Meal #08: USA

Some weeks ago, Tom from the American Bar & Grill invited us to have a meal at his restaurant in Sukhumvit 8. We hadn't had American yet, so we made our way down on steak night (Mondays) for half-off steaks.

Today's party was Anna, Jim, Joachim, Kim, Lynette, Parul, Bep, Baz and myself, representing Russia, USA, Namibia, Thailand, Australia, the Philippines, India, Singapore, Netherlands and the UK.

If you have a hankering for steak, Mondays is steak night at the American Bar & Grill, and they have two kinds - a massive tenderloin (top) and ribeye (bottom) (Sides are extra). They have other themed days too - Wednesday is fish and chips, and Saturday is for ribs (which I want to try later at some stage).

The menu isn't very large, but there are a decent number of options for starters and mains. Some of us didn't have steak, and went for the other dishes instead. From top to bottom, the Philly Cheesesteak, meatloaf, and salmon. For starters we shared a caesar salad, chilli fries and onion rings (not pictured because they disappeared quickly). 

There was only one dessert, a slice of apple pie with vanilla ice cream. But I gotta say, it's really, really good. Tom, our host declared with great confidence that it is the best apple pie in all of Thailand. I am inclined to agree.

I forgot to take a photo of the front of the restaurant, but the American Bar & Grill is located off Sukhumvit 8, very close to Nana Station. Once you enter Suk 8, it's on the second Soi to the right, across from the Lolita Bar. There are dining areas at the bottom and second level. Many thanks to Tom, who invited us and set us up in the private room upstairs!

Meal #07: India and Myanmar

Today's was a great meetup made up of a combination of great people (old and new) and great food! Annapurna, on Thanon Pan, is an Indian restaurant serving great vegetarian and non-vegetarian food with a smaller Burmese side menu.

As with all our meetups, I have a limit of ten people for every meal because it's hard to get a table and/or socialise with anything larger. In past meetups, we've always had one or two drop out at the last minute, so it was a pleasant surprise to have all 10 people show up today. We were: Lynette, Anna, Hiro, Vera, Chihiro, Josh, Sharon, Kim, Emily and myself hailing from the US, Japan, Russia, England, the Philippines and Singapore.

The staff at Annapura were real great too. I came in an hour early to ask for a table for 10. When I came back, there it was, waiting for us. The menu had lots of explanations, although the Burmese menu was more of a list. Still, that didn't deter us from ordering.

For starters, we had some samosas (potato filled curry puffs), and two exceptional dishes: the first was the lapeit thoke, or tea leaf salad. This Burmese dish featured fermented tea leaves, which was complemented by the crunch of the peanuts and dhal. Fresh garlic added a little kick to the dish. Some of us have had tea leaf salad in Myanmar before, and we found that Annapura's version to be superior.

The second exceptional starter was the Panipuri, consisting of an egg-shaped crispy dough ball, which you stuffed with a potato and chickpea mixture, and topped off with a spicy green sauce. A great combination of textures and flavours, but also it was fun having to assemble your own.

Everyone ordered their own mains, mostly curries with rice or bread - most were dispatched before I could take photos. For my order, I had a masala dosa.

We ordered a fair bit of starters and drinks, and after all that the bill only came up to B 220 per person. A really good price! The rat fund collection came up to THBB 90, bringing the total to THB 1550.