Khun Andy's neighborhood Part II
As promised, here are a few more neighborhood pictures. No doubt I'll post some more periodically, but I think you have a pretty good idea of where I live. This post mostly shows more of the food vendors that are so prolific all over Bangkok. You can get prepared food which you can take home and heat up or sit at small portable tables to eat right there. It's not ALL great, but lots of it is. Most of it does not taste like food from Thai restaurants in the USA. Those of you planning to venture over here at some point, put away your preconceived notions of Thai food based on your previous experience. Do NOT expect things to taste the same. Even my favorite Thai restaurants like Pearl of Siam or Old Siam in the Denver metro area that cook wonderful food, do NOT cook it in the same way one finds on the streets of Bangkok.
Those of you who are strict vegetarians, have diet specific restrictions or are just plain 'picky eaters' may have a few challenges unless you can speak the language. The use of fish sauce, for instance, is quite pervasive. For those of you who are lactose intolerant, the good news for you is that Thai cooking uses almost NO dairy products. Curries, for instance, use NO dairy. The only dairy I can think of at the moment I've ever had in Thai food is condensed milk used in coffee and Thai iced tea and the butter used to cook chapatis. If your stomach acts up, you can always get plain rice, either fluffy or sticky and the fruits are mostly excellent. Plain grilled chicken or fish is also easily available.
As to farang food, it seems like there is an Italian restaurant on every Soi. Sometimes it seems like there are more Italian restaurants than Thai restaurants. For those who just can't do without that famous American export, fast food, there are plenty of KFC, McDonalds, Dunkin
Donuts and Pizza Huts to more than satisfy any craving one may have. Going a little up the scale you can find Sizzler, Outback, and Tony Roma's without looking very hard. And of course, we have our very own Hard Rock Cafe if you really want to pay alot of money for marginal food. Starbuck's? Way too many. I'd bet there are at least 30 in Bangkok and quite possibly lots more. I can get the same coffee drinks for 1/3 the price at any small coffee stand on the street. A caveat; if you are one of those people that orders the very complicated frou frou stuff, you WILL need to go to Starbuck's or Black Canyon, but for your more basic stuff the coffee stands are the way to go.
As always, do stay in touch.
andym528@hotmail.com
Those of you who are strict vegetarians, have diet specific restrictions or are just plain 'picky eaters' may have a few challenges unless you can speak the language. The use of fish sauce, for instance, is quite pervasive. For those of you who are lactose intolerant, the good news for you is that Thai cooking uses almost NO dairy products. Curries, for instance, use NO dairy. The only dairy I can think of at the moment I've ever had in Thai food is condensed milk used in coffee and Thai iced tea and the butter used to cook chapatis. If your stomach acts up, you can always get plain rice, either fluffy or sticky and the fruits are mostly excellent. Plain grilled chicken or fish is also easily available.
As to farang food, it seems like there is an Italian restaurant on every Soi. Sometimes it seems like there are more Italian restaurants than Thai restaurants. For those who just can't do without that famous American export, fast food, there are plenty of KFC, McDonalds, Dunkin
Donuts and Pizza Huts to more than satisfy any craving one may have. Going a little up the scale you can find Sizzler, Outback, and Tony Roma's without looking very hard. And of course, we have our very own Hard Rock Cafe if you really want to pay alot of money for marginal food. Starbuck's? Way too many. I'd bet there are at least 30 in Bangkok and quite possibly lots more. I can get the same coffee drinks for 1/3 the price at any small coffee stand on the street. A caveat; if you are one of those people that orders the very complicated frou frou stuff, you WILL need to go to Starbuck's or Black Canyon, but for your more basic stuff the coffee stands are the way to go.
As always, do stay in touch.
andym528@hotmail.com