10 days in 3 cities day 7: casual Ice for lunch

Since our last trip to Bangkok, Hello Kitty has become a big fan of the southern Thai cuisine served at Baan Ice Restaurant (ร้านบ้านไอซ์). The fact that we dined there again the day after our first experience shows how much she enjoyed the food. So it wasn't surprising that on this trip, the only request she made was that we go back there.

We met up with my one local friend, who decided that the branch at Siam Paragon would be much easier to get to than the bigger (and better) branch at Thong Lor.  So... convenience over quality, then...

Hello Kitty picked out the one dish she must have, while I picked out a couple of favorites from our first visit.  My friend filled out the rest.

Grandpa's kao yam (ข้าวยำคุณปู่) - 12 ingredients tossed with rice and a fiery sauce, including lemongrass, winged beans, string beans, pomelo, and kaffir lime leaves.

The mixture ends up being pretty aromatic and has lots of crunch.

Chilli paste with fresh vegetables (น้ำพริกไข่ปู พร้อมผักสด) - I was told that the paste was very, very spicy... so I practically didn't touch this dish except for some raw veg...

Stir fried crab meat with bird chilli (เนื้อปูขลุกขลิกพริกขี้หนูสวน) - is it me, or did the portion shrink since the last time we were here?  In any case, this was OK as long as I was careful about picking out the green birds' eye chilis.

Stir-fried morning glory (ผักบุ้งไฟแดง) - I guess it had to be done...

Southern market fish cakes (ทอดมันตลาดใต้) - pretty good lah.  Much better than your average version.

Deep fried silver sillago with turmeric (ปลาทรายทอดขมิ้น) - I love these so much!  Deep-fried fish?  With heads, bones, and fins?  Covered in deep-fried garlic flakes?

Our bellies were full, but I needed some caffeine and our birthday girl wanted dessert. So we decided to hit the branch of Kyo Roll En (京ロール園) that's in the basement of the mall.

I thought about getting one of the roll cake sets, but didn't want to eat too much right after lunch, so I ordered up a drink while the ladies each took a mango flower cone.

Matcha yuzu - matcha on top with matcha jelly, and yuzu (柚子) syrup at the bottom.  It actually worked well, with the acidity from yuzu balancing out the bitterness from the matcha without needing to add more sugar.

Time to go back to the apartment and rest up for the long night ahead...