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MRS. BALBIR’S

FEATURED RESTAURANT

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ANGEL CITY DINER

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Get a 10% discount with any order over 499 THB

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Guava Juice (280ml) get 1 FREE

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LAST MONTH’S WINNERSCristina Garces & Ornanong Pongpairoj

won complimentary vouchers from

Angel City Diner worth 500 THB each!

LAST MONTH’S WINNERS

MONTHLYCOMPETITION2 winners will receive complimentary vouchers at Mrs. Balbir’s worth 500 THB each!

Just go to foodbyphone.com and answer a few simple questions.

MAY 2013

In June of last year, I met with Vinder Balbir

to discover the traditional and authentic Pun-

jabi cuisine that she and her husband have

been cooking and serving since 1975 in their

Mrs Balbir’s restaurant in Sukhumvit Soi 11.

Since then their business has expanded into out-

lets in shopping malls. I recently met with her

again at her outlet in the basement of the recently

re-furbished Silom Complex.

“Five years ago Indian food did not appeal

to Thais,” explains Vinder, “they didn’t like the

spicing and they weren’t comfortable with the

smell. With more and more Thais having the

opportunity to travel, they have been trying new

dishes and fl avours and our now curious and

ready to taste Indian food.

Different markets demand different menus.

In our Sukhumvit Soi 11 fi ne dining restaurant

where the customers are mostly Indians plus

foreigners or Thais either with either an Indian

heritage or a palate for Indian food, we serve

traditional Indian dishes. Here at Silom Complex

we are very authentic with many of the same

dishes as in Sukhumvit. I have introduced a touch

fusion to provide a bridge for the curious Thai who

isn’t yet 100% comfortable with strong Indian

fl avours.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 >>

“Indian cuisine has a strong British follow-

ing,” she says, “many have gone as far as to

adopt curry as their favourite dish, but they still

like chips with everything. That inspired our Salt

and Pepper French Fries. Our French fries or

chips, depending on which version of the Eng-

lish language you are using, are deep-fried, sea-

soned with salt, black pepper and a light sprinkling

of Indian spices and served with a dish of

ketchup for dipping. A popular and comfortable

snack, easy to eat with with fi ngers

“Thais love spaghetti,” says Vinder, “which

caused me to create Chicken Tikka Masala

Pasta, an Indian curry sauce served with Italian

pasta and a piece of garlic naan. The dish repre-

sents a trend popular back in India, the combi-

nation works. Authenticity has its place but food

styles evolve by customer demand, for better or

worse, it’s their call.

“Pita Bread is more a Middle Eastern than

Indian bread,” she says, “we use it with our

Naan Pockets, sliced lentil cutlets stuffed in

naan bread with Indian salad mint dressing

and served with Bombay potatoes.

“I introduced a Mexican fusion dish as

something to catch the attention of the

younger generation. Many come here with

their parents after school; parents want au-

thentic traditional, their kids something differ-

ent. For them I created Chicken Tikka Tortilla

a pan fried bread sandwiched with tandoori

chicken tikka, mozzarella cheese, served with

chicken xuscous served with mixed vegetables

in a delicate sauce. Finally we have cre ated an

Indian-Thai bread. Thai Basil Naan that has the

krapow taste that the Thai palate is familiar

with. Fusion maybe or perhaps a style of Indian

cuisine that refl ects its Thai location, whatever,

it appeals to a wider audience, which is good

for business,

“Physically Bangkok is a spread out city

with traffi c issues,” Vinder admits, “It’s not

always physically convenient for customers to

come to my original much loved restaurant in

Sukhumvit. The reason for moving into shop-

ping malls is about getting food to the people

FEATURED RESTAURANTMRS. BALBIR’S

Tuesday-Sunday 11.00am.- 10.30pm.

2013

Credit cards

Price per person without drinks

FBP partner since

Mrs Balbir’s Indian restaurant - Central Silom Complex

155/1-2 Sukhumvit Soi 11/1,

Bangkok 10110, Thailand

Phone: 0-2231-3174-5

http://www.mrsbalbirs.com

https://www.facebook.com/mrsbalbirs

All major cards

THB 300

who want to eat it. Here at Silom Complex

we are bistro style with a take away counter.

Our outlets in Central are more for Home Take

Away, including our newest branch at Central

Rama 9 which just opened in April.

