A wonderful little cooking course in a Thai-style outdoor kitchen

Thai food has become one of my favourite international cuisines. And unlike French or Italian where there are many competent executions in various cities around the world, I find Thai food a bit lackluster when not in Thailand. Don’t get me wrong, some places outside of Thailand do get it right, but they are few and far between. So we’ve decided to take matters into our own hands and make Thai food at home. I myself am a very comfortable and accomplished Western cook but I am unaccustomed to how to build the Thai flavour profiles. This is why whenever we go back to Thailand, I try to take a Thai cooking course to supplement my knowledge of Thai cooking. On our most recent trip, this was Baipai Cooking School in the Chongnonsee area of Bangkok.

The special thing about this cooking school is that they use a typical outdoor Thai style kitchen. Most Thais (and Asians in general) have very small and limited kitchens within the home and expansive outdoor kitchens adjacent to the home. This is because the high heat, resulting smoke and amount of oil required to stir fry makes it a near impossibility to do indoors. The Baipai kitchen is set in a charming little Thai house in a quiet part of town. As the chef leads you through recipes the wind whistles through the palm trees and geckos croak. It’s a special treat to enjoy the process of cooking and nature at the same time.

We made several dishes that day…preparing them as individual courses and sitting in between dishes to enjoy what we had just prepared. It ranged from the more simple things like Som Tum Thai (Green Papaya Salad) and Goong Ma-Kam (Prawn in Tamarind Sauce) to Chicken in Pandanus Leaf and Ganag Pehd Ped Yang (Roasted Duck in Red Curry). We learned everything from the basic practices of cleaning shrimp (a good refresher), how to properly use a pestle and mortar, how to tie pandan leaves, and even specific regional styles of preparation like separating coconut milk to extract the fullest fat cream part.

Between the new techniques we learned and the relaxed feel of the tropical, outdoor kitchen, it was a really lovely way to spend the day. Since some of you may be far from Thailand, we wanted to share some recipes with you and have picked a couple where we think you will be more likely to find the ingredients in most large city supermarkets. Enjoy!

Chicken in Pandanus Leaf
If there are no Pandanus leaves available where you live, you can also substitute a corn husk or simply put on BBQ skewers. Further, instead of chicken you can substitute shrimp or fish.

Ingredients:
70 grams chicken thigh cut into 5 bite sized pieces
5 Pandanus leaves
1 clove garlic
1 coriander root, roughly chopped
10 black pepper seeds
1 lemongrass, cut into pieces
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons oyster sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
½ teaspoon white sesame seeds
2 cups vegetable oil for deep frying

Dipping sauce – 1 tablespoon sweet soy sauce sprinkled with white sesame seeds.

Directions:

1. Pound coriander root, garlic, black pepper seeds and lemongrass together. Ideally in with a mortar and pestle. If not then in a bowl with a heavy wooden spoon.
2. Transfer into a mixing bowl with chicken, sugar, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, white sesame seeds and mix well. Leave to marinate 1 hour.
3. After 1 hour, wrap each piece of chicken in a pandanus leaf.
4. Submerge the bundle of chicken, completely wrapped in the leaf into hot oil. Cook for 3-5 minutes.
5. Serve with dipping sauce.

Prawn in Tamarind Sauce
To prepare the prawn, remove the sharp pointy part of the tail, then cut down the middle of the prawn. Pass the tail backwards through the hole in the middle. This results in a more evenly cooked and elegant presented prawn.

Ingredients:
3 – 4 medium sized prawn
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup vegetable oil for deep frying

Tamarind sauce:
1 tablespon shallot, finely sliced
2 tablespoons tamarind paste or sauce
1 tablespoon palm sugar
2 teaspoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons water

Garnish:
3 small dried chillis flash deep fried in oil
Fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves

Directions:

1. Prepare prawns as indicated above and coat them with flour. Deep fry until golden brown (1 minute). Set aside and drain on paper towel.
2. Prepare tamarind sauce by stir frying sliced shallot in oil until crisp. Add palm sugar, tamarind paste, fish sauce and water. NOTE – palm sugar must be added 1^st! Stir until sauce is thickened. Remove from heat. (Sauce will actually keep for 1 month if you wish to prepare in a larger batch to save).
3. Serve by arranging prawns on the plate and drizzle with the tamarind sauce. Garnish with the fried chillis and some fresh coriander

Baipai Cooking School,
150 / 12 Soi Naksuwan, Nonsee Road
Chongnonsee, Yannawa
Bangkok, Thailand
Telephone: +66 22 94 9029

“Fa cosi caldo qui o e la tua presenza?”

