Wine Connection Deli & Bistro

Going out in Bangkok with Miss J wouldn't be complete without a stop over at some kind of a trendy restaurant/lounge. This time, she brought me and my other good friend, Pam, to a fairly new bistro called Wine Connection Deli & Bistro. As a wholesale wine supplier, Wine Connection has branches all over Bangkok and well as other cities in the country. As the largest wine store chain in Southeast Asia, the company focuses on importing selected wine and premium spirits from all over the world. Located at K Village, Wine Connection Bistro allows customers to be able to enjoy their wine along with delicious European food.

We walked in around 6 pm just before dinner rush and it was already starting to get busy. Displays of wine and spirits are found throughout the restaurant. There is also a deli section that offers assortments of imported European cheeses and charcuterie.

We sat outside on the patio as it was a cool and breezy evening, the kind of weather which only happens several times a year in this hot tropical country. The ambience was great, very mellow yet sophisticated. The music is a mash up of soft rock, jazz, and R&B. The service was exceptional. Our wine were constantly refilled and there were always at least 3 servers standing by in case anyone needed anything. I also noticed that some of the staff were wearing black uniform t-shirts with their job description written on the back such as busboy, food runner, while the servers were wearing red uniforms. It's nice that not only the staff know what their jobs are, but other people know what to expect of them too!

I love it when menu has pictures of what the food would look like (no guessing and using imagination!). The price was definitely reasonable for the type and atmosphere of the restaurant. Many entrees only cost around 180-220 bath or $6 to $7.50, which are reasonable compared to other bistros in Bangkok.

Miss J did what she does best, ordering wine. She picked Aresti, a 2009 Chilean Sauvignon Blanc. "Make sure it's nicely chilled.", she commanded. As a result, our bottle of wine was served icy cold in a tin bucket. Miss J knows what she wants and gets what she wants. We ended up polishing 2 bottles that wonderful night.

Rocket Salad

We actually ordered rocket salad last after we realized we've been munching only on carbohydrates. It was a light and refreshing change and it made us feel a bit less guilty.

Spaghetti Arrabiata

The spaghetti Arrabiata was definitely my favourite under Miss J's recommendation. I've had this dish elsewhere but this is definitely the best one I've had so far. The sauce had a little bit of a kick from roasted chilies and very aromatic flavour from garlic and basil infusion.

Fettucini with Serrano ham, Alfredo and truffle

The fettucini had a very nice texture, holding together the creamy Alfredo sauce with a subtle hint of parsley. The sauce was well seasoned and was not too bland or too thick. For 220 bath or $7.50, though I couldn't detect any truffle whatsoever, but I will let it slide.

Pizza Napoletana

We ordered pizza napoletana, a fire baked thin crust pizza with anchovies and olives, and extra shrimp topping for 90 bath or $3 (which gave us about a tablespoon full). Miss J and Pam kept complaining they taste goat cheese in there and I was quite puzzled.

In the end, us three girls finished everything, the food and wine. Our bill with 10% service charge came up to around 2100 bath or $ 70. With 2 bottles of wine and 4 dishes, that's not bad at all. I had a wonderful experience at the bistro from the company, the food, the wine, the service, and the atmosphere. Wow, to have all those elements is really hard to come by! When we left around 8 pm, the huge restaurant was already packed with people waiting outside. I definitely will return again and recommend this bistro to everyone. Thanks for bringing us Miss J. This will be our favourite hang out spot from now.

Kobe Japanese Bistro

Personally, I keept going back to Kobe partly because, each time, I always felt comfortable and welcomed being there. The ambience is casual and welcoming, and the staff always made sure I was content with my dining experience. Unlike many places, I feel like they actually pay attention to the quality of their food and caring about what customers' feedback. Even when they make mistakes on orders, they are still very polite and never hesitate to correct it. Therefore, it is probably one of the top go-to Japanese restaurants in the city.

The 8 piece rainbow rolls ($12) are not too big or too small, just in perfect bite size with a fresh array of sashimi. I find their sushi rice tastes better than other Japanese restaurants and I believe it's because of the brand of the rice vinegar they use.

Small order of shrimp tempura $9. Pricey for only 5 pieces BUT! at least the taste was compensated. The shrimp is so crisp (and I'm talking about the meat, not just the batter), and not rubbery.

