Going to Thailand - Food???
Discussion
As above, we are going to Thailand for our honeymoon on Sunday and I want to get the best out of it food wise.
So, having never really paid any attention to thai food, I can't even remember if I've had a thai curry before, what do we look out for/avoid?
I love spicey food so that's a must, but just in general what are the essentials?
We are going to Bangkok and then Koh Samui so any restaurant recommendations also greatly receieved!
So, having never really paid any attention to thai food, I can't even remember if I've had a thai curry before, what do we look out for/avoid?
I love spicey food so that's a must, but just in general what are the essentials?
We are going to Bangkok and then Koh Samui so any restaurant recommendations also greatly receieved!
Maty said:
We are going to Bangkok and then Koh Samui so any restaurant recommendations also greatly receieved!
There are 50 districts in Bangkok, more people live there than in all of Scotland. Help people to help you and narrow it down a bit - its pointless anyone recommending you go to restaurants that are too far away 
Its perhaps too late now but it might have been a smart move to visit a few Thai restaurants in the last month or so. Granted they won't be exactly like authentic Thai food but it would at least have given you a ballpark idea!
An easy and cheap introduction to thai food can be found in any major shopping centre food court in Bangkok (usually on the top floor). Lots of variety from different regions and its authentic. At lunch time, you will see lots of thai office workers eating there. Try the MBK shopping centre in Siam tourist district as a starter.
When you're sick of thai food (dont' know how you can) then don't forget to take the other half to the "Bangkok Sky Restaurant" at Baiyoke Sky Hotel in Bangkok (one of the highest restaurant in Asia). Good seafood buffet but the view from there of Bangkok is unforgettable. If you don't fancy eating there, just go for a cocktail and admire the view.
When you're sick of thai food (dont' know how you can) then don't forget to take the other half to the "Bangkok Sky Restaurant" at Baiyoke Sky Hotel in Bangkok (one of the highest restaurant in Asia). Good seafood buffet but the view from there of Bangkok is unforgettable. If you don't fancy eating there, just go for a cocktail and admire the view.
Truly pitiable thread, OP.
The world in all its majesty awaits you. Your new wife readies herself for the wondrous journey of life with you!
The ancient thai culture, thiusands of years old, with proud history and a bright future, invites you to come and share your first married days in its vast, complex land.
And you want to go to a restaurant to recommend in Bangkok? Like it's maybe just about he same size as Chinatown in london?
Raise your game or your missus will leave you for a lady boy with more knowledge, if not more balls than you.
It pains me to do this but for your poor wife's sake, look up your hotel on tripadvisor and if you really want to, search for restaurants near it.
The world in all its majesty awaits you. Your new wife readies herself for the wondrous journey of life with you!
The ancient thai culture, thiusands of years old, with proud history and a bright future, invites you to come and share your first married days in its vast, complex land.
And you want to go to a restaurant to recommend in Bangkok? Like it's maybe just about he same size as Chinatown in london?
Raise your game or your missus will leave you for a lady boy with more knowledge, if not more balls than you.
It pains me to do this but for your poor wife's sake, look up your hotel on tripadvisor and if you really want to, search for restaurants near it.
Eat street food, market food, and, the food in the bottom of the malls, not the top.
Far more characterful than chintzy westernised restaurants and usually just as fresh, exotic, sophisticated and tasty.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMxMFIn_Io4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tlpm5obBIF4
She'll like you so much after that, with all the money you saved she'll let you take her up the dome. You know, honeymoon and all.
http://www.lebua.com/en/the-dome-dining/
Far more characterful than chintzy westernised restaurants and usually just as fresh, exotic, sophisticated and tasty.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMxMFIn_Io4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tlpm5obBIF4
She'll like you so much after that, with all the money you saved she'll let you take her up the dome. You know, honeymoon and all.
http://www.lebua.com/en/the-dome-dining/
Edited by cheddar on Thursday 30th August 05:04
Couple of favourites of mine in Samui and the south: Massaman curry. Sweet, quite spicy, usually with chicken, sometimes beef, absolutely delicious. Also gaeng pad pong ghalee (spelled various different ways) curry is lovely, usually with crab (boo) but I like it with shrimp (goong).
