Monday, July 07, 2025

Lay Lao - Michelin Bib Gourmand Restaurant @ Ari in Bangkok [Thailand] #michelin

I first walked past Lay Lao after a visit to Dog In Town in Ari back in 2022, after noticing the michelin logo sticker; told myself to check it out soonest and this soonest took me about three years to materialize! 

Opened in 2014, Lay Lao served Hua Hin and not Northern Thai cuisine that some social media influencers mentioned. Even though we reached at about 6.00 pm, the place wasn't crowded as I would have expected from most Michelin bib gourmand eateries, with the second floor being totally empty.

While awaiting our food, I took to exploring the local snack corner next to the cashier. While it's beneficial to sell local food souvenirs, it would be better if sampling can be provided! p.s. the crispy shredded pork at just 248 baht (about S$10) would be nice with plain porridge! 

Coconut Soup with Seafood - this was said to be spicy and I was anticipating the spiciness to make my scalp sweat! It didn't happen as it was surprisingly quite mild. Nothing tomyum about it; in its place was a bowl of aromatic soup with a strong coconut punch that tasted like green curry! 

Homestyle Grilled Chicken - I was expecting this to be like the isaan style one I had at Singapore's Un-Yang-Kor-Dai. Sadly, the meat was bland, and mushy with the tendency to stick to my teeth. Definitely needed the two sauces to up the flavor.  

Deep Fried Sun Dried Pork Belly - lovers of char siew and siew yoke would enjoy this! Nuggets of caramelized pork belly that were sinfully sweet; said to be the result of a secret lay lao sauce! What's lacking, however, would be a bowl of Thai jasmine rice! 

Pad Thai with Crispy Pork Skin - ever since I sold my soul to Thipsamai, it's quite hard for me to try pad thai in Bangkok as I am leaving the heavy carbohydrate dish to my favourite! However, one ingredient stood out from the menu.

Crispy pork skin, which I correctly assumed to be deep fried pork lard! Unfortunately, while they were in large chunks, the pork lard failed for being too cloyingly dry! The pad thai noodles themselves were nice although they could do with more oil as the noodles were clumped up! 

Deep Fried Squid with Roe - said to be a another recommended dish that also used the secret lay lao sauce, I was seriously anticipating this as I recalled it being raved about on a social influencer page! And I love squid. 

Let's dissect the little baby! 
p.s. looks like a slug in this photo.

Utterly delicious! Squid was well seasoned (with a sweet twang) and nicely grilled, resulting in a texture that was non-rubbery and surrounded by a smoky aroma that was so addictive as my teeth chewed through it! For an extra punch to the flavor, dip it into the spicy seafood sauce! 

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My companions didn't quite like the food, although I only counted the Pad Thai with Crispy Pork Skin and Homestyle Grilled Chicken as failures. Maybe I would be back this October! 

Address
65 Phahon Yothin 7, Phaya Thai, 
Bangkok 10400, Thailand
(Near Ari BTS Station)

Map
As above.

Operating Hours
10.30 am to 10.00 pm
(Daily)

Menu
As above.

Pricing
Coconut Soup with Seafood - 295 Baht
Homestyle Grilled Chicken - 195 Baht
Deep Fried Sun Dried Pork Belly - 185 Baht
Pad Thai with Crispy Pork Skin - 155 Baht
Deep Fried Squid with Roe - 295 Baht
(Subject to Service Charge and Taxes)

Sunday, July 06, 2025

Hanoi Tirant Hotel @ Vietnam

I enjoyed my stay at Hanoi's Bonsella Hotel back in 2023 but given its lack of a gymnasium, a requirement for my younger sister, we opted for Hanoi Tirant Hotel, which had another advantage for its proximity to the happening area within the old quarter! 

Photograph taken after stepping in; typical of most hotels in Hanoi, there were also stairs at Tirant Hotel although they were just a short flight of stairs and the bellboy was more than willing to help you move your luggage.

Welcome drink at the lobby.
A sweet and nice lemongrass drink. 

Collected our key cards; a total of three rooms were booked at Hanoi Tirant Hotel, and just for one night as we would be proceeding to Sapa the very next day. 

Point no 5: free luggage storage which we shall be utilising the next day as I wouldn't want to haul up our 28-inch luggage up to the sleeper train from Hanoi to Sapa

Rooms
No 401 - as it was December when we visited, there was a christmas decoration hung at the door! According to tradition, mistletoe harvested by Druid priests with a golden sickle and placed over the door was said to ward off evil in the coming year.