Sashimi combination 18 pieces for $25. The sashimi were fair size in cuts and never too thick. I can guarantee that out of all the times I've visited Kobe, the sashimi were always fresh. I've never had to deal with slimes, fishiness, or eating them while they were frozen. Seasoned ponzu sauce was served along side, and after sampling with each type of sashimi, the best to go with it were the tuna and red snapper.

Negitoro maki rolls $6 fatty tuna belly chopped up with green onions. Again, I like how the sushi rice has the right amount of acidity that complements the fatty tuna and green onion well.

In the far left, we have 8 big pieces of Agedashi tofu ($5.50). The deep fried soft tofu are served with dashi-based sauce and topped with grated ginger. The tofu pieces are soft on the inside and crispy outside, and they always arrive hot and fresh from the fryer. The portion is definitely larger than other restaurants. Another appetizer that I was a fan of was their chicken karage which are crispy bite size fried chicken pieces marinated with flavourful ginger, and served with tangy garlic, ginger soy sauce. In the centre is California roll with tobiko for $8.50 and Kappa maki roll for $3.50, which are pretty standard and what one can expect of them. I quite enjoy their selection of special maki rolls, one of them being the French Kiss roll ($11) with breaded shrimp, cream cheese, smoked salmon topped with tobiko and spicy mayo. The combination of ingredients pretty much hint what the roll would taste like; creamy, crunchy, smoky, with a little bit of a spicy tangy kick.

I love how saucy and flavourful their Katsu donburi ($11) is and try to get it as often when I'm not too full from sushi. The dashi-based sauce is a bit sweet, yet well balanced, and the egg is always served not entirely cooked, as it should be (as Ross from Friends would say, "the moist maker"!"). It is topped with thick, hearty cuts of meat, Panko battered and fried to a crisp, but still tender and not overcooked. You can also replace pork cutlet with chicken and I find that chicken is better because it is more tender and not as chewy.

My favourite time to go is probably during lunch hours from 11-2 pm. It is quiet, with lunch combo's for only $10-14, AND the best part is a station of self-serve miso soup and salad which I usually go nuts for. Pretty good value!

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Fried food delights at Jumbo

We got to Jumbo around 11 am on a Tuesday. With only a few tables settled and it was absolutely dead, we had to order from a menu instead of the usual dim sum carts circulating around until more people show up. Sometimes, I feel like I like that method better because you never have to wait to get what you want. My sister took charge and checked a dish of pan fried custard buns we haven't noticed before. When it arrived, the buns looked like porcupines with crispy edges sticking out. I don't really like sweets, but after much convincing I tried it. I took a bite into the freshly fried, crispy exterior and greeted by a layer of soft white bun, filled with yellow egg custard. I think my eyes may have rolled back a little. It was sublime! I've never seen this dish circulating in the dim sum carts ever. So the next visit to Jumbo I looked for them in dim sum carts but no luck, they weren't out anywhere. I tried ordering it from the kitchen and explaining to the servers, describing the porcupine buns. They were puzzled. Finally, I showed the the picture I took and I received a big "AH!" They still didn't tell me what it was called though, so I guess I'll have to show them pictures each time I want to order it lol.

The next best thing on my list is the pan fried shrimp cake with chives which is only good when served hot and fresh. If they're not freshly fried and crispy, then it's a lost cause. Again, I tried ordering it from the kitchen and getting a puzzled look. Of course I showed another picture of the shrimp cakes. The server understood as he laughed and joked "Any more pictures you want to show me?". Yes, I will never stop taking pictures from now on, because you know what? That's the good thing about being a food nerd and taking pictures of everything. There's never a miscommunication and I'll get exactly what I want. This leads me to an idea of saving pictures of everything from food to utensils, glass of water, etc. So when I go travel to countries like Korea, Japan, I won't have to rely on charades and miming anymore lol.

For everything else we had that day:

Fried taro with ground pork filling

Fried chicken wings. They are pretty big, well marinated, and oozing hot oil when you bite into them.

Steamed chicken feet

Siu mai, they are quite big, but I wish there were more shrimp.

Ha gow, shrimp dumplings, Dim Sum essential.

My staple dim sum food, fried shrimp wontons.