All over Thailand you can have mu kata, a pork barbeque that you cook on the table. Absolutely delicious, and it just gets better and better as the soup boils down. Nice way to eat.
Pad Thai (fried noodles) with shrimp, sometimes pork or chicken is a classic Thai dish. I'm sure you'll see plenty of places selling it.
Kao soi gai is a chicken soup, from the north of Thailand, but you can find it everywhere too. Nice blend of textures with some dry noodles, wet noodles, chicken and a lovely spicy soup.
There's tons of nice rice dishes, kanaa mu gok is kale and roast pork, usually on rice. Gai pad med ma muang is chicken and cashew nuts in sweet sauce. Mu tod gratiam is pork deep fried with garlic.
If you fancy some western food in Bangkok I would highly recommend Wine Connection near Thong Lo - never had a bad meal there and the prices are very reasonable.
Nothing to really watch out for. Some of the street stalls sell deep fried bugs which can turn stomachs or pique your curiosity - FWIW they just taste like crap crisps to me. Not worth the effort of eating.
If you find yourself somewhere really out of the way you might see rat or snake meat for sale in some small markets, but you're well off the tourist track if you see that!
Definitely an adventure though!
All over Thailand you can have mu kata, a pork barbeque that you cook on the table. Absolutely delicious, and it just gets better and better as the soup boils down. Nice way to eat.
Pad Thai (fried noodles) with shrimp, sometimes pork or chicken is a classic Thai dish. I'm sure you'll see plenty of places selling it.
Kao soi gai is a chicken soup, from the north of Thailand, but you can find it everywhere too. Nice blend of textures with some dry noodles, wet noodles, chicken and a lovely spicy soup.
There's tons of nice rice dishes, kanaa mu gok is kale and roast pork, usually on rice. Gai pad med ma muang is chicken and cashew nuts in sweet sauce. Mu tod gratiam is pork deep fried with garlic.
If you fancy some western food in Bangkok I would highly recommend Wine Connection near Thong Lo - never had a bad meal there and the prices are very reasonable.
Nothing to really watch out for. Some of the street stalls sell deep fried bugs which can turn stomachs or pique your curiosity - FWIW they just taste like crap crisps to me. Not worth the effort of eating.
If you find yourself somewhere really out of the way you might see rat or snake meat for sale in some small markets, but you're well off the tourist track if you see that!
Definitely an adventure though!
To be honest working my arse off to pay for said wedding/honeymoon has kind of taken up any spare time I've had in the past months to look into these things! Any time I've had has been spent researching things to do/see. Stuff to eat is kind of a "let's get there and see" for me!
AJS, thanks for that, exactly the kind of thing I was looking for!
Street food/markets a must for me anyway, we've heard about those.
As for the question being "pitiable", please! How is it any different to a "what car can I get for 5k" thread that's the norm in General Gassing, apologies but I thought this was the food section!
AJS, thanks for that, exactly the kind of thing I was looking for!
Street food/markets a must for me anyway, we've heard about those.
As for the question being "pitiable", please! How is it any different to a "what car can I get for 5k" thread that's the norm in General Gassing, apologies but I thought this was the food section!
Light n Hairy said:
Truly pitiable thread, OP.
The world in all its majesty awaits you. Your new wife readies herself for the wondrous journey of life with you!
The ancient thai culture, thiusands of years old, with proud history and a bright future, invites you to come and share your first married days in its vast, complex land.
And you want to go to a restaurant to recommend in Bangkok? Like it's maybe just about he same size as Chinatown in london?
Raise your game or your missus will leave you for a lady boy with more knowledge, if not more balls than you.
It pains me to do this but for your poor wife's sake, look up your hotel on tripadvisor and if you really want to, search for restaurants near it.
