Bistro Eurogourmet

[JohnBKKK]

Hi,

if you happen to be in the Ekamai Area check out our Bistro - here are just a few items:

Hungarian Goulash with Gnochies - spicy as it should be and highly delicious

Lasagna - meat and vegetarian - made with our own pasta sheets - moist and higly delicious

Kielbasa Sausage - a firn Beef & Pork Sausage - great flavor and texture - served with french fries

Kaesekrainer - a Austria speciality sausage loaded with cunks of Emmental cheese

200G Hamburger/Cheeseburger - probably the best in Bangkok served with french fries and coleslaw

Mexican Breakfast with Chorrizo sausage - egg omelette covered with imported Cheese and a spicy Salsa (All day Breakfast)

plus of course many other specialities and a whole array of German/English/Polish... sausages

All at very low prices and top quality since all comes from the same production for our 5 star Hotel customers who demand top quality

We now offer German "Weihenstephan" wheat beer (from the oldest Brewery in the world)

John

a number of people requested something vegetarian for this saturday so I'm making vegeatarian "Schnitzel" for tomorrow - any J eaters notice - its based on Shitake mushrooms

Pictures - Goulash with Gnochi - Mexican Breakfast - Kaesekrainer (Austrian sausage with Emmental Cheese)

[bkkjames]

John, you have to take off the Austrian sausage, cause they are mine, all mine!!!

[dotcom]

So you got your new beer supplier?

[junkofdavid2]

What's your special tomorrow John?

[JohnBKKK]

What's your special tomorrow John?

Hi,

well, since the planed special (Steak tartar) did not attract any carnivors here I cancelled that one. Made a fresh batch of Hungarian Goulash this week which is served with Gnochi and today I made a small number of Vegetarian Burgers - next week I'm planing on pasta with smoked salmon in a cream sauce and I'm going to introduce a new one, "Pulled Pork Sandwich" during the week - something special from the southern US states (slow BBQ'd / smoked Pork with a spicy BQ rub until its really tender than pulled off the bone) served on a small Baguette

For tomorrow I do highly recommend the Goulash with Gnochies

best regards

John

[dotcom]

Yep. Count me in for pulled pork sandwich.

Raw hamburger (even with a French name) isn't passing my lips.

[JohnBKKK]

Yep. Count me in for pulled pork sandwich.

Raw hamburger (even with a French name) isn't passing my lips.

- hmm how about steak medium rare ... or carpachio ... its sort of the same

No problem, the "pulled Pork Sandwich" will be available from Wednesday on .......

Today I will take one Jar (left from Thursday's shipment to Kho Samui) of Chicken Vindaloo to the Bistro ... anyone interested .. its seriously HOT ... really HOT .... blow your socks off hot and very very tasty

We also have today a very nice French Onion Soup served with toasted bread on top and melted real Cheese as it should be - also available in jars as a take away (without the Cheese and bread of course) to heat yourself at home

John

[onethailand]

the "Carolina pulled Pork Burger" is also new

also added the "Bacon Burger" (available now) and the mother of all Burgers, a 250G "Reuben Burger" with Sauerkraut and Emmental Cheese melted over the top

all will be available from Wednesday on at the Bistro Eurogourmet

How much is delivery service? I would love to have the first one off the grill

[JohnBKKK]

How much is delivery service? I would love to have the first one off the grill

Hi,

not yet available, but we are talking to Chef HQ - They came off the BBQ today and wil be available as of tomorrow - the 250G is huge and I'm gonna have one myself tomorrow

John

p.s.the pulled pork will also be available from tomorrow

[dotcom]

If you ever decided to put a Rueben Sandwich on the menu I would certainly eat it.

[JohnBKKK]

If you ever decided to put a Rueben Sandwich on the menu I would certainly eat it.

Hi,

would love to do a Reuben sandwich, but the problem is the Bread since the traditional Reuben asks for Rye Bread. I can see myself throwing expensive Rye away every day. I figured that the "Reuben Burger" will be ordered more often and is a good compromise,

John

[Chuckler]

If you ever decided to put a Rueben Sandwich on the menu I would certainly eat it.

