instead of the thinner and crispier kind which we prefered. However, the oysters added were big and juicy.

Fried Crab Meat with Japanese Beancurd

Fried Oyster Omelette

Har Gow

A new introduction to Hua Seng Hong Shark’s Fin was a section on Dim Sum. They had a decent range of Dim Sum but having tried the Har Gow, we personally felt that they weren’t up to standard. Good Dim Sum are still best found in Hong Kong. As for Hua Seng Hong Shark’s Fin, we felt that it would be better if they could stay true to their name and not venture into unknown territories.

Hua Seng Hong Shark’s Fin 和成豐鱼翅
China Town
Chareankrung
Bangkok, Thailand

Bankhunmae

Situated at the heart of Bangkok’s popular shopping area Siam Square, Ban Khun Mae Restaurant is an authentic and very accessible Thai resturant not to be missed. The best item has got to be the claypot of glass noodles and baked prawns. The glass noodles together with mushrooms and garlics were pan fried and stewed, producing a very well-flavored and fragrant dish. The glass noodles did not turn up soggy but remained springy and chewy despite having absorbed the essence of the sauce. Buried underneath the glass noodles was a handful of big baked prawns, comparable to the size of crayfish. These were succulent and fresh. We ordered the glass noodle with crab on another occasion but felt that the crab was less impressive.

Baked Prawns with Glass Noodles

Another dish not to be missed is the Tom Yam Soup. The soup was thick, sour and very spicy, definitely tantalizing for the tastebuds. It was evident from the not so clear soup that either milk or coconut has been added. However, these were barely detectable and rest assure that one would not feel too sick from the milk or coconut. The soup remained equally refreshing. However, the salt content may be a little too high and one would feel overwhelmed with saltiness if the soup was overly consumed. Generous ingredients of prawns, mushroom and tomatoes are definitely plus points for the Tom Yam Soup.

Tom Yam Soup

The mango salad and papaya salad (not shown here) went well with our tastebuds too, making excellent starters.  On the other hand, we felt that the pandan chicken and the other fried items did not fare as well. The chicken wrapped in the pandanus leaves were a little too chuncky, dried and tough for our liking. The addition of tenderizers should be considered to improve the overall texture of the chicken. However, the marinade was good. Other fried items such as crab pancake, salted sotong, fried grouper were average fare, perhaps due to the fact that we are not exactly fans of fried food.

(from top to bottom) Deep Fried Marinated Chicken Wrapped With Pandanus; Deep Fried Grouper Topped With Chili Sauce

 

(from top to bottom) Deep Fried Squid Seasoned With Garlic and Pepper; Mango Salad

Boiled Tapioca in Syrup with Coconut Milk Sauce

Boiled Taro in Syrup with Coconut Milk Sauce

Sticky Rice with Ripe Mango

Another thing one should not missed from Ban Khun Mae Restaurant are the Thai desserts. Even though we are not fans of coconut, we were still won over by their desserts. All the desserts contained coconut milk sauce, which was drizzled over the yam, sweet potato (not shown here), tapioca or sticky glutinous rice. The coconut milk sauce was different from those we have tried in Singapore in that it was fragrant milky coconut with a slight tinge of saltiness. It was a great accompaniment to the sweet yam, tapioca and sweet potato which had been soaked earlier in honey syrup.    

Service here was prompt and the dishes were served swiftly after the orders were made. A typical meal for 6 cost around Baht 2300 (S$100). Ban Khun Mae Resturant is a place to go to for good, authentic and affordable Thai cuisine or a good resting place to catch some desserts after shopping.

Ban Khun Mae Restaurant
458/6-9 Siam
Square Soi 8, Rama 1 Road,
Patumwan District, Bangkok 10330