Pan fried tofu wrapped shrimp

Ham Siu Gok, fried rice cakes with ground pork filling

I've been going to Jumbo for years since it's probably one of the better dim sum restaurants in town and it's close to my home. Price is reasonable, most of the dishes are descent (except for the kebabs, I'm not a fan of those dried meat drenched in sweet sauce). I never paid much attention to how friendly the service was. Especially when it's usually busy, everyone just focuses on table turnovers. As long as I was getting what I want, I don't care if I get a smile from the staff who were running around in circles trying to meet everyone's demands. The past visit was pretty good though, I think after I showed the server my food pictures when I was ordering, he will always recognize me from now on. As I was leaving, he made sure to bid farewell with "Show me more pictures next time!!".

Oh yeah, definitely try to order the porcupine bun if you can.

Wild Tangerine

Opened for 6 years, Wild Tangerine is a family owned and operated restaurant. I visited the restaurant about four years ago and couldn't remember what I ate except for the shrimp lollipops. TC finally convinced me to go one night after I told him about those lollipops. We got there around 9 pm and it was a fairly quiet week night. As we flipped through the menu, I felt that, for the ambience and price point, they could put more effort into the aesthetic of their menu cover.

They got the bison short rib from Rimbey! That's a small town south of Edmonton near Red Deer where I went to high school! I just had to do a shout out since no one ever goes there or has heard of it (represent!).

TC was definitely adamant about getting the shrimp lollipops (essentially what we went there for). We anticipated the worst when the owner told us they ran out of several appetizers. But alas, we managed to get the last remaining 3 lollipops (*phew).

The shrimp lollipops ($9) were wrapped in vermicelli noodles, skewered, deep fried and served with wasabi yogurt, the part I think TC was most excited about. The batter was light and crispy and the remains of the fried noodles could be seen scattered all around my perimeter. I asked TC if they were as good as he expected them to be, and I think his response was the wasabi yogurt was the best part, but the shrimp lollipops were good too. I reassured him he could buy wasabi mayo at T&T or make it at home.

When I ordered the tofu pancakes with hoisin-palm sugar glaze ($6), I thought the glaze would be on the tofu but in fact it was a dipping sauce. The hoisin sauce didn't help adding any dimension to the flavour, but it was mainly the texture that I struggled with and thought it was rather bland and mushy. I even tried dipping it in wasabi yogurt and pretended they were crab cakes ( -__-''), but still couldn't manage to enjoy them. Meanwhile, TC only ate one because he was just looking for something to eat the wasabi mayo with.

As more dishes began to arrive, I had to ask the server to move us to a bigger table as I ended up using my lap to set down plates. The next dish to arrive was the special of the day, which was the sweet potato and lavender soup. Before ordering, I asked what kind of consistency it had and the response I got was,

"It's a puree...like baby food".

Meh, I went for it anyway. It was cold outside. My soup arrived and he was absolutely right; puree, baby food. Though I wish he didn't describe it that sense, it was also warming with a hint of ginger. The lavender seeds added fragrance to the aftertaste without overpowering. It was reminiscent of the lavender gelato I had at Bella Gelateria in Vancouver.

TC ordered the Most Memorable red curry mussels with linguini ($23). For someone who said he was starving, he couldn't even finish it, and that's when I come in. The mussels were not too small and it was a fairly big portion. The red curry was diluted down so it wasn't spicy, but still had the red curry essence. Though I wish it had more depth, the sauce was creamy, more coconuty and subtle, suitable for pasta sauce, and turned out to be a descent fusion dish (coming from a Thai person). Thinking about mussels and frites I've had in the past, the curried mussels would make an interesting take if served with a side of fries.

Throughout our dinner, we actually carried out several interesting conversations about restaurant business with who I assumed was the owner, Mr. Wilson Wu. From the beginning, he was attentive and very sociable. He finally convinced me on getting the limited time only creme caramel, which was made out of goat's milk. There was an underlying goat's milk pungency in which if you are bothered by goat cheese, you might not like this one. It didn't bother me or TC, though. The texture was soft and silky and much lighter than most creme caramel I've had.

In one of our conversations, Mr. Wu seemed quite dreary when he talked about the shortage of staff especially in the kitchen, an issue I'm sure facing many small scale restaurants everywhere. He also saw caught me taking photos of food and immediately asked if I was a food blogger (^__^'') To which, my response was "...Yes...No....". I asked him if he reads food blogs to which he responded,

"I read some, but I find too many just follow the trends. They are not fully aware of the palette when they write."

This may be true, and it also made me reflect about what and how I write; if it is objective. But since tasting is also very personal and varies from person to person, and in the end, they are merely opinions. Therefore, I think my aim in writing reviews is to share the dining experience of what is good and bad so others would know what to expect.

