I like to think I'm a pretty good traveler. On a rather cold and showery night, Brad and I had made plans to eat with Ben and Ania at Spice I Am. Which was very conveniently a mere 2 minutes from our hotel.
However, I really should have known better than to show up at a place at 7pm when they have a no reservation policy. Flowing out onto the street with people waiting to be seated, I very promptly made the executive decision (as I generally do when it comes to food) to go around the corner and check out House, which I had earlier checked on a whim on Google maps.
Empty tables, waitresses eagerly ushering us in, it was time to make a change in plans.
The sign outside advertises that House serves 'street-style Northern Thai food', although I have to say the interior is fairly sharp, bright and modern. I suppose street food can be classy.
And for those who commonly associate Thai food with Pad Thai (although I was really craving one), don't expect that sort of fare when you show up at House. Oh and have your chilli-resistant tongue ready, they like it spicy here.
We decided to go with the approach of, let's all pick a dish each and do it family style. Ben opted for the green papaya salad, with eggplant, fried fish and a smorgasbord of other veggies. Oh and um, chilli. A lot of it. Was certainly not expecting it to be so spicy, but the first bite was quite the hit. But if you could navigate your way around the salad to avoid the majority of the chilli's it was very refreshing and tasty.
This caught both Ania and my eye on the menu, so of course we decided to order it. A mackerel dip with fresh veggies. Again, a little bit spicier than expected, but not as surprising as the salad fortunately! This was really tasty though, quite fishy just to warn those who may not like that kind of thing. We ended up finishing the dip and leaving all the veggies! It's actually quite perfect with the rice we found.
Ox tongue, which to my delight Ania was a fan of as well, so I put on my dictator hat and made sure it was ordered. Although I was slightly disappointed it looked like such a small serve on the plate, it was quite scrumptious and full of flavour.
Fried chicken. We needed some good, hot protein on this chilly night. And it was so reassuring to see a generous portion, since our three other dishes were slightly on the small side. This was wonderfully hearty and well cooked, not dry at all and especially delicious since it was served with the skin. Mmmmm.
I would also suggest to people to order the sticky rice over your standard steam rice. It's firstly, delicious, a bit sweeter and secondly, just fun to eat. You get it in the adorable....bamboo-like container and then earn your dinner calories by tackling and wrestling with it with the spoon onto your plate.
There's always, always, that little spot in your stomach for dessert afterwards. And having kept up with the blogs in Sydney before travelling down, I had heard of various dessert specials that were off the menu. This is one of them. It's called a BTS, short for 'Better Than Sex'. A very generous scoop of fragrant pandan ice-cream, plopped onto a perfectly toasted brioche and hip-lovingly spread with butter. Topped off with some maple syrup or something similar (again I forget).
Whilst not quite 'Better Than Sex', as the two couples consented, the girls did come to the conclusion, depending on the right person, it could be 'Better Than Making Out'. The light, sweet flavours of the pandan just accentuated the richness in the brioche, with a slight crunch on it's golden crust. Disgustingly beautiful.
I can't remember if this had a name, but it was essentially coconut ice-cream served over the top of a luscious chocolate cake/cupcake. Coconut and chocolate just go amazingly together.
The chocolate was rich, the coconut light, it was devoured within minutes.
All in all, I am perfectly happy with the events of the night, swinging us from one location, to another which I had actually been more keen on trying. (Just quietly). I would've like maybe a little more warning on the menu or something, so that I could brace my tastebuds a bit, but overall, flavours were great. Initially I did feel that the portions were pretty small, except for the chicken, but between two girls and two guys, followed by dessert, we all found ourselves pretty well stuffed. And well. Dessert was exceptional. Mmmm!
However, I really should have known better than to show up at a place at 7pm when they have a no reservation policy. Flowing out onto the street with people waiting to be seated, I very promptly made the executive decision (as I generally do when it comes to food) to go around the corner and check out House, which I had earlier checked on a whim on Google maps.
Empty tables, waitresses eagerly ushering us in, it was time to make a change in plans.
The sign outside advertises that House serves 'street-style Northern Thai food', although I have to say the interior is fairly sharp, bright and modern. I suppose street food can be classy.
And for those who commonly associate Thai food with Pad Thai (although I was really craving one), don't expect that sort of fare when you show up at House. Oh and have your chilli-resistant tongue ready, they like it spicy here.
We decided to go with the approach of, let's all pick a dish each and do it family style. Ben opted for the green papaya salad, with eggplant, fried fish and a smorgasbord of other veggies. Oh and um, chilli. A lot of it. Was certainly not expecting it to be so spicy, but the first bite was quite the hit. But if you could navigate your way around the salad to avoid the majority of the chilli's it was very refreshing and tasty.
This caught both Ania and my eye on the menu, so of course we decided to order it. A mackerel dip with fresh veggies. Again, a little bit spicier than expected, but not as surprising as the salad fortunately! This was really tasty though, quite fishy just to warn those who may not like that kind of thing. We ended up finishing the dip and leaving all the veggies! It's actually quite perfect with the rice we found.
Ox tongue, which to my delight Ania was a fan of as well, so I put on my dictator hat and made sure it was ordered. Although I was slightly disappointed it looked like such a small serve on the plate, it was quite scrumptious and full of flavour.
Fried chicken. We needed some good, hot protein on this chilly night. And it was so reassuring to see a generous portion, since our three other dishes were slightly on the small side. This was wonderfully hearty and well cooked, not dry at all and especially delicious since it was served with the skin. Mmmmm.
I would also suggest to people to order the sticky rice over your standard steam rice. It's firstly, delicious, a bit sweeter and secondly, just fun to eat. You get it in the adorable....bamboo-like container and then earn your dinner calories by tackling and wrestling with it with the spoon onto your plate.
There's always, always, that little spot in your stomach for dessert afterwards. And having kept up with the blogs in Sydney before travelling down, I had heard of various dessert specials that were off the menu. This is one of them. It's called a BTS, short for 'Better Than Sex'. A very generous scoop of fragrant pandan ice-cream, plopped onto a perfectly toasted brioche and hip-lovingly spread with butter. Topped off with some maple syrup or something similar (again I forget).
Whilst not quite 'Better Than Sex', as the two couples consented, the girls did come to the conclusion, depending on the right person, it could be 'Better Than Making Out'. The light, sweet flavours of the pandan just accentuated the richness in the brioche, with a slight crunch on it's golden crust. Disgustingly beautiful.
I can't remember if this had a name, but it was essentially coconut ice-cream served over the top of a luscious chocolate cake/cupcake. Coconut and chocolate just go amazingly together.
The chocolate was rich, the coconut light, it was devoured within minutes.
All in all, I am perfectly happy with the events of the night, swinging us from one location, to another which I had actually been more keen on trying. (Just quietly). I would've like maybe a little more warning on the menu or something, so that I could brace my tastebuds a bit, but overall, flavours were great. Initially I did feel that the portions were pretty small, except for the chicken, but between two girls and two guys, followed by dessert, we all found ourselves pretty well stuffed. And well. Dessert was exceptional. Mmmm!
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Looks like a very cool place:)
ReplyDeleteWith great food, thanks for this wonderful tip:)
SP