Tucked away in the quiet residential Sukhumvit Soi 67, Your Licious Home Cuisine is a brainchild of self-taught chef couple Ruj and Neelunchana "Nong" Purnariksha who warmly open their home to discerning diners who seek Peranakan, or Nyonya, cuisine in the heart of Bangkok.
As a prelude to the chef's table meal, you'll be greeted, as you walk into the foyer, with beautiful decors from different cultures and framed pictures of the well-travelled couple on the wall.
You will then be ushered into a colourful living room which doubles as a gallery for the Purnarikshas to showcase their collectables with Ruj taking over the right side of the room while Nong taking over the left side. While you may be amazed by Ruj's collection of Swatches (including the entire Omega collab collection) and whiskeys, Nong has a special corner called Nong's Closet where she offers outfits of her own design created from fabrics she collects from various cultures from Srilanka to Africa over the years of globetrotting. If you would like a one-of-a-kind piece, she can custom-make it to your desire.
The visual feast doesn't stop there. Next, you'll be ushered into the dining room where you'll be greeted with even more impressive decors and colourful interiors — which Ruj lovingly gives all the credit to Nong. A long dining table for 12 is lavishly decorated while the artificial foliage hangs from the ceiling. There's a face mask tablet for each diner that they can rehydrate and refresh themselves with before the meal.
With so much effort behind making a first impression visually, you may now be wondering what culinary credit they have. Rest assured that you're in good hands as Ruj previously ran well-reviewed My Collection Home Cuisine in Ekamai and both Ruj and Nong are gifted self-taught chefs.
Your Licious came about during the Covid-19 pandemic as the couple entertained friends and family with their home-cooked food more and their loyal customers kept asking about their next venture, they finally decided to open their home up to discerning diners.
The chef's table experience at Your Licious starts with a trio of starters, served one by one. Spoilers alert, each dish comes in carefully chosen Peranakan tableware and a well-thought-out presentation deserving of being shown off on your social media. Before each item is served either Ruj or Nong will give you a short story behind them to whet your appetite and curiosity.
Peranakan starter comprises crispy seaweed, budu mayo and fried chicken joints coated in belacan batter. The crisp is so pleasantly crunchy that you can hear your chewing sound amid the bossa nova music in the background and is complemented by creamy budu that contains delicate crab meat. What makes the chicken skewer different from your average deep-fried chicken is the belacan batter that coats it as it contains a hint of shrimp, giving a similar sensation to 'kapi' paste.
Hokkaido scallop salad may not look Peranakan, but its tasty budu dressing gives it away. Perfectly pan-seared Hokkaido scallops are served on a bed of crisp green leaves and topped with tobiko roes that add both pops of colour and a briny touch.
Chef Ruj serves Bak kut teh with his own twist. Not only the kurobuta spare ribs and the broth are served separately but he also uses soy sauce he personally sourced from Ipoh, the capital city of the Malaysian state of Perak. Your job is to pour the broth into the plate and tailor the taste to your liking with garlic oil, chilli oil, or soya sauce, which come in tiny glass dropper bottles beautifully packed inside a wooden box. The meat easily comes off the ribs and almost melts in your mouth while the broth is soothing and savoury.
The carbohydrate course of the meal is Phuket crab curry pasta. It pays homage to Phuket's 'nam ya poo' but instead of 'khanom chin', fermented rice noodles, capellini is served in its place. The meat of threadfin bream is crushed to add texture to the aromantic and spicy curry.
Karubi rendang is served on a banana leaf alongside aromatic coconut rice as the main course. The spicy beef is presented in two ways as succulent short rib and melt-in-your-mouth shredded beef shank, delivering the boldest flavour of the meal.
The meal ends on a sweet and refreshing note with Do it yourself gula java ice cream. Have your camera ready to capture a video clip of the dessert arriving with a dry ice effect. The ice cream made with palm sugar (gula) from Java gives off a caramel-like and toasty sweetness. It's served with cendol and rice crackers on the side for delectable contrast.
For the price of B2,590 per person, Your Licious chef's table experience offers diners both visual and edible feasts to enjoy with a large helping of warm hospitality. If you want to give Your Licious a try, you should definitely plan ahead as their September dates have already been booked. You can check out their next available dates on their Facebook page at fb.com/YourLiciousBKK. To book a session, a minimum of six seats is required but Your Licious can cater to a small gathering of up to 20 people.
