BKK Restaurants: pls help reduce my list!
 

Hi,
I will be in Bangkok for 6 days, and I have way too many recommended restaurants on my list. Is(are) there any which I should skip? HELP.....

The Loft@Central Chitlom
Bed Supper Club
White Elephant @JW Marriott
Lord Jim's sunday brunch
Salathip @ Shangrila
Thiptara@ Peninsula
Baan Khanitha
Seafood Market
Harmonique
Manohra Dinner Cruise
Le Dalat Indochine
Biscotti

oops...almost forgot about:

Mahanaga.

Thanks.

here are my 6 picks for each meal and in the order of preference:

lunch

lord jim any day, not just sunday
conrad hotel 3rd floor dim sum
rembrandt hotel indian rest. sunday brunch
sea food market
loft
white elephant


dinner

biscotti
thiptara
harmonique
le delat indochine
salathip
baan khanitha

many of these require a reservation...i would make one to assure the best table...sea food market and harmonique do not require, nor conrad, nor loft, but at all the others i would

the thai restaurant on the 5th floor of the hyatt is also excellent for lunch...

Lord Jims had to be the best buffet I've ever been to, and I really love nice buffets.

Bed Supper club is fun, not just good food. It is like dinner theatre watching all the patrons and staff.

Baan Khanitha was lovely.

Now, I'm realllly getting hungry!!

I would skip Baan Khanitha - I've had better Thai food and for setting Mahanaga is similar but MUCH better. I would also ditch Harmonique - somewhow never had a great exp there. I would DEF go to Bed, Mahanaga, Seafood market (amazing food, great experience), Biscotti, The Loft (which is a great break while shopping in Central Chitlom), Lord Jims. I would also ditch Le Dalat - if you are very keen on Vietnamese Thang Long on Soi Lung Suan is much better IMO. For Thai I would add Blue Elephant.

Le Delat - there are 2 of them in the same street - very confusing.

Blue Elephant - what about a cooking course there? See their web site for details. Best Thai food I've ever tasted.

I would say do not misss Lord Jim or Bed Supper Club. I would skip Baan Kanitha and White Elephant.

Absolutely DON'T skip,"Biscotti". Happy Travels!

Mahanaga -great food, great setting (book an ouside table)and great jazz

You can skip Seafood Market and if great food is your main interest skip the dinner cruise.

My son says the very best Thai food he has EVER had is at The Face, which is not on your list. He has been to BKK 20+ times and tries new places all the time.

Don't skip The Bed Supper Club. It is my favorite BKK restaurant!

(and now I'm off to Switzerland and Italy... ciao everyone...)

Carol

i have never been to bed but i must say i contiue to be skeptical....too young, too go go...too gimicky....not sure what it is but fodorites give it good marks...

we had a simply wonderful meal at baan khanitha on soi 23 and a terrible experience at the one near the conrad...only bad experience we have ever had in kk eating...

primarily i used your list as given and tweeked it a bit...

we each have our favorites...

Bob-- I'm 59 and went to Bed Supper Club with someone who is 72. We hate trendy, young go go places and we LOVED this. The reason Fodorites love it is because it is terrific regardless of your age.

Thank you all for your input.
The ones that received more than 1 vote is definitely staying on my list. : )

Thanks for making my decisions a tad bit easier. Couldn't have done it without all of you......

Only 3 weeks until BKK, can't wait........

Will write a trip report from Bangkok/ Singapore/ Indonesia and post them on our website: www.wongngravrok.com

HappyT-BED SUPPERCLUB IS FANTASTIC. One of the best places I've been anywhere in the world, bar none (including my beloved Buddha Bar in Paris!) DO NOT MISS THIS. Food OR nightclub. You can also check out the cool "Q" Bar just down and around the street from Bed-but get there around 11pm for the start of the action.

Skip Baan Kanitha, Dalat Indochine-both touristy, with tourist food-you'll feel like you're at a Thai restaurant in the US.

Salathip-That's a keeper-absolutely beautiful setting next to the river and quite good Thai food-it's a magical evening sort of place-cannot recommend it highly enough.

Blue Elephant-an excellent choice for Thai food.

