136 replies to this topic

[Chris Amirault]

Just got it and it looks great: very useful illustrations, translations, maps, on and on. I'll know more about whether it's useful this summer, but, for now, I'm thrilled.

[Stupid_American]

The book is great for an introduction to street food, but don't get your heart set on any specific stalls or carts mentioned.
The book is a little dated and many of these small establishments come and go.

[Chris Amirault]

I had assumed as much -- but even with expected comings and goings, the descriptions of what display X or cooking vessel Y means are worth the price of the book so far.

[Stupid_American]

Yes, I recommend the book (unfortunately out-of-print).
It's a great guide to the cuisine; helps you to know what you are looking for/at.

I just didn't want you to expect the locations (maps) to necessarily be accurate.
But, most of the described dishes can be found anywhere.

[eternal]

I have been in Bangkok now for 24 hours after 23 hours in Seoul. Was lucky enough to get into the city and have a few bites there though nothing worth mentioning here.

After a day of eating well off of street stalls, I plan on heading to Chote Chitr and using the map for that area mentioned in a similar post. Other places on my list at Dalat Aw Taw Kaw and Taling Pling, which just happens to be about a block away from our current hotel. Am traveling for the next year so my food budget is pretty small and will be in Bangkok for another few days. Anything else I should add to the list not already mentioned in this thread?

[Julian Teoh]

I have been in Bangkok now for 24 hours after 23 hours in Seoul. Was lucky enough to get into the city and have a few bites there though nothing worth mentioning here.

After a day of eating well off of street stalls, I plan on heading to Chote Chitr and using the map for that area mentioned in a similar post. Other places on my list at Dalat Aw Taw Kaw and Taling Pling, which just happens to be about a block away from our current hotel. Am traveling for the next year so my food budget is pretty small and will be in Bangkok for another few days. Anything else I should add to the list not already mentioned in this thread?

Eternal,

Across the road from Chote Chitr, there is a sensational mango sticky rice place called Kao Neeo Korpanich. I don't think it was mentioned in this thread, though I found it elsewhere on eGullet. Link below, with useful information and visuals to help locate the shop, especially if, like me, you can't read Thai:

http://importfood.co..._korpanich.html

Simply amazing stuff. The link says they are only open from June to December, though they were definitely open in May last year, so you may still get lucky!

Edited by Julian Teoh, 08 January 2009 - 11:20 PM.

[Stupid_American]

The Importfood.com Saochingcha guide is full of great eateries. The ones we have tried have all been exceptional.

My personal recs, all over Bangkok, are here: Cheap Eats


At Aw Taw Kaw, be sure to try the ba mee this lady's stall:

Edited by Stupid_American, 09 January 2009 - 12:18 AM.

[eternal]

I read this too late. I did go to Chote Chitr and was very good. I think the lady is pretty familiar and gives everybody pretty much the same thing. She is nice though and the food was good, though I could do without the crispy noodles.

Out of Bangkok now and heading north. Will probably be back in Bangkok in a few weeks and will try some other places mentioned.

[MaLO]

I will be heading to Bangkok in a couple of months and was wondering if anyone can add anything more recent.

At the moment I am considering Bo.Lan, Gaggan, D'sens / Le Normandie and lots of street food.
The newish chef (Christian Ham) at d'sens seems to have had an interesting career so I will probably go there.

On a past visit I ate some good Chinese food in Jade Garden at the Montien and lunched at Sala Rim Naam and other pot luck places but it was about eight years ago.

I am keeping an eye on the Bangkok Post and some hotel websites for wine dinners or visiting chef events but any advice is welcome.

[et alors]

I'm in the same boat-- looking for more recent advice. I think Thai food is the most delicious cuisine, yet it doesn't seem to be taken as serious as Japanese or French. Nothing I had at joel roblechon (east or west) could hold a candle to the sheer yumminess of a sausage I had a cart outside my hotel. But I do like sitting down to eat, so hoping to find the quality plus the care in Bangkok.

