Thailand Dining and Nightlife, Bangkok Restaurants and Thai Food

Thai cuisine combines the best of both Chinese and Indian culinary traditions - noodles, curries, sweet and sour dishes, and exotic spices.

Thai cuisine is unique, blending a multitude of spices and ingredients that make each dish a special joy. It is common to be served dishes that include hot, sour, sweet and salty flavours at one meal. A typical Thai meal will include soup, salad, fish, rice, vegetables, and sometimes a meat dish, either pork, chicken or beef. Thai cuisine combines the best of both Chinese and Indian culinary traditions - noodles, curries, sweet and sour dishes, and exotic spices. All dishes are served with an array of natural herbs and liquid condiments.

Thai Food can be found everywhere. Street vendors selling noodles and BBQ sit side by side with gala seafood restaurants and flashy eateries staffed by traditional Thai dancers and servers, which have the diner believing they are indeed royalty, themselves.

Food courts, or Food centres, usually in large shopping malls or in traditional markets, are regular stops for Thais and comprise numerous stalls offering every imaginable type of cuisine. Most Food courts and food centres have menus with colour pictures of dishes to assist diners in their choices. In the provinces, Thai Food is the normal fare.

Open-air garden restaurants and riverside restaurants are peaceful venues favoured by Thais for dining in the evenings, especially in Bangkok. Menus are extensive, service is prompt and prices, like everywhere in Thailand, are reasonable. In Bangkok, many of the hotels offer dinner cruises during the evening along the Chao Phraya River. Gentle breezes, candlelight, traditional music and dance create a romantic atmosphere. Seafood restaurants are very popular in Thailand. They offer a wide choice of the freshest fish and seafood from charcoal grilled to broiled to individual requests. A fine selection of local and imported wines is also available.

Some tourist-orientated restaurants present Thai classical and folk dances. Guests sit at low tables, often in traditional surroundings, with teak paneling and floors, exquisite porcelain, and classic paintings. A combination of Thai cuisine, music, silk, orchids and graceful dancers are sure to produce a memorable evening.

Dining is, above all else, the most important social event in Thai life. Using the correct utensils (a fork and spoon) and proper eating gestures will garner much respect from Thais. The fork is used to push small amounts of Food onto the spoon. The spoon is the only instrument to enter your mouth. To Thais, using a fork to put Food into one’s mouth is as uncouth as using a knife in Western countries to put Food into the mouth. Noodles are eaten with chopsticks.

Normally, several Food platters and a large bowl of rice are set on the table. When serving oneself, put no more than one or two spoonfuls on the plate at a time. Never fill the plate at one time as in Western countries. It is customary at the start of a meal to have a spoonful of plain rice first. If Thais are hosting, they will undoubtedly encourage guests to eat more of the non-rice dishes as a gesture of their hospitality When eating with Thais, always try to finish the Food on ones’s plate. This will please the host, communicating the message that the Food was delicious.

Chinese Food in Thailand is second to none. Indian, European, Mediterranean and other Asian cuisines are plentiful in major cities. American and Continental breakfasts are served in most hotels and coffee shops. Western-style fast Food, snack shops and ice-cream parlours are fast gaining popularity.

The convivial enjoyment of Food has always been a hallmark of Thai life, and for visitors to Thailand there is no shortage of eating options in Bangkok. The variety of eating experiences in Bangkok is fantastic, ranging from five-star fine dining venues with world-class cuisine, sophisticated cafes serving contemporary fusion, and “hole-in-the-wall” shops and streetside stalls for appetising local dishes.

Noodle stalls, steak houses, Italian, French, Swiss, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese and Lebanese restaurants, Irish pubs and standard fast Food outlets like McDonalds, KFC and Swensens, Bangkok has them all.

