Cuisine
For eating out, Thailand in general, and Bangkok in particular, offer some of the greatest bargains available on this globe. This is the case for Thai cuisine as well as Western fare. The only exception is beer - not because restaurants charge an exceptionally high mark-up on drinks (even at stores beer is priced higher than in Europe); the reason is a heavy tax. In simple restaurants, a small bottle of beer costs more than the meal itself. It’s a tax levied especially on foreigners in the kingdom as Thais prefer the national beverage Mekong, a whiskey more reasonably priced than beer.
A unique fact in Thailand is the quality provided by street kitchens. For 10 to 30 Baht, one can get a full meal at a street kitchen, and while the food there is cheap, it is certainly not cheapish. In Thailand, street kitchens are frequented not only by the poor. For years the author has observed rich people eating at street kitchens at the corner of Sukhumvit Rd and Soi 38 Sukhumvit Rd.
For Westerners it’s amazing to see in a Mercedes limousine chauffeured by a uniformed driver parking near a street kitchen, a millionaire and his wife getting out, taking a place at a fragile table and ordering 20 or 30 Baht meals just as their driver would. The setting doesn’t seem to be of much importance. What counts is the quality of the food.
The most common dishes at street kitchens are soups. Curry (chicken, beef, or fish) with rice is also commonly served, or noodles with duck, chicken, beef balls or pork. Less common but available at specialized street kitchens are unique things like fried locusts. One doesn’t need to speak Thai to order at street kitchens as what one sees is what one gets and it is enough just to point.
Bangkok, aside from having many restaurants famous for the originality of their food, also has one of the most originally named restaurants in the world: Cabbage and Condoms. If one wonders how the latter are prepared as a dish, then one must remain disappointed. It isn’t. The solution to the mystery is that this restaurant is run by the Planned Parenthood Association of Thailand which is headed by Mr Mechai who is world famous for the open manner in which he propagates condoms. To name this restaurant Cabbage and Condoms was just one more publicity stunt of Mr Mechai (and it worked at least in as far as gaining condoms a special entry in this dining guide).
Waiters in leading restaurants and at big hotels in Bangkok have received formal training. The service in these restaurants does not vary much from that in first-class restaurants anywhere in the world. But in native restaurants waiters are untrained and the server may be a family member. Then, service is not exactly proper but rather with little formality.
Because of the local custom of social sharing, separate bills are uncommon in local restaurants and Thais never ask for it. Sometimes a pair or group of foreigners will get just one bill even if separate bills have been requested. The easiest way for those who want to pay separately, is to divide the costs later. In tourist-oriented restaurants, the staff is aware that farangs (literally French but used for all Westerners) usually go Dutch (even if they are French, German or American).
Better restaurants usually impose a 10% service charge. In hotel restaurants there is also an additional government tax. These surcharges are sometimes referred to as "Plus Plus".
Only in tourist oriented better restaurants are tips generally expected and a matter of good manners even if there is already a 10% service charge on the bill. Sufficient tips are around 5% of the bill or less, especially if a service charge is indicated. To give a tip, one just leaves the change on the table. The Western habit of saying "keep the change" when paying in restaurants is not common here and will just create confusion. Generally, tips are pooled and shared by all employees.
Many restaurants permit a customer to bring a bottle of wine or spirits of his own, but some charge a corkage fee which can be exorbitant in high class restaurants or hotels. All drinks served in hotels are costly.
Most restaurants, especially those Thai and Chinese or those in hotels, are open for lunch and dinner seven days a week. Coffee shops of hotels are usually open 24 hours. Some European restaurants may be closed one day a week (usually on Sunday or Monday).
Table setting in first-class restaurants is the same as in Europe or America, with the addition of chopsticks and wide Chinese porcelain spoons. In Thailand, chopsticks, together with the porcelain spoon, are only used to eat soups. When a spoon and fork are used, the eating is with the spoon and the fork serves as a pusher.
In small restaurants those requiring a knife will have to ask for one as they are not normally provided. Knives are not needed in native places as meats are usually chopped into bite size. In native places or homes one may notice diners polishing their table service with tissue. It is a custom in Thailand and sometimes needed - but of course not only unnecessary but explicitly impolite in first-class restaurants.