My advice from two years ago is try the night market's beer garden. Freshest seafood, giant German and Belgian beers, and flavors galore. As well, this looks useful... anyone have experience using it as a guide? http://www.cnngo.com...city-essentials

Great Pad Thai outside of a Wat (literally the best I've ever had)
http://www.flickr.co...in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.co...in/photostream/

Beer garden
http://www.flickr.co...in/photostream/

Seafood rice noodles OF THE GODS!
http://www.flickr.co...in/photostream/

And I loved the Blue Elephant cooking class-- the morning gives you a tour of the market
http://www.flickr.co...in/photostream/

[et alors]

I have just discovered my go-to night market Suan Lum, is closed. Do you which of the others is best for foodies? Suan Lum was my favorite dinner.

I've found this advice, but it's more shopping than food oriented.

http://susan-cunning...markets-a124209
and this
http://www.bangkok.c...-after-dark.htm

[MaLO]

Just spotted this. I am not in Bangkok on the dates. Just a bit gutted.

http://www.bangkokpo...ar-chef-in-town

This is another place I am considering.

http://www.chakrabongsedining.com

Edited by MaLO, 22 April 2012 - 01:07 PM.

[MaLO]

Just returned home from nine nights in Bangkok. Here is what we did.

Day one. Found by chance a couple of outdoor covered food markets on Soi Sala Daeng opposite a busy Italian restaurant called Zanotti. The food halls were packed full of lunching office workers and others so we thought we should give it a go. Some vendors cook to order and some have pre cooked curries and soups. We took our choice and ended up with three curries (Chicken, Vegetable and Fish) over rice for about 35 baht. It was good, not particularly spicy, but very tasty none the less. We also sampled a Squid Pad Thai, Roast Pork and Roast Duck on rice and Shrimp Mired in Egg. It was all quick, tasty and cheap. We ate here a couple of times.







After spending much of the afternoon dozing we ventured out for more pot luck street food near Chong Nonsi Sky train. We ate some Grilled Sausages, a Som Tam and a few Stir Fried Pork, Shrimp and Chicken Dishes.



There is a quite useful shopping centre called Viva City nearby that has a very good small supermarket (villa market) and bars and restaurants for stocking up on water and booze and the like. We stopped for drinks at wine fusion on a couple of evenings.


On day two we returned to the covered food hall for lunch after some shopping and picked up some chicken wings near the sky train.



After the early evening storm passed we decided to eat at Lek Seafood, again near Chong Nonsi. We ate here a few times as it was very good and close to our hotel and the sky train.






Over our visits here we ate Spicy Stir Fried Seafood, Soft Shell Crab with Chilli and Garlic, Grilled River Prawns, Ostrich Hot Plate, Seafood Hot Plate, Poached Sea bass, Fried Whole Fish, Stir Fried Morning Glory, Broccoli with Scallops, Kale with Crisp Pork and more. It was very busy and the food was excellent. You can sit inside or outside, inside is cooled by fans and free of insects so if you go there bear this in mind. Our bills were generally in the region of 600-1000 baht with masses of food, beer, water and soft drinks.



Next day we stumbled upon Dean & Deluca, again under Chong Nonsi. They have Californian wine, western food, good coffee, excellent air con and free wi-fi. It became a daily visit for morning coffee and a late evening wine. We did not eat here although all the food looked nice if you wanted that kind of thing. They also stock Estrella Dam Inedit. The prices are reasonable too. Again we lunched at a street cafe.


For dinner we decided that a bit of comfort was required so we decided on Baan Kanitha. We ordered from the menu rather than the set options. We got a pre meal snack of Pandan Leaves with Chilli, Nuts, Dried Shrimp, Ginger and a dressing tasting of Shrimp paste.
We shared the mixed appetiser platter of Grilled Chicken, Fish and Shrimp Cakes and Spring Rolls. This was mostly good if a little boring.
For mains we picked Cotton Fish Steamed in Banana Leaf with Thai Herbs, River Prawns in Green Curry and a Thai Omelette with Sour Sausage. The cotton fish was ok in a delicate way but the rest was bland, very bland in fact.





