This year we are stuck here in Bangkok unable to satisfy our need to eat good Chinese or more precisely Cantonese food. Not that we only want to go to Hong Kong but I had planned on going to eat in Shanghai but with SARS all over China I would rather be safe and stay here in Bangkok and travel within Thailand. In this way I am following the Governments policy of encouraging Thais to travel and spend money at home.

                One of the dishes that I missed not being able to eat so much is the taste of good Hong Kong abalone. Each time we go to Hong Kong we would save up enough money to pay for one piece of braised abalone at Ah Yat Abalone, Forum restaurant. They specialize in abalone and they do it so well. Although we can get very good abalone in Bangkok at Lee Kitchen the style of cooking abalone is different from at Lee Kitchen. I love the way Khun Chaithape prepares his dry abalone at Lee Kitchen because the sauce is more fusion with the addition of French Glace de Viande in it but sometimes I also would like to eat the traditional way of preparing abalone in Hong Kong.

                This past week I was grumbling about not being able to go to Hong Kong especially not being able to go to have my yearly intake of abalone at Ah Yat near central. Khun Visit, bless his heart told me that I was out of touch with the food scene in Bangkok and invited me to eat at Ah Yat abalone in Bangkok. I did not believe him at first but he informed me that Ah Yat has opened a branch of its famous restaurant in Bangkok at Mae Nam Hotel.

                I don’t even know where Mae Nam Hotel is! Let alone knowing that Ah Yat is here in Bangkok. So off we went to eat on the second floor of Mae Nam Hotel at Ah Yat Abalone Forum restaurant. I was thinking that Khun Visit was being very generous treating me to an abalone meal because I knew that it would be a very expensive meal. But much to my surprise they had a promotion to introduce the restaurant to the Thai public so there are set menus for one person ranging in price from just over a thousand bahts to almost eight thousand bahts.

                Luckily for me there were quite a few of us for dinner so that we all get to try different set abalone menus and you probably guessed it we ordered other things which were not on the set menu to just try. I had the most expensive set menu, which was 7,880 Bahts, consisting of dry Japanese abalone braised, stewed goose webs with fish maw. All these items came in one plate and looked delicious. Having eaten at Forum in Hong Kong the food tasted the same as I had previously sampled over the years in Hong Kong. Not being a real connoisseur of abalone I was happy to learn that dry oysters are highly prized and that is exactly what I always want to eat.

                The abalone had to go through a hydrating process in very rich broth over two days before it is finally cooked. The texture of the dry abalone is different from the fresh or canned ones. It is like eating beef ground up with some liver and them the flavor and texture of these two items are added to scallops. I don’t know how describe it better than this suffice it to say that it is really delicious. The braised goose web is done on abalone sauce so is the fish maw. Different texture for each item on the plate but it has a well-rounded sauce, which has a scent of the abalone through out.

                Then we had the sharkfins soup, which is served separate from the clear broth, which comes with it. This was also very delicious but what I like better was the Buddha jump over the wall. It is a soup that has all the good and expensive ingredients stewed in a clear aromatic broth. Talk a bout expensive; this bowl of soup is very expensive because amongst all the ingredients in the soup it has three of the most expensive items in it. First there is the small whole abalone, then there is sharkfins and finally it had dry scallops that have been rehydrated in a very rich but clear stock.

                Khun Visit had the fresh Australian abalone, which was huge, and we all had to help him eat some. I was informed by the consultant to the restaurant that Japanese abalone is the most highly prized. I am happy that I like it best too but if I had to choose between Australian and Mexican abalone I think I like the scent and taste of the canned Mexican abalone better but fresh abalone I love Australian abalone.

                We tried many other things on the menu and there are a few dishes that are worth mentioning. First there is the baked barbecue pork bao which as just right the barbecue was not too sweet and there was just enough stuffing for the amount of dough. The braised beef with turnips was absolutely heavenly. I would have been quite happy just having a bowl of this beef and a bowl of streaming rice and spicy dipping sauce.

                The crispy chicken was wonderful the meat was still moist and tender but all I wanted to eat was the crispy skin. If you like seafood you should try the steamed lobster with garlic. They did it just right and did not over cook the lobster. It was delicate and the garlic was not over powering. There are many desserts but what I ended up liking more than the birds nest in almond soup was the small pastries filled with custard. I am sure I could write lots more about this place but I just want you to know that I still don’t need to leave the country to find good Hong Kong Cuisine. Discovering this restaurant is also like discovering another hotel I have not known existed before. Mae Nam Hotel has been here for a long time and it is privately own and run. It is by the river and is very pleasant. I shall return there again to eat more abalone and discover what this hotel has hidden that is good and will tell you all later.