Kristina
Maeng's Little Kitchen is a new place on soi 13. Maeng is a very dear friend of mine (not quite 5' tall and a real go-getter), and she has just opened this new place about a month ago. I am most anxious to try it, as she is an excellent cook! She used to cook/manage a place my whole family frequented on soi 4 (a pool hall... go figure) and we became friends. That place closed and she was always wanting her own place. She has cooked in a couple of different places since soi 4, but now has a place that is ALL HERS. I'm very proud of her and hope she does well!

The location of the Little Kitchen is in a building I think called Sukhumvit Suites (a serviced apartment building) down soi 13. Son Brad (bradinbangkok) has eaten at Maeng's new place and says it is very good. He will also try to take time to check out the serviced apartments in this building when he can. He is currently in BKK for 3 1/2 weeks on business/pleasure. I hope he report here on fodors sometime...

Carol

Carol-
I'm always looking for new restaurants to try.
Does she specialize in any particular cuisine or style?

Guenmai, Thank you so much for your thoughtful and thurough reply. The directions to FACE sound a bit daunting for my very first day in Bangkok. Maybe I should try a spa closer to the ROS. I was hoping to do one other than the hotel spa, although I'm sure it is very good. Oasis Spa says they will provide free transportation. I wonder if that would be better? Any thoughts?

Kristina

Specialty? No, not really. Maeng has a very small place with limited menu, I would imagine. But, if she has the ingredients (or knows in advance of a specific item you'd like) she would gladly cook it for you.

I think her place has only a few tables... not sure about this. She is doing a lot of delivering to apartments, bars that don't serve food, etc. and serves a number of ethnicities. She mentioned to me that she needed a menu with good pictures of the food items because many of her customers speak languages other than Thai and/or English. I'm thinking she maybe meant other S E Asian languages.

Maeng's specialty is that everything is authentic and very fresh! It is not one of the restaurants that is a destination in and of itself. It's very Thai and probably ver simple. I can't wait to go there! I know that Ken (kuranosuke here on fodors) really likes her garlic shrimp. I love Maeng's chili! Son Brad likes her fresh steamed vegetables. Her pad Thai is also excellent.

If anyone decides to give her a try, I do hope they will mention Carol and Brad and fodors!! Maeng will be thrilled!


Carol

HT, you are so right, it does feel like I'm reporting from home! You can see why we think of retiring here!

Let's see, I think everyone who asked me questions got them answered... TC while we are fine taking the shuttle to the Skytrain and the Skytrain to Face, I can understand that it might feel daunting for a first-timer.

And Kristina, do call SJ for pick-up. You don't have to talk to Lily directly. Anyone there can send a car for you. I do always tell them I'm coming to see Lily. We won't be making our annual visit to Lily until after the Sri Lanka leg of our trip. We may buy some semi-precious stones in SL for her to set for us.

Yesterday was the Royal Barge Parade. Unfortunately, we were not able to attend. A friend of ours who has been staying in Bangkok since September did get front row seats in some of the stands set up for guests. The procession sounded spectacular, with the over 2000 rowers singing while they rowed those incredibly ornate boats. We heard his first-hand acoounts and enjoyed the photos in the paper and wished we could have been there!

Ok, on to today's adventures. We started the day with a trip to Wat Sakhat, also known as the Golden Mount. It's a constructed mountain/wat. I love visiting new wats - I hadn't been to this one before - and feeling how differnt each is from the others. Of course, we walked to the top, which was a nice "hike" in the cool of the morning. The views are wonderful, and as we got higher, we had more of a loely breeze.

From there we re-visited Wat Suthat which is nearby. It's a lovely wat, and we wanted to revisit it after our lovely visit there last year. As we were strolling the grounds, we came upon monks chanting and sat and listened. I love it when we stumble upon these occasionas, which we have at a number of wats over the years. After the chanting, we went to make offerings. The workers were laying down a carpet and the wat was festooned with gold and white fabric. We guessed that they must be preparing for a visit by the Crown Prince, and indeed that was the case. As you may know, the King and his sister are both still in the hospital, both recovering from strokes. So the Crown Prince has been the stand-in for the king at various ceremonies, including the Royal Barge procession.

We had carefully studied Elizabeth's directions to Chote Chitr with the goal of walking there without needing to ask directions. Last year, it took us an hour and the assistance of many friendly Thais to get to this renowned eatery from Wat Suthat.

This year, from Wat Suthat, we succeeded in walking to Chote Chitr in under 15 minutes without a false turn. We were amazed! I think this qualifies us for permanent resident status. The food was as stunning as before. The ower came and chatted with us, recommending a new fish preparation. The fish is in red coconut curry (almost a custard in texture) atop a bed of sauteed morning glory, and the whole thing is steamed in "boats" made of banana leaves. It was wonderful! We also had her ambrosial mee krob, plus the salad of smokey eggplants and the banana flower salad. Cheryl had a large Singha and I had Singha bottled water. Our total bill was barely over 400 baht. We chatted with the owner about what we should try next time, which will probably be two weeks from now.

For those who want to try, here are our directions from Wat Suthat. As you exit Wat Suthat, you are facing the Giant Swing. Turn left, and walk down Bamrung Mueang to Tanao Road. This is not far, as you cross just one busy intersection before you come to Tanao Road. Turn right on Tanao Road and cross the street so you are walking on the south side of Tanao. Chote Chitr is on the first small street that branches off of Tanao. Elizabeth is right, the shoe/clothing store on the SW corner of Tanao and Phraeng Phuton is a great landmark. There is no street sign for Phraeng Phuton, but the tiny restaurant is just a few shops up this small side street. It pays to arrive before noon, as it fills up quickly and completely at at noon.

