Your friendly food court guide to Bangkok

Yes you heard me right, its the food court ladies. :) I know most people detest "food courts" just cause most people think its "expensive street food". It probably is but at least your guaranteed of 1) safety (one time, we ate at Khao San Road, "where the locals eat" and suddenly, we are dining with RAAATS on our feet). 2) convenience (usually located on top floors they won't cut you shopping time).  3) They have ENGLISH TRANSLATION and pictures of what you are eating-->> your fool-proof guide to ordering a foreign food. Do yourself a favor and order something else apart from Pad Thai :P You are in Bangkok for God's sake.

Note: You do need to buy pre-loaded cards (if you are in a group, safe to estimate 100 baht with drinks/person)

MBK (6TH FLOOR)

1. Fried Rice with Shrimp Paste

 Your not so typical bagoong rice. My friend here got herself an upgraded version of it. With Lime, chilies and everything in between (plus loads of condiments). It's good! She emptied her bowl in 5 minutes. :P

They also have their version of dried curry fried rice. (Yeah oddly enough the "Fried rice+dried curry" was a bit too dry for my taste). Yes, you might ask, duh? its dried nga?! Probably, because I'm used to having my curry HOT and "soupy".

Khao Neoew Ma Muang (Sticky Rice with Mango) Admittedly, our mango is still better. Ours is sweeter and.. juicier (?). But I have to say, Thai desserts' are a combination of savory and sweet so you never feel that you'll get diabetes by eating a bowl of this by yourself. Its mango with malagkit and coconut cream and corn. Quite filling but a great way to end a spicy dessert.

RECREATE A VICTORY MONUMENT EXPERIENCE WITH THE BEST CURRY YOU CAN FIND IN A FOOD COURT:

Actually, I got the BEST TASTING CURRY ever from this hidden carinderia in Victory Monument. Its so hidden that we spent almost an hour finding this place. (Yeah stupid me for not taking a photo outside). It's so spicy that we had to drink milk with our food). Warning! If a) you do not have any affinity for spicy food, you will surely NOT enjoy every bit of this meal b) you have the tendency to SWEAT whenever you eat spicy food, you better bring a hanky or loads of tissue. You will be wet.

I call this meal an ode to Tom yum. (Yes, they do have an English menu but the waiter CAN'T understand a word I say so I just point this one out). It has every seafood stuff you want in your tom yum plus the title of the "spiciest" dish we had for that night.

Panang Gai- If you got to have at least one curry, in your short stay in Bangkok, I say you gotta have this baby. It's sweet, it's flavorful, it's hot, its heaven on your plate. (I know I exaggerate). Mark Wiens, (just read his article on .CNNGo or his Bangkok Eats blog), got it right when he described the food as "Red curry paste fried up with chicken and then doused with coconut cream creates a succulent and spicy red curry. The dish is then served with finely chopped kaffir lime leaves sprinkled on top." This dish tops as my FAVORITE THAI food. :)

(I promise to do a separate account of the food place, in case you are still willing to get lost for this)

PLATINUM MALL IS LOVE

If you have one day in Bangkok (and would consider breaking your bank account for shopping alone), you gotta head to Zone 2. They've got 5 floors of dresses, accessories and shoes. I LOVE this place. 

Their food court offers a wide array of dishes as well:

1. I know I get a lot of comments from people "I do not like spicy food". So instead of heading to your nearest Mcdo, why don't you try Pad Thai. The same place also serves Oyster Cake. I suggest you get this as well. It looks like a huge oyster sisig plate. :)

The picture above shows you the pad thai we ordered plus the condiments we stuffed it with (nuts and chilies, you can never go wrong with that). The other plate is found a few stalls away from the the pad thai (on its left): its specialty is the spicy fried rice. We got the tamarind base (yes, if you are not into spicy meals). It goes well with the fried fish. You can also order your own veggies to go with the dish

(Pad Thai): Don't forget your nuts and chillies).

Red Pork with Black Pepper (Khao Moo Daeng)

This is one of those episodes where Ezra and I just point at the most random stuff we can find. So its not dimsum, or sharks fin soup or Hainese chicken rice (which she have eaten several times in Singapore). So there it is, its like a more complex asado. A better version of ours here, sweet but with the assortment of condiments, it transforms to a different dish entirely.

(Marinated Pork? Rice)

This one's close to the escalator. It's like your humba made better, with a few pork fat in between, this meal is sinful. Never mind it has veggies on the side, dose your meal with this combo of condiments and you're sure to break your diet.

 

Another dish that has coconut cream in it. This is Coconut Cream with Tapioca Pearls and Corn. :) Please tell the lady that you'll have it "Iced" or "Cold". Refreshing and good for a light snack after shopping.

 Don't forget your Chai yen (Thai Iced Tea) absolutely my favorite drink to go with your spicy dish! Happy eating (and shopping!)