July 2012
DEALS ON WHEELS F O O D B Y P H O N E ’ S M O N T H LY N E W S L E T T E R
M O N T H LY P R O M O T I O N S Sazae
Siam Winery
Get a FREE portion of Natto (Rice Roll filled with fermented Soy Bean) [104-17] every order over 300 THB
Buy 3 Gerolsteiner Sprudel Water (1.5lt) [900-87] and get 1 bottle complimentary!
Krua Rommai
Receive a Pork Spring Roll for FREE with every order over 500 THB
Govinda
Get a FREE Pizza Margarita with every order over 500 THB
Stable Lodge is located 200-300 meters down Sukhumvit Soi 8, a hotel with a Scandinavian restaurant. Today it is hard to find Scandinavian cuisine in Bangkok, but let’s not forget the significance of Denmark
Get a FREE portion of Karaage (5 pcs.) [142-24] with every order over 700 THB
Planet Bollywood
Get a FREE Chicken Tikka [84-19] with every order over 700 THB.
MONTHLY COMPETITION
FEATURED RESTAURANT Stable Lodge
Yamagoya Ramen
to Thailand’s International growth. It was the first country to develop International relations with the Kingdom of Siam. And it was the first international subsidiary of the Danish owned East Asiatic Company that owned and operated the first Port of Bangkok at Charoenkrung on the Chao Phraya River, where today is Asiatique. Steffen Ingemann came to Thailand in 1979, working as a tour guide for the Danish travel company Tjaerborg. His first restaurant venture was the Mermaid Guesthouse on the opposite site of the road to Stable Lodge. It was popular with Danish seamen who were looking for simple home cooked Scandinavian food. With only 25 rooms there was not enough space, so he moved across the road to a former condominium that was being run as hotel, which became Stable Lodge. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 >>
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FEATURED RESTAURANT The Stable Lodge The name wasn’t chosen because of any previous equestrian connection rather because it translated easily into Danish. It is also typified ‘hygge’, the fundamental aspect of Danish culture being a place to relax with good friends and loved ones while enjoying good food and the occasional drink.
“As bread is an important element of Scandinavian cuisine,” he says, “I get my dark rye bread from and independent German baker, and my white bread from and independent Danish Baker. While smørrebrød has become known as open sandwiches, the word translates as bread & butter.”
The restaurant is decorated as an old style Danish restaurant, typified by low ceilings and red and white checked tablecloths. There are additional artefacts to strengthen the emotional expectations given by its name. There is seating inside the air-conditioned restaurant with additional tables on the terrace overlooking the swimming pool.
The first we tried was generous slices of tomato interwoven with thick slices of hard boiled eggs on a bed of lettuce served on black bread [order code 96-89], the ideal vegetarian choice. The second was cold slices of roasted Thai-French beef with what is called tartar sauce for convenience on the menu, but is actually a sweet-sour sauce called remoulade [96-26]. It is imported from Denmark and made with diced sweet relish, mayonnaise, and yellow mustard. The third was generous slices of Norwegian smoked salmon topped with scrambled egg served on white bread [96-47]. This open sandwich paired particularly well with the Akvavit. I found all three sandwiches an ideal value for money lunchtime snack!
“We are the best Scandinavian restaurant outside Denmark,” Steffen declares, “both in terms of food, service and Danish ‘hygge’. Yo u w i l l not f i nd a pl ace wi th be tte r traditional Danish food than here. I do believe that Denmark has the best food culture in Scandinavia, more so than in either Norway or Sweden.” As I walked into the restaurant it did feel as if I was in Denmark, not Thailand. “The food style is more Danish,” he says, “but all our cooks are now Thai. When we first opened the kitchen, staff was trained by my former business partner Erik ‘Buddha’ Winter who had to return to Denmark a few years ago because of medical reasons. After years of training it is fantastic how well our Thai cooks can cook Scandinavian cuisine. Wherever possible we use local ingredients, but sometimes we have to have them imported. We import salami, sausages and the strong smelling old cheese from Denmark. And we use local fish with the exception of Norwegian salmon.” In Denmark lunch is usually a cold meal consisting of a few simply prepared pieces of smørrebrød (open sandwiches) with slices of cold meat, sausage or hard boiled egg. Danes will eat dinner and breakfast at home but lunch is q u i c k me al e ate n at work or s chool e i t h e r eaten i n t h e c a f e t e r i a o r a s a packed meal made before leaving home.
Stable Lodge 39 Sukhumvit Soi 8, Bangkok 10110 Tel 0-2653-0017-9 Email hotel@stablelodge.com Website www.stablelodge.com
Opening hours
7am - midnight
Credit cards
All major cards
Price per person without drinks THB 550 FBP partner since
2010
Po r k a c c o u n t s f o r 8 0 % o f a l l meat eaten in Denmark, and Danish Pig Farmers have worked with their Thai counterparts to achieve the excellent quality of pork available here in Thailand. The most popular Danish dish both in Denmark and Thailand is Pork Belly served with boiled potatoes and red cabbage garnished with a parsley sauce [96-69]. The slices of belly pork are crispy, crunchy, contrasting with the soft texture of the boiled potato. Every Saturday and Sunday they also offer an open sandwich buffet, the Scandinavian brunch equivalent served from noon to 3pm with a selection of hot and cold dishes. In October Stable Lodge will be celebrating their 20th Anniversary, and there are very few restaurants in Bangkok that go the distance for that long. Clearly, they must be getting it right in the style of Danish cuisine they are serving.