It was definitely a unique dining experience, both culinary and the social aspects. Compared to other restaurants in Edmonton, I found Wild Tangerine to be more distinctive for its Asian/Western fusion offerings. Customer service was very attentive and I definitely enjoyed the conversations. Price range wise, in my honest opinion, some dishes (like the fried tofu) are slightly high on the spectrum.

Corso 32

I was a huge fan of chef Daniel Costa, who in my book, makes the most amazing pizzas, calzones and tomato bisque ever. I felt like a lost soul when I heard he wasn't making them anymore and left Cafe de Copa. Not to sound like a creeper, but I stalked him around a couple times while he worked at Red Star, just to try his take on gastropub food and wishing that he would return to full Italian cuisine one day. Then my prayers were answered when I heard he extended his wings and opening his own restaurant, Corso 32 earlier this month.

Last week, I finally got a chance to visit the new restaurant in downtown. The ambience of the restaurant really reflected his personal style and visions. The vibe of the restaurant was very lively, warm, casual. There was an opened kitchen facing the entrance and patrons can see the chefs at work as they're coming in and out. The restaurant was buzzling with a constant turnovers throughout the entire time we were there. With indie, grunge playing as the soundtrack that night, the majority of his patrons in their late 20's - 30's enjoyed themselves drinking, dining, and socializing (many of whom I'm sure are well acquainted with chef Daniel). No doubt, this is Edmonton's new "It" spot.

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The menu was simplistic, yet that reflected his cooking style and staying true to authentic Italian dishes. He definitely broke away from Italian cafe food from Cafe de Copa to turned towards rustic Italian comfort food.

After several minutes to decide, I started off with the crispy short rib terrine with Barlett pear salad ($15). The terrine was smoky, tender, and savoury. It was topped with thin Barlett pear ribbons and arugula. While the pear was crisp and refreshing, I felt it still tasted rather bland, even when paired with the terrine.

Spicy game hen "under a brick", rappini, herb, pine nuts, gremolata $26 arrived rather impressive looking. The hen was cooked under a brick, an Italian cooking method which allows the meat to be cooked on the grill quickly and evenly. The portion of the chicken was fairly big, and the meaty pieces were golden and crispy, but definitely not spicy. Some white meat pieces were a bit dry, but this is why I prefer dark meat because they stay moist and tender. I wasn't familiar with the name "rapini" and we were told that it was a type of vegetable similar to broccoli. It is high in nutrients, and a common vegetable used in Southern Italian cuisine. When it was served, we all thought it tasted and looked closely similar to its chinese cousin, Gai Lan. The rapini was accompanied by gremolata, which consisted of lemon, parsley, garlic, and mint. And despite its effort to tone down the rapini's bitterness, it was still much more pronounced than in the chinese broccoli. In the end, I couldn't bare the bitter taste to enjoy it. It must be more of an acquired taste and I wish we were warned because we would probably have changed the side to something else. The overall flavour of this dish reminded of two very simlar chinese dishes; crispy salted chicken and steamed gai lan. It was quite puzzling and how much they resembled each other! Despite it being a rustic Italian dish, we couldn't seem to bring ourselves to appreciate it :(

The special that night was a squash ravioli with sage, and at any other time, I would've jumped the gun and ordered it. But at that moment, I thought that I had tried that dish at a lot of places already and it was time to try something different. That squash ravioli ended up lingering in my mind for the rest of the night as I traded it for pappardelle short rib ragu ($18) and fonduta ravioli, black truffle, pickled chanterelles, brussel leaf ($18). Much like a deconstructed lasagna, the beef ragu was hearty and very tasty. I really enjoyed the tender texture of braised short ribs in rich tomato sauce and how well the pappardelle held the sauce together.

The fonduta (Italian cheese fondue) filled ravioli was subtle, velvety and creamy. If you're cheese lover like me, you might really appreciate this dish. The only downer was that the aroma and the taste of truffle were very faint and I could hardly detect it.

I wasn't quite satisfied yet and wanted to sample one more dish. Rather than getting the dessert, I went for the smoked arancini ($9), or fried risotto rice balls and they definitely made my night. Crispy on the outside, and creamy with risotto, shitake, and melted mozzarella on the inside, an Italian soul food I could eat every day.

Though I still miss his pizzas, Corso 32 is a great addition to the progression of Edmonton dining scene and I can't wait to go back to try out more dishes.

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