Nahm, Bangkok

A quick recap of our meal at Nahm, Bangkok, number 1 in the 2014 San Pellogrino Asia's 50 Best restaurants list.

Refreshing drinks by the pool prior to dinner at Nahm

Ma hor - minced pork, chicken and prawns with palm sugar on fresh Thai pineapple

Pork and lobster with shredded ginger and Thai citron on betal leaves

Blue swimmer crabs, peanuts and pickled garlic on rice cakes

Chiang Mai larp of guinea fowl

Prawns and coconut wafers with pickled ginger

Tom Yumtini

King fish salad with pomelo, lemongrass and lime

Clear soup of roast duck with thai basil and young coconut

Hot and sour soup of chicken, prawns and wild mushrooms

Preserved shrimp and crab simmered in coconut cream with deep fried prawns and vegetables

Aromatic curry of prawns with cucumber served with pickle vegetables

Stir-fried wagyu beef with charred onions, oyster sauce and thai basil

Unripe green mango served with salt, chilli and sugar

Pandanus noodles with black sticky rice, water chestnuts, tapioca and coconut cream

Fruit platter

Birthday coconut cake

www.comohotels.com/metropolitanbangkok/dining/nahm

Som Tam Nua, Bangkok

During the research for our Bangkok trip it seemed that all recommendations for somtam (papaya salad) led to Somtam Nua, an institution of the Bangkok dining scene. With three sites we visited the original restaurant on Soi Siam Square next to the Siam Square One complex with no wait for an early dinner. We were lucky as queues soon started to form outside.

The interior is a simple no frills affair and locals were in and out rapidly. We ordered a selection of dishes from the English version of the menu and by observing what the locals were eating. 

The restaurants speciality is somtam and we ordered the original and a variant with pork sausage and rind. Both versions lived up to the billing with fresh papaya salad full of life with satisfying bite and complemented by a well balanced dose of palm sugar, chilli and fish sauce. Unlike anything we've tried back home and much better.

Somtam with dry shrimp and peanut

Somtam with Thai pork sausage and crispy pork rind

A deep fried local fish that we didn't get the name of as it was explained in Thai was fearsome looking and extremely crisp. So much so that the flesh was quite tough and despite being quite large there was a limited amount of meat to be picked at. We probably should have ordered a fish with sauce but Mrs Nom was worried about the chilli levels.

Crispy fried fish

It seemed everyone had a basket of fried chicken so we followed suit and we were rewarded with excellent crunchy chicken with additive fried garlic chips adding to the strong flavour.

Fried chicken

Naam Tok - chargrilled sliced pork shoulder

This was our first sit down meal in Bangkok and with beer and fresh coconut juice to drink cost approximately £10. We can see why this is an institution in Bangkok and is ideal for a quick meal and introduction to Thai food.

392/14 Soi Siam Square 5, Rama 1 Road, Bangkok,Thailand

Viet Shack & Siam Smiles Cafe, Manchester

Two of the current venues receiving adulation from the Manchester based bloggers are Viet Shack based in Arndale Market and Siam Smiles Cafe in Chinatown who serve up Vietnamese and Thai food respectively.

Mrs Nom is a regular at Viet Shack for lunch and for the price it provides a refreshing alternative to regular sandwiches. Billed as Vietnamese street food the summer rolls with king prawn are light and packed with vermicelli and vegetables, they are great paired with the house made peanut sauce.

The bánh mì baguettes are one of the signature dishes of Vietnam and this version with chicken and pickled vegetables. The flavours of this were much more vibrant and interesting than ham and cheese sandwiches.

Out of all the dishes that we have tried the one that did not live up to the hype was the beef on rice, we found the beef a little dry.

Overall decent for a quick lunch but we can't wait until they branch out in their own space in the Northern Quarter. We've not had many pleasant experiences in Arndale Market, with limited seating and people generally leaving the tables in rotten states with rice all over the table and a lack of cleaners. Probably the most off putting is people going from table to table begging for money or food, not that we are chastising them for doing so but it is not something you want to encounter whilst eating.

Siam Smiles Cafe is essentially a supermarket with tables along the side offering a range of Thai dishes. The Thai language menu on the reverse side of the English menu is a little longer which amused me, whilst Chinese restaurants tend to have whole different menus altogether for Westerners!

We ordered a range of dishes to share including noodle and rice plates which were all a little disappointing. Kow moo krob, crispy pork belly with rice and pork sauce was quite bland with the pork belly a tad burnt and a surprisingly small portion. The kow ka moo with braised pork joint fared a little better but the advertised Thai broccoli didn't make it to the plate, being replaced with cucumber.

The two yellow noodle dishes we tried were kuai tiew roast duck soup with morning glory and bean sprout and kuai tiew moo dang, with roast red pork, sliced pork balls, bean sprouts, spring onion and choi sum.

The only dish that stoodout was a spicy mixed seafood salad with mussels, prawns and squid. With the flavours being interesting and with just the right amount of kick in the chilli.

Perhaps being Chinese and regularly eating quality roasted three meats has had an impact on my opinions on the rice and noodle dishes. The dishes are priced quite competitively at £5.50 and up but the portion sizes reflect it.

Janetira, London

Janetira is an authentic Thai restaurant located on Brewer Street in Soho. We visited for dinner and ordered a variety of plates to share between 3 people.  The menu consisted of one dish meals or dishes to share.

First up was JFC (Janetira Fried Chicken) – this was fragrant with lemongrass.

Lamb shank Massaman curry was not that flavoursome as other Massaman curries I have tried elsewhere but Mr Nom loved the meaty lamb shank, although it could of done with a little more cooking to be more tender.

Prawn Pad Thai is a classic Thai dish; this was delightful although I would have preferred it to be served with lime instead of lemon.

Sea bass fillets steamed with chilli and lime was packed with garlic, I was kind of expecting it to be a bit more limey from the menu description but I could not really taste the lime. I also presumed the fish would be steamed with fresh chillies but chilli sauce was poured into of the sea bass fillets instead which was a bit disappointing as the flavour was not infused into the fish during cooking.

Crispy pork belly and Thai broccoli stir fry, the Thai broccoli was rather bitter. I normally like this type of crunchy broccoli but found it quite unpleasant to eat. On the plus side, the pork belly was lovely.

During the period of our visit the restaurant was offering 30% off food which made it extremely good value for money given that the menu prices were already quite reasonable given its location.  A mixed bag but would return for a quick lunch to try the one dish meals given the chance.