I found the PlayHaus Hotel Thonglor last time I was in Bangkok and had a cocktail in the first floor lounge bar. It is in a great location near a ton of great restaurants and bars and has basic rooms for about $40 a night, so I decided to stay here since I spend most of my time out and about, so don't need too much space.
My first stop was at an old favorite, Soul food Mahanakorn, they have a relaxed atmosphere and great appetizers-Isaan sausage here and tiger shrimp satay below.
Christmas day shopping at the malls near Siam BTS station-there were several art installations in the malls.
Ran into my my friend David and Jo (who I had already made plans for dinner with) and had lunch in the mall-some spicy pork and noodle soup.
The first time for me to see the new King on the currency.
Getting a happy hour beer on the patio at The FOX Thonglor.
Dinner with old friends David (and current colleague at Meiji) and his wife Jo at southern Thai food restaurant Khuak Kling Pak Sod.
Khua Kling Moo Sab-stir-fried spicy Southern Thai-style dry Khua Kling curry with minced pork.
As afar as I know my first proper southern Thai food restaurant so tried many new dishes such as Moo Wan-Stir-fried pork with sweet soy sauce. This was a really unusual dish-it had a sweet anise (licorice) taste.
Sataw Pad Kapi Goong-stir-fried stink beans and prawns with 'Kapi' shrimp paste. The stink beans did not stink, this was probably my favorite dish.
Ga Lam Plee Chan Nam Pla-stir-fried cabbage with fish sauce. The one familiar dish on the menu for me.
I believe this green curry was, Gaeng Kiew Warn Nua-creamy coconut green curry with eggplant and beef. This one was dangerous as those little green bean-looking things floating in the curry are fiery hot chili peppers.
Ashtray art.
Luka Sakshuka (a spicy middle eastern egg dish) at Luka Moto my breakfast/cafe go-to for my current location.
I found out it's the 250 anniversary of the Thonburi district in Bangkok so I decided to start my day out there. I'm pretty sure this is my first visit to Wat Arun (also known as Temple of Dawn). It is the inspiration for one of the novels in Yukio Mishima's The Sea of Tranquility tetralogy-The Temple of Dawn.
Wat Prayoon and the white stupa.
Khao Mor a 180 year old man-made mountain usually found in the old gardens of Siamese royals and nobles.
I've been reading William Warren's biography, Jim Thompson: An Unsolved Mystery, and felt the need to return to his pleasant retreat to read next to the pond.
My friend David wanted to try out the a new modern Laotian restaurant, Funky Lam, which is what my breakfast cafe, Luka Moto, becomes at night. It was great, above is Kaipen-river seaweed with three types of spicy dips.
Medium cooked wagyu laarb.
Banna flower fritters.
Som tam (papaya salad) with tempura softshell crab.
Fried spring rolls.
Good stuff, Macduff!
Posted by: michael j russell | August 27, 2019 at 11:04 PM