“What’s new about Mrs Balbir’s,” says Vin-

der, “ is our fushion additions exclusively here

at Silom Complex with are no more than 30%

of our total menu. I want to be clear that Mrs

Balbir hasnt gone fushion, my passion is still

for authentic Punjabi cuisine, variations to the

menu are location specifi c driven by customer

demand.”

Punjabi cuisine come from North-Western

india, the base ingredients of their masala

are onions, garlic and ginger. Their Amristar

region produces quality used to make paneer, a

fresh milk rennet free soft cheese which is com-

pletely lacto vegetarian. Vinder makes her own

paneer with high quality milk from a small herd

of cows in Hua Hin. She has also been Consul-

tant Indian Chef for Thai Airways creating the

infl ight menu for their Indian fl ights.

“Our menu offers authentic Punjabi cui-

sine,” says Vinder. “chicken Tikka masala and

Lamb Vindaloo are two of our best selling

dishes. After 35 years I have created my own

Inspired Indian Cuisine; Mozzarella cheese and

bell pepper pakoras; tikka masala with an Italian

twist served with pasta rather than rice.”

Due to the limited kitchen space at Silom Com-

plex the majority of the food served is pre-

pared in the Central Kitchen in Sukhumvit

Soi 11. For the past four years all food served

FEATURED RESTAURANT

MRS. BALBIR’S

by Mrs Balbir’s has been GMP & Halal certifi ed

by the Halal Science Centre of Chulalongkorn

University. This means that its not only Halal

compliant but kitchen practices are all certifi ed

for their standards of hygiene

“The secret of running a multi-outlet res-

taurant operation is having a good team,”

Vindar concludes, “I am their mentor and treat

them like family not like an employee. My kitch-

ens are open bright and transparent with the

homely touch of fresh fl owers on every table.”

PERSONALITYOF THE MONTH

David Parrot fi rst came to Bangkok in 1995 as Food and Beverage Co-ordinator for The

Oriental where he was responsible, among other things, for setting up The Oriental Shops

and the original Oriental Cafe at the Emporium. After two years, he moved to the Mandarin Ori-

ental Hong Kong for another two years and then back to Bangkok at The Peninsula.

He returned to the Mandarin Oriental group in Macau where Jonas Schuerman, the

man who originally hired him at The Oriental Bangkok, was working. Jonas was

his mentor and gave David his rock solid foundation in the hospitality industry.

When Jonas moved to be General Manager of the Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur, David

followed to continue working with him.

“I am passionate about the service side of food and beverage,” David admits. “And I de-

cided I wanted to set up my own business while I still had the energy to make things happen. I had

15 years solid food and beverage experience with Mandarin Oriental and Peninsula.

“I was acquainted with Serge Brutin had his late brother Philippe’s concept for Crepes

& Co., the highly successful Bangkok creperie with an outlet on Sukhumvit Soi 12. My pro-

posal was a partnership to fulfi l Philippe’s vision of having Crepes & Co restaurants around the

world.

“My fi rst experience of expanding the brand was the opening of 8 Thonglor,” he

says. “It was extremely stressful as I had invested all my savings and more into the restaurant

which was delayed in opening for seven months waiting for the developers to complete the

mall. Cash fl ow was extremely tight, but somehow we soldiered on keeping all the staff on the

payroll. My second was a mini Crepes & Co with the re-opening of CentralWorld, just a corner

cafe for take away and just 15 chairs for desserts and snacks.”

“I took the brand overseas for the fi rst time open at the Shanghai Centre,” he says.

“It’s the most prestigious mall on West Nanjing Road, home to The Portman Ritz Carlton

and the Consulates of America, Australia and Britain. My business partner is a Swiss gentleman

with a Chinese wife who had been my management trainee at Mandarin Oriental.

“We fl ew our three top staff to Shanghai last April for six weeks for the opening. It was

the fi rst time they had a passport, left Thailand or even fl ew on an aircraft. It was an amaz-

ing experience!

“We started with the same menu concept that opened the original restaurant in Sukhumvit Soi 12:

salads, crepes and brunch. It’s packed for lunch as the clientele can relate to this style of food for their

mid-day meal. Dinner is still slow as we are gradually introducing our Mediterranean dishes which the

Shanghai crowd are still not familiar with. It takes 12 to 18 months for a restaurant to establish itself.

After the opening I stayed in Shanghai for two to three months but had to come back to Bangkok for

the opening of our Langsuan branch, in the sub-soi behind the former Calderazzo.