But this is Thailand, and one of its major attractions is Thai Food, and in Bangkok you’ll find the best from all around the Kingdom: spicy salads from the Northeast, yellow curries from the South, delicacies from the Court of central Thailand and healthy specialities from the North. Favourite Thai dishes can be found almost everywhere at small, plastic chair restaurants or lavishly ornate ones, along the pavements, and in the markets. There is also good value for money too. For example, at the Sunday brunches served in Bangkok’s luxury hotels, one can choose from a spectacular array of top-class Food: fresh and smoked salmon, Pacific oysters, Japanese sushi, Australian lamb chops, French cheeses, Italian antipasti and a profusion of fresh cream, fresh fruit and chocolate cakes and desserts.

Bangkok’s focus on fine dining has intensified with new restaurants responding to the demand of international high-flyers who want more than just superb Food but a sophisticated gourmet experience. Fine dining for them is an affordable luxury, a social pleasure and a lifestyle necessity.

Huge investment has been put into opening top-notch restaurants that offer only superb cuisine prepared by award- winning chefs. Among them are The Dome complex and Breeze Asian seafood restaurant at lebua at State Tower, the luxury boutique hotel on Silom Road; China House at The Oriental Hotel with its dramatic new decor; the newly-designed rooftop Rib Room & Bar (RR&B) at the Landmark Bangkok Hotel; the splendid Prime steak house restaurant at Millennium Hilton Bangkok; D’Sens French restaurant at the Dusit Thani; Pier 59 seafood restaurant at Banyan Tree Bangkok; and Madison at the Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok. Stand-alone restaurants include Le Beaulieu French/Mediterranean restaurant in Sukhumvit Soi 19, and Harvey with Californian-style cuisine in Thong Lo Soi 9.

Narathiwat-Ratchanakharin: One of the most lively after-dark strips in Bangkok, Narathiwat-Ratchanakharin Road attracts bar-hoppers, after work drinkers and restaurant hunters. The strip, which runs from Surawong to Silom to Sathon and ends at Rama 3 Road, is a fairly new addition to the urban dining scene, and to most Bangkokians it is a great alternative to the traffic-clogged Sathon/Silom area nearby.

Many appealing dining venues line up the Narathiwat-Ratchanakharin — both on main street and in small sois, packed every night with business execs, expats and local office workers from around the area.

Sukhumvit: This is a cosmopolitan thoroughfare with restaurants to match. Italian, American, French, German, Japanese, Indian and Thai restaurants many of good quality line the road. Sukhumvit 55 (Thong Lo) and its environs is culinary fantasy world; Sukhumvit sois 23, 24, 31, 49 and 63 are all good restaurant streets.

Silom: Several Food streets are linked to this road in Bangkok’s busiest area. As if awakened by the street lights, seafood stalls sprout along the section near Saladaeng after sunset until late at night. Nearby Convent Road offers French, Italian, Swiss, Californian and an Irish pub. Opposite, a crush of Japanese restaurants makes Soi Thaniya into a lively walkway for Japanese visitors and sushi lovers of all nationalities. And everywhere, Thai Food is available in palace style and street style, side by side.

Riverside: Dining on a bank of the Chao Phraya River is always a memorable experience. There are many riverside eateries along the river bank, from Rama 9 Bridge to Sathon Bridge and King Rama I Memorial Bridge to Phra Nang Klao Bridge in Nonthaburi. Among the recent additions are Kin Lom Chom Saphan in Bang Lamphu, Baan Klang Nam on Rama 3 Road, Good View on Tok Road, To- Sit Pier on Charan Sanitwong 92, River Bar on Thon Buri bank and D-River in Bang Khlo.

For more luxurious dining in an elegant setting, Bangkok’s famous riverside hotels are some of the finest in the world. From The Oriental, Royal Orchid Sheraton and Shangri-La on the Bangkok side to The Peninsula and Hilton Millennium on the opposite bank, they provide a magical dining out experience.

Lang Suan:This is a boulevard of smart new restaurants in an upmarket residential and commercial area. Cool places occupy both the main road and the small sois that branch off. Like Sukhumvit Road, Lang Suan offers a diverse mix of Thai, Asian, and European cuisines such as the classy Calderazzo, No. 43 and Ma Be Ba Italian restaurants and the chic French Cafe Lenotre.

