Lunch @ Manna, and Desserts at Le Notre, Paragon, Bkk

My friends and I decided to meet up for lunch yesterday at Paragon and we wanted to try Vanilla Brasserie since I did not get to try the previous time. I did not make a reservation because I thought since it was a weekday, it should not be too full. Well, I was very wrong as the place was packed when I arrived, with lots of university students.

Anyway, it was not a bad day after all as it gave me a chance to try out Manna, a stylish Northern Thai fusion restaurants situated a few shops away. Manna seems quite popular, but as the restaurant is a lot more spacious compared to Vanilla, there were plenty of seats left for us. Service at Manna was quite good, as the waitresses were quite attentive.

My Ice Blended Lychee Drink
This was very refreshing, perfect for a hot afternoon


Grilled Thai Style Beef Sirloin with Thai Dipping Sauce


Seafood Somtum (Seafood Papaya Salad)
This was better than I'd expected from a fusion Thai restaurant.


Yum Salmon Saomoonprai (Thai Style Spicy Cooked Salmon Salad with Herbs)


Tom Sap Moo Deng (Spicy Thai Clear Soup with Minced Pork balls)

This was spicy enough to made my nose runny! They were very generous with the mushrooms.

Corned Beef Spaghetti

I was looking forward to trying the Corned Beef Spaghetti at Vanilla Brasserie, but since we did not get to eat there, I decided to try out the one here instead. It was not bad I must say, my friends loved it. The spaghetti was still slightly too cooked for my liking, I might try to recreate this dish at home next time.

After lunch, we decided to grab some desserts at Le Notre.

Fruit Tart

I'm normally not a big fan of fruit tarts as I didn't have very memorable experiences with them. They were always either overly-sweet or came with soggy pastry base. The Fruit Tart at Le Notre, however, gave me a new perspective on fruit tarts! They were the best I've had so far. The pastry base was nice and crisp with perfect fruit combination, and the pastry/custard cream was made to the right consistency.

Mille Fueille With Strawberry Sorbet and Strawberry Coulis

The sorbet just tasted beautiful, and the Mille Fueille was just the way I'd expected it to be. The pastry custard cream wasn't overly sweet and was made from real vanilla beans. The texture was just perfect, the crispness of slices of puff pastries and the smooth texture of the vanilla pastry cream, dusted with a little icing sugar.

Tiramisu with Chocolate Icecream and Vanilla Cream

My parents used to rave about how good Le Notre's Tiramisu was, so I had a really high expectation of it. It was not bad, but slightly too bitter for my taste. I don't know whether it was because I ate sweeter dishes earlier.

These little desserts gave me a perfect ending for my day! I definitely see myself coming back here in the future!