Top 5 Cafes In Bangkok

Posted on March 15, 2014 by koomatzu

Bangkok is absolutely jampacked full of unique and refreshing cafes, there are loads to choose from. Whether you just fancy some hella tasty cake or a comfortable hangout to chat with friends, there are loads of cafes in Bangkok for just about all tastes.

My top 5 best cafes in Bangkok:

1

Mr Jones’ Teddy Bear Orphanage is perhaps one of the most charming and quirky cafes of all in Bangkok. As far as I know, there are two different branches of Mr Jones’s teddy bear orphanage in Bangkok – one in Thonglor and one in Siam Center. Both cafes are set out in a traditional English tearoom style, only they are also packed with quirky and cute details such as hanging teddy bears, miniature toy soldiers and ornate cake displays.

Price range: 80 to 250 baht

2

Agalico Tea Room is a beautiful tearoom in central Bangkok that has traditional English decor with a bright and modern twist. The interior is so impressive that they even have portrait photographers working on the upper olden period floors. Particularly for expats missing simple Englishness, Agalico Tea Room is a great cafe for tea lovers and cake lovers – they have pretty much every kind of Western tea available, complete with traditional teapot and teacups.

The main tearoom is light and airy with a refreshing white colour scheme throughout. Alternatively, you can sit outside in the large gardens and Pavilion. The cakes aren’t the best in Bangkok, however the ambience alone makes it one of Bangkok’s best cafes.

Price range: 120 baht +

3

The Double Dogs Tea Room in Chinatown has a mega selection of Chinese teas, perfect for green tea lovers. The inside of double dogs tearoom makes a stark contrast against the busy craziness of Chinatown just outside – elegant Chinese furnishings, welcoming staff and warm, ambient lighting make for a tranquil atmosphere. It’s fantastic for sampling Chinese cakes, treats and teas – they even have a special tea man serving up the all-you-can-drink tea buffet in miniature Chinese teapots.

Price range: 95 to 250 baht

4

Petite Audrey is a modern European styled cafe located right in the middle of the fashionable Siam Center shopping mall. There is often a queue waiting to be seated, always a good sign of food quality. There is a great range of both savoury and sweet food with generous sized portions of waffles and ice cream sundaes. It’s perfect the stuffing your face with cake in a sophisticated cafe environment!

Price range: 60 to 300 baht

5

Coffee Beans By Dao is an extremely popular restaurant cafe with middle-class Thai locals. The interior is nothing special or particularly interesting – maybe even a little gaudy – but the cake however, is to die for! Make sure to get the Tobelerone cake, my favourite cake in Bangkok for sure! They also have a very extensive savoury Thai & International menu as well as humongous cake selection. If you visit the branch in Chit Lom, there is a nice seating area outside on the road front, but take lots of mosquito spray!

Prices range: 120 baht +

Staying in Silom? Check out the Bug & Bee cafe next to the BTS Sala Deng station – this cafe specializes in crêpes, however has a great selection of affordable cakes and smoothies too. For cat lovers, or maybe just for shits and giggles, take a look at the quirky Purr Cat Cafe in Thonglor.

Vegetarian Food In Thailand

Posted on March 8, 2014 by koomatzu

Despite Buddhism typically being one of the most prominent religions of Thailand, vegetarian and vegan food is actually rather hard to come by, particularly in Thailand’s capital city Bangkok.

You’ll find an abundance of skewered meats, grilled fish, processed meatballs, deep fried chicken and meaty fried… well everything, yet very little vegetarian protein alternatives. Tofu or vegetarian dishes are nowhere near as common as meat dishes in Thailand.

Thankfully, Thai people seem to love their eggs and you’ll commonly find a side serving of crispy fried eggs to accompany your meals. Or, if you’re lucky, you may sometimes come across the sweet, tamarind sauce coated and deep fried, hard boiled ‘mother in law eggs‘. Search out the right restaurants, and you’ll be able to order delicious tofu curry soups and Thai salads. Eating at some Thai street food stalls however, you may find that, as a vegetarian, you need to settle for vegetable fried rice or other unsubstantial alternatives.