After lunch, we caught a taxi on Tanao road and gave the driver the card to get back to the ROS. He seemed a bit unsure, so I asked if he knew where it was. He said "yes, yes." (Once you are in the cab, I swear they all say that!) Because the universe must stay in balance, and we had walked directly to Chote Chitr, we had a very long taxi ride home. Cheryl and I were chatting away talking about the fabulous food, and talking about what things we can fit in during our second stay in Bangkok when I noticed we weren't going the right way. We had alread been riding for 15 minutes or so. I said to Cheryl that I thought he was taking us downtown to the other Sheraton. We waited and watched. Eventually, he took us to the Sukothai! There the security men explained to him how to get to the ROS. We spent a good 45 minutes in the cab. The meter said 90 baht. We chuckled that we had gotten quite a tour for about US$3.

we are quite anxious to try CC...it sounds wonderful...and now we have good directions...

sorry you missed the barges...

have fun

B&K

Is CC open for dinner or is it better for lunch?

Hi Kathie - keep having a good time and enjoy Sri Lanka

Like you we will be going to Bumrungrad for dental checks next week. Will also be there for Loy Krathong - well not at the hospital I hope but in Bangkok! Glad the weather is nice - be a bit of a change from our usual August weather. If there are any plans for a GTG please let us know.

Mary

Kathie

I'm reading about your taxi ride, and it reminds me of the l-o-o-n-g ride I had from the royal palace; the one where I told the driver to STOP when I saw the skytrain station at the weekend market!! Even the well-seasoned BKK visitor can get a long ride.

Thanks for the daily reports from "home" as they are such great reminders of my own fun in BKK.

Carol

I have to laugh about the taxi ride. One day my Thai friend and I were going from my apartment building to the Oriental Hotel area so that I could jump out and go to Oriental Place. My friend told the taxi driver, in Thai, to drop us on the street in front of the Oriental Hotel and then we'd walk the rest of the way. Well, we ended up at the Royal Orchid Sheraton. I was furious as I had bags of heavy fabric to drop off at Cotton House at Oriental PLace.

We had to then jump on the river boat, with all of the bulky fabric, and go down river to Tha Oriental. Taxi drivers are notorius for that kind of thing in BKK. Happy Travels!

Hi Kathie,
I hope you enjoy your time in BKK and SL. I have enjoyed this thread so far and will continue to follow it!
Liz

Hello again everyone!

I expect there to be constant stream of Fodorites going to Chote Chitr now. Gloria, it is open for both lunch and dinner, we've only been there for lunch.

Last night in the Towers Lounge we met Watergirl and her traveling companion. We had a great time talking about travel, about Fodors and about Fodorites! They had been to Chote Chitr the previous day so they certainly get lots of points for finding it as it is their first time in Bangkok. They are off touring with Tong today, but we hope to meet for a drink tonight before we fly to Sri Lanka.

MaryW, there aren't any plans for a gtg that I know of. We're back in Bangkok on the 19th. We seem to be missing most of the Fodors crew this time.

Oh, and the taxi driver... he wasn't trying to scam us, he was genuinely confused. It's worth remembering that many taxi drivers know only a small part of the city and many cannot read maps!

I figured the taxi driver was just lost. It's so typical in Bangkok even if a passenger is speaking Thai to them and telling them where the place is. Keep having a great time. Happy Travels!

Our last evening in Bangkok for this part of the trip...

Spa'd this morning at Face. I had another dental appointment at Bumrumgrad, so we didn't make it to Maeng's Little Kitchen. We're hoping to make it there when we're back in town. We did, however, eat at the Italian resutaurant in Bumrumgrad. Guenmai had recommended this to me previously. She's right - it's very good. As someone who worked in a hopital for 23 years, I never thought I'd say that about "hospital food." (I'll bet Karen can resonate to that!)

We're meeting friends in the Towers Lounge this evening, then we're off to the airport.

I'm not sure how much internet access we'll have in Sri Lanka, but I'll check in when I can.

Have a good trip to Sri Lanka Kathie! Every time I go there I always notice that they have a lot of crows in Colombo.

The people there are like Thais, very gentle Buddhist, so I'm sure you'll have a good time.

When will you be back and for how long?

Bon Voyage!

Kathie,
I, too, have raved here about the Italian restaurant at Bumrungrad. The foie gras there is delightful!

Can't wait to hear about SL. Have a great time.

My b'day weather is low 40's and rainy... ugh... I'm sure your b'day weather is MUCH better.

Carol

Hanuman, we'll be back in Bangkok the morning of the 19th, then have to leave for our "other" home very early on the 24th.

Carol, I hadn't remembered that you had also recommended the restaurant. I read your comment to Cheryl who was very disappointed that she had't seen it on the menu as it is a favorite of hers!

Tonight we celebrated my birthday in the Towers Lounge. Friends from Germany, Hans and Karin, who we met here previous years and Watergirl and her friend helped us celebrate. At the end of the evening, the Towers staff lit a candle on little pistachio cakes and sang happy birthday. What a delightful celebration!

We left our two big suitcases at the hotel for our return and headed to the airport.

I'm writing from the Thai Business Class Lounge. I love flying Business Class on Thai. They meet your car at the curb and handle your luggage. Check in is quick and efficient, and you get to go through a "fast lane" passport control.

Don't forget the complimentary massage offered by Thai!