Restaurants in Hanoi: Madame Hien

March 31, 2012

In a beautiful French colonial building you will find Madame Hien, a restaurant offering traditional Vietnamese food in Hanoi.

We had a business lunch there (May 2011). Therefore, I could not take many photos of the surroundings and the food. Please forgive me. I promised myself that I would come back to the place when I’m in Hanoi next time.

The gate to Madame Hien

Madame Hien is owned by the celebrated French chef Didier Corlou. He comes from Brittany and owns another restaurant in Hanoi called La Verticale.

The lunch menu

As you can see from the menu above, a three course meal costs about 200,000 Dong only. The dishes one can select offer a wide variety of Vietnamese delicacies.

My main course

I took something light and enticing. As starter I selected the grapefruit salad with prawns, followed by the grilled fish “Cha ca” Madame Hien style. I finished with the cheese “Le Corlou” to honour the chef. All of the dishes were delicious, excellent.

Trip advisor gives 4 of 5 stars to the restaurant. There you will find as of today 210 reviews, 90 of which rank the place as “excellent” and 72 as “very good”.

Unfortunately, the most recent reviewers seem not to have had a good time at the restaurant. No idea what happened. Sure is, that I will come back, next time with a bit more time on my hands, and so that I can have a glass of wine with the food. See you there, maybe.

Address:
Madame Hien
15 Chan Cam, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi
Between Ly Quoc Su and Phu Doan, just south of Hang Gai
Tel.: +84439381588,

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Korean (fast) food

March 30, 2012

My day job kept me from blogging during the last two weeks, and I somehow lost touch. Sorry folks, I hope you bear with me. I am confident that I will find traction again as I have in earlier times of absence.

I just returned from a business trip to Korea (back to back with a visit to India). I love Korean food. The nature of my trip did not allow me to indulge in massive and exhausting meals. It was rather a kind of fast and quick break to get some basic food stuff.

Alas, Korea, today an industrial economy with a peasant past, has plenty to offer in the culinary department which can rival other “fast-food” cuisines.

One is Bibimbap (비빔밥), the other is “tuna kimbap” (김밥), I love both.
Below you can find it (or some of it). It was very yummy.

Bibimbap without egg

A Korean salad

The notorious 김치 Kimchi

A tuna kimbap (김밥) with a noodle soup

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La Pala – Pizza Romana – walk in eatery in Bangkok

March 19, 2012

Welcome to my city: Krung thep, the city of angels

Bangkok is a fascinating Asian mega-city. Millions of people visit it every year. Bangkok is where different people from different cultures meet, relax, shop, trade, interact and enjoy each others diversity.

This is also reflected in the great variety of different eateries from East and West. None of the major world cuisines is not represented. And Bangkokians love food, their own and foreign food. Therefore it is no surprise that Bangkok has a vibrant restaurant culture catering to the needs of the poor and the prosperous alike.

The entrance to La Pala, right below the Asoke BTS station

Recently, I discovered a new Italian eatery, La Pala, right below the Asoke BTS train station. La Pala offers Pizza Romana style food. The quality of the food ingredients is the key, as are the service and the hospitality in general.

La Pala is not a romantic place. The crossing with the BTS station, the underground, the overpass and the shopping malls around it, is one of the busiest corners in Bangkok, bustling with people and traffic. La Pala is “practical” without frills, it is down to earth and at the same time a place to escape from the hustle and bustle of Bangkok.

The counter with cheese and ham

The pizza oven and work benches

The food is simple but delicious as you can see from the three pictures below. Of course there is also pizza by the half-meter and the meter, or in small pieces. But you can also order a pasta or a risotto.

A tuna salad

More salad

Focaccia in many different variations

Italian food would not be complete without wine. This is one feature I like best in La Pala. You just order by the glass or a bottle, and there is some good choice of delicious Italian wines.

We sampled a bottle of Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi, a region West of Ancona in Le Marche. It was immediately put into a bucket with ice to keep it cool.