How to order vegan and vegetarian food in Thai language

For a more in-depth guide on how to order Street food in Thai check out my main Thailand street food phrase guide here. Remember, women use chan and men use pom for I. To be polite, add ka or krap on the end of sentence for women and men, respectively. When ordering vegetarian alternatives in Thai language, it’s useful to know these keywords and phrases…

Vegan: Jey
Vegetarian: Mang-sao-we-rat
I am a vegan: Pom/ chan gin jey
I am a vegetarian: Pom/ chan gin mang-sao-we-rat
I don’t eat meat: Pom/ chan mai gin neua-sat

Do you have a vegetarian menu? Mee a-haan jey mai?
Can I have vegetarian… (fried rice)? Ao (khao pat) jey?

If you don’t eat fish, be careful as a lot of Thai recipes include fish sauce – even if you do tell them that you are vegetarian. To make your order extra clear you can use the Thai phrases…

Don’t put … in it: Mai sai …. (For example, Don’t put fish sauce in it: Mai sai nam bplaa)
I don’t eat …: Pom/ chan gin … mai dai (For example, I don’t eat meat: Pom gin neua-sat mai dai)

Meat: Neua-sat
Fish: Bplaa
Fish sauce: Nam bplaa
Beef: Neua
Chicken: Gai
Pork: Moo
Crab: Bpoo
Egg: Kai
Tofu: Dao-fu

Remember to add ka or krap or you might sound like a bit of an ass! Usually, a waiter or stall vendor will reply with…

Of course: Dai
No I can’t: Mai dai
Yes, we have (a vegetarian menu): Mee
No, we don’t have (a vegetarian menu): Mai mee

A vegetarian’s guide to Thailand

Okay, so it can be hard to find decent, cheap vegetarian street food in Bangkok, but you can still find some nice vegan and vegetarian restaurants around the city at not bad prices. Make sure to check out my guide on the best vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Bangkok here. Outside of Bangkok, the best place I have found for vegetarian food in Thailand is up north in Chiang mai and Pai. Many of the restaurants in Chiang mai are very vegetarian and vegan friendly with plenty of tofu substitutes and creative Western menus.

An absolute must for all vegetarians in Thailand is to visit the Thai vegetarian Festival. During this time in Thailand, 99% of all street stalls and restaurants will provide great vegetarian alternatives. There are some delicious vegetarian salads, noodle dishes and meat substitutes on offer – it’s a surprise that they don’t offer these dishes throughout the rest of the year in Thailand. You can read more about the Thai vegetarian Festival in my article here.

Top 5: Local Thai Eats In Bangkok

Posted on February 8, 2014 by koomatzu

Are you itching to try some real Thai food in Bangkok? Screw all the fancy Thai restaurants, when you dine out off the beaten path – local style – then you can truly experience Thai food in Bangkok.

Not only do the local Thai restaurants in Bangkok serve hearty and traditional cuisine, but they ‘re also super cheap if you’re travelling on a budget. At most of the Thai restaurants popular with the locals, you can dine from just 70 baht per person… And remember that these restaurants are popular for a reason.

Thai Style Restaurants

Local restaurants in Thailand have a very different vibe to the more mainstream restaurants which are aimed at tourists, they’re worth visiting if you want to see a real part of Thai culture that you could otherwise completely miss.

A typical experience dining in a local Thai restaurant is casual, where diners share food platters in the middle of the table, are served drinks from shabby metal trolleys, drink from 5 litre beer towers and maybe even get to hear a Thai folk music performance from a local singer. A really popular feature of some local restaurants in Thailand, also seems to be the do-it-yourself barbecues, where patrons cook their own food on the table in front of them.

