SPICEGASM.COM My travel tales and food hunting

Leng Kee Restaurant Pattaya

On the day that we are supposed to go to Bangkok, I wanted to try to eat something really nice in Pattaya. Since we have no tour guide and I did not search the Internet for information, I decided to go on a hunt instead. Most of the time, I have the nose for a good restaurant or food stall. I take pride in identifying good food joints in places that are unknown to me. Is really a great feeling when you are spot on, especially when you are with friends. You get to act like a smug and beam with a grin that makes people want to give you a slap. But since you found them a good place to eat, they normally hold back the desire to give you a smack.

While riding on a tuk tuk, I kept my eyes open and look left and right. I finally saw a restaurant and I just had this feeling that this place will be good. One of the easiest way to spot a good place is when you see there’s a lot of people but it is by no means 100% guaranteed. When I spotted this restaurant, it does not have many customers at that time. My instinct just tell me that this place is good, period. I don’t really know how I managed to do it all the time but the best way to explain it is for you to read the book by Malcolm Gladwell, Blink.

After many eating excursions with Zach, he officially made me the food hunter. I can’t recall where there’s a time where my recommendation or instinct failed me when I’m with him or other friends. ( *beaming* ). So there’s no objection from Zach that the restaurant that I spotted will be our destination for lunch. I was so confident with myself that this place will be good that I just snapped the pictures before crossing the road. The name of the restaurant is Leng Kee.

I love restaurant that has no air condition. Some how eating in a natural environment appeals to me. But Leng Kee does have an area with air condition too. Since it is a pretty hot day, Zach suggested that we sit inside. I agreed and since is the afternoon and pretty hot day, natural environment can take a back seat for now. Lol.

Leng Kee air cond section

This is the deep fried crab meat with minced pork wrapped in dried tofu skin. It taste really good when you dip it into some sweet chili sauce. Is best to strike it when it just came out from the wok. Smoke will come out from your mouth and it is a skill to juggle the fried meat ball in your mouth to avoid burning your tongue.

Stir fry shell with chili and spices. I have no idea what is the exact name in English for this type of shell. It is different from cockles or oyster. The Cantonese people call it “lala”.

How can Zach not order his favorite Thai dish, the Panang Moo. Leng Kee style of cooking is different from other panang that I’ve tasted. Is still good but I to admit if someone order this without my knowledge and ask me to name the type of cooking, I will not guess it as panang.

We ordered this sour and spicy Thai soup because we just wanted something different. Is not that we are fed up of Tom Yum ( no one can get fed up with TomYum ) but we just wanted something different on that day. I’ve eaten this soup many times but still don’t know what’s the name of the soup. Most of the time I just point at the picture on the menu. The soup is quite similar to Tom Yum soup but I guess is minus the tom yum paste. It reminded me of some Isaan soup that I’ve eaten before. So if any of you who are knows the name of the soup and reading this post, please leave a comment on what’s the real name of this delicious Thai soup.

Leng Kee really does serve good Thai-Chinese cuisine. The taste of all the dishes are really good. It cost us slightly over 500 baht for 4 dishes. I think Leng Kee is an old establishment and the business wass started by a Chinese migrant with a very small stall. Then it expanded and became a big family run restaurant. Don’t quote me on this as I am only guessing based on what I felt when I dined in that restaurant. I would love to find out if my guesses are correct. But one think I do know, Zach would love to smack me on my face when we took our first bite. I just had that smugness on my face again.