The world in all its majesty awaits you. Your new wife readies herself for the wondrous journey of life with you!
The ancient thai culture, thiusands of years old, with proud history and a bright future, invites you to come and share your first married days in its vast, complex land.
And you want to go to a restaurant to recommend in Bangkok? Like it's maybe just about he same size as Chinatown in london?
Raise your game or your missus will leave you for a lady boy with more knowledge, if not more balls than you.
It pains me to do this but for your poor wife's sake, look up your hotel on tripadvisor and if you really want to, search for restaurants near it.
I'd never had Thai food before I went. We have it at least once a week now. 
As a general rule:
If it's busy with locals it'll be great food no matter what the place looks like.
If it's busy with tourists it'll be average.
I know it sounds like tourist snobbery but the best food we had was consistently from places where western faces were outnumbered by locals.
The shopping mall food courts mentioned above are a good shout but the ones we went to were not designed for tourists so - even though you'll likely find something delicious - you won't necessarily know what it is to ask for again.
As a general rule:
If it's busy with locals it'll be great food no matter what the place looks like.
If it's busy with tourists it'll be average.
I know it sounds like tourist snobbery but the best food we had was consistently from places where western faces were outnumbered by locals.
The shopping mall food courts mentioned above are a good shout but the ones we went to were not designed for tourists so - even though you'll likely find something delicious - you won't necessarily know what it is to ask for again.
As others have mentioned Bangkok is vast so difficult to recommend anywhere we just went to places that looked busy with locals as mentioned above. China Town is also worth a visit with lots of street food stalls.
Ko Samui we spent 5 days at the Bo Phut Resort & Spa which was just a short walk to the fishermans village where there are lots of restaurants to chose from which were all OK. If you want something a little more formal then the Hansar Samui Hotel, also close to Fishermans Village, has a decent restaurant attached to it and the cocktail bar does 2-4-1 during happy hour.
One word of advice is if any locals approach you in Bangkok speaking decent english and trying to be helpful/offering directions then just ignore them. I have never come across so many people trying to scam you as I did in Bangkok, so be on your guard.
Ko Samui we spent 5 days at the Bo Phut Resort & Spa which was just a short walk to the fishermans village where there are lots of restaurants to chose from which were all OK. If you want something a little more formal then the Hansar Samui Hotel, also close to Fishermans Village, has a decent restaurant attached to it and the cocktail bar does 2-4-1 during happy hour.
One word of advice is if any locals approach you in Bangkok speaking decent english and trying to be helpful/offering directions then just ignore them. I have never come across so many people trying to scam you as I did in Bangkok, so be on your guard.
Been a while since I was there, but I remember lots of places selling "No name" which was some sort of deep fried mashup snack thing with dipping sauce. Also meat-on-stick from the bbq blokes in the street. Some stuff can be red hot but not everything. Also, don't be put off by places having rubbish plastic chairs
I found it difficult to get bad food when I was in Thailand.
Street food (pad thai - fried noodles) was my staple when I was there, it's about 60p for a meal, extra 10p for a egg or spring roll. If it's a honeymoon I wouldn't take her there for dinner, but lunches are very accommodating.
Street food (pad thai - fried noodles) was my staple when I was there, it's about 60p for a meal, extra 10p for a egg or spring roll. If it's a honeymoon I wouldn't take her there for dinner, but lunches are very accommodating.
Don't miss out on the barbecue stuff they sell everywhere either. Grilled chicken (gai yang) can be lovely. Grilled pork neck (kor moo yang) is nice. Grilled fish (pla prow or pla nin) with lemon grass can be nice too.
Eat with a few handfuls of sticky rice.
Agree about eating in the places that are packed with locals, but it can be difficult if no-one speaks the language. The lonely planet pocket sized phrase book can come in handy.
Eat with a few handfuls of sticky rice.
Agree about eating in the places that are packed with locals, but it can be difficult if no-one speaks the language. The lonely planet pocket sized phrase book can come in handy.
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