For the best local Thai restaurants in Bangkok, here’s my personal top 5:

1

Banrie Coffee is by far my best Thai restaurant in Bangkok. It’s open 24 hours a day, has live music, cheap beer towers, a cute beer garden, laid-back atmosphere and simple good food. Banrie Coffee is perhaps a little more sophisticated than your average local Thai restaurant, it’s more of an evening hangout for both young Thais and expats in Bangkok. But not only is it a cool hangout, but this Thai restaurant also has an extensive menu of Thai cuisine at an affordable price, complete with a fairy-lit urban garden.

2

SD Bar BQ is an all-you-can-eat buffet style restaurant in Bangkok, totally Thai style and packed full of cheerful locals. It’s not got the cheapest of prices by local standards, but for the range of dishes on offer and the unlimited food, it’s really not bad value at 129 baht per person. In fact if you’re looking for a place to sample a complete range of Thai cuisine, SD Bar BQ Buffet might be just what you’re looking for.

The layout of SD barbecue is casual and authentically Thai – tables are set out in long lines of benches with holes in the middle to barbecue your own food. Yep, this is a typical do-it-yourself barbecue-style restaurant (and it get’s pretty damn hot too) – of course there are other pre-cooked options available too if you don’t feel like cooking your own food. (Tip: another good barbecue restaurant in Bangkok worth visiting is the rooftop restaurant Bar-BQ)

3

Yong Lee is a Chinese-Thai style restaurant which has been around for almost 50 years and definitely looks it’s age. With grease splattered walls and tattered old menus, this is about as local as it gets. The restaurant itself is nothing fancy but the food is still pretty good for an off the beaten path visit.

Food at Yong Lee can be a little more adventurous, with Chinese fried bowels and beef tongue soups, however there are also a range of traditional Thai dishes too. Yong Lee is great for a casual lunch off the beaten track in Bangkok.

4

The Good View is a more extravagant restaurant compared to many other typical, local Thai restaurants in Bangkok. In fact, this is probably the most expensive restaurants out of my top 5 local Thai restaurants in Bangkok.

Located on the riverside, the restaurant has sophisticated wooden decking, a fairy-lit terrace and an indoor bar area with live music performances and a dance floor. It’s still pretty off the beaten path though, and has an extensive Thai, Western and Japanese menu with plenty of typically Thai beer tower’s available. If you’re after a special or romantic night out in Bangkok, Thai-style, then try Good View.

5

Sabai Jai Gai Yang, like Yong Lee and SD barbecue, is another humble little eatery in Bangkok. With a battered menu, plastic tablecloths and a modest karaoke-style folk stage, the restaurant maintains a casual yet lively atmosphere. It’s specialty is grilled chicken, however it has an extensive menu of Thai dishes and is great for sampling the local cuisine.

Picture by leolaksi

The Good View Restaurant Bangkok

Posted on December 14, 2013 by koomatzu

Good View is one of the more upscale local Thai restaurants of Bangkok. With live music from Thai bands, open air dining and plenty of beer towers on the go, a trip to Good View in Bangkok makes for a great authentic Thai style restaurant experience – complete with a tranquil, riverside view.

The Good View Riverside Restaurant

The restaurant itself is rather big with a large, wooden floored outdoor area and an indoor bar. The outdoor part of the restaurant at Good View is partially covered by a roof, featuring open views out onto the Chao Phraya river of Bangkok. You can either sit under the shelter of the roof, or on the open air seating lined along the riverside front of the restaurant.

Enveloped by the wooden seating area underneath the shelter part of the outdoor seating, is a small, natural grassed area with trees and plenty of greenery. Lanterns hang freely throughout the venue, hanging from the tree branches to give an elegant and charming ambience.

The Good View Menu

The Good View riverside restaurant has an extensive menu of Japanese, European, Chinese and traditional Thai dishes. Prices are a little high considering that the food there doesn’t taste much different from cheaper Thai restaurants in Bangkok. However portions are of a generous size and the pleasant environment makes up for it.

Prices start from 150 baht for a standard Thai dish such as Green Curry or Cashew Nut Chicken. Prices increase to 390 baht for steamed mussels in soy sauce and garlic, sushi, fish heads or grilled whole snappers. As Good View is an authentically Thai restaurant, it also has a large choice of sharer dishes in order for you to dine the traditional Thai way.