Hi,

would love to do a Reuben sandwich, but the problem is the Bread since the traditional Reuben asks for Rye Bread. I can see myself throwing expensive Rye away every day. I figured that the "Reuben Burger" will be ordered more often and is a good compromise,

John

John, any chance of adding a blue cheeseburger to the menu? at the moment to get that i have to go allllll the way to OMC at Khao Sahn. Also - do you have wifi in the bistro?

[JohnBKKK]

John, any chance of adding a blue cheeseburger to the menu? at the moment to get that i have to go allllll the way to OMC at Khao Sahn. Also - do you have wifi in the bistro?

Hi,

will check with my cheese suppliers for small packages of blue - as far as I know yes, we have wifi its in the whole building - High Tech Tower,

John

[jfchandler]

Made my first visit to Bistro Eurogourmet on Thursday afternoon, after hearing so many good (delicious)-sounding things from John here, through the last couple months. I'd been planning to stop by for some time, but the visit had been delayed by a recent visa trip back to the States...

So now, back in BKK, and having not eaten for more than 12 hours prior to my visit due to some late night celebrating the night before, the TGF and I were ready for some serious eating upon arrival.

First by way of background, the bistro's web site can be found here..., complete with a downloadable regular and happy hour menu in Adobe .pdf format. The location is in the lobby of the High Tech Towers condo building on Ekamai Soi 23, which is very close to Petchaburi Road, and very far up a typically crowded Soi Ekamai from Sukhumvit Road for anyone traveling on BTS to Ekamai... The location inside is small and simple, with just a handful of tables inside and a small patio outside.

The web site shows the bistro's hours at 9:30 am to 9 pm Monday to Saturday, and now closed on Sunday. The latter seems an unusual choice, considering folks who I'd think might be looking for a good Sunday breakfast or early lunch out... But the staff indicated Sundays had been pretty quiet before... So it seems no more Sunday brunch/lunch at Bistro Eurogourmet.

Between the two of us, we ordered three different dishes that afternoon: the "Mexican" breakfast at 140 baht, consisting of an egg/cheese omelette with "chorizo" sausage over a "tortilla," the 200g beef hamburger with french fries for 130 baht, and the GF's choice of the Thueringer Rostbratwurst with potato salad and sauerkraut for 100 baht.

As an American/Californian far from my originalculinary home, I was particularly interested the hamburger and the Mexican breakfast offerings, having lately joined the TV quest to find the best (or at least decent) hamburger in BKK. Sadly for me, on this day, I came away very filled, but less than satisfied, with the offerings.

While the portion of the hamburger was more than ample and nicely formed, and the accompanying french fries were crisp and tasty, the "BBQ over charcoal" burger came across tasting more like a microwaved burger, which I gather it was, with none of the texture or juicyness one might hope for. The reason, I was told, is that the burgers are pre-cooked and then microwaved and heated again prior to serving. So mine was a solid grey inside throughout, and had the taste and texture of microwaved meat.

As for the "chorizo" omelette, perhaps it was a case of mistaken expectations. As a native Californian, my idea of "chorizo" is the Spanish/Mexican style, typically red-chili infused and often crumbled into an oily mixture. But I learned later, after my visit that day, that there's also a very different European style chorizo that's typically sliced and smoked in flavor (and not spicy at all), which was the style served that day. Likewise, the "tortilla" was really thick almost like a serving of pita bread. Having said that, the flavor was good with nicely melted cheese. But not really close to anything anyone reasonably would call a "Mexican" breakfast.

A lot of opinion about food is based on one's own experience with eating, and from that experience comes expectations. It's clear the Bistro Eurogourmet knows what it's doing particularly when it comes to sausages and the food on its own is well-prepared. I can't speak as to how a European might view the offerings. But as an American, arriving with expectations of a reasonably "Mexican" breakfast or freshly charcoal grilled hamburger, I came away disappointed.

[Ulysses G.]

I have a feeling that lots of their food is great and I will check them out on my next visit to Bangkok.

I think maybe a little Velveta processed cheese might fix that burger up though!

