pwcushman

I am going to Vietnam, Angkor Wat, Myanmar and Bangkok in November. I am interested in getting some idea of what to expect for food costs etc. I would like to eat good food in clean air-conditioned surroundings, i.e. not from street vendors. Has anyone been recently who can give me a rough idea of what they spent per day not including hotel and touring?

rhkkmk

in each place food is very reasonable...in bkk you can eat from $12 for two to $150 for two, but very good food is $15-30 for dinner for 2 with beers and bottled water....upscale in bkk at a place like biscotti in the 4 seasons hotel is $45 without wine or just one glass of wine maybe....for two...

mcdonalds is 1/2 the usa price...

lots of american chain rests: mcdonalds, burger king, swensons, pizza hut, tgif, etc.....

nice thai places are $15-25 for two....dim sum lunch, all you can eat, at the conrad hotel is $30 for two....

all of the other places are generally cheaper, except for the very top of the line restaurants, where you may not eat anyways...

you will find food the least of your costs...

rhkkmk

we tend to eat upscale, not the top, in bkk and dinner is usually $25-45 for 2....3 courses....

there are tons of huge buffets at hotels mostly at both lunch and dinner...they are very good value...the lord jim is about $27 each for lunch---pricey, but it is enough food for 2 days...remember hotels add 17.% for service and tax

SidB

Why not try eating from street vendors ? At least you can see the cleanliness of the place, and by taking note of the locals, can get best quality food.

rhkkmk

imo---eating from street vendors might be the end of an enjoyable trip

glorialf

I agree. My motto is always better safe than sorry. If I ever have months in asia I'll try more street food. Now I'd rather pay more, eat less authentic but have a better shot at not getting sick and wrecking several days of a trip.

Neil_Oz

You'll find Vietnam inexpensive for food too, although the fact that you have a requirement for air-conditioned surroundings will limit your choices. I'm sorry to say that as we travelled through Vietnam on a small-group tour, and that several years ago, I'm not in a position to estimate daily food costs.

IMO it may well be a mistake to imagine that the conditions in most restaurant kitchens would be much, or any, better than street food. You may also be disconcerted to see what goes on in a typical Western restaurant kitchen, health inspectors notwithstanding.

I can't speak for SE Asia in this respect, but during several weeks in China we had no qualms in buying dumplings, kebabs etc. from street vendors, without adverse effect.

For what it's worth, a friend who spent several years working in Vietnam got sick only once, and that was from eating an alien pizza. After that he stuck to local food (street vendors included) and didn't have a problem. As refigeration is not common, the ingredients that go into traditional dishes tend to be very fresh; you can see this in the markets, where extremely fresh produce is trucked in throughout the day and where the locals usually do their shopping at least twice a day.