Sharers start from 150 baht per dish and include spicy banana blossom and prawn salad, or northeastern Thai-style grilled beef. Another Thai tradition, the beer tower, costs 560 baht per 5 litre tower. Soft drinks start from just 35 baht. Desserts are purely Thai style: Syrup and ice with fruit.

How to get to Good View Bangkok

Good View is located to the very south of Charoen Krung Road. You can ask a taxi driver to take you to the nearest landmark – Charoenkrung Pracharak Hospital – and then keep walking south towards the river from there for about 5 minutes. You can’t miss the restaurant it’s pretty big with a massive car park and signs on the roadside.

Thai-English phonetics are pretty bad, the hospital name is more accurately pronounced like: ‘Rong-pa-ya-baan Ja-roen-grung Bra-cha-rak’… Bit of a mouthful, sorry.

The indoor bar

Tawandang German Brewery Thai Bar Bangkok

Posted on December 5, 2013 by koomatzu

Bangkok’s Tawandang German Brewery can only be described as a lively cabaret-come-bar and restaurant with a laid back yet energetic ambience. The authentically Thai, modern bar provides an accurate glimpse into mainstream Bangkok nightlife. Popular with both Thai locals and the odd Bangkok expat, Tawandang is the perfect venue for celebrating, partying or simply admiring the dynamic, live performances.

The venue

Tawandang Brewery prides itself on four things: Great entertainment, great food, great beer and a friendly atmosphere. Being popular is an understatement – Tawandang Brewery is a huge success in Bangkok and, despite it’s large, spacious interior, it get’s very busy and packed very quickly.

The venue consists of a large, central seating area with the best views of the main stage – the in-demand seating here get’s booked up as much as a month in advance. Then, you have seating along the sides and at the back of the venue. The back area of the Tawandang venue provides bar-like seating which surrounds an industrial looking brewing tank; although this section has perhaps the worst view of the stage, there are big screens that you can watch the action on.

Tawandang German Brewery Menu

The Tawandang Brewery brews it’s own German beers on site: Dunkel beer, Weizen beer and Lager beer. You can order beer either by the glass or as a typically Thai beer tower, very reasonably priced and delicious; they even allow you to taste the beers before you order! How sophisticated is that, mind?

As for the food, Tawandang serves up a selection of both European (mainly German) and local Thai dishes. It’s signature dish is the German style Pork Knuckles with mashed potatoes which are highly reputed among it’s customers. The Tom Yam Goong, Steamed Seabass and German Sausages also go down particularly well with one of their cold, locally brewed beers too.

Entertainment at Tawandang Bangkok

By far the biggest focus of the Bangkok Tawandang Brewery, is the live entertainment. Ranging from traditional Thai performance, pop singers, jazz bands and hip hop dancers, to comedy acts, magicians and exciting stunts, Tawandang has something for everyone. There are a huge number of acts performing throughout the night – great value for money considering the absence of entry fees.

There are slightly less acts performing during the week as there are during the weekend, however this may be better if you’re after a more subdued atmosphere to enjoy with your partner. If you’d prefer an energetic party atmosphere with a larger group of people, the weekend is the best time to go – just remember to book ahead to be safe.

How to get to Tawandang Brewery Bangkok

The closest train station to Tawandang Brewery is BTS Chong Nonsi or Lumpini MRT, however you will still need to take a taxi from either of these stations. You can either ask the driver to take you to Tawandang near Rama 3 Soi 69, or print out the website map here.

Bonita Cafe & Social Club Vegan Food Bangkok

Posted on November 30, 2013 by koomatzu

With a passion for healthy vegan food, plus a welcoming, cosy atmosphere, Bonita Cafe & Social Club is a highly recommended hidden gem of a restaurant for all to enjoy in Bangkok – whether vegan, vegetarian or proud carnivore.