Personality of the month Thomas Novak “There really is no predictable dining pattern of our clients,” says Thomas Novak, co-owner of Chesa. “Generally at the weekday we have a mix of local businessmen who enjoy the restaurant being quiet for their meetings over the table, plus Japanese housewives. As we don’t switch off the air-conditioning and the kitchen stays open, we have a second wave of older generation of Thais who are more comfortable with a late lunch with family members and friends rather than venturing out after dark.” “In a normal week,” he adds “dinner should be busy on Friday and Saturday night, but dining habits are non-conformist. We could be busy on a night when we expect to be quiet, and equally we could have a quite night on those days of the week when we are expecting the opposite. After 12 years we have learnt to accept what will be and responding accordingly.”
When customers think Swiss, they think Chesa and of our fondue Bourguignonne and Fondue Chinoise. It’s no secret that western and Thai cheese appreciation profile is different so we make two style of Cheese fondue. One with stronger flavoured cheese and generous quantities of white wine for the more Western palate and a milder version with normal cheese and reduced quantities of kirsch for the Asian palate. Taste is subjective, we serve authentic dishes and varying taste strength, so hopefully everyone is happy. Two of our most popular dishes are Cupuns auf Chesa Art [order code 47-6] Swiss Chard Dumplings with bacon, onions and cheese in a creamy sauce and Traditional sliced veal and kidney (optional) in a mushroom sauce served with rosti potato [47-29]. One evening we had a former Thai Prime Minister with his entourage dining in the private room and a former American Ambassador with his party on the table by the door. The former PM had left but there were still members of his security seated outside. One of our service staff was re-filling the ambassadors glass and in a moment of lack of concentration accidentally poured wine into his pot of boiling oil for the fondue bourgonne. The result a flame rose up from the oil nearly reaching the ceiling nobody was hurt the security didn’t even notice. But my fear was a headline in the Bangkok Post “Attempt on the American Ambassador at Chesa.” “On another occasion a guest was eating mussels from the shell, and I asked he be given a finger bowl, after much waiting he was given a Singapore Sling, something got lost in translation.” Chesa will be celebrating its 12th anniversary throughout July, when customers order mixed meat fondue either Bourguignone or Chinoise we will offer each unlimited portions! You are welcome.
k
Thomas Nova
esa Co-owner of Ch ad, Soi 20 5, Sukhumvit Ro ngkok 10110 Klong Toey, Ba
What to do in Bangkok When?
What?
Description
More info?
7-15 July, 11am-9pm
Thailand Best Shopping Fair
The exhibition offers the furniture trend for bedroom, kitchen and living room, gardening equipment, clothing and apparels, and household ornaments.
Hall 1-8 Impact Arena, Muang Thong Thani
12th July, 8 pm
Screening of “A Mighty Heart” Members: Free. Non Members: 150 THB, ‘London Pride’ Beer : 50 THB
Mighty Heart by well-known British director Michael Winterbottom (Welcome to Sarajevo, Road to Guantanamo) is the riveting film which resurrects the infamous kidnapping and killing of Wall Street Journal correspondent Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, that shocked the world in 2002.
Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand, Penthouse, Maneeya Center Building 518/5 Ploenchit Road (connected to the BTS Skytrain Chitlom station)
14th July, 7pm
Bastille Day 2012 Free entry, food and drinks will be for sale.
As part of their 100th Anniversary celebrations Alliance Francaise Bangkok will decorate its gardens to resemble an authentic traditional French dance setting with lattern in the colours of France and Thailand. Spicy sausages with frites will be for sale plus a waffle and crepe stand. Sip Champagne or wine while eating cheese or cold cuts to celebrate Bastille Day.
Alliance Francaise Bangkok, 29 South Sathorn Rd Te:l 0-2670-4231, chalanthorn.kidthang@ alliance-francaise.co.th
25 July, 7pm (the last Wednesday of the month until November 2012
Young Musician Old Master Tickets THB 100, Students THB 50
Chamber concerts by ensembles of young musician from different universities around Bangkok.
Tel 0-2287-0947, info@bangkok.goethe.org Goethe Institut Bangkok
31st July
Bangkok Symphony Orchestra with Ryu Goto Tickets THB 500-2,000
Ryu with perform extracts from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, Violin Concerto in D Major and Symphony No 5 in E Minor.
Thailand Cultural Centre, Ratchadapisek Rd., Huay Kwang, Bangkok 10320 MRT Thailand Cultural Centre www.bangkoksymphony.org
2-3 August
Asana Bucha & Khao Phansa
The anniversary of the Buddha’s first sermon after attaining enlightenment is observed with temple rituals and giant candle offerings. Next day, Khao Phansa, the monks’ three-month rainy season retreat begins, a time of many ordinations. The sale of alcohol is banned all day.
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