Food Recommendations
 

Ok, everybody talks about baths, boys and bars, so how bout some recommedations regarding, nice places to eat in BKK and Payttaya, Thai,German, Italian, French etc.

[ January 14, 2002: Message edited by: icon513 ]

You can combine good food with good boys at the new Siam City Cafe on the food/supermarket floor of Emporium. They have Italian..or else sit at the Pomadora Italian restaurant next door and interact with the Siam waiters while you eat. But the Siam Cafe food is also good and the boys are very well presented and pleasant...anyone had the pleasure of taking one of these boys out?

Try the following:

Eat Me Art Restaurant on Soi Pipat just off Thanon Convent. Gay owned and operated, food is kinda Asian/European fusion but well prepared and very well presented. Price Moderate

Bussaracum Royal Thai Cuisine on Pan Road between Silom and Sathorn. Roya Thai Cuisine that is beautifully prepared, designed and presented. Should not be missed in order to experience Haute Thai cuisine. Expensive for Thai food but moderate overall price. Not gay affiliated (that I am aware of :-) )

The new Cafe Laos on Silom Soi 19, again between Silom and Sathorn Roads for beautiful colonial house atmosphere and excellent selection of Issan (Lao) food that again is well prepared. Moderate to expensive for Thai food but the ambience is excellent.

Just a few to try

For Italian, the best place in town is Zanotti (IMHO), on Soi Saladaeng across and down a bit from Anna's Cafe. Also, Ciao, outside on the waterfront at the Oriental Hotel is hard to beat for atmosphere this time of year. Gianni on Soi Ruam Rudee is also good.

For Indian, Pasand at the mouth of Sukhumvit Soi 12; the Tandoor at the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza; and Rang Mahal on the rooftop of the Rembrandt Hotel at Sukhumvit Soi 18.

For German/Swiss, Chesa on Sukhumvit Soi 20 wins hands down.

I don't care much for French, but people seem to like Le Banyan on Sukhumvit Soi 8, which is well known for its pressed duck and elegant atmosphere. Also, Le Bordeaux, at Sukhumvit Soi 39, is popular (and gay owned). Cafe de Paris on Patpong II for bistro-style food.

For Middle Eastern (Lebanese), Moody's Place in Sukhumvit Soi 5 is fantastic.

For Greek, Athena in Sukhumvit Soi 63 (Ekamai), up near the Phetburi intersection is the only game in town, and very good.

For breakfast/brunch, Crepes and Co on Sukhumvit Soi 12 -- great pancakes and crepes. For hotel buffet brunch, the Sukhothai on Sathorn Road is good for a splurge.

For coffee and desserts, Kuppa on Sukhumvit 16 has cheesecake to die for.

And for Thai...too many to name! Some of the more accessible ones for non-Thai speakers/readers: Anna's Cafe (Soi Saladaeng), Baan Klang Nam (on the river on Rama III Rd), Kannicha (Sukhumvit 11, behind de Meglio's), My Choice (Sukhumvit 36), Ton Khrueng (Sukhumvit 55), Supatra's River House (for atmosphere more than food), Cabbages & Condoms (Sukhumvit Soi 12). And, of course, any place that looks good on the street, probably is!

Wow, Icon is now the food king! Good picks from him, although I have to admit I still haven't been to half of the places he listed - and I live here! No good excuse. I get lazy and tend to eat at the same places.

One of the Thai places he mentioned, Ton Khrueng, is on Sukhumvit Soi 55, also known as Soi Thonglor. They had a branch on Sathorn but it closed recently. The remaining location is a great little place (well, mid-sized) and is always busy. It's near Soi 13 almost next to the token Starbucks branch. Food is always very good. I'll also second the raves on Athena and Kuppa. Another place I always like is one of those hidden gems, that even I forget about sometimes. It's the Thai Room, over on Patpong Soi 2, just a few doors down (quite conveniently) from Screw Boy bar. Anyway, the Thai Room has, as its name suggests, has Thai food - and everything I've ordered has been VERY good (their Tom Kah Gai is the best I've had). Plus, they feature many Mexican dishes (one of their specialties te menu says) that they do quite well. And you can also order an array of other western (ITalian, German, etc.) and Asian (Chinese)dishes. Something for everyone. So I can take all my guests there and everyone is satisfied. Atmosphere is very funky and dated - the place has been around since the 60's (if not longer) and it looks like it - with musty old booths and dim lighting. So, no awards for plush ambience but I like places like this. Very comfy and the service is decent.