Bang Lamphu-Khao San: Bang Lamphu and Khao San Road were always the favourite haunt of young travellers on a tight budget, but they now have much more general appeal with a colourful range of bars and restaurants. Khao San Road is still young, still very lively but with many more choices and rewards awaiting the bold explorer.

Pahurat: Known as Bangkok’s Little India, the alleyways of the Pahurat area are home to many authentic Indian and Pakistani restaurants. The atmosphere is less chaotic than neighbouring Yaowarat, yet the vivacity can still be felt in this small, thriving community.

Siam Square: This shopping area is crammed with medium to high priced eateries as well as American fast-food outlets. Traditional Thai restaurants rub shoulders with fastfood franchises and Japanese suki parlours. Soi 1 has conventional Chinese restaurants, with the Bangkok Hard Rock Cafe just along the street. Stalls sell meatballs, grilled squid, and fried bananas along the walkways that connect the main streets.

Prasert Manukit-Pradit Manutham: This new eight-lane strip under the Ekamai-Ram Indra Expressway is a popular hub of dining venues. Along the 10-kilometre stretch and around the corner of every intersection there are garden restaurants offering Thai

It’s no secret: Bangkok is a city with a wealth of entertainment to offer. Whatever your age, taste and persuasion, you can rest assured that this dynamic city can deliver.

Once the sun has made its exit and the lights are on, the Thais’ dedication to having a good time comes into play. There’s a buzz about the city, a feeling of expectation that something exciting and memorable is about to happen — and it often does

Getting around town has never been easier, thanks to the BTS Skytrain and the MRT Subway traversing the city above the traffic. With many leading venues located near its stations, party-goers, clubbers and night owls will have no problem doing the rounds.

The choice of entertainment is growing and the style is more varied. Bangkok has never had so many pubs, bars and restaurants, each presenting customers with a different experience and a reason to return. Live music, too, has never known such popularity, largely because it’s a lot better than in the past. Interest in jazz, for instance, has increased significantly with many first-class hotels featuring leading local and foreign jazz musicians and entertainers.

While there are only a handful of stand alone jazz bars, mostly veterans like Brown Sugar on Soi Sarasin, there are good blues bands all over town. Hot discos with hip DJs are a prominent and permanent part of the scene, and many of the hotels have popular nightclubs.

Here are some of the best bars and lounges in hotels and stand-alone:

• BAMBOO BAR: The Oriental, 48 Oriental Avenue. Tel: 0 2659-9000. Worldclass jazz quartet, international guest singers and terrific atmosphere.
• BARSU: Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, Sukhumvit Road. Tel: 0 2649 8358. Fine wines, cocktails, imaginative Food and discreet music are all at Bangkok’s newest and sophisticated bar.
• BED SUPPERCLUB: Sukhumvit Soi 11. Tel: 0 2651 3537. The scene is hot, the space is cool with its white interior packing in the well-heeled crowd under a domed ceiling. Live DJs and inspired cocktails.
• CLUB 88: The Davis Hotel, Sukhumvit Soi 24. Tel: 0 2260 8000. Red couches separated by beaded screen and comfy chairs sets the relaxing mood for a place to unwind with friends after work. Live band nightly except Sunday.
• DIPLOMAT BAR: Conrad Hotel, Wireless Road. Tel: 0 2690 9999. The hotel lounge is open all day for intimate meetings, high tea and late night social gatherings. Excellent Filipino jazz quartet and American guest singers.
• DISTIL: The Dome at State Tower, Silom Road. Tel: 0 2624 9555. On the 63rd floor this is a high-end bar in every sense serving gourmet Food and super-premium drinks and a sensational view.