Claudio Volpetti, the owner, is from Rome. He imports high quality Italian food items for five star hotels in Thailand. He has also a small selection of wines you can order with a order form called Wine “Meranda”.

On this list you can find an Amarone delle Valpolicella by Villa Girardi, a Moscato d’Asti Nivole by Michele Chiarlo, Crede Prosecco Brut by Bisol, a Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi by Garofoli and Liano, a Sangiovese Cabernet Sauvignon blend by Umberto Cesari.

The address of La Pala

So if you find yourself hungry and stressed out from over-shopping in Bangkok, go to Asoke BTS station and find refuge in La Pala, enjoy the warm hospitality, the excellent food and fine wines. Needless to say you will bump into many Italians there, clear evidence for the outstanding quality. Check it out. Enjoy a bit of home far away from home.

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Sticks Pinot Noir and Cowboy food

March 18, 2012

Beautifully coloured Pinot Noir

The last thing I did at Melbourne Airport when we left for Thailand in early January this year, was to buy a bottle of ‘2010 Pinot Noir’ by Sticks Winery.

I knew the bottle would not last long. On a Saturday when we felt like rural folks, we had it with a hearty meal of cowboy food.

Sticks Winery and its vineyards are located just opposite the old homestead of the Sadlier family at the foot of the hill South-west of Yarra Glen, called Christmas Hill. My friend Steve Sadlier had set up most of the vineyards many years ago when the place was still known as Yarra Ridge Winery.

If I remember correctly, my first ever wine tasting in Australia was in the tasting room of this winery. The wines were presented by Meagan, who became Steve’s wife a couple of years later. Sticks was the first vineyard I walked through in Australia. Goodness me that’s now so many years ago, maybe 1991 or 1992.

The 2010 Pinot Noir by Sticks

I was not sure if the wine would go that well with rural tucker. After all Pinot Noir makes a delicate and refined wine, something subtle and gently textured. And Sticks Pinot Noir is exactly that with delicious fruit aromas from wild cherry with a bit of spice, long on the palate with a suppleness hard to imagine. Maybe ill suited to the food we were going to have, I thought.

However that may be, we were in for a dish by Jamie Oliver, one of my favourite chefs of modern cuisine. From his “America” book, we cooked the Mountain Meatballs (page 308).

Mountain Meatballs as interpreted by Margit Adam

These meatballs are spicy. Jamie Oliver made up the recipe, he says in the book. The true Rocky Mountain dish is made of “prairie oysters”, sheep or cattle balls. We followed Jamie more than the wild West tradition.

The melted cheese in the meatball is just wonderful creamy. I also love the slight coffee aromas. This dish is a ripper of bush tucker, as we would call it in Australia. We served it with rice. I could eat it for breakfast, I must say, with bread or potatoes.

Jamie suggests a wine from the Côtes du Rhône, most likely a Grenache, a Shiraz and/or a Mourvèdre. Next time we’ll have these meatballs, I will try that.

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Fine dining in Bangkok: Patara Restaurant revisited

March 15, 2012

My favourite Thai restaurant in Bangkok is Patara in Thonglor which offers exceptional fine Thai cuisine of greatest quality.

I have written about the place a few times, but it is always a very special occasion when the four of us, I mean my family, are heading to Patara for a family experience.

In 2009 Patara was awarded the title: the Best Restaurant in Thailand. We have taken some of our closest friends there to share this experience.

The interior of Patara restaurant

The other day, a Sunday, it was time again to patronize the place, and indulge in fine Thai cuisine. And look what we ordered. The starter platter is just a wonderful assortment of various delicious Thai dishes.

The starter platter

Another starter

Pork wrapped in bamboo leaves

Also the main dishes are fabulous. I love the steamed fish with herbs, but also the omelet Thai style, the greens and the steamed rice in four colours.

The steamed fish

Omelet Thai style

Morning glory greens

Steamed rice in four colours

I was pleasantly surprised to find a few Thai wines on the wine list. New latitude wines from Thailand are some of my favourite wines since I live here in Bangkok.