For those of you who don’t know, I’ll be entering a full-time culinary diploma program starting in April. I’m using my remaining months to continue to eat at great restaurants, travel, and take all the short-term cooking courses I can find. One of the more exciting courses I found while searching for classes in Singapore was offered out of Basilico’s at the Regent Hotel, Singapore. Each month they are focusing on a different Italian food region and teaching signature plates from said region. Having previously gorged ourselves enjoyed the sprawling Italian brunch, I knew that the chefs knew their regional foods and had the fresh ingredients required to pull something like this off. For February they went with a theme instead of a region… teaching a 3-course romantic meal that was every bit as indulgent as it was sensual. And as you prepare for your Valentine’s Day, you might consider cooking this rich, romance inspiring meal at home, rather than going out.

We were greeted upon arrival to Basilico’s with a refreshing drink (in appropriate Valentine’s Day color ).

As soon as our full group had arrived (classes are usually more intimate… only 5 in our class) Chef Angelo came out to make introductions and usher us into the cooking area. Chef Angelo is a bit more reserved than some other Italian chefs I’ve met in the past… quiet at first, but he quickly opened up and revealed a subtle sense of humor and dash of Italian flair.

The courses run in my favorite room at Basilico’s: The foie gras and cheese room from the Sunday brunch . The students surround the chef’s demo table and work at individual burners. These are the common kinds you’ve more than likely worked on if you’ve taken any kind of cooking class in the past.

With a brief introduction to our work environment, we were quickly started our first dish: Il Risotto Crab e Prosecco. This was a Southern Italian style risotto where pasta and risotto with fresh seafood is a must, we’re told. Mine turned out like soup a touch on the runny side… but it sure packed great flavors. I think if I had let it reduce a few minutes longer it would have been perfect.

A classic risotto starts with browning the onion in oil and adding the rice, toasting it. A stock is used and stirred in slowly and bit by bit so that the rice and other ingredients absorb the stock. In this case the recipe was made special with the inclusion of Prosecco and Crab and homemade fish stock. But really you can do any kind of risotto with this basic approach. Normally something like a Risotto would leave a lot of dead time in a cooking class due to the long preparation time. Chef Angelo took the time to teach us a handful of useful Italian “love phrases”. The subtitle above translates roughly to: “Is it hot in here or is it just me?”

The next dish on the menu was the Angus Beef Tenderloin. The description just doesn’t do this one justice however. For instance there’s no mention of the steak-sized portion of foie gras we cooked with the steak in red wine and a dab of truffle paste (mostly used for the potatoes underneath the steak, but I let mine mingle in the sauce a bit to bump the flavor). This was a hearty, soul-satisfying meal. If you can’t win a girl over cooking her a dish like this… she’s too fussy, find someone else   It was also quite simple – both the steak and the foie gras were sauteed in a pan and the sauce was made with a reduction of red wine and premade demi glace. Very nearly a one-pot meal, except for the potato, asparagus and tomato which were oven roasted. Chef Angelo showed us a trick when oven roasting – he put the tomatos and onions over a bed of rock salt. This infused both items with a lovely, savoury aroma and took them to the next level. He also said to try it at home with red onions in the skins.

For dessert was a surprisingly light tasting Zabaione Con Frutti Di Bosco. This dessert is historically served to give the one consuming more ” erotic power”… certainly another bonus to this Valentines meal. This was the most labor intensive part of the meal – we whipped 4 egg yolks, 2 spponfulls of sugar and a dash of Amaretto for what seemed like 15 – 20 minutes in a metal bowl held over a boiling water bath. I could actually see myself studying pastry full time if not for the treat of spending my life hurriedly whisking away. In reality it wasn’t that hard and the resulting dessert was well worth the efforts.

