It seems like our blog posts are getting further and further apart and I can only apologise for this and throw the old 'we've been busy' excuse...which is true. Our next post will be about our week's stay at my Dad's house in Bogor, Indonesia, which was great.
This post, however, is about our slow but complete metamorphosis into foodies. It's hard not to be one in Thailand, as it's everywhere. But we're not just talking about Thai food, we're talking about Japanese, French, Italian, Malaysian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Isaan, Indonesian, Texmex...I could go on. I remember living back in London and Erika and I would 'treat' ourselves to a disappointing tapas in Ealing every now and then. Or really 'splash out' and eat at a very average, cheap Thai restaurant. When we were in the UK back in July we realised how shamefully expensive food was over there and how many hours we (she) slaved over our hob every night after work to rustle something up. So we decided to take advantage of the considerably cheaper culinary delights on offer back in Bangkok. Rather than focus on good Thai food, which is what we eat everyday anyway (and it's ALL good), we wanted to focus on eating at decent restaurants that served food from around the world. I got out our Bangkok bible, the Nancy Chandler map, and saw that Sukhumvit Road was littered with good looking eateries. Not the cheapest, by far, but western food generally isn't over here. However, to put it into perspective, for about 20 to 30 quid each you can have a three course meal in a five star restaurant (including a couple drinks). I'll say no more. To make it more interesting and to force ourselves to eat at places we'd normally skip, we decided to work our way strictly East to West along Sukhumvit road (and the roads adjoining it) and eat at every restaurant, every month, no matter how long we decide to stay here. Whoever wanted to join us was more than welcome but we made a pact that we HAD to do this every month, no matter what. Good food in good settings at this price was too special to be missed. What's better than good food and good company, anyway?
Sound good? No? There's a McDonalds and a 'massage' parlour down the road for you, then...
September 2010 - Khun Ying Restaurant (Thai/Chinese Seafood).
Ok, fine - I know I said 'international cuisine' but this is Thai/CHINESE Seafood. So it counts.
We met our friends Simon, Joel and Laura at the restaurant and realised that, although this was a Friday night, we were only one of two groups of people here. Hmm, not the best sign at a seafood place. The setting is nice enough, if not a little minimal. Just off the hip Ekamai road it gives you the feeling that this place looks like it concentrates more on it's food than it's presentation. At first we were offered to sit inside the air conditioned room but it looked a bit characterless and claustrophobic, so we sat outside.
As soon as we looked at the menu, we'd realised this place meant business. Each one of us ordered a dish to whack in the middle and share. The service was pretty quick and before we knew it we were tucking in to some pretty amazing seafood: Red Snail Curry (my choice...), oysters, squid, a large fried fish, king prawns and I forget what else. The service was good and they keep your drinks topped up (just watch out for those new bottles of beer being opened without your requests...). After the meal we headed just across the road to a cracking Thai bar, sat on some stools near the road and shared a big bottle of Sangsom, which is Thai rum.
Unfortunately, two of our crew suffered severe food poisoning after this meal. Shame really, as it all tasted great but the turnover in the kitchen is a little slow...!
October 2010 - The Face (Thai, Indian and Japanese)
This place was up next on our East to West Sukhumvit foray. Wow. What can we say? We chose the Indian restaurant called Hazara. If you can imagine Jim Thompson's house (a beautiful Thai wooden house) converted into an upmarket restaurant, with soft ambient lighting, decorative plants, multiple floors with each table allocated it's own unique space...then you know you're in for a treat. Actually, considering the price tag on some of the food (550 Baht for a curry), it had BETTER be good. Which is was but obviously the price tag is mainly for the location, as the portions were a little small. There were about ten of us tonight, all sat along a long teak table and we pretty much had the room to ourselves. It does have a slightly formal atmosphere though, there was no background music which is the norm in Thailand and the waitresses were almost apologetic! Either way, although it hurt our pockets a bit (considering that you can get a curry in Bangkok for a third of the price) we all agreed this place was special. Afterwards our friend Mark suggested we go to the Iron Fairy on Thong Lor Road. We'd never heard of it but could soon see why - you could walk past this place and mistake it for a closed workshop. There's no lighting outside and the name of the bar is simply painted on a wooden sign. The only reason we knew it was the right place was because we could hear some live jazz eking through the cracks in the door. We entered the door, walked through some curtains and suddenly we were in a David Lynch movie. Dark, jazzy, surreal, projectors beaming black and white movies...you get the idea. Go there for a drink to start your night (you can only afford one), it's great.
November 2010 - Beccofino (Italian)
Originally we were meant to eat at Ana Garden, a Thai restaurant just opposite. But after Erika and I had sat down and looked at the absolutely disgusting prices on the menu, we soon realised that it was our fault: why the hell are we including Thai food in our club? And in Thong Lor?? We can eat this 400 Baht dish for 40 Baht every day of the week. Erika remembered that Beccofino, an Italian restaurant, was just opposite - and was the next restaurant on our list anyway. Sold. We arrived and the setting was understated but still pretty high class. We studied their menu, which wasn't only cheaper than Ana Garden's but offered a three course Italian meal for about 650 Baht. Double sold. We'd had a few cancellations, so it was back to the original crew (Simon, Joel, Laura and me)! Starter was great. A lot of salad with healthy gratings of Parmesan cheese on top (we cannot tell you how nice it is to eat this in Thailand). The house wine was great - 150 Baht a glass, which is cheap in Thong Lor. Simon and Joel showed us their tattoo's, the wine was tasting great, Laura pulled out a massive bar of Cadbury's chocolate that she brought back from the UK. It was all going so well...
...until the main course arrived. Luckily I ordered the chicken and not the pasta which the others had ordered. The waiters arrived with our dishes, hidden under a china bowl cover. Once all dishes were on the table, there was a big dramatic show of lifting off the covers to display our food. Needless to say, the awkward silence that followed must have been unexpected for the waiters. Normally, you see, when you make a show of presenting food, it has to be....special. Not a thimble-sized bowl of pasta. Make that: a tiny, thimble-sized bowl of pasta that would find it monstrously difficult to look at a normal bowl of pasta in the eye. I think I stared at their plates in shock for at least 20 seconds before Erika told me to snap out of it. Ok, it was a set menu. I get it. But that doesn't mean you should take the piss out of your customers, right? The waiter asked us if we wanted to choose our third course...no thanks, we're off to the Witches Tavern to eat some chips. I've never left a restaurant hungry before.
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