It
has been a while since I last stepped into Nong
& Jimmy Thai Seafood BBQ. When a recent invite came, I found out that Nong & Jimmy has gone through some
changes including a new management and a new location as well as new menu.
Known for serving rustic Thai BBQ, my last visit there was vividly scrumptious
and sweaty.
Now
that the new management has moved to a location nearby their old one in Ampang,
this one is certainly bigger and more spacious as well as nicely ventilated
with lots of fan. It is indeed cooler than their previous metal shack and there’s
plenty of parking space too unlike their previous one before.
The
new Nong & Jimmy serves lunch
and dinner as I was told while the previous one only opened for dinner. The new
location is pretty easy to locate if you have Waze and the signage is big and
bold so one cannot miss it. At the front of the restaurant is the BBQ pit where
the usual BBQ seafood would be cooked on.
I
was wondering why the BBQ pit was not lite up until I was told that Nong & Jimmy only serves their BBQ
during dinner hours because it was too hot at lunch hour. In addition, most
customers has less time for lunch than dinner. Fear not, there is still plenty
of Thai dishes to choose from in the menu.
The
ambiance was very minimally decorated and it was alfresco area inside and
outside of the restaurant. A large cement tank outside of the restaurant held
live fishes to ensure freshness at the restaurant.
Drinks
came and I happily sipped my fresh Kedondong
Juice with Salty Plum while my other half enjoyed a refreshing chilled Fresh Coconut as well as a Soy Bean Milk for the little one.
First
up, a delectable looking Deep Fried
Chicken with Mango Salad (RM16 – small). Crispy and juicy chicken topped
with a piquant mango salad that was deliciously addictive. I would be happy
with this dish alone with steamed rice.
A
coconut filled with Seafood Otak Otak
(RM25) was next and it was filled with lots of tender seafood and eggy spiced
otak otak custard. Flavours were decent and goes well with rice but I would
have loved a bit more spices and heat to kick it up another notch. Seafood was
fresh and well-cooked and there was plenty to go around the table.
I
have savored Kaeng Sam before and it’s a dish that packs a huge punch in
flavour. The Deep Fried Siakap with
Kaeng Sam (RM50) here didn’t have the wow factor that most Kaeng Sam are
famous for. Nevertheless, the fish is fresh, sweet and nicely cooked. Lots of
vegetables goes into the Kaeng Sam and I was particularly fond of the fresh
bamboo shoots. I would have loved big robust tangy and spicy flavours to be amp
up in this case.
Although
Nong & Jimmy do not serve BBQ seafood during lunch, they do have lots of
seafood cooked in their menu such as this Black
Pepper Crab (Seasonal Price). Despite it looking pretty dark, the flavours
are super yum. One gets a big hit of peppery note with a luscious aroma from
the sticky dark pepper sauce. Crab was meaty and sweet too.
For
fillers, there is the Thai Laksa
(RM10.90) served with lots of vegetables for our own DIY. The Laksa soup was
served on the side and this hearty bowl of piquant and sublime thick fish gravy
will take your taste sense to an explosion of fireworks in your mouth. I loved
this a lot. Finally a dish that kicks and makes me sweat. For me to love any
Thai restaurants, their food must have a bold kick of flavours of savory,
sweet, spicy and sour. Not for the faint-hearted but damn shiok!
More
fillers with Pineapple Fried Rice
(RM8) and Seafood Fried Rice (RM8).
The Pineapple Fried Rice obviously has lots of small cubed pineapples with
seafood and raisin. It’s on the sweeter end compared to the Seafood Fried Rice.
I prefer the latter for its simplicity and flavour.
Nong & Jimmy wasn’t how I remembered it but that’s
because I didn’t have the Thai BBQ like I did the last time. Lunch was
sufficient nevertheless but looks like I will be coming back for dinner simply
because I love their Thai BBQ seafood
and that awesome Yau Char Kwai with
Pandan Kaya that they are also famous for.
Cotswold, Moreton-in-Marsh, Tilly’s
Tea House, Bourton-on-the-Water, Bath, Rajpoot Indian Restaurant, Edgar
Townhouse Hotel
Day
4 Summary
Breakfast in Bed at
Marlborough House
Take train to Cotswold
to visit Moreton-in-Marsh
Walk around
Moreton-in-Marsh
Lunch at Tilly’s Tea
House
Take bus to
Bourton-on-the-Water
Take train to Bath
Dinner at Rajpoot Indian
Restaurant
Rest at Edgar Townhouse
Hotel
Breakfast in Bed at Marlborough House
Woke
up to the softest knock on the door that morning. The sunlight was already
shining through the little gap between the curtains when I realized that it was
8am and someone was knocking gently on my door. Ah, breakfast came to mind…
At
Marlborough House, one is served
breakfast in bed! What a treat because I have never been served breakfast in
bed. And I opened my door to a delicious aroma of an English breakfast set that
looked so inviting.