Hanging out at grandma’s house

The interior of Bonita Cafe & Social Club is decorated in a charming, mismatched style of flowery table cloths, fresh net curtains, embroidered welcome signs, vintage lamps and old china display cabinets. This – combined with old Beatles classics quietly resonating from the wide screen TV, and the odd cat meowing from behind the scenes in the hallway – creates the distinctive feeling of a visit to your gran’s house: cosy, nostalgic and safe.

The atmosphere at the Bangkok Bonita Cafe is made even more pleasant by the welcoming owners (actually, welcoming is an understatement) who obviously put a hell of a lot of love and effort into the restaurant. And just to add to this already relaxed vibe, the cafe even has a modest library area – an old vintage cabinet with a multi lingual selection of books to keep you entertained.

Healthy vegan food in Bangkok

According to their Facebook page, the owners of Bonita Cafe & Social Club are actually pretty serious runners – they even sell special Five Finger Shoes too; They obviously put a lot of care into making extra healthy and nutritious food for other sports enthusiasts. If you’re pretty sick of all the overly sweet and sugary food in Bangkok, you’ll most likely find Bonita to be a refreshing change.

Bonita Cafe & Social Club Menu

The menu at Bonita Cafe only has a couple of pages full of options – strictly vegan only of course – but despite this, it manages to offer a pretty diverse range of dishes. Starters average in price at around 80 baht while main courses range between around 150 baht and 300 baht. Meals can take up to 30 minutes to prepare; the owners obviously put a lot of time and care into food preparation.

The all day breakfast at Bonita Cafe consists of vegan bacon, vegan scrambled egg, vegan sausage, whole wheat toast, beans, grilled tomato, grilled mushroom, roast potatoes, americano coffee and a glass of orange juice – all for 295 baht. You can also opt for the club sandwich with vegan bacon, vegan scrambled egg and avocado; Teriyaki tofu and onion burger with humous; vegan hot dog; and vegan pizza with either bell pepper, mushroom or basil toppings. These dishes cost from 200 baht upwards and include a serving of garlicky roast potatoes and salad.

Other vegan delights at the Bangkok Bonita Cafe include tomato or creamy carbonara pasta (with whole wheat pasta option), and a selection of both sweet and savoury whole wheat pancakes made with coconut oil. Bonita also offers a selection of desserts including vegan, sugar-free chocolate mousse for 100 baht. Personally I thought that the chocolate mousse tasted pleasantly subtle and not too sweet at all (a rarity in the syrup-loving Bangkok city).

As for the drinks menu at Bonita Cafe, there are a great range of teas such as chamomile, earl grey and jasmine (with vegan milk options) for just 50 baht per cup, or healthy, sugar free smoothies from 75 baht a glass. All in all, if you are a vegetarian, vegan or health conscious foodie in Bangkok, you must visit Bonita Cafe & Social Club. Even if you aren’t vegan or vegetarian, don’t let the strictly vegan menu put you off visiting.

How to get to Bonita Cafe & Social Club

Bonita Cafe & Social Club is located in the Sathorn/ Silom area of Bangkok. Take the BTS skytrain to Surasak station on the Bangkok Silom Line. Take exit __ out of the station, stick to the main road and keep walking until you have passed the large school on your left hand side. The next turning should be Pan Road – walk up Pan road on the left hand side for a couple of minutes and you’ll find Bangkok Bonita Cafe & Social Club about half way up the road opposite the Family Mart.

Bonita Cafe & Social Club in Bangkok, Vegetarian Vegan Food in Bangkok, Healthy restaurants in Bangkok

Thailand Vegetarian Festival

Posted on October 15, 2013 by koomatzu

Thai Vegetarian Festival Roots

The famous Vegetarian Festival of Thailand, also known as the Taoist Nine Emperor Gods Festival, originated in Phuket in the 19th century. During this time, the island of Phuket had a large number of Chinese immigrants who, after widespread disease among the community, had introduced a period of fasting and abstinence to cleanse and heal themselves.