The class was great. It took just 2 hours to prepare and consume the 3-courses. Ingredients were top notch and while a lot of it was “dump and stir” (meaning the ingredients were pre-portioned and pre-cut)… there were elements left up to us. I like that instead of giving us perfectly measured amounts of salt and olive oil Chef Angelo had us instead pinch or pour out an amount that felt right to us… tasting as we went along. Little touches like that empower those who take the class, in my opinion, to have  the courage to try them again at home.

Also I loved the rustic nature of the dishes. These were elegant meals in taste, but simple in preparation. I can easily see myself making these dishes at home (maybe sans the foie gras). I’m already planning a pumpkin risotto with crushed black pepper as an adaptation of Angelo’s recipe. I’ll attend the classes in the coming months as well. According to Chef Angelo next month they’ll be covering Gnocchi… something I’ve been dying to make myself.

In the meantime, I can highly recommend the recipes above to you so you can make your special someone this fantastic 3-course Italian meal on Valentine’s Day.

Basilico’s
The Regent Hotel, 2nd floor
1 Cuscaden Road
Singapore
Telephone: +65 6725 3232

This will be the last of my recipes from the Blue Elephant Cooking School in Bangkok, Thailand. This recipe blew me away, and completing this dish gave me new confidence in the kitchen. It seems difficult due to the number of steps and for some reason fish has always seemed harder to me… but the finished product is a complex fish that would wow any dinner party guest who ever visited your home.

This dish is suitable for grilling in the warmer months or baking indoors in the cooler. It’s full on flavor but actually light when eating. I believe they recommended it as an appetizer for a dinner party at the cooking school, but I don’t have anything in my repertoire that could top this… so would need it to be a main

Plaa Phaow Bai Tong (Grilled or Baked Fish in Banana Leaf)
Main Ingredients
100 G Sea Bass (or White Firm Fish like Red Snapper or Garupa)
1 Leaf Banana Leaf
1 Sheet Aluminum Foil

Ingredients for Paste Making
10 G Lemon Grass Finely Sliced
10 G Galangal
10 G Garlic
1 Stem Coriander Root

Ingredients for Seasoning
1 TS Oyster Sauce
1 TSP Light Soya Sauce
1/4 TSP White Pepper Powder
1/4 TSP White Sugar
5 G Butter

Herbs
5 G Sweet Basil Leaves (10-15 Leaves)
5G Dill (finely chopped)
1 Leaf Kaffir Lime Leaf (roll and finely slice)

Preparation

1. In the mortar: pound lemongrass, garlic, galangal & coriander root into a paste.
2. In mixing bowl: add pate, oyster sauce, light soya sauce, white pepper, sugar & butter. Add kaffir lime leaf last.
3. Then coat the fish with the paste, covering it well.
4. Add dill and then sweet basil leaves to the top of fish
5. Wrap the fish fillet with banana leaf and aluminum foil with the skin side of the fish down.
6. Grill on the range or bake in the oven (200 C) for 15 minutes.

Naam Jim (Chili Dipping Sauce for the Fish)
Ingredients
1 Stem Coriander Root
4 Cloves Garlic
3 G Bird’s Eyes Chilies (5 pieces or do 3 pieces for medium spicy)
1 Piece Big Red Chili
1 TB Fish Sauce
1/2 TB Palm Sugar
1 TB Tamarind Juice
1 TSP Lime Juice

Preparation

1. In a mortar pound garlic, coriander root, bird’s eyes chilies, & big red chili into paste.
2. In a saucepan simmer on low heat sugar, fish sauce & tamarind juice for about 1 minute.
3. Transfer into a mixing bowl. Add lime juice and the paste and mix well.
4. Serve alongside the fish.

Recipe courtesy of Blue Elephant Cooking School in Bangkok. Read about my experiences of a morning program class here.

Here’s another recipe from the Blue Elephant Cooking School. This is not a dish I was intimately familiar with by name. However, the flavors are instantly recognizable. This dish would be perfect accompanied by an ice-cold beer while sitting out on the beach at sunset . The dish is very simple to prepare and, while featuring a complex flavor profile, easy for those newer to Thai food to appreciate. You’d have no trouble serving this to anyone ranging from kids to picky adults.

