Eating out, Bangkok Style (Day 1)
By Kerry-Ann
The first tip I got about food in Bangkok was “don’t eat the food from road side stalls” Well, me being me, I planned to defy exactly that. Thai food has always been one of my weaknesses so I decided to write on cuisine just to see how real my love for this nation’s food was.
Day 1
Arriving from Kuala Lumpur was no joke. Let’s face it - we either didn’t have enough money or we didn’t want to be rushing to the loo 30,00 feet above ground level, so we settled with McDonalds. Both for breakfast, and then later for lunch as well.
We arrived at about 4 PM in Bangkok, with a plane full of hungry beavers. I mean, hungry eaters (either way, it sounds wrong). And all we wanted was to go makan.
As the cab hit the streets of Bangkok, all we could see was food! Chicken, pork, insects, fish (and humans depending on how you define ‘eating’). I couldn’t see how my peers eyes were ogling at the food, but their audible “ooohs and aaahhhs” was a definite sign that they were ready to gobble just about anything.
We were taken to the Balcony Tom Yam Kung Restaurant near our Inn. It was a rather cozy restaurant cum café cum bar (in Bangkok anything can cum la), with black and white photos of Bangkok decorating its white wooded panel walls to give it a touch of class. The building was a house, so it felt like we had a private function, (I would like to say, the celebration of buying my first jet plane).
Our student guides had ordered Tom Yam for us. This reminded me of my buddy Kristin who is always bragging about the Tom Yam fried rice in SS15. However, after tasting the Tom Yam our guides ordered for us…well, I don’t think we can even begin comparing Tom Yams from back home.
The Tom Yam came thick and ornamented with chilies of red and green, lemon grass, and coriander leaves. Its scent was enough to indicate just how torturous it was going to be. I took a spoon full and yes, I was the first Eurasian girl on the moon. However, the mango salad (kerabu) and catfish slices and lots of rice were enough to get around the sheer cruelness of the Tom Yam.
We were all astounded by the next dish - fish with slices of ham in it. I didn’t eat the ham, but apparently I didn’t miss much because it was just plain awkward. Looking forward to more surprises on day two!
