Bangkok Bay

After a fun but strange work week cut short by Veteran’s Day, I grabbed dinner in Redwood City with my coworker Y and her friends. This might have been my first meal out in the area, which is actually a hotbed of delicious ethnic food. Per Y’s recommendations we chose Bangkok Bay, a local Thai favorite.

I forgot my camera so I took this photo of the Meang Kum appetizer from their website. J, who's family owns an awesome Berkeley restaurant called Thai Basil, is the foodie I aspire to be. She insisted we try these spinach wraps of toasted coconut, dried shrimp and tons of Thai seasonings because it's hard to find even in Thailand. This crunchy, light mouthful will make anyone start drooling for the main meal.

At this point, the nicest server in the world offered to take photos of our food for me. We each ordered a special (13), which includes two made-to order dishes, rice, soup and salad. I got the calamari and Penang Tofu. The big and beautiful portions were made from impeccably fresh ingredients, and were not greasy like many places. The tofu I'd get again, anytime.

J took the server's recommendation on the mango chicken but was underwhelmed by lack of unique flavor. Her pumpkin curry was a beaut, however, as you can see.

Oh yeah, then we went to Chuck's Donuts, the best 24 hour donut shop in town, and picked up seven different kinds. I introduced them to the wonders of buttermilk donuts, while Y proved to me that custard-filled maple bars can be off the hook, when done right.

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Breads of India

This is a short post mostly because I wasn’t prepared to eat here nor planning to blog it. BUT the naan here is the best I’ve had in Berkeley – the pools of melted ghee on top of each naan with the perfect amount of saltiness to bring out the richness was indeed a factor. As was the chewy, almost mochi-like or half-baked consistency of the edges (this might turn some people off but it was a great texture for me). Mine was layered with fresh sweet peas nestled between the layers of bread. This place lives up to its name, with at least five different types of naan (3) everyday. Some are stuffed with chickpeas, ginger, radish, or corn.

potato/carrot/green bean/cauliflower curry and what I truly believe to be daal soup. Would've preferred a cup for that

I was underwhelmed by the veggie curry (8) but my companion raved about the lamb (11). The menu is short and apparently changes daily to suit “the discerning gourmet”. Translation: they have only a few items and pre-cook everything to save money/time, which means our orders came out five minutes after we ordered. It’s a nice place to get something quick but for a sit-down place I wasn’t really expecting that – I mean, House of Curries can afford to cook the food right in front of you and take at least ten minutes. But I’d go again for the variety of awesome naan and maybe try the Korma.

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