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Thailand

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Eating out in Thailand (Part 2)
(Part 1)

There are so many places where you can eat in Thailand, that it may be difficult to make a choice. On this page I show you just a few possibilities in order to help you with that difficult choice.

Every time I am in Bangkok, there is a "Beer Garden" there. Several breweries have made a part of the terrace into a restaurant, and you are supposed to drink their beer. Of course you choose the part of Singha Beer (pronounce "Beer Sing". This is real Thai beer, and in my opinion the best. You may prefer Beer Chang or Leo Beer, both also Thai beers, but I prefer Singha. Anyway, what I want to say, is that in Thailand you should drink Thai beer and not some foreign beer that tries to push Thai beer from the market!
Early in the evening music starts, and with your beer you get a simple but -as always in Thailand- good meal!

And, speaking of eating after shopping, shopping a highly recommended place to have your meal, is in is a "Food Center" in -for instance- a Department Store. You buy coupons, that are valid in all the small food shops, located next to each other, and you have a huge choice of different kinds of food. You can get your money back for the unused coupons. Refund your coupons, because they are only valid for one day!

Now we are coming to my favorite type of restaurant: one of the numerous "Riverside" restaurants". You find them everywhere in Thailand and you do not only get a delicious meal there, but also a magnificent view over the river. (There is a river in most places in Thailand, as you will soon discover). The pictures I show here were all made in Bangkok. There are many riverside restaurants, and some come, others go. In the past five years I have seen two of my favorites disappear.
The picture on the left hand side above shows you a good riverside restaurant in Bangkok, named Khun Luang, right opposite the Royal River Hotel. The food is good there, they speak English and you have a lovely view. The view (after sundown!) is shown on the right hand side picture above.

Immediately next to the Royal River Hotel, and so almost right opposite Khun Luang, is another excellent riverside restaurant, with the name (transliterated) Kanaab Naam (meaning "riverside"). The food there also is excellent, especially the seafood. This is a restaurant, however, where mainly Thai people come, but they do have an English menu. They do not speak English fluently, however. This restaurant has two extra attractions: In the first place there is Thai music, starting at about 7.30 p.m., and in the second place they have their own boat. The boat is shown on the right hand side picture above. If you take a table on the boat, you will make a boat trip up to Rama IX Bridge, for an extra fee of 80 Baht per person (price: 2000). If you did not yet make a river trip, do it that way!

At the Northernmost pier of the express boat (Nonthaburi pier) there also is a simple, but very good riverside restaurant. See it on the picture. I am not certain if they have an English menu too, but I believe so. If you are in Nonthaburi anyway (on your "best buy boat trip", by express boat) have lunch there. You won't regret it.

Another way to have a good lunch or dinner is to go to one of the fancy restaurants with separate areas for every group, like the one pictured above. I wouldn't be able to find this one back (although my wife probably could; it is owned by an ex-politician), but you find them everywhere in Thailand. Now we are talking about the really luxurious, but still very affordable Thai restaurants. Some are like this, others have one large garden, some look more like a museum, with all kinds of Art objects in the garden, or whatever more do you have! They look very attractive and are not necessarily expensive.

And then, of course, there are the large hotels, often near the riverside. The left hand side picture is a view over the river that can be regarded as a "sample" of what you will see from a riverside hotel. Many of them have more than one restaurant. You can go to any of them, even the most expensive ones, because compared to your country -if you are not from Thailand that is- the price will always seem low or at least very reasonable. Try them! Or would you like to go on the terrace of one of these riverside hotels? The right hand side picture shows you what to expect of them.

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As I said before: Hotels and restaurants come and go in Thailand or in Bangkok in particular. So this information, although correct in December 2000, may be outdated! I have seen good restaurants disappear, but also good restaurants appear.
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Some final remarks about eating out in Thailand:
- In the "business district (Ratchadaphisek Road) restaurants can be unreasonably expensive. Check the menu there before entering. I have been unpleasantly surprised by the bill of the restaurant in the Emerald Hotel. Not so far from the airport you find Rama Gardens. This is a good, but also unreasonably expensive restaurant.
- What should you order? Many restaurants have a menu with pictures, to make things easy. Don't be afraid to order something you do not know. Most Thai dishes are not spicy! If they are, you will mostly be alerted by the menu. Northern dishes are often spicy.
- For years "Tamnak Thai" has been in the Guinness Book of Records, for being the largest restaurant in the World. True or not, the quality of the food is not very good (any more).
- A lunch in the Chinese restaurant of the Oriental Hotel is an experience not to be missed. I do not like this hotel (apart form the price) because they charge you in US$$, but this is luckily not the case in that restaurant. Even there it is affordable! They will have some set menu.

Click here for some Menu Suggestions!

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