Many people have reservation when it comes to eating shark's fin soup; for me, it's about fairness. Cruelty towards other animals might be as bad or even worse but you don't see me turning vegan.
Case closed and we shall now turn towards my lunch at Yaowarat Road, Bangkok's bustling Chinatown district. T&K has yet to open for business and i thought why not just a restaurant that i have never tried before; hence, introducing Lao Li Shark's Fin Restaurant!
Strangely, the Chinese name of the shop (海外天), when translated to English, is actually overseas heaven. I am not sure if it's to reduce the risk of a lawsuit as 海外天 is also the name of a popular restaurant in Malaysia.
The sweltering hot weather was especially felt at Chinatown given the lack of any trees and a few hours of walk made us crave for an Asian beverage with cooling properties; chrysanthemum tea! And boy was it thirst quenching although it was on a sweet side.
Shark's Fin Soup with Crabmeat - at 500 baht, the content in the claypot was sufficient for two persons. I was a bit more selfish as i wanted more for myself! Now that many wedding banquets have stopped serving the Chinese delicacy, it's now becoming an infrequent indulgence for me.
Soup was still boiling hot and i had to rein in my impatience lest i burnt the insides of my mouth; trust me, it can result in extreme discomfort, especially when oral ulcer sets in.
I honestly think i have reached the stage where i can replace shark's fin with fish maw as it's the flavourful broth that really matters in the soup.
Bird's Nest in Syrup - when this was served to me, i was thinking if the waitress had sent a wrong dessert to the table as i remembered i had asked for a 300 baht bird's nest, not a S$2 cheng tng.
Feeling cheated is an over exaggeration even though instead of savouring the nutritional benefits of the birds' saliva, i had to spend the enjoyment biting through the tiny pieces of ice!
Solution - wait for the ice to melt, and i hate to waste my time when i am overseas! To be frank, it did contain a generous amount of bird's nest. It might not appear sweet enough but that's quite alright for me since ageing had reduced the body's desire for sweet stuff.
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Location
457-461, Yaowarat Road,
Chinatown, Bangkok, Thailand
Price
Chrysanthemum Tea - 60 / 120 Baht
Shark's Fin Soup with Crabmeat - 500 baht
Bird's Nest in Syrup - 300 baht
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