Raan Jay Fai

New York Times Review
"Like rock bands, the best noodle slingers attract groupies. Outside this simple open-air restaurant in old Bangkok, lines of cars, tuk-tuks and motorcycles crawl through the hot air, belching exhaust toward Jay Fai’s al fresco seating. Still, at Jay Fai’s opening time of around 4 in the afternoon, a line waits to be served, and the cook throws handfuls of chicken chunks and noodles into a pan as if she were a metronome on double time.

Jay Fai noodles stir-fried with spicy Thai basil is a dish also called drunken noodles. Some Thais believe the dish got its name because street cooks serve it into the wee hours, when their clientele is the drunkest. The broad rice noodles come out of the pan thin and chewy, as if they could tear easily. Yet they never turn tough, and the chef throws in large bits of sweet Thai basil, the edges seared with a slight soy aftertaste."

http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/asia/thailand/bangkok/restaurant-detail.html?vid=1194733495893

Blue Elephant Cooking School - Bangkok

http://www.blueelephant.com/school/index.html

Harmonique

"Meander your way down the street north of the Shangrila past the Lebua until you reach Soi 34. You won't be disappointed by Harmonique, and we recommend you hit the place for lunch so you can see impact of the sun shining into this 70+ year old extremely authentic Thai bistro with vines and flowers and trees blending in with the antique atmosphere of the courtyard garden. And the food? An extensive menu with plenty to make you sweat if you like those little red chiles. Service was a little slow, but par for the course in the Land of a Thousand Smile, and who cares anyway... you are on vacation! Enjoy the place. Highly, Highly recommended. Also, great silver jewelry shopping on the main street (forget the name)"

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g293916-d1022137-r22241978-Harmonique-Bangkok.html

Chote Chitr

Josef Polleross for The New York Times

by JOSHUA KURLANTZICK for the NEW YORK TIMES
"SURROUNDED by groups of civil servants greedily slurping bowls of soup at Chote Chitr, a tiny, family-run restaurant in the older part of Bangkok, our table soon overflows like a Thai Thanksgiving. The yam makhua, a salad of grilled long eggplants topped with tiny dried shrimps, combines the tang of fresh shallots with expert charring. Prepared by the hand of a skilled griller, the vegetables retain a smoky crunch on the outside, but a first bite pierces the crackling char and reveals a juicy eggplant so sweet it resembles a ripe peach, full of lime juice and fish sauce that has soaked into the flesh.

Next comes Chote Chitr’s gaeng som, a soup flavored with tamarind and palm sugar, packed with chunks of coarsely chopped cauliflower and large, meaty shrimp, their fat melting into the hot broth. Native to southern Thailand, where cooks use the abundant local seafood, gaeng som has a dense mouth feel, because the chef has added finely ground fish flesh into the stock, thickening it like roux."

http://events.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/travel/06bangkok.html

Rain Dogs Bar & Art Gallery, Bangkok

Tucked away down a dead-end street, you'd never find Rain Dogs unless you knew about it. Run by and for local and expat artists, photographers and journalists, it feels refreshingly grungy in increasingly slick Bangkok.

Makphet in Vientianne

The street children phenomenon increases rapidly worldwide. In 2001, the United Nations estimated that the street children population (3 to 18 years of age) worldwide was 150 million, with the number rising daily. Approximately 40% of these children are homeless and the other 60% work the streets to support their families. Some sources estimate that this number will increase to 800 million by the year 2020.

Since 1994, Friends-International has been running projects worldwide for and with street children. Check out their restaurant in Vientian: MakPhet is a charity-run restaurant aiming to train the area’s street children in the hospitality industry. Professional chefs from around the world have volunteered their time in developing the menus and training the staff.

Behind Wat Ong Teu, parallel to Sethathirat Road, Vientiane, Lao PDR

The Gallery Cafe, Colombo

The Gallery Café is situated in the center of the city of Colombo yet it remains a beautiful quiet haven. One enters the building down a paved driveway with temple trees and large urns along each side. A doorman dressed in a black and white striped batik Paradise Road sarong greets you as you wonder past showcases containing art works of the current exhibition. A view across a long pond filled with striking purple nil manel , Sri Lanka's national flower, continues through the latticed doors towards a giant cement urn, which sits at the boundary wall of the cafe.

The Art Gallery is situated at the entrance to the Café.

http://www.paradiseroadsl.com/cafe/Introduction.html