This hard going ritual gradually evolved from strict fasting to a simple vegan diet instead. During this period, participants must give up all fish, dairy, meat and poultry for nine days, plus, they should wear white from head to toe. Nowadays, you will see the wearing of white mainly practised within the temples rather than outside in the cities.

During this cleansing period in the past, individuals in Phuket were found to show bizarre behaviour such as self mutilation; this was a sign of possession followed by the escape of evil spirits from the body. The Vegetarian Festival in Phuket is still the renowned home to this behaviour and hence piques the attention a lot of curious tourists, both Thai and foreign.

The Phuket Vegetarian Festival is pretty grisly and perhaps not for the feint hearted – impaling, skinning, slashing and bloodletting are all common behaviours found during the Phuket festivities. On that note, Phuket is probably the winner for the most interesting area of Thailand to celebrate the Vegetarian Festival, however you can still enjoy the celebrations and variety of vegetarian food in Bangkok and the rest of Thailand as well.

Celebrating the Vegetarian Festival in Bangkok

As you might gather from the Vegetarian Festival’s Chinese roots in Thailand, it makes sense that the best place to celebrate it in Bangkok is in China Town. The Vegetarian Festival takes place all over Bangkok during October and lasts 9 days; the exact date differs slightly every year but the celebrations are always held in October.

Across the city of Bangkok, you’ll notice the streets come alive with yellow flags and bunting to represent the Vegetarian Festival. Most street vendors and many restaurants participate in the vegetarian celebrations with extra vegetarian dishes and tofu substitutes.

Among just a few of the typical dishes on offer during Vegetarian Festival are vegetable tom yam (spicy vegetable soup), tofu massaman curry, mushroom & tofu yakisoba noodles and a range of salads such as a sweet and sour pumpkin & mushroom. There are also a range of fake meats on offer like fake pork dumplings and meatballs made of flavoured sticky rice – some of the meat substitutes actually taste uncannily similar to real meat.

You can also find some colourful sweets and desserts on sale on the Bangkok streetwalks: Black bean sticky rice roasted in bamboo shoots; Thai breakfast doughnut served with sweet condensed milk (called Pa Thong Ko – pronounced Bpah Tong Go); and of course, the best Thai dessert of all: mango sticky rice with coconut.

China Town Vegetarian Festival Bangkok

Nowhere in Bangkok celebrates the Thai Vegetarian Festival quite like China Town does! With colourful lanterns and bunting strung across the road as far as the eye can see, Yaowarat Road becomes tinged with bright yellow during all the vegetarian festivities. Hundreds of food stalls line the road side, locals gather to pray at the many temples, and traditional Chinese Opera is performed in the evenings.

The bottom of Yaowarat tends to have the most activity during festivities and celebrations in China Town. You can take a taxi to Yaowarat 5 or the Golden Buddha Temple, Wat Traimit. This part of Yaowarat Road has plenty of food stalls and beautiful temples to explore. The best time of day to visit the China Town Vegetarian Festival for most people is during the evening from about 6pm.

Basically, the later you head to China Town, the more lively and busy it will be, plus you might just get to catch some of the Chinese Opera performances on Charoen Krung Road Soi 20. However, China Town does get pretty crazy during the evenings so if you hate crowds, you might prefer to visit during the daytime when the atmosphere is much more subdued and quiet.

China Town nearest public transport station: Hualumpong MRT/ BTS Sala Deng

Sabai Jai Gai Yang Local Thai Restaurant Bangkok

Posted on October 9, 2013 by koomatzu

Sabai Jai Gai Yang, also referred to as Baan Tawan Gai Yang, is an authentic, local neighbourhood restaurant to drink and dine in pure Thai style. Located in the sleek and modern district of Bangkok, Bang Na, Sabai Jai Gai Yang is a breath of fresh air where you can enjoy proper Thai food in natural Thai surroundings.

Sabai Jai Gai Yang Style

Sabai Jai Gai Yang is a casual Bangkok hangout where you can simply relax and chill out in your shorts and flip flops. The laid back, family orientated, local ambience make it a a great ‘off the beaten track’ restaurant away from the hectic tourist atmospheres or contrastingly snobbish undercurrents of other Bangkok restaurants and bars.