I would also skip Baan Kanitha. We sat outside & the atmosphere was nice, but the food was very mediocre. Mahanaga was beautiful and if it's not rainy season definately reserve a table outside. We made the mistake of ordering lamb, which was not very meaty & had a lot of fat, but the sauces were delicious as were the appetizers and dessert, so I just think we did not order well. We would certainly go back & try it again. We also liked Harmonique, but it is crowded and service is rushed, though I think we had one of the best dinners in BKK there. You will have a wonderful time almost wherever you go, and be sure to post when you return.

gloria---you are so convincing....i will se if i can fit it into my tight eating schedule...very interested in the responses about baan khanitha....we saw mostly ex-pats there which is a good sign usually...

happy---give us your revised list to satisfy our wondering what you have choosen....and probably to start a real fight....

Bob-- I bet you like Bed Supper Club or at least the food. You need to just sort of go with the flow. I didn't expect to like it and really did.

i'm working on it....will they have a back pillow for me??

rhkkmk:
Yes they do have pillows(big white beach ball type) for your back. You can also lean back on the back of the bed which is very padded.

and after dinner you can lie down and get a neck and shoulder massage for $2. It's quite comfortable I felt. And there are plenty of pillows.

lie down, after dinner, get a neck and shoulder massage, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, lights out.

You are missing out on the authentic local restaurants. I hope you try at least one of the many many family run small restaurants. Don't be afraid!

Good westernized food is one thing but having a local dining experience is something else. Isn't this what happy traveling is all about?

re:Yonny's comment about authentic local dining
Do you, Yonny, have any good restaurant tips?

It's not always obvious to differentiate between what is authentic or westernized Thai cuisine. While Baan Khanitha appears in almost every travelguide on Bangkok for good Thai food, I see that it's also considered very touristy and westernized by others.

My "only" option then is to base my choices on the feedback of other fodorites' experiences. As my visit is only for 6 days, I don't intend to play "russian roulette" on my dinner choices :) But if you know of any Thai restaurants worth trying, pls share!

For now, my choices are as follows:

LUNCH:
Lord Jim's lunch buffet
Seafood Market
Harmonique
White or Blue elephant - can't decide on this one

DINNER:
Bed Supper Club
Thiptara
FaceBar
Manohra Cruise - for the ambience
Biscotti

I foresee that this list will continue to be revised based on the feedback on this forum. I'm so utterly indecisive!! :) HELP......

yoonny, can you recommend a couple of local family run thai restaurants? name, address and phone would be helpful, also, nearest bts would be good.

happytraveling; i see you have an open date for dinner. go to le dalat indochine. i really liked it when i went there this past oct. didn't seem touristy to me. i had an interesting experience there, read my post on it.
never been to any of the others, except blue elephant for cooking class.

Yoonny, Please do give us some recommendations for good authentic Thai restaurants. Our friends who live in BKK were not much help -- They said whenever they go out to a nice restaurant they usually pick something Western since they eat Thai at home!

authentic is in the eye of the beholder....our driver told us he pays less than 70B for his dinner....i say no thank you to that as i can not risk getting ill on vacation....remember that what is perfectly ok for locals may run havic with foreigners....i'll stick to the tried and true... and places where hygene appears at least to be a concern...no plates washed on the street for me...

love the new list....one suggestion: put harmonique on the dinner list....too much food for lunch....take a regular boat ride and ditch the boat meal...food is usually marginal...i will get killed for this comment but that is the truth...and its not "authentic"...

Geez, Bob, I'm sure there are some good authentic Thai restaurants where they don't wash plates on the street & you won't get sick! Just my opinion, but I'd never spend the precious few nights in BKK having dinner in an Italian restaurant when we eat in great Italian restaurants at home all the time. When we travel we look for things we can't get at home.

Has anyone been to both the Thiptara@Peninsula and Salathip@Shangrila?

I have to make a choice between these 2 for good food and ambience.

Hello from Lucerne!
It is snowing here today. BKK will be toasty warm! I ALMOST wish I was THERE instead of cold snowy Europe.

Anyway, re: BKK food. I'm glad to see that The Bed Supper Club made your final cut. THat's great. As did The Face. My son would be extremely happy with your picks.