I also like the food at Bussaracum but I find the service a bit weak and too over-the-top . They see you're a farang and assume you're a dumb tourist who has never ordered Thai food before. Too many suggestions and attempts to get you to order more food or set meals than you could possibly eat. Either that or they ignore you after they've determined you're not going to order lots of alcoholic drinks (which I don't do with meals) or expensive seafood platters. Anyway, a good place for food - with nice presentation, but I seem to get annoyed more and more with the servers each time I go there.

Shit, I've bitched enough. Lots of good places out there. I also love Cedar, off Sukhumvit, for Lebanese food.

Try the No Hand Restaurant at Banana. You can spend time both enjoying the good authentic Thai food and also keeping yourself busy with the boy of your choice.It is a very novel way of mixing sex with food.

While you are being fed by the boy, both your hands are free to do the widest things of your imaginations. And when the boy is fully aroused, then you can enjoy both sex and food at the same time.Yummy

There are many cute boys at Banana and the service by the boys is first class. The manager is conversant both in English and Chinese. If you are not aware of the place, it is at Soi 11 Sukumvit Road. :p ;)

Thanks guys your info. is greatly appreciated. :)

Some more...

For Japanese: Shin Daikoku (Sukhumvit Soi 19), Sake no Mise (Soi Thaniya), Min Min (Sukhumvit 33/1, for noodles and Japanese-style Chinese food), Maru (Sukhumvit 55).

For Vietnamese: Le Dalat (Sukhumvit Soi 23; the plain, old "Le Dalat" at the end of Sukhumvit Soi 23 on the left side -- NOT the newer, fancy "Le Dalat Indochine" earlier in the soi on the right).

For Steaks: Neil's Tavern (Soi Ruam Rudee, near the intersection of Wireless Rd).

I think I agree with Icon almost 100%
I would like to add that Le Banyan is by far the best non-hotel French restaurant closely followed by Auberge Dab.
For Thai food Sphinx on soi 4 is excellent and gay, Baan Kanitha on soi Ruam Rudee and Red Pepper in The Rembrandt Hotel are good. Also in the Rembrandt is the Rang Mahal on the top floor which is my favourite Indian.
A lively, cheap and tres gay place to dine is Thang Long at the bottom end of Langsuan close to the park. It's Vietnamese food with some Thai items.
A new and very posy place further down Langsuan is Calderazzo a stylish new Italian place which is showing great promise 1 month after opening.
If you really feel like a great dinner The New York Steakhouse in The JW Marriott is the place to go it has excellent food and service.
There are several listings magazines with varying shades of impartiality. Bk magazine and Metro are the 2 most honest followed by Guide of Bangkok and a host of others who will praise the pants of any restaurant which advertises with them!!
Most of the restaurants mentioned by Icon an myself are in the higher price range for Bangkok. This does not mean they are expensive by international standards, compared to HongKong or UK or US or even Phuket! they are a bargain! One word of caution though wine is very expensive here! at many of these places you can bring your own with a corkage fee of 300Baht. In Pattaya try Bruno's, Sugar Hut, Casa Pascal and Hard Rock Cafe!
Oh and a word to those who are forever moaning about having an extra page to discuss topics such as this, YOU SHOULDN'T BE READING THIS NOW! :eek:

[ January 14, 2002: Message edited by: Jamie ]

Icon, before this mouthwatering section fades away could you not ask Cupidman if he could add your listings to his ifo page?

Anyone been to Siam Elephant in the old Babylon building? Been past it a few times but the lure of thwe locker room was too much for me to try the restaurant.

Yes I have eaten at Siam Elephant.
Good food, good service, and attractive decor. I'd recommend it.
Prices were reasonable too.

Hi Boys......
Just got back from bkk and thought I'd add my two cents....
I agree with Icon that Zanotti is one of the best restaurants in town--not just one of the best Italian, but one of the best overall. Make a reservation; it's not expensive compared to many hotel restaurants in bkk, and much less than one in the U.S. or Europe.

For a great Silom-area, western-friendly, Thai meal, with English menus and fresh, good food, try Sim City, at the corner of Silom and Soi Saladaeng, very near Saladang Place service apartments.