[JohnBKKK]

Hi,

thanks for stopping by. In response I have to say that I have never said that the burgers are freshly BBQ'd over Charcoal at the Bistro and the reason is simply that the smoke would lead to a lot of problems which accounts for most restaurants. This is the reason why we charcoal grill the Burgers at our main Kitchen, than vacuum pack them to be able for our customers to enjoy the BBQ flavor. The Burgers are of course well done for safety reasons. They should not be microwaved but heated in the vacuum bag in a hot waterbath (prior to serving) that is there. Remember, we supply pre-cooked food to Hotels etc...

It is a compromise but many of our repeat customers must agree, it is a close as one can get to a "freshly" BBQ'd well done Burger. The texture is firm due to it being well done, which most people prefere compared to the "loose" Burgers served in some places.

As to the "Mexican" Breakfast - you are right, the Chorrizo is the Spanish version and the reason is that having introduced the Mexican Version initially I got a lot of "flack" from customers that it is way too hot. I had no choice but to change to the much milder Spanish version. Even the Salsa initially had a lot of peppers and had to give way to a much milder Version due to customers turning red in their faces having tears rolling dow their cheeks and breaking out in a sweat........

I have just today made a Hotsauce with amoung others, Scotch Bonnet, for those who do want their food hot which will be available as of tomorrow.

Sorry, but the location and the fact that there are no Californians around made those changes necessary,

John

[JohnBKKK]

I have a feeling that lots of their food is great and I will check them out on my next visit to Bangkok.

I think maybe a little Velveta processed cheese might fix that burger up though!

Ulysses !!! Noooooooooooooooo Velveta .... he had ordered the Burger without the Cheese. If a "Cheeseburger is ordered we use imported Emmental or Gouda. I've now had comments ranging from "the best Burger in Bangkok" (most of them and prooven by repeat customers) to jf's comment of none satisfaction ... its a difficult business and I guess you will have to try as much as possible but it will always be impossible to please everyone, however, he did finish the burger and the "Mexican breakfast" so it can't be all that alien to his californian pallet

John

[Ulysses G.]

Just joshing you!

[Muppetbkk]

If you ever decided to put a Rueben Sandwich on the menu I would certainly eat it.

Hi,

would love to do a Reuben sandwich, but the problem is the Bread since the traditional Reuben asks for Rye Bread. I can see myself throwing expensive Rye away every day. I figured that the "Reuben Burger" will be ordered more often and is a good compromise,

John

John, any chance of adding a blue cheeseburger to the menu? at the moment to get that i have to go allllll the way to OMC at Khao Sahn. Also - do you have wifi in the bistro?

I went over to Oh My Cod and tried the bluecheesburger today after reading ur post...Wow, is that darn good or what? And its not microed - asked the staff who said freshly grilled...will go back there even thoug not in area, worth the trek over town

[jfchandler]

Thanks for your post and answers, John.... My prior "review" comments were not meant to be critical or offending... I hope you didn't take them that way.

You're certainly right, and I agree, on a couple of points...

1. I/we did eat pretty much every bit of our Bistro meals... except for the cole slaw with the burger... After the omelette and the burger in one sitting, it would have been too much for me... As I had mentioned, we were HUNGRY....

2. I understand you never advertised the hamburgers were freshly charcoal grilled.... When I asked on the day of my visit, after wondering about the taste/texture, I was told (staff in Thai to my TGF translated to me in English) that they were being microwaved and then heated/grilled again. My point was, for me, the charcoal grilled flavor didn't come thru in the taste of the burger... I really had been looking forward to that...but didn't find it.

3. I'm the first to admit I'm NOT in the restaurant business, so I don't have to worry about smoke from grills or the wildly different taste preferences between Americans and Europeans/Brits, or about successfully running a profit-generating restaurant... That's in part why, I was careful to point out in my comments, that one's tastes are based a lot on their background and past eating habits. (Re the chorizo, I didn't know you'd tried the other style first, before being goaded into switching. I guess I was too late in stopping by... )

Good luck with your venture. I met your wife there..that day... And you have a good staff in your shop.

[JohnBKKK]

Thanks for your post and answers, John.... My prior "review" comments were not meant to be critical or offending... I hope you didn't take them that way.

You're certainly right, and I agree, on a couple of points...

1. I/we did eat pretty much every bit of our Bistro meals... except for the cole slaw with the burger... After the omelette and the burger in one sitting, it would have been too much for me... As I had mentioned, we were HUNGRY....