They may have cooked for us in a style suited to the many western guests but no one asked how we wanted the food and it was not worth the effort or cost. Far better Thai food can be had in the UK. We make better ourselves at home.


Day four saw us head to the Siam Centre to have a look at the orchid festival. The Kempinski Hotel is close to here so we went to have a look at Sra Bua to make a reservation for another day. In the basement of the Siam Paragon Centre are dozens of food outlets, everything from Subway to Sushi and a large supermarket too. We ate a quick lunch in the supermarkets food area of Chicken Curry and Steamed Barracuda with Ginger and Onions. We found a place in the food hall doing liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream so we stopped for some.



We had planned to eat lunch at Bo.lan but after getting all the way there it turns out they don’t open for lunch so we headed back to Siam Paragon. It does say on the Bo.lan website about not being open for lunch or on Mondays but you do have to dig a bit to find this out.

In the evening we went to the Banyan Tree’s Moon Bar but it was shut due to the earlier storm. The good news is that they have another bar (latitude) on the 52^nd floor which was open. It is open-sided but has a roof and the views and drinks are pretty decent. Expect to pay 350 baht for a cocktail. Well worth a visit, and we did get to the moon bar another time. We went back to Lek Seafood for dinner.



Friday lunch was at D’sens at the Dusit Thani. The set lunch is 950 baht + 10% service and 7% tax. This is standard in most sit down places. We took a couple of glasses of Chandon sparkling wine from Australia and ordered our food.

For Amuse we were served White Asparagus Custard topped with Green Asparagus Foam. It was very tasty. There was also fresh bread, baguette, walnut and a tomato focaccia.



Starters were Fried Oysters with Chlorophyll.



And Turnip and Shrimp Ravioli. Both were good.



The Ravioli was in fact a salad of vegetables with sliced Turnip acting as the Pasta. Quite a fresh plateful but even allowing for French / Thai / English translation it had nothing to do with ravioli.

For mains we took one Angus Beef Fillet. The Beef came garnished with purees of Carrot with a hint of Ginger and Beetroot and some of each vegetable fried crisp. Not bad at all



And one Sole with Asparagus. The Sole was also good.



It was all good up to here.

The cheese option was pre plated and offered no choice. They do have a cheese trolley but not at lunch time. We shared some ok Goats Cheese, some terrible Herbed “Brie” and another I can’t recall.



This was better that the Chocolate and Salted Caramel Tart. It was a shocker. It looked like an accident and didn’t taste much better. The worst dessert I have eaten in a serious restaurant.



The savoury food was cooked well. Wines by the glass prices are not too bad either.

More Lek Seafood followed for dinner.


On Saturday we went to the river and after a bit of this and that we headed to the Oriental to see what was on offer there. We decided on Dim Sum at the China House. 888 baht buys you all you can eat Dim Sum, a Soup and a Fried Rice / Noodle Main and choice of dessert. We probably tried about 15 baskets of Dim Sum and with the exception of the turnip cake all were delicious. We ordered one Hot Shredded Chicken Soup and one Crab, Spinach and Bamboo. A Fried Rice with Shrimp and Pork and Noodles with Seafood for mains. We took the fruit option for dessert. It was excellent.











After a well deserved snooze we headed out to see the evening chaos, stopping for a late bite at Lek as we left the sky train.


On Sunday we decided after Coffee at Dean & Deluca to head to King Power for a nose at the duty free and the guaranteed coolness of an air conditioned mall. Besides the air con it was not worth the effort. Shopping at Siam Paragon was better, less expensive and you can still claim back tax.

We got off the sky train at Silom and wandered through Lumpini Park with the idea of Gaggan for lunch. On the way we passed an interesting looking place called Khruanaibaan Home Kitchen. Gaggan was open but was charging 500 baht per person more than the online menu price and our previous experience in the more expensive restaurant made me uneasy, so we didn’t bother and went back to Khruanaibaan Home Kitchen and feasted on Clay Pot Soup, Jungle Curry, Laab with Duck, Pad Thai and possibly more.



