Bangkok Food Trip - May 2011

Bangkok - the 1st thing that comes to my mind is the food… hehe… quite obvious lah…


I haven't been to Bangkok for ages. This time around, I joined my 2 girlfriends for a weekend get-a-way. I'm not sure if I was really joining them per se… well, you see, my 2 girl friends' agenda was SHOPPING!! while my agenda was FOOD…
Anyways, I just tag along with them…

We took an early flight out of KLIA. We were all barely awake during the taxi ride to KLIA at 0530 hrs nor were we totally awake during check in!! At least we got some shut eye time on board the plane.

Sawadee-ka Bangkok!

My food trip started with a hot hearty bowl of pork ball noodles at Chatuchak market. It was a welcoming meal for me! I realized that I missed the savory broth which is quite unique in Thailand and not found here in Malaysia. My other friends opted for yellow noodles with crispy pork and while we were happy slurping away our noodles.. we got a little greedy and decided to order a separate serving of crispy pork. The pork was sliced thinly and it was OK to eat on its own - just a tad too bland for my palate. But, their brown sauce - akin to our local lobak sauce is very tasty and complements the crispy pork well. 200 THB for 4 bowls of noodles + a plate of crispy pork.

Pork Ball Rice Noodle

Yellow Noodles with Slice Pork

Crispy Pork with sauce

Being a foodie, I checked out some food places to visit while in Bangkok and I came across Somboon Seafood Restaurant from the internet. And so I googled about the restaurant and found that there was one close to where we were staying. OK lah! We are set for seafood dinner!
We did not make any reservations for Saturday night dinner but we managed to get seated quickly despite the crowd - it was packed with locals & tourists. We ordered their house specialty - Fried Curry Crab and 4 other dishes - tom yum khung, braised pig trotter, grilled squid and a plate of vege.
1st came the tom yum kung and it did not fare well with my travel mates. It was the local thai style which is really sour - they like used a ton of lime juice! The compliment was that it was a real appetizer - literally!
Next was the grilled squid - which was OK nothing much to shout. Only thing was that the dipping sauce for the grilled squid came like when more than half of it was gone!
Then came the fried curry crab. We only ordered a small serving of 1 medium sized crab. The sauce was amazing. Plenty of fried shallots - giving it its aromatic flavor and the curry powder used was quite subtle and did not over power the fragrant fried shallots. The sauce is finished with some egg whites and coconut cream giving it its rich texture and flavor. The only disappointment was the crab itself - it was small and not "meaty" enough. We being Malaysians, asked the waiter for some bread to mop up the sauce but alas! they don't serve bread...
The last dish to be served is the braised pig trotter - which has a nice flavor and braised well.
The meal costs around 1,400 THB including a big bottle of Singha beer, an orange juice + a pot of "can't-seem-to-finish" chrysanthemum tea.

TomYum Khung

TomYum Khung

Grilled Squid

Fried Curry Crab

Mango Sticky rice! I fell heads over heals for this awesome dessert! Sweet Thai mango and savory sticky rice in coconut cream… delicious!! I stumbled upon this wonderful little corner dessert shop selling this fantastic thai dessert!
The shop is a little corner lot just on the next street to the hotel where we are staying - within Siam Square. Shop name is : Mango Tango. They serve all things mango from mango lassi to mango sticky rice to dried mango. I liked their signature Mango Tango + sticky rice. It a plate consisting of half a sliced mango, a scoop of mango sorbet, mango pudding and of course the delectable sticky rice! Its relatively pricey @ 145 THB! Another favorite was Mango Aloha @ 65 THB - mango cubes + sago + mango puree in a bowl of soya milk. Their mango lassi was also lovely - thick & loaded with mango! I patronized this shop everyday for 3 days while I was in Bangkok!

Mango Aloha

Mango Tango + Sticky Rice

Mango Lassi

Siam Paragon Food Hall - this place is aplenty with food stalls. You can find almost all the various thai staples at this place. There is also another section which sells all sorts of finger foods from crispy pancake to grilled sausages. This place is recommended for you if you like to sample Thai street food at an air conditioned and comfortable environment. I personally liked this place.
I had a bowl of beef brisket noodles - the broth was flavorful. Yummy! Also had a plated of braised pork knuckles - they indeed make very well braised meat, sauce was tasty and meat was tender. For dessert it was a bowl of thai shaved ice with condiments - water chestnuts, jackfruit & jelly. And of course, the mango sticky rice! The desserts was so-so, I did not really like the syrup used in the shaved ice and the sticky rice was not as good as the one served at the Mango Tango dessert shop! I also bought some crispy sweet pancakes with shredded coconut. Price ranges from 80 THB onwards for a bowl of noodles.

Braise Pork Knuckle

Beef Brisket Rice Noodles

Crispy pancake with shredded coconut

Thai Shaved Ice

Mango Sticky Rice

Snack time! Street snacks are oh so tempting while you are in Bangkok and they are so irresistible! I did not manage to sample many street food as I was perpetually full from all my main meals! But I did manage to try some pancake (this time its the fluffy soft pancake) which comes with different fillings - pandan custard (or more commonly known as kaya for us Malaysians), yam and sausage (yes! sweet pancake with sausages!).

Street snack - pancakes

On my last day in Bangkok, I had some nice Thai food at Ban Khun Mae Restaurant. We ordered a sample platter of small dishes which included fish cakes, shrimp spring rolls, kangkung, thai red curry, stir fry beef with ginger & spring onions and sliced grilled pork. We also ordered a glass noodles with prawns and a plate of deep fried salted chicken. The dishes was tasty and we finished every morsel of it! I completed my meal with mango sticky rice (obviously!!) and a bowl of crunchy water chestnut in sweet coconut milk. The mango was really sweet and goes well with the slightly savory sticky rice! All those food cost me around 1,300 THB It was a wonderful meal… what an end to my food trip to Bangkok! S-A-T-I-S-F-I-E-D!!

LemonGrass Juice

Sample Platter

Glass Noodles with Prawns

Crispy Fried Salted Chicken

WaterChestnuts Coconut milk

Mango Sticky Rice

So what's my take at the end of my Bangkok food trip? I had some wonderful food, though some are not so wonderful but I truly enjoyed the trip. It was fun and filling!!