• GLAZ BAR: Hotel Plaza Athenee, Wireless Road. Tel: 0 2650 8800. Smart bar, good band, international jazz singers.
• HU’U BAR: The Ascott, South Sathon Road. Tel: 0 2676 6677. Lofty ceiling, dramatically spacious, this is a place for innovative cocktails, Food and music.
• LIVING ROOM: Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, 250 Sukhumvit Road. Tel: 0 2649 8888. A spacious, comfortable jazz lounge with great music every night and regular top line guest vocalists.
• Q BAR: Sukhumvit Soi 11. Tel: 0 2252 3274. Sleek, neon-lit lounge divided into sections provides exotic cocktails and late night snacks. Live DJ spins to a different beat nightly.
• SYN BAR: Nai Lert Park Hotel, Wireless Road. Tel: 0 2253 0123. The retro spaceship-style lounge with bar that serves inventive cocktails.
• THE BAR: The Peninsula Bangkok Hotel, Charoen Nakhon Road. Tel: 0 2861 2888. Intimate, classy spot ideal for a drink or two with atmospheric piano music.
• THREESIXTY: Millennium Hilton, Charoen Nakhon Road, Thon Buri. Tel: 0 2442 2000. Sophisticated jazz lounge on the 32nd floor with good live music and a panoramic view of city across the river.
• 87 PLUS: Conrad Hotel, Wireless Road. Tel: 0 2690 9999. The nightspot with creative lighting, psychedelic atmosphere and private booths.

There is no one single entertainment district in Bangkok, but many areas offer leisure time activities; so wherever you are, nightlife opportunities are never far away. However, there are some nightlife districts whose names have become well known over the years: Patpong, Soi Cowboy and Nana. Near main hotels and busy streets, they consist of cheerfully raucous bars for socialising. Other night entertainment venues can be found in neighbouring off-Sukhumvit sois, mostly bars serving Food and drinks often with full-size pool tables. All along the main Sukhumvit road are restaurants, bars, shops and street stalls selling t-shirts, jeans and trinkets.

Nana (Skytrain station: Nana): The Nana area of Bangkok, from Soi 3 to Soi 19 is known for the cheerfully raucous, fourstorey Nana Entertainment Plaza on Soi 4. The format here is open- air beer bars at street level. Farther down the soi there are a number of restaurants, mainly tourist-oriented.

Asoke (Skytrain station: Asoke): Soi Cowboy, named after one of its original customers, is a small street that looks like a movie set, packed with brightly-lit bars. It connects Sukhumvit Soi 21 (Asoke) with Soi 23, a good street for restaurants.

Emporium (Skytrain station: Phrom Pong): The area around the stylish Emporium department store and Benjasiri Park extends on Sukhumvit Road from Soi 18 to Soi 39. The store itself is a major attraction with its many good restaurants and an excellent cinema complex. Soi 22 is an increasingly busy nightspot area with a growing number of bars and restaurants. Across Sukhumvit Road, Soi 33 is a more discreet version of Soi Cowboy. Most of the outlets here are cocktail lounges named after famous artists — Renoir, Dali, Monet, etc.

Thong Lo (Skytrain station: Thong Lo): Sukhumvit Soi 55, known as Thong Lo, is a long and winding street with many kinds of entertainment venues on both sides. They include restaurants, pubs, karaoke lounges, and at different sections of the soi you can find lively, trendy neighbourhood shopping centres. Thong Lo is linked by back roads to Soi 63 (Ekamai), also noted for its numerous restaurants, nightclubs and pubs. Ratchadaphisek Road from the intersection with Rama IX Road to Sutthisan Road has many interesting entertainment facilities, hotels, restaurants, discotheques, karaoke lounges and massage parlours. Royal City Avenue, known locally as RCA, is between Phetchaburi and Rama IX roads. This curving avenue is beloved by the Bangkok youngsters who regularly pack its myriad bars and discos.

Khao San: Khao San Road, once solely a haven for backpackers, is now a magnet for Bangkok’s young and trendy crowd who happily mingle with foreign tourists on one of the city’s most crowded pedestrian streets. The cheap guesthouses have largely been replaced by upmarket nightclubs, busy music pubs, and some of the best sidewalk restaurants in town. The action on Khao San has also spilled over on to several side roads including Phra Athit Road where many of the old-style shophouses have been transformed into fashionable restaurants and bars frequented by Bangkok’s arty set.