By Gene Gonzalez Wattana Panich This noodle house has a soup that has been simmering for 40 years and is just topped up at closing time when the simmering starts. The place specializes in beef noodles and there are some curious finds such as “special Bovine tendon” (soup number five) with tonic herbs and spices. The soup is highly flavorful and the variety meats are done to a tender bite. The ginger milk pudding is a good ender after the soups laden with star anise, cinnamon, tang kwey, and pickled garlic. Barrio Bonito At the Commons, this Mexican restaurant has a clever cheese fondue served to you with hot rocks to keep the cheese stringy. It has also a using molten cheese as the wrap or base for the quesadilla served with guacamole and cooked salsa. Go Ang Chicken Rice Across Discovery Palladium Mall on Petchaburi, I have continuously patronized what I feel is one of the best chicken rice in Asia, or in the world. Still as juicy and tasty from what my taste buds can remember almost 28 years ago. It’s also best to buy the mango sticky rice from the old lady beside this place. Kuang Heng  Another chicken rice place on the corner of Pethchaburi and Rajdamri, my favorite here is the pork and chicken satays that are served with a shallot and sliced hot pepper salad and an aromatic peanut and coconut sauce. 42 Sweets by Pla Tu We have been patrons of Pla Tu and her ingredient shop that has the best red curry paste. We used to buy when the Market still had a soil floor and the curries were sold by weight. Now Tu and her husband have ventured in a freestanding florist shop that is across the rice and ingredients shops in Ortorkor market. One can escape the heat and have a relaxing cup of tea or coffee with some of their seasonal sweet treats. Kweiteow Lathanatt Go Thin This is the very busy steamboat noodle house before one enters the house ware section. The old lady preparing the noodles is a sight to see as she prepares every noodle bowl order and its variants with the speed and flow of an athlete. The aromatic soup is topped with one’s choice of beef or pork and offal with choice of noodle in a very aromatic broth coming from this huge simmering vat. I ordered a Nam Tok which has an addition of liquefied blood which is doused with the boiling broth. Rung Rueng Fellow foodie Alex Oh (@Alexohph) took us to this noodle house serving pork tom yam with its soupy noodles served heng or dry. The place served a well balanced broth with hearty slivers of tongue and liver aside from the slices of meat and ground pork. Next time I will try the thicker noodles for a different texture and flavor. Ceresia Alex Oh also took us to this craft coffee place where we chanced upon the owner who buys from farmers and coops plus does the roasting. The style does not venture into the darker roasts as he prefers to preserve more of the subtleties of his beans. With a good machine and a well trained staff we were able to enjoy some very thick and bronze crema on our espressos. Holy Moly At the Commons, we did a tasting of their several sweet and savory pies from caramel apple to banana flambé to Thai tea custard and truffle camembert. These pies are warmed on a convection oven that is probably the last best touch to keep the crisp, flakiness of the puff pastry (I’ve seen too much barbarism in many Manila places that heat the pastry in a microwave). SomTam Convent Of my favorite mall restaurants that specializes in papaya salad, this is one place in the city that serves red and black sticky rice to go with their prevalently North and Northeastern style dishes.