The Restaurant

The Bangkok restaurant has both a traditional open air section and an air conditioned indoor section. In the typical Thai restaurant style, Sabai Jai Gai Yang consists of a partially sheltered tent like surround, fold-up metal seating, plastic table covers and the standard drinks trolley at the head of the table.

Despite it’s relatively small size, there is a stage at the front where local bands play Thai tunes and pop music towards the later hours of the evening. It can get a bit loud and difficult to hear each other speak during these hours, but if you’re keen to listen to some proper Thai music in Bangkok, you’ll definitely find it here. I can’t help but feel a bit stressed out listening to the crazy overpowering beats of too much authentic Thai music myself though…

Picture by www.leolaksi.wordpress.com

Sabai Jai Gai Yang is the kind of Bangkok restaurant to let loose, nothing fancy; buy a beer tower or two with friends and share taster dishes in the middle of the table, Thai style.

Sabai Jai Gai Yang Menu

Sabai Jai Gai Yang have an extensive menu of both Isaan dishes and Thai food. The battered, plastic menus are thick with pages of dishes in both English and Thai. Although staff don’t speak much English at Sabai Jai Gai Yang, the menus are pretty clear with plenty of pictures to help you choose.

Isaan and Thai dishes at Sabai Jai Gai Yang are reasonably priced and start from around the 80 baht mark. For 80 baht, you can get their signature dish, half a mouthwatering grilled chicken (as in the name – gai yang) with spicy Thai dips. Admittedly it’s tasty, but it’s also a real ball ache to eat half a chicken with a fork and spoon!

Other typical cheaper dishes at the Bangkok restaurant include Pad Ka Praw (Basil stir fry) and Som Tam (Papaya salad) which cost around 120 baht. Bigger dishes such as whole steamed fish and seafood stir fries cost up to 400 baht per dish. Just bare in mind that this is an authentic Thai restaurant – the spicy Thai dishes at Sabai Jai Gai Yang are damn spicy.

Photo by www.eatingthaifood.com

How To Get To Sabai Jai Gai Yang

Sabai Jai Gai Yang is located on Bangkok’s Ekamai Road Soi 1. You can get to Ekamai via BTS to Ekamai station, then head up Soi 63 (Ekamai Road) and Soi 1 is on the left hand side opposite Health Land. Although it is only Soi 1, this is a surprisingly long and sweaty walk (10 – 15 minutes) so you may want to take a taxi from Ekamai BTS station.

Sabai Jai Gai Yang is right on the corner of the main road and Soi 1 – the entrance is just around the back.

Roast Coffee & Eatery Restaurant Thonglor

Posted on August 22, 2013 by koomatzu

To date, Roast Coffee & Eatery in Thonglor is by far my best place to eat in Bangkok in terms of amazing food at decent value. Roast Coffee has definitely made itself heard in Bangkok though, and it’s top notch service and great food hasn’t gone unmissed – if planning on heading to Roast Restaurant on the weekend, it’s best to book in advance to avoid a long wait outside.

The interior of Roast coffee & Eatery is spacious and airy with sophisticated, industrial style decor and high ceilings. There is a small, shaded balcony available outside for you to sit and dine alfresco if you wish too. Menus are charmingly brought to you in the design of a vintage newspaper with a huge choice of lunch, coffees and brunch dishes.

The coffees and iced teas at Roast Coffee & Eatery are highly reputed as some of the best in Bangkok; you can even buy Roast’s own brand of coffee beans to take home. Specialty iced teas come served in a delightful jar with lychees and mint leaves; unlike many other cafes in Bangkok, drinks are not overly sweet and have some really nice, subtle flavours. A big jar of iced tea at Roast restaurant will typically cost about 100 baht.

On to the food menu at Roast Coffee & Eatery: There is wide choice of dishes on the menu from seafood stew & crusty bread, gourmet toad in the hole and Wagyu burgers & chips to the American style crispy bacon & pancakes, goats cheese frittata and a great choice of healthy salads.

