Bangkok - Train Market

The train market was one of Nick's favorite parts of the trip.  We actually saw few other tourists there.  It was great to see a more local activity.

For two of our four days in Bangkok, we had hired a guide through Tour with Tong.  I had heard fantastic reviews of Tong and her team, including one from a good friend who'd used her the previous year.  Unfortunately I found Tong's services very lacking.  She is terrible at responding the emails.  After we had booked, we tried to confirm our itineraries and meeting times with her on a nearly daily basis in the weeks before leaving.  She did not answer or sent us back an email saying she would work on it or get back to us later.  We arrived in Bangkok without hearing from her.  We had our hotel concierge call the morning after we arrived for the next day.  If the concierge hadn't called, she was planning on ignoring our reservations.  The guide we were assigned was called by her to lead our tour the night before.  

Our guide, Charlie, was excellent for the two days that we had him.  I just cannot recommend booking through Tong though.  The lack of organization and customer service were terrible and there are many other great guides available in Bangkok.

The first stop of our day with Charlie was the train market about 45 minutes outside of Bangkok in a small town.  We got there early and toured the market a little bit.  It was quite odorous.  Fish + hot day = smelly.  They offered all kinds of produce, seafood, and meat.  I'd never seen some of the produce.  They had creepy things like eels.

The market is set up right along a train track and we wandered up and down for a while checking out the food for sale.

The train comes through about four times a day.  Seconds before the trains come through the vendors pull in their canopies and their wares.  

They actually leave some of their goods sitting on the ground and the train runs right over the top of them!  This didn't make me feel confident in the cleanliness of some of the food after a dirty train goes right over.

Bangkok - Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew

The next stop was the Grand Palace compound which includes Wat Phra Kaew, also known as the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.  

Admission is 350 baht and there is a strict dress code to enter.  

Shoulders and knees must be covered.  Flip-flops are not supposed to be worn.  I forgot to change into my other sandals I'd brought in my purse and was not stopped though.  There are clothes that you an enter at the entrance of the palace.  They are the same for boys and girls.  So what that means is guys get to wear long skirts!  I almost wish I'd conveniently "forgotten" to tell Nick about the dress code so I could take pictures of him in the embarassing outfit.  Also nothing see through, no leggings as pants, and no vast amounts of cleavage  or you'll have to cover up.

Admission is also valid for 7 days at Vimanmek Mansion, another palace in town.

Like Wat Pho, the colors were beautiful.  I found Wat Phra Kaew to be the most beautifully decorated temple that we saw in Thailand.  Jewels, gold, color everywhere.

You aren't actually allowed to photograph inside the temple that holds the emerald Buddha though so no pictures of the main event.

Bangkok - Wat Pho

After over 24 hours of travelling we finally arrived in Bangkok at 1 am. The first stop the next morning was Wat Pho.

Bangkok is quite an assault on your senses.  It's hot, it's noisy, it's colorful, it's sometimes smelly, and it's crowded.

We took the Chao Phraya river boat from Sathorn Pier to Thien pier. We always ended up paying for the tourist boat ticket on our boat rides even though we specifically asked for the local boat ticket.  Language problems, scamming tourists, who knows.  It was still cheap.  A Chao Phraya Tourist Boat ticket costs 150 baht but the boats only run until 3 or 4 pm. We were told we could use our tourist boat tickets on other boats too but there ended up being too much language confusion so we never got that sorted out.

We started sweating our asses off as soon as we got off the boat.  We went during the coolest part of the year yet it was still 90 degrees.  Bring lots of water and sunscreen.  Us cold weather people need some time to adapt to the heat and humidity.

The entrance fee is 50 baht per person. We hired a guide inside the temple entrance for 300 baht or about $10. I thought the guide was well worth it. The tour was very in depth so if you don't have a lot of time or patience or aren't interested in a lot of details I'd skip it.  Since this was our first temple visit I found a guide to be helpful in explaining about Buddhism since I didn't know much beyond my World Religions class I took in college.

Wat Pho is a large complex. The main attraction and our first stop was the reclining Buddha. The reclining Buddha is 46 meters long and 15 meters high. His body is plated in gold and his feet are inlaid with mother-of-pearl.

We had trouble finding a place to eat lunch.  I didn't want any street food from a vendor because I have a weak stomach.  Plus they were serving hot food and there was no way I wanted to eat anything hot in this weather.  We couldn't find a restaurant and ended up walking forever, only to get chips, cookies, and bottled water from the 7-11.  At that point I was so hot, so tired, and so hungry.  I'd recommend locating a lunch spot in advance.  Or better yet, going back to your hotel pool or taking a nap.

