In my travels two weeks ago to shoot my television program, I went to Prae Province to visit Pratad Chor Hair. It is a temple with a large pagoda containing holy relics of the Lord Buddha. It is said that if you went to Prae and have not visited this temple and pay respect to the holy relic, you have not arrived at Prae. I was very luck to be there on the day that they celebrate a major religious event.

            Villagers from all around the area arrived early in the morning by all means of transportation. Some came by bicycle, while others came in pick up truck taxis, but of all of them carrying gifts and flowers to climb the hill up to the temple. It was a wonderful sight and I felt for the first time, in a long time a sense of peace and belonging for my motherland. Country people in Thailand are still simple and caring.

            They are not like city people and it reassured my trust in our Buddhist culture that we will survive as a nation irrespective of the economic lost or gains of our economy. As long as Thais remind themselves that they are Buddhist and do not become so money hungry and help each other we will be all right.

            I don’t know why I am beginning to feel this way about my own country but it might have to do with the changes in value and the lack of social responsibility of our people. If progress means losing one’s love for our heritage and our sense of caring for each other, I would rather become a poor farmer in the countryside and live a self-sufficient life like His Majesty The King wisely recommended our people.

            Here I go again rambling on about something other than food. Actually, what I have written so far is not too far from the subject matter I am about to write about. I have always tried to find places up country where I could see it as a refuge from the crazy life style in the city. As I get older, I seem to need to find more and more of these places. A place where you are surrounded by nature, where the food is good and the accommodations don’t have to be grand but rustic but comfortable.

            We’’, I have found such a place very near this temple. We drove past Pratad Chor Hair to the left of the entrance, going along a winding road surrounded by rice paddies, mountains and a winding stream. We went down this road for about 8 kilometers and came upon a small resort surrounded on three sides by a stream. To the right past the entrance to the resort restaurant is a small suspension bridge, which crossed the stream to another dining area of the resort.

            This resort is called Suan Anusorn Resort. Its owner a very young and beautiful lady of 50 or so years who used to be a beautician started this place about 6 years ago. She has been through a lot since the opening of the resort. Two years ago the whole place was flooded and she had to close for repair for almost two years. Nothing is grand about this place but it certainly very cute and rustic. You could hire an inner tire and float in the stream to cool off while enjoying the wonderful cuisine at the restaurant of this place.

            Speaking of the food of this place lets eat! They serve local cuisine, which is basically, northern food and some western fare but I recommend that you try their northern or Prae cuisine. There is the famous northern soup/curry called Gang Kare with free ranging chicken.

            This is a mild curry without coconut milk with just enough herbs and spices in the broth to make it perfect for eating with steamed rice. There is also the unusual Nam Prik called Larm Bai Born. Made from leaves of a plant, stuffed into bamboo and roasted over charcoal until cooked and soft. It is then spooned out and pounded into a paste, herbs and spices are added and seasoned with fish sauce and other condiments. This Nam Prik or dip is eaten with rice and companying steamed and fresh vegetables.

            There is a soup slightly thicken with rice flour of wild mushrooms which they pick from the jungle which surrounds the resort. It is delicate and naturally sweet, with that earthy taste of the mushroom. The sour curry or Gang Som made from the branch of a plant called Ton Toon is also very interesting. It is not too spicy and you should try eating this Gang Som with Thai omelet or Kai Jeiw. The richness of the eggs which compliments the sourness of the curry.

            Lastly, they have a way of cooking snakehead fish, which is unusual, but it gives the fish added flavor and aroma. This dish Pla Chon Krabog, they take the fish and marinate it with herbs and spices and stuff it into a length of bamboo and put the whole thing on the grill. The resultant grilled fish is very aromatic and to get the fish out of the bamboo they merely split the bamboo upon.

            This dish is truly unusual and delicious. I was very happy sitting by the stream, taking my time savoring the food and soaking in the atmosphere of this place. This was heaven. I was woken up from my reveries when my staff told me that I had a plane to catch! I will return to this place again when I have the time and I recommend that those of you that love good food and rustic natural beauty do try this place.