I choose the ‘2010 Colombard’ from Monsoon Valley Wines in Hua Hin. The winery has a German wine-maker, Kathrin Puff, who graduated from Geisenheim. I met her at the 3rd International Symposium of Tropical Wine in Chiangmai in November last year.

2010 Colombard from Monsoon Valley Wine

I usually do not like the grape variety. But here in Thailand Colombard makes incredible delicious single varietal wines. It is Monsoon Valley premium range brand.

The 2010 vintage won silver and bronze awards. It has a crisp acidity with complex aromas, and a nice finish. Needless to say the wine goes very well with Asian food. I was glad that I had selected it, and was reminded that I need to stock up on the wine myself.

The back label of the Colombard from Monsoon Valley

Dessert

And another sweet

Of course we had a coffee after the delicious meal and the desserts. Another highlight is that Patara offers to take you home in their Tuktuk, an open air three-wheeler, which is great fun for old and young.

Check it out. It is definitively worth it.

Address:
Patara Bangkok
375 Soi Thonglor 19 Sukhumvit 55,
Klongtonnua Vadhana, Bangkok 10110
Tel.: +66-0-2185 2960-1
Fax.: +66-0-2185 2962
www.patarathailand.com

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GranMonte harvest festival 2012

March 4, 2012

GranMonte Vineyards in Khao Yai, Thailand

About two weeks ago, my family was invited by Khun Visooth, the owner of GranMonte Family Estate, to attend this years harvest festival at GranMonte vineyard in Khao Yai, Asoke Valley, Thailand.

The four of us had rented a car and drove up country for a day of fun, food, entertainment and excellent wines.

Rows of vines at GranMonte

The Adam family: Margit, Charlotte, Lucy and me

We were some of the first guests, and used the time to walk around the vineyards and inspect the cellar door. It was a big event, about 120 plus people were expected.

Chenin Blanc grapes

Chenin Blanc ready to be harvested

Syrah grapes

Beautiful bunches of Syrah

I did not take any pictures during the evening meal. We were just to busy enjoying ourselves. And my little camera is not good at night either. The following pictures were taken while we waited for the start of the harvest festival.

The terrace of the restaurant where dinner would be served later

The restaurant

The GranMonte cellar door

The award winning wines of GranMonte

The entrance to the winery

This is where the event started, the entrance to the winery. We had nibblies and various wines, including freshly fermented grape juice, which we call in German “Federweisser”.

Stainless steel tanks

What would wine be without oak.

Selected wines on oak barrel

Khun Visooth and his family thanking the guests

The party was just wonderful. We enjoyed the food and the free flow of wine. The band played nice music even with some songs from my youth.

One highlight of the evening was the release of the ‘2010 Cabernet Sauvignon-Syrah’, the award winning flagship wine of GranMonte. It was poured from 1 1/2 litre bottles. Delicious stuff.

Unfortunately, we had to leave the very same evening at about 10 in order to get back to Bangkok. I had to leave for the airport the next day at 5 h in the morning. The other guests slept in a nearby hotel and could enjoy a second day of play, wine and food.

We made the best of our time. I loved the music and the band as well as the volunteers singing and dancing. We left fully satisfied with a couple of boxes of GranMonte wine in the car.
Thanks Khun Visooth for inviting us.

If you holiday in Thailand you should set a day aside and organise a day trip to Khao Yai. The mountains are beautiful, the trip is pleasant and in the Asoke Valley a few wineries with restaurants are waiting for you; one of them GranMonte.

Address:
GranMonte Vineyard & Wines
52 Moo 9 Phayayen, Pakchong,
Nakornrachasima, Thailand 30320
Tel : +66-81-923-200-7 , +66-84-904-194-4
+66-81-900-828-2 , +66-80-661-755-5
http://www.granmonte.com/

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Opening Night – The Great Hornbill Bistro, Bangkok

February 29, 2012

The other day, Heribert Gaksch, responsible for marketing and business develpment at PB Partners which include restaurants and the PB Valley Winery, invited me to the official opening of its newest venture: the Great Hornbill Bistro in Bangkok.

