Feasting in Bangkok, Thailand

Sawadeeka. When it comes to Bangkok, food and shopping is on top of my mind. This is another of my favourite destination for short vacation trips other than Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Bangkok, the land of smiles, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. Primarily, visitors to Bangkok spent time most on shopping, massaging and eating.

Traffic in Bangkok is also a major pain compared to countries like Indonesia and India. You need to have lots of patience on the road. For this reason, I always try to commute via trains from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport to city. As such, choosing a hotel near a train station is important for convenience sake.

There are 3 main types of train system in Bangkok, Airport Rail Link, MRT and the BTS. It is definitely more cost effective to take a train than a taxi. A taxi ride may cost up to THB 500 ($20) from airport to city whereas a train ride is about THB 51 ($2) per pax.

I always make it a point to stay at the Pullman Bangkok Grande Sukhumvit at 30 Sukhumvit 21 Asoke Road. This is a 5-star hotel ideally located in Bangkok’s vibrant Asok business district and is only steps from Sukhumvit MRT and Asok BTS stations.

The hotel is right in the heart of the city’s extensive shopping district, and a short walk to the famous Terminal 21. Down the road is the latest new EmQuartier Mall. Many types of informal street markets are nearby the hotel as well.

Enjoying the room and it’s view. Staying at the Club Floor on this hotel entitles you to access their Club Lounge. You will be able to enjoy breakfast, afternoon tea and evening cocktails during the stay.

Enjoying the banana pancake & french toast for breakfast at the Club Lounge.

Enjoying a round of afternoon tea at the Club Lounge.

Enjoying the evening cocktails at the Club Lounge.

There was once I stayed at the hotel on my birthday, to my surprise, the hotel sends a birthday cake, a plate of local thai snacks and a plate of fruits to my room after checking-in. It was such a nice gesture and I was totally delighted.

Recalling back one of my trip sometime ago in December 2013, I encountered a mass rally protest in the heart of Bangkok city.

It was indeed an experience for me as this was the first time I saw an up close & personal mass rally protest in my life, though it was commonly seen in other parts of the world. Guess, I am fortunate in my country as we do not face such a situation.

Mass demonstration outside Royal Thai Police Headquarters. Policemen are fully armed with their shield ready for action.

Fret not, the demonstration here is quite mild, orderly and not as aggressive as you would imagine. Basically, the protesters just wanted to express their dismay over certain issues.

Speaking of Thailand, most people will associate it with Muay Thai or Thai Boxing in the sporting arena. It is one of the biggest sporting event in Thailand.

So, what is Muay Thai or Thai Boxing?

Muay Thai or Thai Boxing is the national sport and cultural martial art of Thailand. It was developed several hundreds of years ago as a form of close-combat that utilizes the entire body as a weapon.

I was fortunate to be able to catch a live public Muay Thai match between a French and Thai fighter just outside MBK in one of my trips.

Muay Thai fighters performing a ritual dance before the match.

The dance may seem strange or tedious but it has deep meaning to the Muai Thai practitioners. It is called the ‘wai kru ram muay’ and is generally referred to as the ‘wai kru’.

What is the purpose of the Wai Kru?

The wai kru is performed by fighters in order to pay homage to their teachers and family and to bless themselves with victory in the ring. Each fighter’s wai kru is unique to their training camp and has been passed to them by their teachers. The wai kru is sacred to the Thai culture and should not be taken lightly by those attempting to perform it. Performing a poor wai kru can be seen as an insult to their teachers and cause an individual to lose face in the eyes of his or her coach and classmates.

Want to make a guess who won the match?

I also managed to catch another live Muay Thai match during one of the festive season in the countdown party.

There are plenty of great and nice eating places in Bangkok. Stay tuned and follow my food trails.

Moom Muum Park @ Terminal 21, Level 5. This restaurant serves thai, italian, western and japanese cuisine. A good option for dining.

Deep fried seabass with signature aromatic fish sauce

Baked crab meat and glass noodles

Tom yum goong

Chinese brocoli with salted fish fried rice

Basil stir-fried asiatic hard clams

Stir-fried cabbage with fish sauce

Laem Charoen Seafood @ Central World, 3F is one of the best restaurant to visit in Bangkok for Thai seafood dishes.

For japanese food lovers, there are also good japanese restaurants in Bangkok as well.

The Aj Japanese Village @ Terminal 21, Level 5 serves pretty good japanese meal.

Kobune Japanese Restaurant @ Central World is an option for consideration as well.

There are a couple of good food courts in Bangkok. You will get to savour delicious local Thai cuisine in the food court. Prices are really affordable and you can get cheap and good thai food at the food court.

Pier 21 food court on Level 5 of Terminal 21 is one such place.

Fish maw soup

Tom yum goong

Basil pork rice

Egg noodle soup with fish ball

Coconut ice cream

Favourite dessert, durian on sticky rice

I couldn’t believe that all 6 dishes cost $9.70 in total! 😱

Next food court will be at Platinum Fashion Mall on the 6th floor in Pratunam area.