2. I understand you never advertised the hamburgers were freshly charcoal grilled.... When I asked on the day of my visit, after wondering about the taste/texture, I was told (staff in Thai to my TGF translated to me in English) that they were being microwaved and then heated/grilled again. My point was, for me, the charcoal grilled flavor didn't come thru in the taste of the burger... I really had been looking forward to that...but didn't find it.

3. I'm the first to admit I'm NOT in the restaurant business, so I don't have to worry about smoke from grills or the wildly different taste preferences between Americans and Europeans/Brits, or about successfully running a profit-generating restaurant... That's in part why, I was careful to point out in my comments, that one's tastes are based a lot on their background and past eating habits. (Re the chorizo, I didn't know you'd tried the other style first, before being goaded into switching. I guess I was too late in stopping by... )

Good luck with your venture. I met your wife there..that day... And you have a good staff in your shop.

Hi jf,

hey, I'm not offended at all and am always interested in feedback - a coupple of things :

1) in the Thai translation something has gone astray - the Burgers are charcoal grilled in my Kitchen and than vacuum packed - they are than only re-heated once, in the vacuum in a waterbath -

2) Charcoal grilled / smoked flavor - hmmm I find it quite strong and had the same comments from other customers - however, I think you are talking about flaming/burning flavor which I know is often present in US Burgers - we are very careful not to "burn" (blacken) our Burgers because nowadays people have become very aware of health issues asociated with "burning" meat and my wholesale customers would not accept those.

We use imported German Beachwood which we add to the charcoal for a nice smoky flavor which is milder than Hickory. Your sensitivity for BBQ/smoky flavors is also influenced by smoking. A none smoker is much more sensitive to smoky flavors in food.

3) Our customers love the Goulash with Gnochies and sit over their bowls breaking out in a sweat and are huffing and puffing saying to my staff "pet pet" but alloy ... hmmm there is not even a single Chilly in there, just what is called "hot" Hungarian paprica which is not really hot ... imagine when I used Habeneros in my salsa for the mexican Breakfast and in the Mexican Chorrizo ... I have now solved this problem by making a really really hot "Hotsauce" which will be available for customers as of today, to spice up their food.

One customer from the forum found the salsa with the Mexican breakfast too hot ? - there is a small amount of medium sized red Chillies in there with all seeds removed and the Avocado has a tempering effect as well....

Next Saturday I'm planning a special "Chilly con carne" - I will make 2 types - a castrated one for those who do not want hot food and a normal one for chilly lovers and I guaranty that the hot one will make you sweat ! it makes even my brother in law sweat and he is Thai and used to hot food! however, heat allone does not make for a great Chilly, there will also be ample flavor!

Lastely, my kitchen staff tried the Hot sauce when it was finished yesterday and they all rushed to the water cooler and comments were "pet ... pet maaaaaak" but it does also have a great flavor and no vinegar but red wine, tomatoes and some lime juice as a base (not sour),

John

[Chuckler]

Just reporting in that I ate at Euro Bistro the other day. I had the goulash/gnocchi which was awesome, the curry sausages and chips, which were very good (but I could've used more sauce! the chips were tasty on their own though, which is unusual - I usually find chips very bland and boring) and the apple pie which was good, but not to my taste. John, you need to get icecream to go with that pie man!

Great meal, look forward to making it out again before I bid bangkok farewell.

[Chuckler]

John, any chance of adding a blue cheeseburger to the menu? at the moment to get that i have to go allllll the way to OMC at Khao Sahn. Also - do you have wifi in the bistro?

I went over to Oh My Cod and tried the bluecheesburger today after reading ur post...Wow, is that darn good or what? And its not microed - asked the staff who said freshly grilled...will go back there even thoug not in area, worth the trek over town

Cool! Yeah it's awesome. I just love the blue cheese flavour and on a burger, it's perfect! Shame about the traffic or I'd go more regularly just for this!

[JohnBKKK]

Just reporting in that I ate at Euro Bistro the other day. I had the goulash/gnocchi which was awesome, the curry sausages and chips, which were very good (but I could've used more sauce! the chips were tasty on their own though, which is unusual - I usually find chips very bland and boring) and the apple pie which was good, but not to my taste. John, you need to get icecream to go with that pie man!

