Siam Elephant - a national icon: by Miss Terry Diner

Thai elephants are supposedly jungle animals, but the Siam Elephant is not - it is a restaurant within the Siam Bayshore Resort and Spa and overlooks the final stretch of Walking Street as it leads into the Bali Hai pier area. It has been established for around five years, but is still not known by many residents. Hopefully this review will change all that, as it is a restaurant like no other in Pattaya.
You can enter the restaurant from the resort side, coming into the enclosed and air-conditioned section, or you can enter via the beautiful walkway from Beach Road, passing by the lily ponds and stone carvings and selecting one of the outside tables, or continue on into the air-conditioning.
The d้cor remains true to the Thai and elephant themes, with some hill tribe tapestries as well as traditional art depicting elephants. Subdued Thai music, soft lighting, comfortable chairs, ‘elephant’ cutlery, elegant glassware and unobtrusive service ladies are just all part of the overall ‘classy’ ambience. This is a restaurant to which you could take anyone and be assured that your guests will be impressed even before the first course has arrived.
On our review evening, the Dining Out team was without Madame, who was indisposed, but in her place were my accompanying members Nancy and Dow, two ladies from Texas, USA.
The menu is artfully done as a fold-out item and begins with starters (B. 95-150) with some uncommon items such as Rhume (seasoned saut้ed minced chicken and shrimp) or Karawake sod si (egg pancakes filled with minced sweet sausage and pork). Several salads are next (B. 190-210) followed by a selection of curries (generally around B. 220) cooked with beef, pork, chicken, duck and seafood.
Stir-fries, dips and desserts as well. Plenty of choices.
For a wine to go with our selections of Thai food, we chose the Robert Mondavi Zinfandel, 2006, one of the better wines from America, to please our Texas ladies. This was a good choice, and it was an excellent accompaniment being not too heavy or overly loaded with tannins.
We began our Thai culinary experience with a yum tua pu (B. 210), a sliced winged bean salad with chicken and shrimps tossed in a peanut and sweet chili sauce, which was a great starter.
In Thai fashion, the next courses came in very quick order with the next one a wonderful tom kha gai (B. 210) which was enjoyed by everyone. This particular chicken soup with galangal and herbs was very creamy, as opposed to the thin grey watery version one often gets elsewhere. Top marks for this dish.
A panang nuea (B. 190) a beef in the panang curry with sweet basil, was reasonably spicy for my taste (though very mild for Thai palates), but our waitress kept me supplied with plenty of fluffy white rice.
Next we sampled the chu-chee goong nang (B. 250) which was well stocked with the fried river prawns in the chu-chee curry and is a particular favorite of mine - very flavorsome without ‘fire’.
The final main course dish was exceptional. This was the (quite a mouthful) phad nor-mai farang hed-hom (B. 120) which was saut้ed green asparagus and shitake mushrooms with oyster sauce. Tender asparagus spears and again, just so flavorsome.
Yes, we allowed gluttony to take us to desserts and a coconut delight, almost a sorbet with coconut slivers and peanuts. What a finish!
How do you sum up an evening of complete satisfaction, without sounding over the top? The restaurant itself is delightful. The food is expertly prepared Thai cuisine and we all enjoyed every mouthful. (By the way, the Siam Bayshore has two hour cooking classes, so you can impress your friends at home.) However, if you have not been to the Siam Elephant, then you must experience it, and there is probably no other local restaurant to provide your overseas guests with such a totally enjoyable Thai package. Highly recommended.
Siam Elephant (Siam Bayshore Resort and Spa), 559 M 10 Beach Road (Walking Street), South Pattaya, telephone 038 428 678 - 81. Open seven days, 6 p.m. until 10 p.m. Secure parking within the resort grounds.

---

Spanish Paella

This is a typical Spanish paella with chicken, pork and seafood. Similar to the Thai khao pad talay, but the Spanish version has more garlic, while the Thai variety has chilies.

Ingredients                   serves 4 Long grain rice                          80 gm Chicken breast pieces               50 gm Pork collar butt pieces               50 gm Squid fresh chopped                   50 gm Baby clams                               50 gm Shrimps                                    50 gm Mussels                                   150 gm Onion chopped                           50 gm Green bell pepper                      10 gm Green peas                               10 gm Garlic                                       10 gm Parsley                                    20 gm Tomato sauce                       5 tbspns Olive oil                                 2 tbspns

Cooking Method
Clean the mussels and place in a shallow pan. Cover with water and bring to the boil. When mussels are cooked (shells will be open) remove and save the stock. In blender place parsley, garlic and some mussel stock and blend into smooth liquid. In a large shallow fry pan, heat the olive oil and sauté the chicken and pork until lightly brown, adding chopped onion, capsicum, squid and baby clams and sauté briskly.
Now add the tomato sauce and rice plus two cups of mussel stock and the blended garlic and parsley mixture. Mix thoroughly and cover and cook on a medium heat until water evaporates (around 20 minutes).
Arrange the mussels, prawns and green peas over the top of the rice and cover again. Cook on low heat for another 10 minutes.
Before serving place the Paella in a pre-heated oven (180 degrees) for 10 minutes.