The other main attraction (at least for me) in the Wat Pho complex is the Thai massages. Wat Pho was home to one of the earliest Thai massage schools. They offer foot massages and Thai massages (60 minutes or 90 minutes). Massages are cheap! I believe my 60 minute Thai massage was $10 or $12 and it was phenomenal. I'd never had a Thai massage before and she twisted me up like a pretzel. My masseuse was the tiniest woman yet had the strongest hands. This is not a luxe spa and as such your massages are done on beds that are pretty much right next to each other. The waiting room is in the same room but just sort of partitioned off. They give you a pair of loose pants to change into so you're comfortable. The best part was the whole massage building was air-conditioned so it's a nice break during the hottest part of the day.

Topolobampo

Rick Bayless's Topolobampo is a hard reservation to get!  We had to make a reservation in November for the last weekend in January to get a prime time Saturday night reservation.

At Topolobampo you have the choice between an a la carte menu and a tasting menu.  There are three different tasting menus to choose from at $85 each plus an extra $50 for wine pairings.

I tried the Celebration tasting menu which I was told was the crowd pleaser.  Nick tried the Mole tasting menu.  There was a third tasting menu inspired by the state of Jalisco in Mexico.  Jalisco isn't especially known for their food so I think Rick Bayless was trying to take on a challenge when he came up with it.

I started with a Manzanita Cooler to drink which is just-pressed seedling cider and JK Scrumpy's Michigan hard organic cider, Yucatecan rum, fresh lime, and a pinch of cinnamon.  Surprisingly for a seasonal drink I thought it was very light and refreshing and would be appropriate for the summer as well.

daily guacamole with pomegranate seeds and jicama and cucumber chips

Mole Tasting - course 1 - creamy polenta style corn masa tamal with herby Oaxacan green mole with River Valley Ranch oyster mushrooms, roasted Spence Farm turnips, peas, cucumber, jicama, and pumpkinseed "jam"

Nick loved it.  This was his spiciest mole of the night.  I thought the texture was a little slimy so it wasn't my favorite.

Celebration Tasting - course 1 - crispy rolled tacos filled with Three Sister's Garden huitlacoche (corn mushroom) with roasted tomato broth, crunchy pickled vegetables, avocado, and Bayless Garden microgreens.  

This was the best course of the entire evening.  I could have eaten 20 of these little tacos they were so good.

Celebration Tasting - course 2 - creamy soup of delicata and ancho chile with savory, crisp duck carnitas, roasted apples, pepitas, and grilled green onions.
 (sorry we didn't get a picture with the soup actually poured in the bowl)

Mole Tasting - course 2 - roasted rack of Gunthorp rabbit and almond milk braised leg in Oaxacan estofaco almendrado with almond-crusted fried green tomatillo Nichols Farm Yukon gold potatoes classic escabeche vegetables, and smoked marcona almonds.

Mole Tasting - course 3 - brown butter-poached Lake Superior walleye in Oaxacan yellow mole infused with hoja santa and cilantro-flecked chochoyotes, braised fennel, and dried black olive.

I hate to say it but this one was bad.  Both of us hated the flavors, especially me.  It tasted a little bit like licorice to me and I hate licorice.  Nick likes licorice but he didn't like the dish either.

Celebration Tasting - course 3 - New Jersey "Viking Village" sea scallops in velvety sauce of guajillo chiles, braised cilantro, and carmelized onions with English pea-cilantro mash and enoki mushrooms.

The scallops were large, juicy, and delicious.

Mole Tasting - course 4 - roasted "Pata Negra" pork loin in old-fashioned clemole castellano (dark dried chiles, pecans, pinenuts, hazelnuts, avocado leaf) with calabaza en tacha (raw-sugar pumpkin) bread pudding, carmelized brussel sprouts, shaved sunchoke, peruano bean-pine nut braise, and pickled pasilla chiles.

Celebration Tasting - course 4 - Elysian Fields lamb "ribeye" in pear-infused red chile sauce with potato-aple tortitas (studded with Neuske's bacon) and grilled frisee-machee salad with smoky Oaxacan pasilla dressing.

The lamb was very good although the dressing was extremely spicy.

