Simon
I actually really enjoyed the food the last time I was at VK , especially a Tom Kha Talay that I thought was really tasty ,but as I said its a tourist trap nowadays .

As soon as we entered , we were handed one of those 7-11 cold towels . Fine until you looked at the bill and they had added 25 baht per towel .

The beer is warm , "you want ice" , 30 baht per small bucket of ice added to the bill , which turned out to be every time we ordered a beer .

7% VAT .......You think they pay VAT :-)

10% Service Charge !

Then the waiter threw a tantrum because we didn't leave a tip , and there was me thinking it was covered by the service charge .

Small stuff maybe , but its the type of things that only start happening when such restaurants make the Lonely Planet type books , and there is plenty of places with good food that don't do such things .

IMHO .

Vientiane Kitchen is a gouging session nowadays , and pretty much has been since it was included in Lonely Planet .

A place to avoid IMHO .

I have seen some places serve that Khao Pat Sapparot with a sausage or some ham , a fried egg on top , and then call it Khao Pat American !

I do apologise to the OP for turning the thread into a Khao Pat one . Maybe it should have a thread of its own ?

Please dont think I am criticising all Thai fried rice , I just like that seperate grain type dishes that you seem to get more in Malay-Indonesia , which I was led to believe , is down to leaving the rice to cool .

There is a stall close to me whose speciality is Khao Man Gai , but she does many dishes in her wok if asked .

"Khao Phat Gai" ?

No problem , and what does she use , but the moist Chicken and the stock cooked rice for the Khao Man Gai ...........wow .......aroi .

Funny , but one of the things I think Thais do not do well is Fried Rice .

Unlike their neighbours they have never understood that its a leftover dish that uses day old rice .

Making it with freshly steamed rice , turns out stodgy IMHO .

http://www.bkmagazine.com/feature/riv...

http://www.bkmagazine.com/feature/riv...

On the same side as the Oriental , I would try 'The Deck' , which is directly across from Wat Arun .

Across the river from the Oriental , Yok Yor is okay .

...there is also a fun slightly trendy Isaan place by the clothing stores in Siam Square...blanking on the name...it's woodsy and cute...sort of on the SE side of Siam Square...

Som Tam Nua ?

I couldnt resist the place because of the lunchtime queues , but in the end it was a place to be seen in , as the som tam was very bland and very disappointing .

Sadly 15 years since I was last in KL .

But I would be really sad if there was none of those Claypot Chicken places in Chinatown still open !

Dave
This is what I enjoyed from a Chiang Mai trip last year :

I think Aroon Rai is a must . I had heard mixed reports about the place but I thought their Northern Cuisine was fine , especially the Sai Oua , which I thought was the best I had tasted . One problem was two menus and there was more local items on the Thai Language one than the English one .

Its probably passe to say it , but I really enjoyed Just Khao Soy . Yes its probably the most expensive Khao Soy in C.M. , but it was tasty and the whole artists pallete presentation was fun .

Palaat Tawanron's food was fine , plus situated at the bottom of Doi Suthep , with views of C.M. , and a waterfall running past the restaurant , was a nice setting for a meal .

Riverside's food and music was a good night out .

I really enjoyed Art Cafe's breakfasts which was thankfully smoke free , and bizarrely the Mexican Breakfasts were great !

The sprawling Sunday Night Market is a must , for snacking while shopping.

Galare Food Centre beside the Night Bazaar had the usual food centre stuff and was okay .

And it was Mike's Burgers for my late night "farang" food fixes .

Try picking up a new monthly magazine 'Chiang Mai 101' for more recommendations when there .

Hope that helps , and please let us know how you get on .

Best Regards
ChangFai

I find this board a VERY strange place sometimes !

Curt
Thats handy .

Not sure but the shellfish one , reads "Chan Paae Hawy" , which would cover mussels , oysters , whelks etc. , but probably not prawns etc.

Allergic is 'paae' .

Seafood is 'Ahaan Talay'

Add Phom (Male) or Chan (Female) in front of it .

Phom paae ahaan talay .

I am not fluent in Thai , but thats how I would do it .

If its still open in August , then Suan Lum Night Bazaar , would be ideal .

Pretty central , but you would probably have to use a taxi to get to it from the Oriental , which is not close to the public transport systems .

The market itself is fine for a stroll around , and there is also a beer garden with music, where the food can be a bit hit and miss , but cheap enough to try many dishes .

Definitely low key .

If you in the Phetburi Road area , then the Khao Soi on the 2nd floor of Pantip Plaza is excellent .

Personally I have always found S&P dishes bland , overly sweet , and poor value for money .

If visiting Sukothai for the Historical Park , I prefer staying in Phitsanulok and travelling through for the day .

Phitsanulok has a lovely night market , several riverside , and 'on the river' restaurants that I really enjoyed .

I love the German food at the TawanDaeng Micro Brewery on Rama 4 .

I wonder how many of those deep fried pork knuckles they go through in an night ?

Strangely enough the Thai Food is excellent as well .

And of course its more than a restaurant , with entertainment etc. , but beware the place is Very Thai .

Seems like an annual occurence .

http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/...

Khao Soy as Art ?

I think Aroon Rai is a must . I had heard mixed reports about the place but I thought their Northern Cuisine was fine , especially the Sai Oua , which I thought was the best I had tasted . One problem was two menus and there was more local items on the Thai Language one .

Its probably passe to say it , but I really enjoyed Just Khao Soy . Yes its probably the most expensive Khao Soy in C.M. , but it was tasty and the whole artists pallete presentation was fun .

Galare Food Centre beside the Night Bazaar had the usual food centre stuff and was fine .

Riverside's food was fine.

I really enjoyed Art Cafe's breakfasts which is thankfully smoke free , and bizarrely the Mexican Breakfasts were great !

Thats what I remember off the top of my head , from a trip last March .

Simon
I just decided I would make my own mind up about Pattaya , rather than listening to all those awful sensationalist tales in the guide books .

Pattaya has some of the tastiest and best value food in Thailand IMHO.

Sorry , I am new on this board , but we are here to talk about food , no ?

No doubt Cabbages&Condoms food can be a bit westernized for the Thai palate , but they do somethings nicely .

Dont forget that they also have a restaurant/hotel just outside Pattaya , superb location for a beachside meal .