My Happy Place for Pizza!

Koh Lanta Pizza

By Chris Sujarit

Koh Lanta Pizza on Nimmanhaemin Soi 5 is my unwavering Happy Place for Pizza. Walk up the stairs to the small cobblestoned courtyard and be prepared to waft in the fragrant gifts the wood- fired brick oven offers you.
Koh Lanta Pizza offers 17 types of pizza. Standards such as Pepperoni, Carbonara, Margherita, Salami, Ham, Hawaiian, Sausage, and Triple Cheese are offered next to novel options such as Salmon, Tuna, Bolognese, Anchovies, and BBQ Chicken. One tantalizing genius option is the Capriciosa- bacon, mushrooms, ham, onions, green pepper, tomatoes. Capriciosa must be Italian for aroy mak mak!
They offer crust options- Koh Lanta style (crispy on the outside, dougy on the inside), Thin and Crispy, and Thick and Soft. The Koh Lanta style dough is crispy on the outside and soft and doughy on the inside and is about 1.5 cm thick. Your pizza pie is served on a wooden cutting board immediately after being lovingly flamed in their professional calibre wood- fired brick oven.
The toppings and sauce do not overpower the pizza, and the slices are never greasy. However, the cheese is still laid on indulgently thick and creamy. Topping gluttons may feel under bludgeoned, but everyday folks will be completely satisfied. I’ve tried the Pepperoni, Hawaiian, and BBQ Chicken pizzas, and each is harmoniously seasoned and the flavors balanced. Sans fancy flourishes and exotic seasonings, Koh Lanta is unpretentious, honest food. Koh Lanta pizza serves its pies in three sizes, 6”, 8”, and 10”. The 6” serves one, the 8” two, and the 10” two scintillatingly hungry “food lovers.”
I prefer Koh Lanta’s salads over those of Salad Concept, mainly for one feature: the large bowl of pesto and olive oil so generously served with the salad. This pesto is lively, joyful, tasty, and amazing, and they give you a whole bunch (save some to eat with your pizza). All the veggies are crispy, fresh, and just plain pretty. Try the Mixed Salad or Greek Salad for a nice fibrous counterpoint to the substantiality of the pizza.
Two standout appetizers are the Spinach baked with Cheese and the Spicy Chicken Wings. Spinach baked with Cheese is exactly what it sounds like, lovingly baked in a small casserole dish. The cheese on top is crunchy golden brown. Inside, the medley of lovemaking of green leaves and deep yellow stingy, perfectly chewy cheese will leave you lean-in-the-back-of-your-chair satisfied. Each piping hot fork full of spinach and cheese is lightly buttery and deeply savory. Try it! The Spicy Chicken Wings are tender and meaty, marinated and coated with natural- tasting tangy bbq sauce with a hint of honey.
On the best of days, I like to order a few appetizers and get a 10” pizza so I have leftovers to take home and enjoy. The owner is a 30- something tall man with a handsome face who speaks English and wears jaunty hats. The waitress has a porcelain complexion with rosy cheeks, adorable freckles, enviably bone structure, and often wears her hair in inventive yet casual braid hairdos. Koh Lanta Pizzeria is definitely my paradise for pizza, salads, spinach cheese combinations, and sometimes pasta, all with lots of love from Tabasco on everything. Ti soot ching ching!
Koh Lanta Pizza is located on Nimmanhaemin Soi 5, between Hollywood Hair and Moshi Moshi on the left. http://www.kohlantapizza.com/ (contains full menu). Open 12:00pm - 15:00pm and 17:00pm - 22:00pm every day. For delivery, call 053-212-022, 089-632-6223.

RECIPES BY NOI: Kang Salae

I am a little bit late in writing about Kang Salae because its season is from January to March. Salae is the name of a climbing plant and we use only the flowers to eat. It is possible to find it in a market now but will be 3 time more expensive (200-300 baht per Kg) than in season. We believe that eating Salae heats up the body and increases appetite. Strangely, we can’t find Salae in the wild or mountains. It seems like someone brought it here and it likes to grow in the garden only.
This vegetable can be steamed and eaten with chili paste, stir fried with meat and oyster sauce but the best way is to cook it in curry with pork or dried fish.
Let’s start by pounding our fresh chili paste with shallots, garlic, shrimp paste, salt and dried chilies then stir fry in cooking oil. Add chopped pork and stir fry for a couple minutes more. Then add water. When the water is boiling we can add the Salae and tomato.
Salae is very easy to cook so we might need only 5 minutes cooking.
Some people like it to be sour so they add tamarind in the curry. Also be sure and choose young Salae for good taste because the old one is too chewy.

EATING OUT

RECIPES BY NOI