Also popular is Noodi, a noodle shop just at the entrance of the soi leading to Freeman.

I lived in Japan for 5 years, so am picky with Japanese food. I am not impressed by "fancy" Japanese restaurants; I like good, cheap, authentic Japanese food. A good place to go is called Zen. It's in Siam Square Mall, near CD Warehouse (used to be Tower Records).

For fancy Thai meal in intimate, gorgeous surroundings, try the Thai place in the Sukhothail Hotel. We sat outside, and it was really lovely. Wonderful service, too.

Or, just get some pad thai on the street somewhere.....that helps a local business owner directly! Enjoy.....

I'm a buffet fan: "All-You-Can-Eat" is my middle name! My vote for best bargain buffet is the Fortune Hotel's ground floor coffee shop. Located on Ratchadapisek, near the Rama 9 intersection (near all the subway construction).

Both lunch and dinner are about 299++ (comes out to about 360 Baht). A nice selection western, Thai and Asia food (Chinese, Japanese, Indian), plus good salads, fruits, desserts. Also, tea and coffee come free.

It doesn't rival grander buffet spreads (like the ones at the Sheraton Grand Sukhumvit, Sukhothai, Oriental etc.) but I think it's the best value in town and the service is very pleasant.

There are a ton of good restaurants in Bangkok, many of them listed here. I can confirm Chesa on Soi 20 for the Swiss food. Man, they have some tasty combos and at reasonable prices.

French, I've gotta recommend Le Bouchon on Patpong II, near Cafe de Paris.

And of course, no trip to Bangkok is complete without seeing how the Big Macs can Double Whoppers with cheese compare to the ones elsewhere in the world!!

And, for dessert, may I recommend 40-50cc of Thai sperm (that's 4 or 5 loads, if you want to limit yourself to that), just to top it off and maybe give you the Great Meal/sperm burps for the next couple of hours? Always a winner in my book.

P.S. I will add this to my webpage, ?por que no?

The best value I know of in Bangkok is the Japanese-run Kozo Sushi Bar's buffet in The Mall Bang Kapi (3rd floor) -- 200 Baht for an amazing quality Japanese fair, including sushi and various Japanese dainties. I myself very particular about Japanese food (ater 6 years dedicated to Japanese studies), but it's also every Japanese person who I saw eating there who instantly becomes a big fan of this place.

They also have a branch on Thaniya and a newly opened Siam Square branch, but I've never been to either. I've been to The Mall branch every week since last March (call me crazy but the food is SUPERB and only at mere 200 Baht).

My other fave is Khun Churn's vegetarian restaurant on Sathon Soi 10. It's mostly Northern Thai and the food, unlike in many other veg jonts dealing in TVP food, tastes wonderful. They serve only Thai herbal drinks and natural juices and the setting is in a little garden just off Sathon Road. The prices are more than modest, and they also have a lunch buffet on weekdays at 79 or so Baht (can't remember at the mo).

I tried the Kozo Sushi outlet at Thaniya Road (inside Thaniya Plaza, ground floor) today, and agree that it's very good. They didn't have an all-you-can eat buffet going on at the time (it was either the wrong day or wrong time), but it was good and cheap nonetheless.

You can either order off the menu or take what you want from the conveyor belt. Dishes are priced from 10 to 50 baht, and all the ones I tasted were good. My friend and I feasted like ravening hogs and the bill came to only 570 baht.

I hate "Thai food" at restaurants in hotels because it is usually either so rich or plain and cooked to cater mainly for foreigners, even the one by the river at the Oriental Hotel. But I have got to agree with midwestbttmboy32 that the one at Sukhothai Hotel is exceptional. The food is great (Pamelo salad is my favourite) and the place is impressively romantic at night. Was there a couple times with an English gentleman, had a very romantic dinner followed by a passionate night sleep. Highly recommended.

Thai Guy, I'm really surprised you like the Thai food at the Sukhothai. I get dragged there all the time by business associates, and I think it sucks! The food that is (nothing wrong with the service or atmosphere). I think it is highly farang-ified and over-priced.

OK, I'm probably going to get some flack for this, but I am a big fan of the Oishi Japanese buffet. They have outlets on Phahonyothin 19 (the one closest to my apartment and the only one I haven't been to), Thonglor 10, Discovery (my least favorite), Chong Nonsi (the best one) and Silom Gallaria-forth floor.

