Gourmets in the garden

Sarinya Chotichaicharin and her friends are passionate cooks and eager to show their passion with a place where you should switch off your digital gear and wind down with a cup of tea, sweet treats and Thai food. 

“I want this place to be like a comfy corner in a garden where you can spend some analogue time with family and friends, where you’re not jostling for position in the rat race,” says Sarinya. “Most of our menu is Thai dishes with authentic taste but a twist in the presentation.”

For mieng platu (Bt160) that usually has fresh herbs and diced mackerel wrapped in cha plu leaves, Cafe Marmalade uses salad greens as a substitute for the cha plu and serves it with diced mackerel, rice flour noodles and vermicelli, together with spicy dressing sauce.

Simple but tempting is Thai-style crispy omelette with pork crackling (Bt100) – a dish that you rarely to find in a restaurant and that health-conscious people would be hard-pressed not to gobble up. It’s usually a home-cooked dish and reminds me of the time when my mum rendered the fatty issue of the hog to get the lard. The crispy pork crackling obtaining after that would be used to cook with either fried rice or omelette. Due to the health-conscious issue, people today tend to use more vegetable oil rather than lard and the pork crackling is seldom seen.

Another pleasing dish with deep flavour is khao pad po taek or fried rice with mixed seafood, chilli, basil leaves and lemongrass served with a viscous boiled egg (Bt150). For most Thais, when they don’t know how to order any dishes, the name khao pad kapao or fried rice with basil always becomes the first choice. Cafe Marmalade pleases everyone with 12 choices of meat to go with the fried rice basil. Among the choices are salmon, crispy fish, pork and beef tenderloin, pork spare rib, roast duck and ham-bacon, from Bt120 to Bt150.

 Then comes the East-meet-West with pork chop topped with larb dressing (Bt240). The dressing is flavoured with fish sauce, lime juice, chilli, roasted ground rice and mint and the dish is served with black sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves. 

Dessert lovers can feast on delicious cakes that are on offer – about 10 different types a day – for Bt75 to Bt120 a slice. Chocolate lovers will definitely fall in love with chocolate truffle (Bt95) and chocolate mud cake (Bt85) thanks to the rich chocolate and mousse texture. Great for the summer is nothing better than coconut milk ice cream (Bt110) served with a separate zinc bucket of toppings including nipa palm fruit, lotus seed, roasted peanut and corn.

 

 

SIAM ALLURE

<< Cafe Marmalade in the Garden is on the third floor of Siam Center. 

<< It’s open daily from 10am to 10pm. Call (02) 658 1562