Dalian

I am so happy to have found this little gem of a restaurant which specialises in North East Chinese cuisine. This is the hearty stuff - ideal nosh for cold wintry nights. Not exactly fitting for the 35 degree celsius weather in Bangkok, but still can't help coming back to this place at least once a week.

Firstly, this is pretty much genuine Chinese food, just like the little eateries in mainland China. The people who run the place all speak Mandarin and there is usually a Chinese tv soap opera showing in the corner.

Secondly, the food is very good. As mentioned, it's hearty, filling stuff. Quite oily actually and I'd recommend that stir-fried dishes are balanced with a soup, stew or boiled stuff.

The way the Chinese (sorry, we) cook aubergines is divine. The succulence of the flesh, the crispiness of the outer edges, the absorption of oil and juice and sauce... oh my. They have about 3 or 4 aubergine dishes: braised, with brown sauce, with pork, with peppers and onions (pictured). We can never remember which one we ordered before. I think maybe it's the braised one which is best. Say "qiezi" (chair zer)!

Another outstanding speciality is the dumplings (jiaozi - or jowzer in English). These can be fried or boiled. They can be veggie or stuffed full of pork and cabbage. We get the meaty ones boiled. Dipped in vinegar, tasting these little bundles of delight simply transports me back to cold winter nights in Beijing huddled over a big steaming bowl of satisfying, delicious dumplings.

Also pictured is 'Dalian stew' - a tasty soup full of cabbage, greens, and seemingly random pieces of pork. They have quite an extensive menu and it can get quite hard to choose what to have!

Service is OK. Punters don't seem to be Thai but either ex-pat mainlanders, Japanese or Korean. Fatt is usually the only farang in the restaurant.

Dalian is located on Suk Soi 40. No sign in English, but as you enter the soi, look to the right and you'll see lots of red lanterns.

Uomasa

87 Soi Akkapat (Thonglor Soi 13)



Oh wow, we think we've just found our favourite restaurant in Bangkok and to our enduring shame, it's not Thai but... Japanese. Oh dear!

We stumbled into Japan Town one Saturday lunchtime after yet another trip to Samitevej Hospital. A lot of Japanese people were going into this particular restaurant so we decided to follow them. Oh boy are we glad we did. We liked the restaurant so much we went back for dinner the next day!

So what's to like? Well the atmosphere is buzzing as it's busy but not overcrowded. There are seating areas but also you can sit by the sushi bar which is more fun as you watch the slabs of fresh fish before you. The service is very pleasant. The menu is extensive to say the least - perhaps even a little confusing at first. The food though! The sushi and sashimi is divine: fresh, succulent, melt in the mouth ...



The tempura is crisp without being smothered in batter. The salads are tasty (we had salmon skin salad). The agadashi dofu comes with salmon and umm aubergine I think. Anyhow, v. yummy. They have a big range of ox tongue for some reason and their best seller is apparently the grilled beef tongue skewer - which was surprisingly tender and tasty. We also had a lightly cooked burdock dish - though I still don't quite know what burdock is exactly. Also, at dinner time you get little freebie dishes - we had an eel one last time - v. good! And there are lunch set menus.

Needless to say, it's not cheap - probably looking at around a tenner a head, which is still a bargain compared to London.

Anyhow, we now know where to go if the Fatt is feeling down.