Celebration Tasting - course 5 - luscious vanilla sour cream layer cake with golden ripe plantains, roasted banana ice cream, and coriander crumble.

Mole Tasting - course 5 - dark chocolate bikes with "black mole" chocolate sauce, cocoa nib ice cream, pomegranate jellies, and ancho chile chocolate cookie.

Dessert #2 - Just what we needed after 5 courses.  The little gummy thing we both agreed was kind of weird.

Besides Nick's one course, we loved our meal.  Our server was awesome as well.  I highly recommend it to anyone who can get a reservation.  We'd also like to try Frontera Grill although they don't take reservations so that is a long wait.  Rick Bayless has also opened a casual restaurant called Xoco next door.

Sprout

We dined at Sprout on a recent Saturday night.  Sprout is the new restaurant whose chef is Dale Levitski, runner-up from Top Chef Season 3. 

The restaurant is small and intimate with a teeny bar.  We were able to grab two seats there and get drinks while they worked out our reservation snafu.  At the bar I had a champagne cocktail made with Pacific Rim sparking riesling, blood orange bitters, pure can sugar, and a lemon twist.  It was delicious.  Not too sweet, not too strong, not too bitter.

Dinner is a $60 3 course prix fixe menu with 2 additional small courses.

The bread was very good.  Instead of butter it came with a white bean spread.

I started with the scallop with corn, parsnip, sage, and peanut as an appetizer.  There were also a few popcorn kernels on there.  Originally I thought that was weird since popcorn isn't a texture that goes with much but it worked with the dish.

Nick started with the foie gras, with parsnip, currant, cashew, quince, and pedro ximenez.  It was very sweet so it may be overwhelming for some as an appetizer.  The bread was also sweet and could have been better with a different flavor.

They brought out an intermezzo course of sparkling riesling and passionfruit that had been frozen and then shaved.  This was delicious and on a hot summer day I'd love a whole bowl of this it was so refreshing.

For dinner I decided to try the rabbit.  I've never had rabbit before so I'm not sure what sparked this act of bravery.  The waiter described the dish as a traditional, Lithuanian, family recipe for rabbit pierogis.  There was some candied hazelnut in there, some thyme, and a great sauce that I don't know what it was made out of.  The dish did not overwhelm me.  I think the thyme flavor was slightly too strong.  And the pierogi dough was no better than Nick's grandma makes.  For free.  Solid, but nothing outstanding.

Nick had the short rib with truffle, mushrooms, chicory, and manchego.  The truffle gnocchi things were excellent.  I thought the short rib sauce was slightly too sweet.  Nick thought it might have been a little rich.  Overall I enjoyed the short rib better than the rabbit.  

The next course was a cheese course and was mini grilled cheese accompanied by a small glass of a delicious sauvignon blanc.  That was a good grilled cheese.  I wish I could have a whole one for lunch every day.  We might have eaten it too quickly to take a picture.

The final course was dessert.  I had the lemon which had sour cherry, goat cheese, cilantro, and pink peppercorn.  I'm not a huge dessert or sweets person in general but I wasn't a big fan of this.  There was just too much lemon.  There was a lemon custard type thing, and it was in a lemon flavored sauce, and even the whipped cream on top was lemon flavored.  Too much.  It needed just a hint of sweetness to save it.

Nick had the pineapple selection.  It had pineapple, chocolate mousse, and a sprinkling of goat cheese on the top.  He thought the dessert as a whole was so-so but the chocolate mousse was excellent.

Overall we thought the service of both our waiter and the manager/hostess were amazing.  They did a great job with being friendly and welcoming.  The bartender was extremely knowledgeable and friendly as well.  The food didn't quite live up to our expectations though.  It was good but we likely wouldn't return.  There's too many other places to try in Chicago to return to all but the best.

French Market

I am so behind in my blogging.  That's what happens with so much travel in so little time along with the end of the semester for grad school and deadlines at the office.

Chicago's French Market opened back in November.  The market is located in Ogilvie Transportation Center near the Loop.  A CVS also opened there are there are plans for more restaurants and shops to open eventually.

The best part is the market is only a few blocks from both my office and my house!

There is everything you could want - crepes, raw food, belgian fries, pastries, bread, cheese, wine, seafood, meats, several produce stands, Vietnamese, Indian, Mexican.

I think the best thing I've had so far is the pork belly sandwich at Saigon Sisters.

I also love the produce selection and the prices seem to be much lower than at the regular grocery store.