The ingredients to this one are more straightforward than some of the other Blue Elephant recipes… not that those recipes are difficult, just that the ingredients can be a bit harder to source fresh outside of Thailand. I would say any large grocery store should have canned longan and if not most large cities have an Asian foods market. Since it’s a canned fruit you can prepare this dish year round.

Koong Saam Rod (Spicy, Sweet & Sour Stir Fried Prawns)
Ingredients (portion for 1 serving)
5 Pieces Prawns
40 G Canned Longan (5-6 pieces)
30 G Pineapple (cut into small pieces or diced pieces)
20 G Bell Pepper (cut into squares)
30 G Sweet Onion (bite size pieces)
5 G Ginger (julian)
1 Stem Spring Onion (cut 1cm long)
1 Stem Coriander (small pieces)

Ingredients for Paste Making
8 G Big Clove of Garlic
6 G Coriander Root (1 Stem)
1/4 TSP White Pepper

Ingredients for Cooking and Seasoning
1 1/2 TBS Vegetable Oil
1 TBS Fish Sauce
1 TBS Sugar
1 TBS Chilli Sauce
1 1/2 TBS Ketchup
1 TBS Tamarind Juice
1/2 TBS Rice (white) Vinegar
4 TBS Chicken Stock

In a mortar, pound the ingredients for paste making together. Heat up the wok and add Oil. Add the paste from the mortar. Add prawns, stir fry until the prawns are a bit cooked. Add the sweet onion, ginger, pineapple, & bell pepper. Add chicken stock and continue to stir fry. After a moment season with fish sauce, sugar, chilli sauce, ketchup, tamarind juice, & rice vinegar to taste. Add canned longan. Just before turning off the heat add spring onion and chopped coriander.

Recipe courtesy of Blue Elephant Cooking School in Bangkok. Read about my experiences of a morning program class here.

Paul

I just got the OK from Blue Elephant Cooking School to share some recipes with you. This first recipe was a bit of a surprise for me and also my favorite. Before moving to Thailand I had tried numerous incarnations of Penang, Red Curry, and Green Curry in Thai restaurants around the US. Those living in the US must think Thais eat nothing but curries and Pad Thai (they don’t! I saw one Thai person order Pad Thai in 4 years in Bangkok when not ordering it for a foreigner friend). I had never heard of Yellow Curry though….and it’s too bad because it just might be my favorite.

Kruang Kaeng Kari (Yellow Curry Paste)
Ingredients for the Curry Paste (we’re working from scratch here folks).
1 TBS Lemongrass (sliced)
1/2 TBS Galangal (diced into small pieces)
4 Pieces Dried Chilis
4 Cloves of Garlic
3 Shallots
1/2 TSP Ground Roasted Coriander Seeds
1/4 TSP Ground Roasted Cumin Seeds
1 TSP Yellow Curry Powder
1/2 TSP Turmeric Powder
1/2 TBS Fresh Ginger (Diced)
1 TSP Salt
1/4 TSP Shrimp Paste
1 Root of Coriander

Pound all of this in a mortar until it turns into a smooth paste. You want to cut up the tougher elements to speed up the process… trust me, if you throw in Galangal and others whole, you’ll be pounding a lot longer.

Yellow Curry or Kaeng Ka-Ree Kai (Kai stands for Chicken in this name and Kaeng is curry.
Ingredients
150 G Chicken Breast (cut into large cubes)
2 TBS Vegetable Oil
1 TBS Ka-ree Curry Paste (Yellow Curry Paste from above)
300 ML Coconut Milk
50 G Potato (peeled and cut into large pieces)
20 G White Onion (thick slice)
2 Cherry Tomatoes optional
1 TSP Palm Sugar (Can substitute brown sugar)
1 TBS Fish Sauce

Garnish
1 1/2 TBS Cream of Coconut Milk
1 TSP Deep-fried Shallots
Fresh Coriander Leaves for Sprinkling on top

Heat the oil in a saucepan until hot. Add the Ka-Ree Curry Paste, stir-fry until an aroma develops. Add the coconut milk in in stages (look for the oil to separate a bit) until all in then add the chicken, potato and white onion and bring it to a boil again for 2 minutes.

Add the fish sauce and palm sugar. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Transfer to a serving dish; float the cream of coconut milk on top of the curry and sprinkle with deep fried shallot and coriander laves.