“I go to Shanghai once or twice a month as I need to feel the business,” he says. “I do two hours

training in the morning, the rest of the day working. We have very few key reports. To understand

your business, you have to be there, especially if the company is small.

“The land on which our original Soi 12 branch was located has been sold to real estate promoters.

We moved to a beautiful old house to keep the same homey feel in Langsuan that was completely

refurbished and opened in August 2012. I chose Langsuan because its a good mix of residential

and business, plus embassies. Here we serve the full Bangkok menu as at 8 Thonglor. We are get-

ting a different crowd here than at Thonglor; we have expanded rather than spread our business

when opened this branch.

DAVID PARROTCREPES & CO

RAMA IV Rd.

Sukhumvit Rd.

Nana Rd.

Asoke Rd.

Soi 22 Soi 24

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RECOMMENDED DISHES

TRY SOMETHING NEW TODAY

115-43 Kesari Rasmalai Fresh cheese cakes served in reduced milk, topped with pistachio and saffron

225 THB

240 THB

116-5 Cheese Quesadillas Assorted cheeses with jalapeños folded in fl our tortillas and fried crispy 225 THB

300 THB

13-43 Pizza Vegetariana Tomato, mozzarella cheese and assorted grilled vegetables

465 THB

255 THB

17-31 Miiso Tonkatsu Fried pork cutlets with Miso sauce.

191-3 Gold Katsu Curry Rice (M)

185-9 Half Roast Chicken Servedwith Rice And Sliced Vegetables or Juicy Crystallized Potatos

490 THB180 THB

26-15 FajitasCharley Browns Famous sizzling fajitas. Tender marinated strips of either grilled beef, chicken sautéed in onions and a capsicum marinade. Ac-companied by warm home-made fl our tortillas, Spanish rice, ‘mexi-beans’, shredded Cheddar cheese, sour cream and ranchero sauce on a bed of crisp shredded lettuce.

47-22 Basler Salm Basel style salmon steak topped with fried onion sauce

520 THB

126-29 Lobster Bisque Hot & Creamy

9-12 May

11th May

24th May

22-24 May (Trade) 25-26 May (Public)

7-31 May

23rd May, 6.30pm

Money Expo Bangkok

Royal Ploughing Ceremony

Pascal Jolivet Wine DinnerTHB 5,500 net, THB 3,850 net for Wine Ambassador Club Members

Visaka Bucha Day

THAIFEX - World of Food Asia 2013

Berlin Photography Exhibition

A display the latest and advanced financial services, investment resources, Financial Services and Funding Sources.

In the ceremony, two sacred oxen are hitched to a wooden plough and they plough a furrow in some ceremonial ground, while rice seed is sown by court Brahmins. After the ploughing, the oxen are offered plates of food, including rice, corn, green beans, sesame, fresh-cut grass, water and rice whisky. Depending on what the oxen eat, court astrologers and Brahmins make a prediction on whether the coming growing season will be bountiful or not.

A 5 course tasting menu paired with the fresh, fruity and crisp wines from Pascal Jolivet in the Loire Valley

An important day in the Buddhist Calendar and is a Public Holiday. Devotees will visit temples to pray and pay respect to The Buddha as well as offer food & alms to the monks. In the evening they will join a candle light procession.

This year the event welcomes the offi cial launch of World of Seafood, an offi cial collaboration to crown the best coffee bean from Asia in the new Roasters‘ Choice Award, a supercharged Thailand Ultimate Chef Challenge, and distinguished international speakers at 3 exciting new conferences, World of Food Safety, Pack InnoTech and Cold Chain World.

Architect and photographer Gerrit Engel now lives and works in Berlin uses to pinpoint precision of the large format camera Engel logs the facades of churches and castles, museums and theatres, villas and upper-class residential complexes, schools, shopping malls and embassies, accurately and distanced at the same time. A tour through the history of architecture has developed. Strictly sorted by the dates of origin of the buildings he takes no preferences and prejudices into account.

When? What? Description More info?

Sanam Luang, the ceremonial ground adjacent to the Grand Palace

Royal Benja Hotelhttp://www.tomorrowpeople.org/wlc-call-for-papers.htmlContact person: Jovana Savic

The Refl exions, Plaza Athénée Bangkok, A Royal Méridien Hotel, Wireless Road, tel 0-2650-8800, fb.bangkok@lemeridien.com

WHAT TO DO IN BANGKOK

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