The opening was a great opportunity to also present the whole range of the wines produced by PB Valley Winery. I had visited the winery some years ago and reported briefly about it on this blog.

With the opening of the Great Hornbill Bistro, the winery has come to town, so to say.

At the 3rd International Symposium on Tropical Wine in Chaing Mai in November last year, I had also met Prayut Piangbunta. PB Valley oenologist and wine-maker (he is also the director and manger of PB Valley). Khun Prayut was Thailands first oenologist. From 1996 to 1998 he had studied in Weinsberg, asmall town in my native Germany.

Needless to say, Prayut was also in town for the opening, despite the fact that in the middle of vintage time, the chief wine-maker has to organise pickers and winery staff in Khao Yai for harvesting and processing of the new grapes.

I did not take any photo of the event myself. This is why I just put photos of the brochures into this blog entry. I was just to busy enjoying the food, the wines and the great company at the opening.

Everything was impressive. It was a splendid evening. The wines of PB Valley are just wonderful. I will have more of them, especially the Chenin Blanc and the red blend with the Dornfelder.

So my suggestion to Bangkok wine and food lovers is to check out the Great Hornbill Bistro and sample the wines of PB Valley.
Cheers

Address:
The Great Hornbill Bistro             
Bistro and Wine Shop (B.B. Holding Co. Ltd.)   
59/3 Sukhumvit 39 Road                         
Klongton Nua, Wattana,                                                     
Bangkok 10110, Thailand  
Tel:+66 2 262 0030 Ext. 118     
Fax:+66 2 262 0029
Mobile: +66 81 834 7910     
Email: hospitality@pb-partners.com
GPS Location: 13°44’15.58”N 100°34’17.62”E      

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Intermission

February 28, 2012

I have been slack. Did not write a single blog entry for a while. What is happening to me? Yes, I am busy in my day job. And yes, I am kind of burned out when I get home from work in the evening.

My blog suffers from an “attention deficiency syndrome”, it seems. I have lots of material on wine and food unused, brochures, pamphlets, hand outs stashed up in piles at home. I have photos. I have stories to tell, and do not get it together these days.

OK, I should also admit that I went on a diet a few weeks ago, the Dukan diet, by a Frenchman, Pierre Dukan. I had to interrupt the diet regime a couple of times, sometimes for travels, sometimes for event invitations, sometimes because I was sick of all the protein I had to consume.

The diet is OK but it resembles more a kind of “caloric intake” than an “epicurean adventure”. Right, alcohol is not part of the diet. In fact I drink excessively less than in pre-diet times. Moreover, I have been exercising a lot. That makes me feel very good, I admit, despite all the sweat. I got “the springs back into my ageing legs”, so to speak.

I lost only about 5 kg so far, which is just under 6% of my weight. My target weight is 82 kg. I will reach it in about 10 days I assume and I am happy with my progress. I feel rejuvenated, can easily close the zip of my old jeans again which is a very nice feeling.

The thing I miss is the occasional glass of fine wine, and gourmet food of course.

Today when I looked at my statistics, the figures were up quite a bit. Surprise surprise. I even had a new daily record. How can that be, I asked myself? Could it be that over the many years a a wine blogger I have accumulated so much material that people can find some useful information?

I hope to be back with some more stories soonest. In the meantime bare with me.
Cheers

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Shanks of lamb and GranMonte 2010 Heritage Syrah Viognier

February 22, 2012

Sunday meals are important in our family.The highlight of the last weekend was the lamb below cooked according to a recipe from Jamie Oliver which was a bit altered to accommodate the availability of ingredients.

The lamb was cooked for three hours and served on mashed potatoes. The full recipe can be found here.

Instead of Guinness we used Coopers Ale, an Australian beer. Instead of raisins we used figs. Moreover, we braised very thinly cut celery and mixed it into the potato mash. Finally, we dropped the mint leaves from the recipe as well.