Recipe courtesy of Blue Elephant Cooking School in Bangkok. Read about my experiences of a morning program class here.

Paul

The BECS was something I’d always heard about. The restaurant is famous for Royal Thai Cuisine (think anti-fusion Thai cooking, completely traditional and layered). The cooking school here is widely considered to be THE place to study traditional Thai cuisine… sure the experience is a bit canned and not as rustic as diving into the back of a street stall location and learning to cook the floor of someone’s home. But for most this experience will do.

I arrived early in the morning, maybe too early for me personally at 8:15am. Thankfully the school is easily accessed by BTS (Skytrain station Surasak) so you can avoid the morning commuters and terrible Bangkok traffic. I took the opportunity to check out our the space. The restaurant itself is amazing, with a classic, subtle look that’s not overly garish or dated as some “Royal Thai” restaurants tend to be.

Equally impressive is the environment in which the cooking classes take place.

We had brief introductions and then re-boarded the BTS to head one station down to the Bang Rak fresh foods market. The market was familiar to me, but is a great bonus for those who haven’t lived in Thailand before or those not intimately familiar with Thai ingredients, spices, and produce.

The instructors walked us around the market, first showing us the various Thai and Southeast Asian Fruits.

Then we dove deeper into the back alley market in search of the fresh fish and shrimp we’d need for our dishes. It was amazingly dirty and dingy, but more impressive was the lack of smells…this fish was fresher than the seafood section at the more sanitized Carrefour.

Next up was Thai herbs and spices. The showed us the difference between Galangal and Ginger and explained when you’d use both in different cuisines (not interchangeable for Royal Thai cooking).

It was amazing what all you could get in the market if you knew where to look. There was a station with a man and a giant mortar and pestle grinding up fresh curries, people making fresh noodles, and even a place with fresh coconut shavings (no canned coconut milk for our curry ).

Before we left we were treated to a traditional Thai Iced Coffee in a bag. With the extra punch of caffeine we were ready to head back to the school and get to the business of making dishes.

First up was Keang Ka-Ree Kai (yellow curry). To be honest I was overly familiar with green and red varieties before coming to Thailand. You’d think Penang curry would be a national dish with the frequency it’s served Stateside, but I honestly haven’t seen a Thai person ever order the dish when dining out. I hadn’t sampled the yellow curry so much and I have no idea why. The flavors were familiar with a subtlety Penang is missing.

This wasn’t a simple premade curry paste, add water and stir operation. We had to man the mortar and pestle and grind away. After a brief demonstration from the master chef we went to the kitchens to prepare our own (this is how the classes operate – view a dish being prepared, sample it, then make your own). Be prepared before attending this class for lots of grinding action

Next up came the Plaa Phaow Bai Tong (Grilled or Baked Fish in Banana Leaf). We used fresh cuts of Sea Bass for this dish. Again we were back to work with the mortar, grinding up lemongrass, galangal, garlic and coriander root for a paste to coat the fish in. It wasn’t the prettiest dish to look at, but man was it full of flavor. With the extra chili dipping sauce this dish will make you the toast of any dinner party.

The third dish had us cooking with the Wok. We made Koong Saam Rod (Spicy, Sweet & Sour Stir-Fried Prawns). The description is woefully incomplete though as other ingredients joined the prawns such as longan berries, pineapple, bell peppers, and sweet onion. This dish was full of flavor but also one of the most accessible dishes taught. I think you could easily serve this to a less adventurous friend to introduce a basic Thai dish without scaring them off with lots of heat and spice.

Last up is one of my favorite hot day lunch snacks – Yam Nua (Thai Beef salad). This dish is the easiest to prepare and cook, but you have to watch out for those tiny “bird’s eye chilies” (you don’t want to know the Thai name for these guys). This is a refreshing dish perfect for warm afternoons in a tropical climate. (Picture actually from a dinner party here in Singapore and not from cooking school).

With my arm stronger from beating down 4 different pastes it was time to enjoy the fruits of our labor. All the dishes were familiar yet fresh and new. The ingredients taught here are a bit more labor and ingredient intensive than what you’ll find on most street corners around town, but reward the extra effort with an elevated, complex dish that’ll impress even the Bangkok locals.

