Eating in Bangkok.... Part II

1. Seared scallop salad at Greyhound Cafe, 2. Fried ravioli with bacon and brie at Greyhound Cafe, 3. Blended watermelon at Greyhound Cafe, 4. Chicken rice at the Suan Lum Night Bazaar beer garden, 5. Pork on a steamed bun at Royal Vanilla, Vanilla Garden, 6. Crab meat and fried fish maw soup at Royal Vanilla, Vanilla Garden, 7. Strawberry frappé at Vanilla Retaurant, 8. Pear crépe with earl grey ice cream at Vanilla Brasserie, 9. Salt caramel cupcake at After You Dessert Cafe, 10. Curry noodles at a stall in Hualamphong Station, 11. Noodles topped with roast pork outside Wat Mahathat, Ayutthaya, 12. Unidentified sticky dessert? at the day market, Ayutthaya, 13. Thai style omelet in the State Railway dining car, 14. Rice noodles and roast pork at a street cart along Soi Rang Nam, 15. Stir fried morning glory at Baan Bar, Soi Rang Nam, 16. Pork tripe salad at Baan Bar, Soi Rang Nam, 17. Grilled fish at Baan Bar, Soi Rang Nam, 18. Unidentified snack of rice cakes + savory topping? at a street cart at Yaowarat and Mangkon Roads, Chinatown, 19. Kway chap at a restaurant on Yaowarat Road near Mangkon, Chinatown, 20. Braised pork trotters at a restaurant on Yaowarat Road near Mangkon, Chinatown, 21. Double boiled soup with pork spareribs and cavilla fruit at a restaurant on Yaowarat Road near Mangkon, Chinatown, 22. Raw shrimp salad at Mango Tree Bistro, Central World, 23. Northeastern pork sausage at Mango Tree Bistro, Central World, 24. Raw shrimp salad at Mango Tree Bistro, Central World

Of course, Bangkok isn't all street eats. It's a booming metropolis with a vibrant and eclectic design and fashion scene. Your dollar will go a long way towards getting delicious eats into your stomach at the finer dining establishments.

If you're weary from a day of shopping at the malls, look around for a Greyhound Cafe. Their specialty may be fashion, but their cafes serve mighty tasty food and refreshing drinks. The soft-shelled crab salad is excellent!

A friend who had been to Bangkok over 30 times recommended some fancy dining for us. At To Die For (in the H1 shopping center along Thong Lor), we ordered a glass of wine, an appetizer, two entrees (one of which was foie gras), and the whole deal came out to under $50 US. It may be pricey by Bangkok standards, but prices would rarely be that low at a classy establishment in NY or Seoul. Oh and it was tasty and came with a free sorbet dessert at the end!

I had read a few reviews that extolled the sophisticated 80-year old setting at Mango Tree, but based on my preconception of the inverse relationship between taste and atmosphere in eating establishments, I was wary of checking it out. However... we stumbled on their more casual outlet, Mango Tree Bistro, quite by accident and found the food really wasn't all that bad. Better than your average American Thai restaurant anyway. I especially enjoyed the subtle flavor of their raw shrimp salad.

There's a Vanilla Restaurant on Thong Lor, a Vanilla Brassierie on the bottom level of Siam Paragon, a Vanilla Garden way out in the 'burbs, and Vanilla Industry in Siam Square... It's clear that Vanilla is slowly creating a dessert café empire! They serve food too but, trust me, the dessert is where it's at. Among the yummies we've had at Vanilla so far: a nice melty chocolate cake, awesome hot chocolate spiced with chili peppers and a delicate crépe with caramelized pears and earl grey tea ice cream. Plus, you can totally tell from the cool vintage decor in each location that they're run by a young former interior designer turned pastry chef. And I adore their branding; I mean, it's got cute critters and bunnies in it, so I'm sold.

I am a big cupcake fan. A little bird told me that I could find a salt caramel flavored cupcake at the After You Dessert Cafe on Thong Lor Soi 13, so of course we sought it out. The salty taste is an unexpected, but not unpleasant, topper to a moist chocolate cake. Delicious with an Americano coffee!

I'm sure we'll have future trips to Bangkok while we live in Asia, so perhaps there will be a Part III to my Bangkok food explorations in the future....

Check out Part I here.