Juicy
thick Cumberland sausage, tender bacon, crispy hash brown, scrambled eggs,
baked beans, mushroom and grilled tomatoes with toast, yoghurt and juice was
definitely a full on breakfast guaranteed to charge one up for the day.
A
quick showered, I packed up my luggage and lugged it to the front desk as they
would store them for us as we were already checking out that day to head to
Bath in the evening.
Moreton-in-Marsh, Cotswolds
Though
the weather was grey and wet that morning, it didn’t deter our excitement as we
couldn’t wait to explore Moreton-in-Marsh, a principal market town in northern Cotswolds. If you’re looking to explore
Cotswolds on your own, it would be a great idea to buy the Cotswolds Discoverer Pass where you can travel all day on bus and
train to all the towns in that area.
Adult fare cost £10 for 1-day pass.
We
took the Great Railway Train from Oxford Station to Moreton-in-Marsh which was about 30 mins or so comfortably. Upon
arrival, we went exploring in the quaint township that has a wide main street
and many smaller lanes filled with lots of shops, pubs and inns.
Can’t
resist peeking into this florist, Allium
simply because the shop was filled with gorgeous blooms in every colors!
We
made a quick stop at the Moreton Area Center
to get more details of the town and even picked some memorabilia. More
information available here.
There
were quite a few antique shops too along the main streets.
Redesdale Market Hall
Along
the Redesdale Market Hall, there is a weekly Tuesday market with more than 200
stalls so do visit them if you happen to be there on Tuesday.
We
headed over to a popular tea room that is simply a must-visit but before that,
we passed a super cute Wellington boot shop! Available in vibrant colors and
design, I almost couldn’t resist getting one…
There
was also a lovely toy shop and a small grocery store filled with fresh
vegetables and meat as well as delicatessen products.
Tilly’s Tea Room
Scones
are such a British treat. I was never really a fan of scones although there are
some nice tea shops in Malaysia that are renowned for their scones and tea.
Most of the time I find the single-serving quick bread a tad too dry for my
liking. Plus I have never had scones with clotted cream too since it is quite
hard to find clotted cream back home.
Then
I walked into Tilly’s Tea House and that
day changed my mind about scones. Tilly’s Tea House is pretty much favorite
hotspot tea house that serves breakfast, brunch and lunch for locals as well as
tourists. The charming tea house is simply one of those places that one feels
at ease the moment you walked in. It reminded me of someone’s family business
where you know that the food is cooked from home cooks handed down from
someone’s grandmother’s recipes.
The
counter holds plenty of treats snacks and sweets and I was so excited that I
literally wanted to try everything. Huge Pasties with various filling, large
savory pies, gorgeous looking quiches, freshly baked bread on one side while
the other side of the counter was filled with sweet desserts of Lemon Drizzle,
large doughnuts, muffins, prettiest cupcakes, cakes and more.
They
also sell lots of local made jams, fruit curds, fudge, tea and more. It was so
tempting to buy them all…
We
settled down and got ourselves a table by the window overlooking the main
street. The menu was filled with lots of my favorite food so choosing
two-course for lunch was harder that I thought because everything looked so
tempting from the display counters earlier.
Had
fun filming Alice as she was digging into her luscious warm fruit scones slathered
with a generous amount of house made strawberry jam and thick creamy clotted
cream… she also shared some with me and boy-oh-boy, the scone was superb!!
Moist, fluffy and melt-in-the-mouth with a buttery finish, the scones with the
rich clotted cream and not so sweet jam was indeed the Best scones that I have
ever had.
I opted for Chicken Pie that comes with chef’s salad and coleslaw at £4.95 and dessert of Sticky Toffee Pudding with Clotted Cream at £3.95 while Alice had Tilly’s Cream Tea at £4.95.
Though
my Chicken Pie was delicious with its buttery short pastry and cream chicken
filling, I was secretly wishing for the scones. Luckily my Sticky Toffee
Pudding was so delish too that I was really satisfied. The warm and beautifully
moist pudding was sweet, sinful and dark that every spoonful of this dessert
had me swooning at its lusciousness.
Must
visit for gorgeous scones and sticky toffee puddings as well as lots of other
savory and sweet treats!