While I am fine with such festive decorations, what's unacceptable was that it covered the peep hole! We didn't realize until one of our family members came over to ring the bell! 

Entering into our Deluxe Twin Room with Internal Window. A check on the web revealed that we were likely upgraded as our windows looked out to the street view.

For your reference; surprisingly, I thought the wooden furniture, flooring perfectly complemented the blue walls! And the blue had a soothing aura beneficial for those on vacations to get away from work. 

Even though the room was rectangular shaped, the design was a bit weird. Above pictures were two ends of a passage; one housed a dressing table with an electric kettle and a mini-fridge, whereas the other just had windows with curtains.

3-pin plugs at the bedside table, and in-room safe, hairdryer and bathrobes in the wardrobe. Is that a weighing machine in wardrobe? 

p.s. real flowers by the way! Aside from the bottled water, there were also complimentary boxes of snacks known as traditional young rice cake. Let's unbox them!

Turned out they were like a thinner piece of green-colored ang ku kueh, filled with the mung bean paste Singaporeans of Chinese ethnicity would find familiar! Honestly, I like it, especially when the portion was smaller than what we were accustomed to. 

Street view from the super small balcony; both day and night.

Within the spacious washroom; basic amenities like shaver, toothbrush, toothpaste and comb could only requested via a phone call for environmental sustainability reason. Shampoo, shower gel, conditioner, and body lotion were all housed in refillable bottles. 

Evacuation route for reference! 

Room 606 - the room assigned to us when we returned from Sapa. At least for this room, the decoration was hung further down, and not obstructing the peep-hole. 

This time, it's a yellow theme! I personally prefer the blue one. 

Gymnasium
Located on the ground floor, albeit not ground, ground in my opinion. It would be considered as lower ground for me as I still need to walk down the stairs from the main entrance. 

Cute, colorful towels were provided.
More like hand, rather than face towels.

Frankly, the gym was small although it didn't appear popular with guests from thee 122 rooms in the hotel. Usually, it's just my sister and I. What I dislike most was the short ceiling; there's a chin up bar (part of the multi-station machine) that couldn't function to its full potential! 

Swimming Pool and Rooftop Bar
I am always so impressed with the rooftop bars at Hanoi, which aren't limited to just five-star hotels! Many lower-starred hotels have them, even if the space was very limited. 

Space wasn't a problem at Hanoi Tirant Hotel; it even had a swimming pool in addition to the rooftop bar! Well, given that it was winter, we didn't even bother bringing any swimwear! Swimming is only for summer! 

View from the rooftop bar. Notice that bridge that appeared to be lighted by fire? It's the famous Long Biên Bridge; spanning, 2.29 km long across the Red River, it was completed more than 100 years ago.

Buffet Breakfast
Breakfast time and let's take a photograph; missing Alex and my dad as they woke up much earlier than us and were exploring Hoan Kiem lake! 

Pretty spacious restaurant that was on the 13th floor, just a floor below the rooftop bar. Customer service here was good, especially from a specific male manager who spoke great English. 

View surrounding us. 

This unique sky bar with a vermillion Japanese bridge and torii gate caught my attention! Opened in 2024, I spent a while trying to figure out which hotel it was under. Answer: KeCho Legacy Hotel Hanoi! 

Variety of food. Pretty good range.

I am known for not eating breakfast and while I would still eat when complimentary buffet breakfast is included, I would just take a bit of everything for sampling purpose, before taking more if my taste buds enjoyed what went into the mouth. In all, the breakfast was alright, and I indulged in more fruits than cooked foods.

Miscellaneous
Discounts for restaurant and happy hour! 

Shoe Polish / Shine Machine right after you stepped into the hotel. I am actually curious on its workings, and whether this was only used for leather shoes or applied to even sneakers too. 

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Overall, the stay at Hanoi Tirant Hotel was not bad. Bed was comfortable, water pressure at the show was good, breakfast was acceptable, and it's super near the now-demolished shark jaw building and Hanoi Old Quarter Weekend Night Market.

Address
38 P. Gia Ngư, Hàng Bạc, 
Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam

Map
As above.

Website
https://www.tiranthotel.com/

Pricing
Deluxe Twin Room with Internal Window - S$123.13 per night
(Twin sharing and via Booking.com)