After completing the last dish and sampling our plates we were presented with gift bags. We received a complimentary Blue Elephant apron, diploma, all the recipes made that day, and a goodie box of tea/curries/spices/etc. All in all a pretty good value for 2500 THB.

If you’re new to Thailand I’d highly suggest the morning course. This way you can get down to the market and see how to select and find the ingredients. If you’ve living in Asia for any amount of time the afternoon course might be more your speed as they drop the market and teach a bonus dessert dish. They teach a different four dishes every day of the week so look into a package deal if you think you’d like to learn more.

Blue Elephant Cooking School
Blue Elephant Building
233 South Sathorn Road, Kwaeng Yannawa, Khet Sathorn, Bangkok 10120, Thailand
Tel: +66 (2) 673 9353, +66 (2) 6739354, +66 (2) 6739356
Fax:  +66 (2) 673 9355
Skytrain: Surasak
E-mail: cooking.school@blueelephant.com

Bonus Pics

Two of our cooking instructors

My workstation. The ingredients might have been pre-prepared but all the mashing was done by hand.

Every time we go to the area known as Chip Bee Gardens on Jalan Merah Saga we make a new discovery…With a bevy of lovely little restaurants, gourmet food stores, art galleries, bakeries and cool specialty kitchen / baking supply stores, one can spend a whole afternoon puttering around. And we often do!

A destination in and of itself, here are some of our favorites on Jalan Merah Saga.

Original Sin (Pictured Above)
A wonderful vegetarian place that’s perfect for an alfresco lunch or dinner. Paul loves the pumpkin risotto. Also they often have credit card promotions to be sure to ask if there are any current promotional offers.
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43 Jalan Merah Saga
#01-62 Chip Bee Gardens
Telephone: +65 6475 5605

(Click Here for Our Original Sin Review)

NEW! The Daily Scoop
The Daily Scoop features over 40 flavors of ice cream – some traditional (strawberry and chocolate and the like), but what really excited us were the creative, gourmet flavor combinations like none we had seen before in Singapore. There was Lychee Martini, Utterly Avocado, Ginger Crumble (with crystallized ginger and gingersnaps), Durian, Wasabi Mango, Green Tea & Red Bean, Hei! Sesame and more.
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The Daily Scoop
43 Jalan Merah Saga
#01-78 Chip Bee Gardens
(Another location at 41 Sunset Way, #01-04 Clementi Arcade)
Telephone: +65 6475 3128

La Fromagerie
From Julien Bompard, a brand new and cute-as-a-button cheese shop in French rustic farmhouse style. Endless arrays of cheeses and cheese-loving accouterments are available, with a small but well-edited selection of wines. And if you are inclined and have time, sit and try the cheese tasting or fondue menus.
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43 Jalan Merah Saga
#01-64 Chip Bee Gardens
Telephone: +65 6732 6269

Da Paolo Dolci
A bakery and dessert offshoot of the famous Italian restaurant (dolci = desserts in Italiano) offering lovely little sweet treats – try the tiramisu.
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43 Jalan Merah Saga
#01-68 Chip Bee Gardens
Telephone: +65 6479 0336

Da Paolo La Terrazza
The eponymous Italian eatery’s other outlet for Italian food. Although frankly we would recommend the Da Paolo Pizza Bar over La Terazza – it’s a little more fun and festive but ultimately your choice depends on what kind of mood you are in.
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44 Jalan Merah Saga
#01-56 Chip Bee Gardens
Telephone: +65 6476 1332

Da Paolo Pizza Bar
Yet another offering from Da Paolo, but this time with an emphasis on thin crust Italian pizza. As mentioned above it’s a little more fun and festive as it is continuously busy, seemingly at all times of day. Eat on the terrace if it is not too hot. This was voted best pizza by Time Out in 2008.
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44 Jalan Merah Saga
#01-46 Chip Bee Gardens
Telephone: +65 6476 6059

NEW! Yakiniku Nagomiya
I’ll be honest, we’ve never eaten here…it’s brand new. The menu offers classic Japanese charcoal BBQ . Please write in and let us know if you have tried it and how it went.
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44 Jalan Merah Saga
#01-52 Chip Bee Gardens
Telephone: +65 6285 0368

NEW! Mai Thai Restaurant
Updated in Sept…..Just last weekend we noticed a new face on Jalan Merah Saga. A Thai restaurant!  A quick perusal of the menu shows my favorite dish Kra Pow Gai (chicken with chillies and basil). Being former residents of Bangkok we will surely try this and report back to you.