As veggies, green asparagus with mushrooms were offered. Needless to say, that the meal was super super delicious. The meat melted in the mouth. The bed of mashed potatoes gave a remarkable tilt to the dish.

The side dish

Here is the complete meal on the plate

As wine, I selected the ‘2010 Hertiage Syrah Viognier’ by GranMonte Vineyard in Khao Yai, the Asoke Valley, Thailand. GranMonte is producing excellent wines. We had visited the winery recently and participated in the annual harvest festival. I will write more about this event in another blog entry.

In a temperate climate I would have chosen a wine with a higher alcohol level, but in the tropics 12% is just fine. The Viognier gives it the acidity necessary to make this blend an ideal accompaniment for red meats such a lamb.

Isn’t this a wonderful colour

The bottle

GranMonte wines can be sourced from various places in Bangkok. The cellar door price of the Heritage Syrah Viognier is about 880 THB. If you are in Bangkok, please visit the Asoke valley and its wineries.

My tip of the day: drink more wines from Thailand.

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The vineyards of Myanmar I: Lunch at Aythaya Wines, Taunggy, Myanmar

February 8, 2012

View over the valley from Aythaya Winery

I habe written about the wines from Aythaya Winery near Taunggy, in the Shan State in Myanmar in an earlier blog entry.

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit Shan State and the twon of Taunggy. This gave me also the chance to drop in atAythaya which is located in the foothills of the Blue Mountains, about 5 km on the road leading to Taunggy.

Together with my two colleagues, we went for lunch at the winery cum restaurant. It was a glorious day with sunshine and warm temperatures.

In 1997/1998, Bert Morsbach, a German native, started with this venture and planted the first wine grapes in Myanmar. Though the first attempt was not successful, Morsbach continued his efforts until finally succeeding.

The elevation of the vineyard near Aythaya village is at about 1000 to 1300 m. But there is another vineyard in another location nearby.

The first wines were presented to the public in 2004, and since 2006 another German joined the team at Aythaya Wines: Hans-Eduard Leiendecker, vintner and wine-maker from Bernkastel, Mosel. When we visited, both were not at Aythaya, but the friendly Burmese staff showed us the premises.

Tractor spraying the vines through Bougaivillias and palm trees

We sat on a shaded terrace with a beautiful view over the valley. Some work was done in the vineyards. We also explored some of the surroundings.

A pond with vineyards in the background

The peakock is the symbol of Aythaya

The Aythaya product range is impressive

I had tasted Aythaya wines before, some of them in Yangon, others had been given to me by colleagues returning from Myanmar. Aythaya’s product range is quite impressive. I like their Sauvignon Blanc (late harvest) best.

Another terrace at the restaurant with vineyard views

The menu is quite simple and straight forward. To my great suprise also “Spaetzle”, a type of South-German dumplings, were on the list. My heart jumped. I had to try them. I was not going to be disappointed. The “Spaetzle” were delicious.

So was the wine, buoyant with tropical fruit flavours, fresh acidity and a pleasant finish.

Suebian “Spaetzele”

The flagship Aythaya wine, I would say

The back label of the Sauvignon Blanc

Beautiful SB in the glass

The Aythaya wine-maker comes from the Mosel river

Of course there is a lot to see in Myanmar. However, in my view nothing beats a visit to a real vineyard where “new latitude wines” are grown and made. The region around Taunggy is very interesting and the nearby Inle lake deserves your visit as well.

The best time to visit is November to February when the nights are cool and the days sunny and warm. Meet you there, one day.

Address:
Aythaya Wines
38G Myitzu Street, Parami Avenue Mayangone T/S,
Yangon, Myanmar.
Tel.: +95-664386, 664756
E-mail::Sales@myanmar-vineyard.com.mm
Website: www.myanmar-vineyard.com

and
Aythaya Vineyard
Aythaya-Taunggyi, Southern Shan States
Myanmar
Tel.: +95-81-24536.

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