Great meal, look forward to making it out again before I bid bangkok farewell.

Hi chuckler,

thanks for comming by and trying our food. Glad you enjoyed it. Had the Goulash for dinner twice last week and just made alarge new batch- I also love it.

Told the wife and staff already to put more curry sauce on the curry sausages (one of my own favorites as well) - our french fries are top quality which is the reason they do have flavor - I personally hate those tasteless things you get elsewhere - the apple pie ... hmmm .. are we a bit of a sweet tooth ? its the english version which is generally not too sweet but will instruct staff to ask customers in future if they want whiskey sauce or ice cream,

John

p.s. planning on a Chilly con carne special next Saturday with corn bread

[seppl04]

having been to the Bistro Eurogourmet twice now, I have had the Goulash with Gnochies the first time which was outstanding and the Gnochies beautifully soft, little dumplings were the best I've ever had. The second time I had the Cheeze Burger - wow - big with lots of flavor and they use real cheese which adds even more flavor, the meat was firm and juicy and the roll lightly toasted in all. in my humble opinion the best Burger I've hadin a very long time - as posted above, even the french fries are outstanding

Seppl

[JohnBKKK]

Hi Sepple,

thanks for you comments, always good to hear from satisfied customers

Now, starting this Saturday the SPECIAL will be:

CHILY CON CARNE WITH JALAPENO CORN BREAD - the corn bread will only be available this Saturday though

its gonna be nice and spicy - good ground Beef (topround)

John

[ColinChapman]

Hi Everyone,

I have now been to the Bistro Eurogourmet three times over a period of a few weeks at different times of the day and on weekdays and Saturday. Each time the food and service has been excellent. I have tried the light English breakfast, the Mexican breakfast with delicious salsa and chorizo and a barbecue bacon and cheese burger. I originally went there to buy some of the dry cured, smoked streaky bacon (they call it American breakfast bacon, but I'm English and I like it) which is absolutely delicious but is not available in my local supermarket. In response to my email query, John kindly agreed to drop off 1kg at the bistro for me to collect at the same price per kg as buying 10kg from his web-site.

I have paid considerably more for food which isn't nearly as nice, and the burger is the best I have found in Bangkok since Muku's closed. The Weihenstephaner weissen beer is also very tasty if you are a wheat beer fan, served in proper glasses and reasonably priced at THB160 for a half litre. I have bumped into John a couple of times and found him friendly and very knowledgable and informative about food production in general and his products in particular - absolutely no bullshit, this is a hands-on chef who knows exactly what he is doing and his enthusiasm shines through.

I would be very surprised if you can't find something on the menu which you like - he even has a veggie burger made with shitake mushrooms which was being enjoyed by two American gentlemen on my first visit and is on my list of things to try.

I would say that you should not go here if you are on a diet.

[zaphodbeeblebrox]

Hi Sepple,

thanks for you comments, always good to hear from satisfied customers

Now, starting this Saturday the SPECIAL will be:

CHILLY CON CARNE WITH HALOPINO CORN BREAD - the corn bread will only be available this Saturday though

its gonna be nice and spicy - good ground Beef (topround)

John

Sounds like great Tex Mex John. I'm sure the food would make me forget about your spelling (Chili con carne with Jalapeno corn bread)

[JohnBKKK]

Hi Sepple,

thanks for you comments, always good to hear from satisfied customers

Now, starting this Saturday the SPECIAL will be:

CHILY CON CARNE WITH HALOPINO CORN BREAD - the corn bread will only be available this Saturday though

its gonna be nice and spicy - good ground Beef (topround)

John

Sounds like great Tex Mex John. I'm sure the food would make me forget about your spelling (Chili con carne with Jalapeno corn bread)

EHEM .... thank you for the corrections ... mi español es malo

have changed it already .. was typed in a hurry ... but yes, I guaranty it will taste great

John

[percy2]

I must get by to try Bistro.

I buy Eurogourmet products quite often for home so I am sure the quality should be good.

But one piece of friendly advice, get some new pictures taken of your products (even if you have to employ a professional) as I'm sure the ones in this topic are not doing your dishes justice.

Cheers