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44 Jalan Merah Saga
#01-58 Chip Bee Gardens
Telephone: +65 6474 3108

Michelangelo’s
A bit more on the formal side…than say Da Paolo Pizza. Great for a special occasion or date. Upscale Italian at upscale prices. But for more accessible prices, again here often there are credit card promotions, so do ask your server so as not to miss out on a good deal.
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44 Jalan Merah Saga
#01-60 Chip Bee Gardens
Telephone: +65 6475 9069

Bunalun
Very precious food stuffs at very precious prices. I love the simple graphic packaging. Check out the chef prepared meals and deli offerings.
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43 Jalan Merah Saga
#01-70 Chip Bee Gardens
Telephone: +65 6472 0870

Bistro Petit Salut
Dining with some French friends at a French restaurant is always tricky – will it ever come close to authentic? In this case Bistro Petit Salut stood its ground. Paul and I really enjoyed the steak for two. Plus they also often offer good value set menus.
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44 Jalan Merah Saga
#01-54 Chip Bee Gardens
Telephone: +65 6472 0870

Pantry Magic
Very lovely kitchenstuffs for home chefs – from silicone bakeware to grilling supplies to hard to find international cookbooks, they have it all.
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43 Jalan Merah Saga
#01-80 Chip Bee Gardens
Telephone: +65 6471 0566

Shermay’s Cooking School
Tucked away upstairs is a cooking school with a well-edited gift shop. Here you can take cooking classes and attend demonstrations on everything from Asian cuisine (Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Singaporean, etc) to Western cuisine (French, Italian) to Baking (Pastries, Cupcakes, Chocolate, etc). $69 – 129 SGD / class.
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43 Jalan Merah Saga
#03-64 Chip Bee Gardens
Telephone: +65 6479 8442

Block 43 Studio
Near Shermay’s Cooking School you can also attend art classes, workshops and artist’s lectures in topics ranging from Creative Photography to Portrait Drawing to to Abstract Paining to Fine Arts Appreciation.
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43 Jalan Merah Saga
Chip Bee Gardens
Telephone: +65 6471 1359

The Butcher

There’s a wide variety of high quality meats at this old fashioned style butcher. Plus they have a wide array of bbq sauces, spices, and everything else you need. Even if you’re not a perfect backyard grill master, they’re on hand and equipped to steer you in the right direction. But if you don’t feel like cooking there are a number of prepared ready-to-eat meals available. We tried the Indian curry meal and it was stunningly good for pre-made food. Check the website for home delivery options if you don’t feel like driving out.
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44 Jalan Merah Saga #01-50
Chip Bee Gardens
Telephone: +65 64720073

Phoon Huat
From frozen fruit pie fillings to carton-shaped baking pans to cake decorating supplies to spices to countless varieties of flours and sugars….if you need it for baking, it is here. Look no further for baking supplies. Beyond that, the prices are super reasonable…better than the supermarket actually!
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Blk 44, Jalan Merah Saga, #01-48
Chip Bee Gardens
Telephone: +65 6471 5250

The Sloane Clinic
If all the decadent food stuffs on Jalan Merah Saga have had their way with your figure, then you might want to check out Sloan Clinic medical spa. From antiaging solutions to acne treatments to figure slimmers, there is an extensive offering. I personally have never visited Sloan Clinic, but I will say they have been around for 7 years. And 7 years in a business this trendy, with medi-spa’s opening up on every corner every week, longevity probably means something.
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43 Jalan Merah Saga
#01-66 Chip Bee Gardens
Telephone: +65 6471 1108

All Breeds Pet Store
Actually we discovered this street during a visit to the pet store where we got Mischa the cat. They are super nice here…and really patient (it took us many visits to decide!). So whether you are looking for a puppy or kitten or already have pets and need supplies, we definitely recommend All Breeds Pets. Plus if you join as a VIP, you can get a 10% discount on purchases.
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44 Jln Merah Saga #01-44
Telephone: +65 6471 1108