Bangkok Makan

One of the few things that anyone must do in BKK is to eat !!! Not just any food, but the street food !!

After checking into Asia Hotel, a few of us headed to the few makeshift stalls outside 7-Eleven, along the main road, below the BTS Skytrain station.

There's a stall that serves fried oysters and Phad-Thia (Thai style fried kway teow), another that sells beef or pork noodle soup and another that serves Thai style wanton noodle. We ordered everything except the wanton noodle, there were only 4 of us to polish off the plates. It was yummy !!!! Non had any problems after the meals.... Too bad I did not shoot any pictures of our late supper there...

There other must-do for us in BKK is to visit Fuji Japanese Restaurant. We dropped into the one at Siam Centre. There's also another at MBK and Siam Paragon.

Why there ? Why Jap food in BKK ?....Simple, its cheap and good !

From the spread, you can tell how delicate the food is served and presented. Its not cheapo Jap restaurant to say the least, but their price, by our standard is great value for money !

The first was Salmon Sashimi wrapped over asparagus, drizzled with a rich mayo mixed with loads of shrimp roe in it ! Its called Salmon in Mentai Sauce. A must try there ! Trust me, you will lick every drop of the mentai sauce off the plate !!

The next is baked mussel in garlic. Just pick the mussels & garlic and dip into the assortment of sauces they serve, its simply delicious !!!

The teriyaki beef slices that I ordered that day was only so-so.....may because I waited for the others to arrive, it turned cold and tough.

I can't recall what this was, but it was a Ramen dish with Salmon....Eve said it was good too !

This is CH's classic Fuji Bento set.....If you cannot decide what to order, this is the safest !!! You have everything in a box!!!

This bento is only B$200....less than S$9.50 !!

The is the biggest Sashimi Moriawase that you can get in Fuji......this huge boat of goodies was less than S$30....there were at least 7 different varieties of sashimi there, including scallops !

Judging by how little space left on the table for 6, you can imagine how much food we pile on the table !!!

Many of the sets or dishes we ordered, came with Chawanmushi or extra plates of pickles or miso soup.....

It was simply amazing dinning experience there !!!

MUST GO WHEN IN BKK !!!

http://www.fuji.co.th/wwwfuji/

Talking about street food, to be dead honest, I don't just plonk onto any table and and start ordering my meal in Thai....

In Chatujak Weekend Market, there's this other section at the end, called Chatujak Plaza. When anyone tried to get into the Plaza, you will have to pass by this small section of open air eateries. People literally walk pass your table or your back when you sit and have a meal there.....Its like setting a table on a MRT platform when the train door opens....Its that chaotic a place, but they thrive !!

Of the million times I've been to Chatujak Mkt & Plaza, I cannot see myself eating there....but we did this time !!!

Well, it was noon, we were tired from a whole morning of shopping and the noon heat was zapping every ouce of energy we had. I was thinking ot getting out of Plaza and head to the Market of a decent meal.

David, exhausted and hungry too, just made the call. He plonked his butt at the very table by the crowded alley and declared, ".... We eat here !....."

So lan-lan lor......

There was pork knuckle rice, a Thai delicacy, I've tried many time before, very safe, never disappoint. But I chose the beef noodle stall instead. Since David had ordered his lunch, I took a chance and ordered the noodle.

It was actually 'beef spare parts' noodle, semi-dry type. I've not tried it before and is was certainly CH's nightmare ! Cos he DON'T TAKE ANY SPARE PARTS in his food !!

Well, I ordered blind and not knowing what the hell it was ( or rather how it was prepared).....when it arrived, I was the first to give the 'taste factor review... And I proudly declared.... " EAT-able'.....

I'm sure if CH knew it was spare parts noodle, he would go for the rice instead.

Instead of just stirring the bowl of noodles around, I dumped in fresh basil leaves, bean sprouts and sugar.....exactly how the Thais would do it....... It was heavenly !!!

In Thai street food culture, its common to see a pot of fresh basil, celery, spring onions, chives, bean sprouts, chili padi, etc as condiments. There will also be little containers of sugar, chili flakes, ground nuts, vinegar with pickled chili and Fish Sauce. Unlike our salt and pepper or soy sauce or red cut chili, they have a bigger variety for you to chose from. But don't ask me if its fresh or properly cleaned. I just pluck the leaves, dumped into my bowl and stir.....And into my mouth it goes ....

There were slices of 'beef-whatever' in my bowl of beef noodles.... The best was a preciously few pieces of beef stew meats.....It was so juicy and tender !!!

If you were to go closer to the stall, one can find a huge pot of boiling soup, within which all the 'spare parts' are stewed to perfection....Mind you, that pot is about the size of a typical food court round table in S'pore .... While we were eating, David pointed out if we ever suspected how many days that pot of soup and stew meat have been boiling.... I don't want to know.....I just love the rich beefy stew and soup...

Lunch at Chatujak Alleyway

Well, we survived that meal. No one ran to the loo after that , at least not that day....

On the last note about eating in BKK, food in the new Suvarnabhumi Ariport is damn expensive and sucks !!! Better have a full tummy before you check in....or wait for your meal in the aircraft. Almost everything there were B$150 and above. That's about $7.50 for a simple plate of crap !!! Its cut throat !!!! I wonder how locals travelling out of BKK would be in a position to fork out that kind of money.

A typical dish in any BKK mall's food court only costs about B$35 to B$50, and that's about S$1.60 to S$2.30...

So for B$150, its close S$6.80 for a simple meal !!! Crazy right !!

SO now you know.....avoid the makan places at the new airport.....