Tilly’s Tea House
18
& 19 High St,
Moreton-in-Marsh
GL56 0AF,
United
Kingdom
Tel:
+44 1608 650000
Business
Hours:
Sunday
– 10am to 5pm
Monday
to Saturday – 9am to 5pm
After
our lunch, we walked along the main street to head towards the bus stop to
catch the bus to Bourton-on-the-Water.
Before that, we also caught sight of The
Cotswolds Cheese Company and decided to go in for a quick peek.
Oh
my goodness, I fell in love immediately with what the store has to offer. Lots
and lots of cheese from locals as well as some imported ones are on display for
purchase. The store also carries wines, crackers, pasta, pickled and marinated
vegetables and olives, sauces, jams, oils, vinegars, cold cuts and even a small
selections of beautiful pottery. If only I had wasn’t travelling elsewhere as I
would have love to buy some of the delicious cheeses.
Bourton-on-the-Water
Directly
opposite the cheese shop we waited for Bus Number 22 to travel to Bourton-on-the-Water. The bus ride took
about 20 minutes and before we know it, we were transferred to a sight that I
can only relate to my early years of spending hours on Enid Blyton’s books. A
sight of English beauty, Bourton-on-the-Water
was just as how Enid would describe in her tales.
The
village sight is priceless. Despite the grey weather, sights of stone buildings
and shops are neatly built around the River
Windrush that runs through the village. Though most of the trees were bare,
I can only imagine how magnificent the village would look during spring blooms.
The picturesque scene coupled with Nature’s sounds of water and birds chirping
was such a soothing and inspiring experience.
As
we all strolled through the village by the river banks across low arched stone
bridges, we also did quick peeks at some of the shops. There is this really
cool looking Cotswolds Motoring Museum
that one should visit when you have the time. Then there was a Flea Market at the Building of the Victoria Hall where one can browsed through the
many trinkets and pretty English dinner ware as well as old books and more.
I
actually spent a considerable amount of time just admiring some of the local
birds on the river simply because these birds were so colorful and beautiful to
look at. The gentle chill wind was also really nice as I enjoy cold weather a
lot. Despite the chill weather, there was actually shops selling ice cream too.
More
tearooms and restaurants for the full English dining experience…
Adorable
knick knacks that I also wish to buy… LOL…
I
certainly wished that I could have spent more time in Bourton-on-the-Water but at last we needed to head back to Oxford
to catch our next train to Bath. Nevertheless, the experience at Moreton-in-Marsh and Bourton-in-the-Water was simply special
and priceless. If ever I were to come to London again, I would definitely want
to visit both places again.
There
are other places to visit besides these two so plan your trip ahead and you
might want to include the birth place of Shakespeare, Strasford-upon-Avon or Stow-on-the-Wold
if time is available as they are also on the bus route on the Cotswold Discovery Pass.
We
headed back to Oxford, grabbed our luggage and took the train to Bath. Upon
arrival, we checked into Edgar Townhouse in Bath and dropped off our luggage
before we headed out to dinner. Since it was quite late in the evening, most of
the shops were closed early.
Rajpoot Indian Restaurant
We
found Rajpoot Indian Restaurant
along our stroll and decided to dine there. Reading from the many reviews and
notices, Rajpoot is an award-winning
Indian restaurant that has been serving many since 1980. The restaurant is
actually located in the basement and is elegantly decorated with a grandeur of
an Indian theme. The restaurant is cleverly sectioned, offering privacy to its
diners. We decided to go all out since it was Alice and my last night for the
trip as we were leaving one day earlier.
Rajpoot serves Tandoori, Mughal and Bengali
dishes and the menu offers plenty of choices for everyone. There were plenty of
celebrities as well as many solid reviews as stated in their website.
From
the fine array of curries with Tandoori chicken and prawns and soft warm Naan
bread and fluffy Biryani rice, our feast of the evening was indeed delicious
and very memorable.
We
headed back to Edgar Townhouse that
evening and slept like a log. The whole day was indeed an eye-opening
experience for me as I have literally seen a side of London that I have only
managed to read in books growing up.
My
room at Edgar Townhouse was beautiful and very comfortable. I vaguely
remembered a quick shower, then a rest on my utterly comfortable bed before I
dozed off in bliss…
*Stay
tune for my final day, Day 5 – Edgar Townhouse, City of Bath, Roman Bath and
lunch at The Royal Hotel
For more information and
to plan your Great Value Travel to London, check out Visit Britain at
www.visitbritain.com/malaysia or CIT Malaysia at
www.cit.travel/europe/united-kingdom
This trip was made
possible by Visit Britain. All stories and comments in my posts are purely
derived from my own experiences through the trip.