With Beer and Wine it cost less than 1000 baht. The cooking was very good, very spicy and fresh.



They have many tanks of live seafood too. Well worth a visit.

In the evening we ventured into Chinatown. The Tuk-Tuk driver insisted Chinatown was closed or awful and we should go elsewhere, as luck would have it he knew just the place. He was quite insistent until I told him we were meeting Friends, a lie, but it shut him up and we got to Chinatown. Chinatown was certainly not closed.



We walked about for a while trying to work up an appetite and seeing what looked good. We settled on a Satay stall then found a stall with good looking whole fish so that’s what we ate.



The fish came fried with tamarind sauce and cost 280 baht and was really very good.






On Monday we went out for a bit of sightseeing. Shared half a tandoori chicken for lunch then spent the afternoon dozing by the pool.

For dinner we went to Sra Bua. It was a tossup between here, Bo.lan and Nahm. We could have gone to all of these places but I couldn’t see the point of sitting through too many formal dinners and Bo.lan was very closed for lunch but I couldn’t be bothered going back. On reflection I would have traded either D’sens or Baan Kanitha for Nahm and Bo.lan but that’s the way it goes.
Sra Bua was very good. They have a set menu at 2400 baht; a wine pairing that didn’t seem like good value or a cocktail pairing. They also have the usual drinks available. We took the cocktails.

The food was broken into Nibbles, Street Cooking, Starters, Mains and Desserts and was about ten or so courses all together.

We started off with a chilled Lemongrass tea then we ate.

Then the nibblings – Soy Roasted Cashew Meringue, Kaffir Lime Lotus Root, Prawn Cracker with Chilli Tomato Dip.



Street Cooking – Tuna Tartar with Lemongrass, Miang Som-o, Crispy pork Crackling with Nam Prik Num, Prawn Bread with Sesame, Smoked Chicken Sausage with Pickled Cabbage.



Starter – Tom Yum Soup with Jellies of Shellfish, Galangal and Spicy.



Starter – Deep fried Soft shell Crab, Green Mango and Soft Nam Jim.



Starter – One of each:
Gang Dang Frozen Red Curry with Lobster and Lychee.



Seared Foie Gras with Tamarind Pear Chutney.


Mains – One of each:

Quail in Coconut Milk with Chantarell and Crisp Skin.



Veal Shank with Grilled Cabbage and Emulsified Soy Sauce.



Desserts: Mangosteen Sorbet with Fresh Mangosteen.



Mango with Sticky Rice.



Banana Cake with Salted Ice Cream And Caramelised Milk.



Mignardises.

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[Shelby]

WOW! That was some serious food and I loved every minute of your write-up. Thank you for taking time to show us!

[Nasi_Campur]

I'm going to be in Bangkok for one night at the end of October. Where should I eat? Is the A&W still open?

Quite the adventurer!

Reminds me of a old Black Flag tune. http://www.mp3lyrics...-flag/tv-party/

[LynnFoodies]

I went to Bangkok for holiday and stayed at the Khaosan Road.
There are many food stalls around the area and I remember eating some kind of fried noodle.
The taste was a bit spicy, but delicious too.
Anyone knows what it's called?

[carl_spencer]

I am right now in Bangkok, loved the review up there! Here are a couple of restaurants that I have frequented:

 

Riverside Terrace: In the Anantara Riverside Resort & Spa. Try out there Asian delights, Carvery corner and BBQ

 

Indian Host: On Sukhumvit 22. Chicken malai kabab, Mutton kabuli raan and Mutton authority are some of the best dishes I have had there.

 

Blue Elephant: On Sathorn road. Was most impressed with their Crab curry with beetle leaves, Yum Ma Kuer Doi Kham and Plah Koong Avocado

 

Enoteca: On Sukhumvit 27. Best known for Tortelloni filled with Pigeon Gravy on Roasted Pigeon Breast and Veal Cheek Braised in Red Wine

 

Gianni: On Ploenchit road. Try their Wagyu Beef Silver Blade.

 

Hope this helps!