WHERE AND HOW TO EAT IN THAILAND ?
Superfluous question for those who know Thailand but real question for those who do not know it.
First you have to know that Thailand has one of the best cuisines in the world that can decorate the preparations with a multitude of herbs that give all the flavors, from salty to sweet, to sweet sour, passing obviously by the "spicy".
Wherever you are you will be able to find food day and night, eat very good and for a very low price unless exception.
Also to know that Thais have a very special relationship to food because they eat very often and like good food (the one from home because making them eat European food is often complicated). So they also like to cook.
Arriving in Thailand one is always surprised to see that there are street kitchen stands everywhere and in very large numbers, to believe in certain neighborhoods that half of the population spends its time cooking for the other half.
The different ways to eat
-In the street: multitudes of food stalls in the streets will leave you only the embarrassment of choice between noodle soups, the Pad Thai, skewers, Khao pad, papaya Pok Pok etc etc... It's always good and fresh because prepared only on demand.
The price varies according to the dishes and the regions between 40 and 70 baht or between about 1 and 2 euros.
Sometimes you can sit down to eat, some tables are erected on the sidewalk, sometimes not but it's not too much of a problem, the street kitchen is not intended to settle comfortably but to serve you the good and the fresh quickly.
For dessert you will always find fruit (mango, pineapple, papaya, banana...) prepared and ready to be tasted or even Indian pancakes.
-Restaurants: You can opt for Thai restaurants or those that can offer you European cuisine.
• Thai restaurants
The kitchen will be the same as the street kitchen with the addition of other dishes including the famous curry, Tom Yam Kung or Tom Kha Kai or other specialties according to the restaurants.
You can find very inexpensive restaurants (at about the same price or slightly more expensive than the street kitchen). You will be installed at a table with a fan or air conditioned for the most advanced.
• "High-end" Thai restaurants
These restaurants will offer you the same kitchen but in a very pleasant setting, in a garden, on the edge of a river or a pond.
The prices are obviously not the same, count between 200 and 300 baht (see more) for a dish (between 7 and 8 euros), which for a European exchange is nevertheless reasonable.
Some restaurants are also, while serving excellent, atypical cuisine such as the condom & cabbage that exists in Bangkok and Pattaya.
• The "hot pot" and the "barbecue"
These two solutions are an institution in Thailand because the Thais love (we see that few foreigners elsewhere and it is a pity...)
In both cases these are buffets in general.
The hot pot is a kind of wok placed either on an electric heating system or on a clay pot filled with red embers.
We will bring you small dishes of meat (pork, beef, liver, kidneys, chicken), seafood (shrimps, calamari) and many plants.
Immerse yourself in a boiling broth and enjoy a sauce that is a little spicy but excellent.
The barbecue is a little different.
In the center of your table A hole is arranged to receive a pot of clay filled with red embers.
Above is placed a convex shaped aluminum hat.
When you settle you place the clay pot and the hat and you are given a piece of pork fat to grease the metal.
You then go to the buffet serving you meat and vegetables (not forgetting the rice) that you will bring back to your table to grill the whole, the vegetables being placed in the broth located in the lower part of the hat.
Everything is excellent and at will.
Prices are in the range of 200 to 300 baht (between 5 and 8 euros).
There is also very often an ice-cream tray for dessert, not to mention other deserts or fruit.
I recommend to test the hot pot and barbecue, it's excellent and cheap...
You can always ask your hotel where is closest, where to taxi drivers, there is certainly one not very far…
• European or foreign restaurants
You can easily find restaurants serving a specialized kitchen (Italian, Indian, French restaurants...).
By learning a little about whether the quality is good there are many that are very satisfying.
The prices are quite expensive if you want good meat (a nice steak of good quality will cost around 500 baht and the full meal is around 650 to 800 baht... Depending on the places).
We also find in this category the Must and the stars where the prices will be overall the same as in Europe (a little less because of the cost of the labor but nevertheless it will be in the prices of the category).
One last plan to report is the international buffet of great hotels.
Many international brands (Hilton, Marriott, Landmark...)
The advantage is that these buffets are of exceptional quality and often the chefs are French chefs.
Everything is of course at will in a pleasant setting.
Some hotels serve these buffets daily and others only on certain days or weekends.
Prices vary between 1200 and 1500 baht which is very reasonable considering the quality.