            I had mentioned at the end of my last column that I would write about nam prik. I have to beg your forgiveness for changing the subject matter this week. I need to rush a review for meat lovers everywhere because I have just discovered a new steak house that has recently opened. The name of this steak house is Park Avenue and it is situated in the Mercury Tower building opposite Central Chidlom. I happened upon it when I went to have a very private lunch with an old girlfriend of mine at Auberge Dab. The food at Auberge is still very good and definitely very French.

            They told me at Dab that they have a sister restaurant in the same building in the lobby area. I remembered seeing it when I came to a party for Ocean Glass company. They must have known that I love beef especially good beef. I have written countless times of the enjoyment I get from eating tender perfectly cooked steak! Needless to say I went to try the steak there two days later. It was wonderful but to make sure that this was not just a luck strike I invited my father and other friends who are connoisseurs of beef to have dinner with me again. This time I could try everything on the menu because I make it a rule that everyone has to order different dishes.

            The restaurant is decorated with wooden wall paneling. It is not too grand but very masculine. No bright colored walls of any sort are found in the dining room, which is a long rectangular room with raised floor on one side. There are two private rooms partition off with stain glass doors. A small and very masculine bar with a baby grand piano sits at one end of the room near the entrance. All the tables are laid with crisp white linen. All right, I have talked enough about the ambiance. Now it’s time to go into the food and how it tasted.

            A four-page menu was presented to each of our guests. It was divided into, first courses, salads, and soups. Then came a full-page description of their beef and steak selections followed by some seafood and a short light fare menu. I did not look past the steaks. The first time I came here I ordered Prime Rib which I wanted medium rare and being the greedy person that I am I ordered the largest cut they have (Texas cut). Before launching off on the wonderful and succulent flavors of the prime rib I should mention some other delicious dishes which we ordered to tease our appetite.

            There are the crab cakes, which is done with lots of crabmeat and breadcrumbs. This dish had no potatoes in the cakes but it is topped with melted cheese after frying. A small side of fresh and crispy salad accompanies the crab cakes. Salmon tartar came in a smoke salmon flower served with toast triangle. This dish was very delicate and my father ordered it. I had the steamed mussels in white wine sauce, which was good, but not as good as the crab cakes. My friend had oyster Rockefeller that is always good as a standard classical dish.

            It also depends on the sauce that they made to cover the oyster. It was good rich hollandaise that was just tart enough not to make the already rich oyster too greasy. Simple but fresh salad of rocket with a hot-bacon dressing or your usual Caesar salad helps you cleanse your palate before the main course arrived.

            Not a single one of use ordered fish or seafood. We all had different cuts of beef. My father order prime rib medium rare but he did not order the biggest cut. He only had a large eight once cut. It came out red and pink looked good enough to slice thin and place between two pieces of bread and have one hell of an expensive sandwich! But my father was a lot more civilized than I am. He savored every bite of his steak. As he cuts into it he heaped a small amount of French mustard in it and dips it in the gravy before putting it into his mouth.

            My eyes followed his every move as he ate. I swallowed a few times while watching him eat. You see, I know how good the steak here is. It was tender, succulent and best of all the beef is fresh chilled beef non of this frozen stuff. While father enjoyed his prime rib, others had their steak served. There was rib eye steak with maitre d’hotel butter. It was perfectly cooked with that distinct smokey flavor a charcoal grill. I had grilled sirloin strip. Well, you guessed it; I had the largest cut you could get which was 16 ounces. It was medium rare, sweet with the blood of the beef and so soft that I hardly had to chew.

            It almost melted in my mouth. There are other cuts of fresh chilled beef here but I guess my favorite would have to be the sirloin strip. There are wonderful desserts to be had here to. Crepe suzette done tableside but who would have room for dessert after a very large piece of steak! I forgot to mention the wine. Although not a very extensive wine list but the have a fairly good selection old and New World wines to choose from. All in all, this restaurant is worth your visit if you are a meat lover. I have not had beef this good since my trips to United States, Australia and New Zealand. Now I don’t have to go abroad to eat good beef! And the price is comparable to that is pay abroad as well.