These are my favourite things – Thai Street Food

Thai miniature display set sold at the airport.

Thai deep fried omelette from Ros Niyom at Basement of Emporium.

Crab meat fried rice. Yumms. Big chunks of crab meat. 380baht.

Mango and coconut ice cream everywhere.

Thai mango with glutinous rice at 100baht. At Chatuchat, you can get for 60baht. But (?)  for me.

Chiang Mai sausage at 180baht.

I love street food. But over the years, Ive been less adventurous as my stomach is not very hardy. I try Thai Street Food but in airconditioned malls. But after a scare in New Delhi and Jim Corbett tiger reserves where our driver had to drive an hour to the next village to get a doctor, I have become risk averse.

The locals do buy off the streets, like this well heeled lady.

Fish cake at JJ Mall near Chatuchat.

Bamboo glutinous rice at JJ Mall

Oyster Omelette at MBK Foodcourt, 6th floor.

Thai tea and coconut ice cream from Chatuchat but only because it came from a machine. 45baht, same as Mall price.

Ok, I confess. I didnt quite eat this betel nut snack.

Ros Niyom
http://www.rosniyom.com/index.php/branch

MBK Food Island
Wang Mai, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
+66 2 853 9814
https://g.co/kgs/4bUEj2

JJ Mall
588 Kampangpetch 2 Rd Chatuchak Bangkok 10900, Thailand
+66 2 265 9999
https://g.co/kgs/565NoG

Em, where are you going

EmQuartier is my favourite mall in Bangkok.

Waterfall Section, 5 storey high

Patrick Blanc helix hanging chandelier at the Helix section. Drips irrigation cleverly hidden.

Top floor

Is this a mall or a garden? 30,000 sqft

Take a lift to the overhead bridge to the M level where a bridge connects the 2 malls EmQuartier and Emporium.

The EmQuartier FoodHalls (Level B)and the Gourmet Supermarket (Level G) are Must visits.

We got our favourite rice crispies and Thai sauces 18B (such as Green curry and Chicken Basil stirfry) from Gourmet Supermarket.

And peeled pomelo. Quite expensive 259 baht. Or Mango sticky rice 120B at the stalls in the foyer if you are afraid your stomach cannot take the roadside stalls which only cost 60Baht. Enjoy in your hotel.

The mall is adjacent to Phrom Phong BTS Station on the Sukhumvit Line of the BTS Skytrain.

The EmQuartier
693 695 ถนนสุขุมวิท Khlong Tan Nuea, Watthana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand
+66 2 269 1000
https://g.co/kgs/QPTfDX
Getting there: BTS Phraem Phong Station

Bangkok Eats (BKK 3)

Eating in Bangkok has been a series of hits and misses.

We went, armed with a list of recommendations from well meaning friends, with a mix of local Thai, Chinese and Western food. The local food won the day.

Do visit the Mandarin Oriental for dinner by the river or lunch at La Normandie giving a spectacular view of the river. Service is excellent but if you have recently had French food at Ho Chi Minh then the quality of French bread and food at La Normandie may not meet expectations. The oxtail, tuna and soufflé were very good. None on my table tried the crepe suzette but I reckoned its good from sight. [Listen to the hints of the maître d on what he personally likes. Although we wanted to try everything so each ordered a dish. ]

[Update: since my review in 2014, La Normandie became a 2 star Michelin restaurant in 2017.]

Seafood paella (with black rice)

Crepe Suzette

Souffle

Macaron

While in Thailand go for Thai food and steer away from the European joints unless you know the owner. My experience at Eat Me was also lacklustre. The grilled chicken with Thai fresh herbs was spectacular. The duck confit as expected. The Wagyu beef and appetiser very average, the bread – cold. Our friends who were there a month earlier, loved this place and recommended us to try. So it could be a hit and miss. Reading the excellent reviews at the TripAdvisor, go when the owner is there. Its quite easy to find, just ask the street vendors outside the BTS station, look for the Seven Eleven convenience stalls. I’ve noticed that Thai street vendors speak quite good English and are generally very helpful with directions.

Go to the Siam Paragon Gourmet Food Court (basement) to try the local Thai food. Take Sukhumvit BTS Line to Siam Station. Next time I’ll make it my first stop in BKK. [Try the roast duck, tom yum soup, mango sticky rice, Vietnamese spring roll, roast pork, roast chicken cut-let. Everything. ] https://potgardening.wordpress.com/2014/11/17/bkk-5-reasons-to-visit-siam-paragon/