In first-class restaurants, common condiments on the table are salt and pepper. In native places, however, it’s instead soy sauce and nam pla, a fermented fish oil, lighter in color than soy sauce.
Except in first-class restaurants, bread and butter does not come with the meal and is generally not available. Breads are often too sweet for Western taste. Tomato ketchup or mustard are not common in native places.
First-class restaurants observe the international sequence in serving dishes, or the sequence typical for the particular cuisine of a country. In native places, however, those who prefer food served in a certain sequence (e.g. first soup, then salad, then meat, then coffee) should order step by step, because sequence is generally not observed but all kinds of food are brought at the same time.
Except in better restaurants, foods are often precooked and served at room temperature.
First-class establishments require guests to wear shoes (not neckties) and ban persons wearing shorts and/or sleeveless T-shirts. For groups one should always make reservations, and it is advisable to book or go early to the major hotels and restaurants on weekends when they are apt to be crowded.
Drinks
It has already been mentioned that beer is priced in Thailand rather as a luxury. However, for those who don’t want to miss their liquid bread, there are two excellent brands, Singha and Kloster. Both breweries have a strong German influence.
Drinking water of an excellent quality is found in Bangkok. Of course we are not talking of tap water in hotels or homes. Though it is alleged that faucet water in Bangkok is potable, there is widely available at very low prices bottled drinking water of the best quality.
The traditional bottled drinking water in Bangkok is Polaris. Actually, the name Polaris, even though it’s a brand name, is used as a generic name: Polaris water means bottled drinking water, even if it is manufactured by another company. Indeed, there are dozens of companies filling and distributing bottled drinking water. But in the judgement of this author, Polaris is still the best.
Bottled drinking water is sold anywhere in Bangkok in small and large shops, by street vendors and in restaurants. The price usually is 5 Baht for a plastic bottle of almost 1 liter (slightly more than 1 qt). Occasionally, there are bottles for sale containing just about half a liter. However, their price is usually only insignificantly lower than the price of liter bottles, for example 4 Baht instead of 5. Water sold in glass bottles is always more expensive than water in plastic.
Most other brands are, when bought in shops, cheaper than Polaris (but not in restaurants). For home and restaurant use, there are large plastic jars, containing almost 20 liters (about 5 gal) - at a price of 30 Baht, or 1.50 Baht per liter, for Polaris, or as low as 10 Baht for other brands.
Nam water
Nam plao a glass of water
nam yen cold water
Nam khaeng ice
Nam khaeng plao a glass of crushed ice
Nam cha tea
Nam khaeng sai nam cha a glass of crushed ice filled with Chinese tea
Nam ron hot water
Cha chin ron plain hot Chinese tea
Cha yen iced tea (while cha yen literally only means cold tea, there is a likelihood that it will be served with milk)
Cha dam yen iced black tea (with sugar)
Cha dam ron hot black tea (usually sugared)
Ka fae ron hot coffee (if ordered like that, it will usually be served with milk)
Ka fae dam coffee served black (with sugar)
Ka fae dam mai sai nam tan hot black coffee without sugar
Ka fae yen iced coffee (usually with milk)
O wan tin ovaltine
Ko ko chocolate drink
Nom milk
Thai Cooking Schools
Bussaracum Restaurant
35 Soi Phi Phat 2, Convent Rd, Bangkok
Tel 235-8915
Modern Housewife Center
45/6-7 Sethsiri Rd, Bangkok
Tel 279-2831 to 4
UFM Food Center
593/29-39 Sukhumvit 33/1, Bangkok
Tel 259-0620 to 33
Classes are usually conducted in Thai but for a group of at least 4, lessons can be obtained in English. It is best to organize ahead of time what type of course one would like to have taught. The school trains in a wide range of international cooking, including Thai, Chinese, Japanese, as well as in fruit carving.
Thai Cooking School at the Oriental
48 Oriental Avenue, Bangkok
Tel 236-0400, 236-0420, 437-6211
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