Enjoy your meal…
First you have to know that Thailand has one of the best cuisines in the world that can decorate the preparations with a multitude of herbs that give all the flavors, from salty to sweet, to sweet sour, passing obviously by the "spicy".
Wherever you are you will be able to find food day and night, eat very good and for a very low price unless exception.
Also to know that Thais have a very special relationship to food because they eat very often and like good food (the one from home because making them eat European food is often complicated). So they also like to cook.
Arriving in Thailand one is always surprised to see that there are street kitchen stands everywhere and in very large numbers, to believe in certain neighborhoods that half of the population spends its time cooking for the other half.
The different ways to eat
-In the street: multitudes of food stalls in the streets will leave you only the embarrassment of choice between noodle soups, the Pad Thai, skewers, Khao pad, papaya Pok Pok etc etc... It's always good and fresh because prepared only on demand.
The price varies according to the dishes and the regions between 40 and 70 baht or between about 1 and 2 euros.
Sometimes you can sit down to eat, some tables are erected on the sidewalk, sometimes not but it's not too much of a problem, the street kitchen is not intended to settle comfortably but to serve you the good and the fresh quickly.
For dessert you will always find fruit (mango, pineapple, papaya, banana...) prepared and ready to be tasted or even Indian pancakes.
-Restaurants: You can opt for Thai restaurants or those that can offer you European cuisine.
• Thai restaurants
The kitchen will be the same as the street kitchen with the addition of other dishes including the famous curry, Tom Yam Kung or Tom Kha Kai or other specialties according to the restaurants.
You can find very inexpensive restaurants (at about the same price or slightly more expensive than the street kitchen). You will be installed at a table with a fan or air conditioned for the most advanced.
• "High-end" Thai restaurants
These restaurants will offer you the same kitchen but in a very pleasant setting, in a garden, on the edge of a river or a pond.
The prices are obviously not the same, count between 200 and 300 baht (see more) for a dish (between 7 and 8 euros), which for a European exchange is nevertheless reasonable.
Some restaurants are also, while serving excellent, atypical cuisine such as the condom & cabbage that exists in Bangkok and Pattaya.
• The "hot pot" and the "barbecue"
These two solutions are an institution in Thailand because the Thais love (we see that few foreigners elsewhere and it is a pity...)
In both cases these are buffets in general.
The hot pot is a kind of wok placed either on an electric heating system or on a clay pot filled with red embers.
We will bring you small dishes of meat (pork, beef, liver, kidneys, chicken), seafood (shrimps, calamari) and many plants.
Immerse yourself in a boiling broth and enjoy a sauce that is a little spicy but excellent.
The barbecue is a little different.
In the center of your table A hole is arranged to receive a pot of clay filled with red embers.
Above is placed a convex shaped aluminum hat.
When you settle you place the clay pot and the hat and you are given a piece of pork fat to grease the metal.
You then go to the buffet serving you meat and vegetables (not forgetting the rice) that you will bring back to your table to grill the whole, the vegetables being placed in the broth located in the lower part of the hat.
Everything is excellent and at will.
Prices are in the range of 200 to 300 baht (between 5 and 8 euros).
There is also very often an ice-cream tray for dessert, not to mention other deserts or fruit.
I recommend to test the hot pot and barbecue, it's excellent and cheap...
You can always ask your hotel where is closest, where to taxi drivers, there is certainly one not very far…
• European or foreign restaurants
You can easily find restaurants serving a specialized kitchen (Italian, Indian, French restaurants...).
By learning a little about whether the quality is good there are many that are very satisfying.
The prices are quite expensive if you want good meat (a nice steak of good quality will cost around 500 baht and the full meal is around 650 to 800 baht... Depending on the places).
We also find in this category the Must and the stars where the prices will be overall the same as in Europe (a little less because of the cost of the labor but nevertheless it will be in the prices of the category).
One last plan to report is the international buffet of great hotels.
Many international brands (Hilton, Marriott, Landmark...)
The advantage is that these buffets are of exceptional quality and often the chefs are French chefs.
Everything is of course at will in a pleasant setting.
Some hotels serve these buffets daily and others only on certain days or weekends.
Prices vary between 1200 and 1500 baht which is very reasonable considering the quality.
Enjoy your meal…
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