The price is 499 baht (more than the one mentioned above) and that includes simple sushi dishes, all kinds of meat, fish, shrimp that can be grilled or steamed any way you like it.

There are also a bunch of other smaller, pre-made dishes that I think they hope you'll gorge on, so that you eat less of the expensive stuff. But it's all you can eat, just eat what you take. Otherwise, you have to pay extra.

It's fast food Japanese, but for the sushi alone, I think it's worth the price.

The Sukhothai used to have an awesome Jazz buffet on Sundays. I'm not sure if they still do it (1,000ish baht and reservations usually needed), but it was well worth the money. Just don't sit right next to the band, it's a bit noisy right up front.

Genuine thai food is available only where there are no foriegners [normally].

The Japanese food in Oishi are meant for the locals in Thailand. If you compare with the Genuine Japanese Food served in Japan, they are way off the mark.

Totally agree with you, Icon, about overpricing at the Sukhothai’s Thai restaurant. But with the luxurious status of the hotel I cannot imagine its affiliated goods and services to be cheap, or even reasonable. Its "Babana in Coconut Milk" is a typical common Thai pudding but is 10 times more expensive than market price or twice expensive than other independent restaurants. My friend and I tried only a few dishes. Perhaps, we were lucky that we chose the right ones for us. Still would like to go back and try other dishes to see if they are any good.

Thinking about it, perhaps the food might not be out of the world, but the person who sat opposite me was so sweet and gentle that that was enough to make the whole dinner a memorable one... ;)

Cupidman,

Would you please give your website address or perhaps provide a link. I've been meaning to ask this for quite a while but never got around to it.

I also live here in BKK, and often when someone asks 'what restaurants would recommend?', i can't quickly think of a good recommendation. But now all these wonderful details for so many restaurants, what a good reference list.

Thanks

Regards

Cupidman's page does not have food yet.
Why do folks find it so hard to access the web page? Is the little house symbol not visible on some screens next to Cupidman's name on his postings...is that because graphics are turned off? Maybe it needs to be blinking.

I think some people just don't take the time to explore what's on the board. The easiest way to get to my webpage is to click on the icon [img]http://communities.msn.com/_Secure/0PQB0cNAWIcEskEwYqHHOfIgyvJwwCroOk*xTTAGlWh0RWspyu N1KGUVP!xBkJWo8yRC7mDeDArQrQmt6T9VqJH6ldYdE1vYb/homepage.gif[/img] and that should take you right to the Warning Page. I have always seen that icon on every computer I've used.

If you type in the URL http://communities.msn.com/cruisingforsexinthailand for some reason it will say "Page Not Available" the first time. Click on Refresh/Reload and I always get in on the second attempt.

Yeah, Oishi is a Thai-run "Japanese and Chinese and seafood restaurant". The Japanese part is decidedly non-authentic while it sure can be found quite scrumptuous by many (the stuff-more-chillies-and-pla-ra-in-my-sushi crowd). Out of 499 Baht you fork out, I would guess, at least 2/3 goes to pay their advertising bills. Working in the advertising business myself, I always feel kind of stupid going to over-advertised places. It sure works fine with aspiring second-generation bourgeois, but we, petals, sure know better, don't we? +GRIN+

On the other hand, I've never seen ANY advertising by Kozo Sushi, yet the place is packed all the time (even with Japanese at such a non-Japanese place as The Mall Bang Kapi). I checked their Thaniya location, they said they only have the buffet on the weeekdays before 2PM. Too bad. :o(

Come to think of it, Kozo also has various kitchen-made dainties, thought the fare varies HUGELY depending on the time of the day (and maybe on the cooks' mood, I've no idea). They make sake no misoni, nasu no misoni, chawan-mushi, shishamo, saba yaki and other thingies among others that I can think of off-hand.

Btw, Yam Som Oo (pomelo salad) at Khun Churn's is DELISH only at 35 or 40 Baht or something.

For the lovers of African and Arabic food, there's quite a nice if run-down establishment on Soi Nana serving authentic (judging by their clientele) stuff. The name is Al-Hijaz and they are strictly Halal -- no alcohol or pork allowed though some curry-spiced cock-sucking in the loo is (I guess).