For lunch, though, you are missing out by not hitting the Loft at Central Store Chitlom, IMO. The selection at this food court is all very fresh and tasty. Maybe you will make time when you are busy shopping?

Carol

hmmm why is it that those of us that live in thailand never post in these threads.. I guess some of us are nodding are heads and saying hotel food is NOT authentic grub..

it's kind of like making a lay over in a airpot and saying you visited so and so city..

but then again it's not easy finding good cheep authentic eats (resteraunt style) especially around the tourist zones like sukunvit and silom..

one advantage to thiptara is the set meals for two which give you a real taste of different thai dishes....not sure if this is offered at the shangri-la...sh-la does offer a/c if you need that and that is not an option at thip....its a toss up really....can't you make room for both?? go to sh-la for lunch one day...tha. is only open at dinner

I'd go with the Shangrila since it may well be very hot when you are there. I also think you need to recognized that some of the places for lunch will give you so much wonderful food you may not want another big dinner.

Interesting comments...To CFW...on Italian food and not going to Bangkok to eat Italian food. Well...I personally tire of Thai food every day and like to mix things up just as I do at home. I eat Thai food at least once a week at home, so don't need to eat it every day in Bangkok.So, I hope the poster does go to Biscotti...great food is great food...and I'd pick it over some of the mediocre Thai food I've had in Bangkok. To...Spy Girl...regarding the comment on skipping a couple of restaurants that were listed because,"You'll feel like you're at a Thai restaurant in the U.S." Well, I don't know where you live in the U.S., but I have eaten at several Thai restaurants here in L.A. county that I have DEFINITELY liked far better than some I've eaten at in Bangkok.Just because it's a Thai restaurant outside of Thailand doesn't make it un"authentic". And I definitely agree with RHKKMK when he said that"Authentic is in the eye of the beholder". Last August a Thai friend of mine(from Bangkok) and I went to both Thanying restaurant(where I like to eat) and Spice Market at the Four Seasons(because it was convenient since I stay there) where she ordered the same dish, at both restaurants, to compare them and although she liked both she said that the dish at the Spice Market was definitely the "authentic" one. Now, I know Spice Girl hates the Spice Market and yes some dishes can be just so-so, but one can order one dish at a restaurant that's not good or not"authentic" and order another dish at the same restaurant that's perfect. That can happen in any type of restaurant Thai or not. So, I say just try a big variety of places and dishes and decide according to your OWN likes,dislikes, and tastes. Happy Travels!

I am going to Bkk the end of April and made a reservation at Mahanaga for outside. They responded, recommending I change to the inside because it will be too hot. What do you think? I hear from you all that the courtyard is nice, but I also don't want to sweat over my dinner. Input will be appreciated.

Does anyone have the contact information for Mahanaga? I think after reading this post I would like to try it as well! Thanks :)

mahanga has a web site...do a yahoo search...

i like to eat inside generally to relax in the coolness, especially when eating hot (spicy) foods...

one reason i like some of the ethnic (non-thai) restaurants is that they are a real bargain in comparison to comparable places in the usa---like 1/2 price....and the food is generally great....we went to one highly rated italian place in bkk near the conrad, which will be nameless, and we thought it was mediocre at best and very expensive, not to mention pretintious...

guenmai; where you been hiding?

Thanks for all the advice.

Like Guenmai, I like some variation in the cuisines while in BKK. If I'm supposed to indulge in authentic Thai food for every meal for the entire 6 days, I think I'll be so tired of it by Day3/4 :)

To Carol a.k.a. simpsonc510:
I'm keeping the Loft...(just forgot to add it to the revised list).

By the way, you're not that far away from where I am.... I'm in Oslo, Norway. Thankfully, there is no snow in Oslo at this time. However, I've been told that can change anytime. :(
It has even snowed in May....go figure!

only 2,5 weeks and still counting.........

Why does everone knock the Manhora rice barge dinner cruise? Of cours the food is not authentic Thai, but I can't believe it' s terrible and the views from the barge must be romantic. My husband and I will be on the dinner cruise our first night in Bkk and what better way to get aquanted with the City is there?