Fish maw soup on claypot

Fried mama noodle with pork

Mango on sticky rice

Another food court will be at Siam Paragon on the ground level.

Flat noodle soup with fish ball

Fried shrimp omelette with rice

Tom yum goong

Boiled chicken with chicken stock steam rice

Last but not least, you can also check out the food court on Level 5 @ MBK Center.

Stir fried pork & kailan with oyster sauce

Egg noodle soup

Fish maw soup

Mango with sticky rice

In summary, food court prices are much much cheaper compared to restaurants. Most of the time you will see tourists flooding the place more than locals.

If you are in Siam Paragon, you can proceed to the basement to visit Siam Ocean World, the biggest aquarium in Southeast Asia.

Enjoying marine life at the ocean world.

Enjoying mini lava pancakes at Siam Centre and Tokyo sweets at Siam Discovery.

For those who are slightly adventurous for food hunt, there is a new popular attraction place in Bangkok called Chocolate Ville that is worth exploring.

What is Chocolate Ville?

Sounds like some dessert thingy place…. No, Chocolate Ville is a themed park restaurant which makes you feel like walking in a fairy world and definitely a great place for photo shoot. Great place to spend time with family. Kids sure bound to love this place.

Beautiful evening view.

Enjoying a good dinner, overlooking the night view of Chocolate Ville.

How to get to Chocolate Ville?

Chocolate Ville is quite far from the city centre. You cannot reach the place with any express train such as MRT or BTS as it is located at Kaset-Nawamin Road, Bueng Kum District. You are recommended to take a taxi.

EmQuartier is the latest must-visit mall in Bangkok, superbly designed with a futuristic facade, contained with a lot of food choices and conveniently located right next to Phrom Phong BTS station.

EmQuartier is split up into 3 different zones : The Glass Quartier, The Helix Quartier and The Waterfall Quartier, all connected by several walkways. The Helix Quartier is Bangkok’s new dining extravaganza. You will find almost up to 50 restaurants by heading up an impressive spiral walkway.

Cool atrium garden complete with a waterfall.

Happen to see a baked cheese tart outlet at the EmQuartier with no queues at all as compared to a 2 hour queue back in Singapore. 😎

Basil pork rice

Escargot with garlic bread

Carbonara fettuccini with sausage & ham

The Ninth Cafe @ The Glass Quartier, BF is a modern thai cafe with 200 dishes of thai favourites, italian, european and vegetarian dishes.

French onion soup

Minestrone soup

Fettuccini with shrimps and champignon cream sauce

Fettuccini with sausage and tomato sauce

Greyhound famous fried chicken wings

Tub Tim Krob Greyhound Style (Water chestnut with coconut granita and coconut meat, topped with coconut milk)

Pink cooler (watermelon, orange, pineapple)

Greyhound cafe @ The Waterfall Quartier, 2F is a popular Fashion-meets-Food cafe, famous for their wings, pastas and cakes. You may be pleased to know that they have a branch in Singapore at Paragon shopping centre but prices will be doubled.

Man Fu Yuan Kitchen @ The Helix Quartier, 8F is a chinese restaurant serving cantonese specialties and dim sum delicacies.

Fuji @ The Helix Quartier, 6F is one of Bangkok’s most popular Japanese restaurant chain.

Surprise, surprise, surprise…….

In my most recent trip in August 2017, I came across Hawker Chan having an outlet on 5th Floor of Terminal 21. Best part of all, I do not have to queue for the food compared to Smith Street back home. 😉

Needless to say, proceeded to order a plate of the Soya Sauce Chicken Rice & a plate of Char Siew Noodle. Yum yum.

Up next, dessert lovers, check this out.

Pablo Baked Cheese Tart at Siam Paragon

Pablo mini matcha and original baked cheese tart…… 😋😋😋

Hokkaido Cheese Toast. There are 2 outlets, one in Siam Paragon Food Hall and the other in Terminal 21 Food Hall.

Cake lovers, you may want to check out this outlet, White Flower Factory in Siam Square One. They offer a wide selection of cakes and I am sure you will give 👍👍 after trying their cakes.

The Thai Tea Fudge Cake is highly recommended in my opinion. The cake texture is moist & soft and leaves you with the coming back for more feeling. I am so determined to try out their other selections in time to come.

Ferrero Shibuya Toast

Shibuya Honey Toast

Nutella Shibuya Toast

Banana Crumble

Thai Milk Tea Bingsu

Hot Chocolate

No matter how full we are, there is always room for desserts. That’s where the second stomach kicks in. You must definitely try After You when you are in Bangkok else you will leave to regret!

There are a couple of After You outlets in Bangkok. You can find them at Siam Paragon, Central World, Terminal 21 and Siam Square One.

Apart from dining, I also enjoy doing grocery shopping especially at their Big C supermarkets. The items sold there are much more affordable and they offer great varieties too. The Big C supermarket is similar to our Giant and Sheng Siong Markets but at REALLY attractive price tags. Literally, you will get to see tourists flooding the area with tons and tons of foodstuffs in their shopping trolleys.