Breakfast this morning was at OPEN Restaurant where, being hungrier than usual, I decided a mix of East and West be the best to have my fill- and max out the price of the meal.
They've got a lot of variety here at their breakfast buffet, actually, but because I happen to be on one of those diets where calculation (albeit flexible) is key, I first got my coffee, then went for a plate of stir-fried vermicelli, and a plate of two fried eggs to go with the tang hoon.
After that, because the appetite was still there, I filled up with carbs from the West side in the form of pancakes (with butter!) and a small serving of Mac & Cheese.
I actually liked the macaroni more than I liked the pancakes and wish I had taken a few spoonfuls more.
Again today there aren't that many pictures of where we went and what we did, save for our meals, but I think that's more than enough, and I'm happy with them.
We got some work done in the morning.
Then for lunch we walked over to Central Embassy where up we went to the highest floor to OKONOMI.
The last time we'd come here I'd ordered their Mentaiko & Lemon Mazemen, which had been good, but I thought I'd try something more soupy this time, so I ordered the Tunakotsu Ramen.
It was actually pretty good.
Ok so it did take a bit of time before I got used to the texture of the charred confit tuna, but the ramen was smooth and QQ chewy, the ajitama egg had a yolk that flowed easily into the soup whilst giving a tiny little bit of bite, and the tunakotsu broth, whilst not tasting fishy fishy like I thought it would, was rounded on the tongue, and did have a subtle umami taste that catered to a light palate.
My friend ordered the usual favorite of Spicy Salmon Poke, we had a bowl of Japanese Pumpkin Soup, and there was additional order of what I think is a salmon croquette coated with sesame.
Afterwards we headed to Silom Complex for a short while- my friend had an appointment- and after he got back, we decided to have dinner at this cafe called Baan Ying right in the mall itself.
Baan Ying is one of those places that sound like they're very traditional, but it is in fact a very casual cafe that caters to young families, millennials and Gen Zs alike. It is a franchise, I think, and although I don't know where their outlets are, they have got quite a few.
Baan Ying holds special significance to me as being one of the first few cafes in Silom that caught my eye when I first resumed travels in Bangkok. Why we'd come to the Silom area that time, I don't recall, but Baan Ying was located next to the entrance right by the BTS station, and being caught for time at that time, we simply entered, ordered, ate, and left impressed.
I've since discovered a couple more interesting cafes over here at Silom, but for a steady, solid meal, I like this one.
First of all, they've got a great view.
Then their prices are reasonable, their portions are suitable, and they don't do it in a heavy street style way that might test a carefully calibrated palate.
I love their stir-fried flat rice noodles, but not being very hungry this time, we decided to share, so there was a huge bowl of soup- I think it was chicken, or was it pork, an appetizer of cute little cubed tofu, and a bowl of rice that had a generous portion of scrambled egg, and slices of tender marinated beef,
For someone who doesn't always appreciate bean curd and tofu, this one I quite liked. I liked how delicately it had been fried, and I liked how soft and spongy the tofu inside was. There was no strong taste of the bean curd (which I liked), and the sweet chili made it especially nice.
They had done well with the egg scrambled over rice, and I had a lovely time picking up the slices of tender beef with the egg and eating the whole thing with rice.
My friend had made an appointment for a head spa at a place near Siam Square. It had come recommended, so was popular, and although I don't remember its name, I know it was up a flight of stairs on either the 2nd or 3rd floor, and in the small wait area on the sofa there were at least customers either three or four.
The actual hair spa was an hour long- I wish it could have been longer- I like head massages- but I liked their style of calming the frazzled tourist down before massaging your scalp and your hair. You didn't have to go off immediately when you finished, they brought you out to the main space with your head wrapped in a towel (in full view of everyone, by the way), dried your hair, and for the ladies, straightened it even for you.
It was a good way to end the day.
But there still was more.
We had ice cream.
Or rather, I did.
A Matcha Mcflurry that we got from the McDonalds in Siam Paragon.