The food menu at Roast Coffee & Eatery will set you back between around 250 and 400 baht per dish on average. However, Roast is one of those places where everything tastes AMAZEBALLS and is totally worth the money – portion sizes are generous unlike some other pretentious, over-priced restaurants and cafes in Bangkok.

Desserts at Roast cost an average of around 200 baht but are also of decent girth and tastiness for the price. Roast Coffee & Eatery is also open at night when it hosts live music and serves a range of mouthwatering cocktails from around 180 baht a glass. Roast Thonglor is a very popular cafe brunch restaurant for couples and groups of friends looking for a chilled out hangout with some of the best food in Bangkok.

How to get to Roast Coffee Bangkok

Roast is located in SeenSpace Thonglor. You can take a BTS to Thonglor station and then catch a taxi to Thonglor soi 13. Just a few hundred metres into the soi, you will see SeenSpace on your left. Roast Coffee is just up the stairs of SeenSpace and the first restaurant on the left on the first floor. You can check out their Facebook page here.

On Nut Night Market & Beer Garden Bangkok

Posted on August 6, 2013 by koomatzu

On Nut is an area of Bangkok not particularly well known for it’s shopping or lively nightlife. However, come evening time when the Thai locals finish work, On Nut comes alive with clothes stalls, food, beer and live music. By Bangkok’s standards, the night market at On Nut is comparably tiny against the other mammoth sized markets of Bangkok, but cheap and cheerful nonetheless.

On Nut Shopping

The Bangkok night market at On Nut is heavily geared towards Thai girls heading out for some after-work bargain shopping. Sellers here are genuine and prices cheap, plus there are some cool clothes and shoes at On Nut night market. You can find men’s t-shirts here – but literally only about four stalls catered towards men, sorry chaps. For SuperDry fans, make sure to check out the knock off SuperDry stall which sells some cool knockoff SuperDry T-shirts for around 300 baht.

Prices vary from 100 baht for standard blouses and t-shirts, to about 1600 baht for custom made dresses and jump suits. On Nut night market is perfect for a relaxed bit of casual Bangkok shopping as opposed to the stress of delving into the bigger, gargantuan markets such as Chatuchak and Pratunam market. It doesn’t need any longer than 30 minutes to an hour to look around properly. It’s not all about the shopping at On Nut night market though…

On Nut Beer Garden

Facing On Nut night market from the road, head to the right until you come across more food stalls and less clothes and handbags; this is the On Nut beer garden. Well… I’m not sure if you could call it a beer garden, but the bar area at On Nut night market is basically an outdoor pub surrounded by a wall of food stalls and covered with a tent-like roof.

The atmosphere is super relaxed with a gathering of both local Thais and local expats. It’s not the sleekest and cleanest looking bar – it IS a local night market after all – but, as standard in Bangkok, it’s still table service and there is a live Thai band performance most evenings. Toilets cost 3 baht per use and are of the authentic squat variety… not everybody’s cup of tea and an obvious indication that this is not the glamourous place to dress up.

Beer is cheap at On Nut night market, costing from 40 baht per bottle to 100 baht per pint to 500 per 5L tower. There is loads of food to choose from, from 120 baht sushi sets, chicken katsu curry for 79 baht, Thai food for 40 baht and roti pancakes for 30 baht.

There are especially loads of Thai dishes and Thai desserts to drool over; it’s a great place to go and sample the local Thai cuisine without breaking the bank. And the sushi is surprisingly good – Upon realising that I was ordering raw fish from what was basically a shabby looking trolley, I did start to regret my decision, but it is actually really delicious (and I didn’t die after all).

On Nut night market is ideal for a dressed down, chilled out and cheap night out in Bangkok – Thai style!

How to get to On Nut night market

On Nut night market is easy to find in Bangkok – just take the BTS to On Nut and you can see the illuminated tents from the station. The market opens from around 6pm, seven days a week.