What to eat in Bangkok - Part 2

หมูตั่วเฮีย อร่อยเฮียเฮีย (Mootuahere) - local restaurant in Bangkok

Continuing the the first part of my culinary trip in Bangkok, this time I'll write the second part of this journey. It was the second day of our trip, and we started our day at Pratunam area. However because of coronavirus, we didn't go to the market area or bought any street food. We just visited Platinum Fashion Mall and Central World for having a lunch. At the afternoon, we were visiting local area - but still at Pathum Wan district. FYI, Pathum Wan district is where the famous Siam Paragon and MBK shopping centre located. Do you want to know what we had for dinner at this area? Keep reading until finish ^^

 

Day 2

Kuang Heng Pratunam Chicken Rice

    As a chicken rice lover, seems like we'd never get enough with this comfort food. By chance we found out about another famous chicken rice at Pratunam, it's called "Kuang Heng Pratunam Chicken Rice". Since it's not far from the hotel, we decided to have breakfast here. Unlike the chicken rice that we ate before, they have fried chicken option for the topping. So we decided to ordered 2 types of chicken (steamed and fried) as the topping for the rice. Not forgetting, we also ordered other famous dish in Bangkok for breakfast - steamed bread with kaya pandan.

Boiled and Fried Chicken with Rice - THB 50

Steamed bread with kaya pandan at Kuang Heng Chicken Rice - Pratunam

Well, I love their fried chicken so much. It's really flavorful, and not plain like the steamed chicken. And for the bread, it was really soft because they steamed it first before served. It was really good especially when I dipped it into the kaya pandan. It's perfect for breakfast dish. 

Tiger Sugar

    Boba lover will know this brand because it's really famous. This brand comes from Singapore, and they have opened their brancehes in many country such as Indonesia and Malaysia. First time I tried it at  Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia, and it becomes my favorite boba drink EVER!! I love the "Brown Sugar Pearl Series" - which has a combination between boba and pearl (a small size of boba). The other things that makes me like Tiger Sugar is the cream mousse. It so tasty, so creamy, and the sweetness level from its brown sugar is just perfect.

Brown Sugar Boba + Pearl with Cream Mousse - THB 120

When I knew Tiger Sugar also has its branches in Bangkok, I didn't want to missed it. I went to one of its branch at Platinum Fashion Mall, and ordered their bestseller - which is my favorite menu as well. Its boba and its pearl was as delicious as I was expecting. However, I thought the brown sugar was too little because I couldn't taste the brown sugar. All I taste was only the milk and the cream mousse. I felt disappointed because it's quite different with the one I had in Kuala Lumpur.

Fuji Japanese Restaurant

    We love Japanese Food!! So wherever we go, we always looked for a good Japanese restaurant. In Thailand, we have a favorite Japanese restaurant which serves delicious food with affordable restaurant. It's Fuji. You can find their outlet everywhere in Thailand - not just in Bangkok. This time I had lunch at Fuji Restaurant which located at Central World. It's not the first time for me to eat at Fuji, so I know exactly what I gonna order - Fuji Spesial Steak Set - my favorite dish at Fuji all the time. Since Ivan wasn't feeling well and craving for a soup dish, so we also ordered a Sukiyaki set.

Fuji Spesial Steak Set - THB 390

Sukiyaki Beef Set - THB 290

If you ever eat at Fuji, you might know that all their food is delicious. I always asked "well done" for the steak and it's really delicious. Even though its well done, but the meat was really juicy and it's so tender. Usually I ordered it as ala carte menu (only meat). But this time I ordered it as a set menu and it was really satisfying. The set menu comes with rice, salad, side dish (including a tasty grilled salmon), and also a drink and dessert. The sukiyaki set was also the same. It was too much until we couldn't finish it all. However every dish was really delicious and it also comes with affordable price. If you're in Thailand and started to get bored with Thai food, I recommend you to visit Fuji Japanese Restaurant.

หมูตั่วเฮีย อร่อยเฮียเฮีย (Mootuahere)

    This time we're going to local place and had dinner at this "porky" restaurant. Knowing this place from explore page at Instagram, and this place was on our food list. This place basically, serve food with pork as their main ingredients. They well known for "Pork Meatball Soup" and "Crispy Pork Belly". The pork meatball soup served with noodles, and you can choose what kind of noodle that you want. Since its local place, they can't speak English so it's kinda hard to know the name of the dish. When we're ordering, we just showed the picture on Instagram about the menu that we wanted.

Crispy Pork - THB 129

Pork noodle soup - THB 69

However, going to this local place is not a disappointment for us. All the food was really good. At first we ordered "Pork Meatball Soup with Noodle" and "Crispy Pork Belly" Everything was really tasty especially the pork meatball. I love how it taste and also the texture. It's not too chewy and I could taste the pork melt in my mouth. The pork belly also very delicious with its crispy crackling layer. Another thing that makes this dish taste better is the sweet soy sauce. 

Kanom Kheow snack by Jaru bee - THB 120

Beside that, I also ordered a Thai Crispy Pancake as an appetizer. I saw many times the video about how people make it and it becomes a must try (street) food in Bangkok. Knowing they also have it on their menu, so we decided to try. If you're a sweet lover, you must be love it. But I'm not really a sweet addict so for me it's just so so. I didn't mean this food is not tasty. It has a sweet taste, and that's it - nothing special.

Chinese Sausage Pork Fried Rice - THB 89

While we're enjoying our food, we looked at another table and they're eating "Lap Cheong (chinese sausage) Fried Rice". It's looking good so we also gave it a try. As our expectation, the fried rice seasoned perfectly. It's really good and I love the lap cheong as well. Overall, the food at this place was all good and didn't give any disappointment. It's something that I expect from going to local place - a hidden gem that's not written at tourist guide book.

... to be continued to part 3

What to eat in Bangkok - Part 1

Traveling during pandemic, didn't make us forgot the purpose of our trip to Bangkok - shopping and culinary. Bangkok known as a paradise for shopaholic and food lover. Since I ate many tasty food during in Bangkok, I'll share with you about every food that I ate. Not just the food that I ate at the restaurant, but also what we ordered through Grab Food. It's gonna be a long story so I'll divide this topic into 4 parts - which 1 part for 1 day.

Anyway, if you're wondering "How could I travel to Bangkok at this situation?', you can check out this post. I've written the reason why we're in Bangkok and also our experience during this trip.

Day 1

 

Go-Ang Pratunam Chicken Rice

    This chicken rice restaurant is really popular in Bangkok, and it's on our first list. Thankfully it's located right in front of Berkeley Pratunam Hotel - the first hotel that we stayed during in Bangkok. Once we arrived, we went to this restaurant directly for lunch. there's not much menu at this place. And it also seems like everyone come only for their chicken rice. So we ordered 2 portion of chicken rice, and a cold Thai tea because the weather was really hot and we need something cold and sweet.

Chicken Rice - THB 40 & Iced Thai Tea - THB 25

In my opinion, chicken rice in Bangkok is different with the usual chicken rice that I have in Singapore and Indonesia. Usually, chicken rice is quite oily and the chicken also soaked at the sauce and oil. In Bangkok, the rice is really dry, but it has a richful fragrant. The chicken was thinly sliced - with no taste. One thing that I love from this chicken rice is the dipping sauce. It is a perfect combination between dark soy sauce and other ingredients. While people use this sauce to dip the chicken, I poured this sauce over the rice and the chicken, and it's really tasty.

[Grab Food] Siam Seafood - Pratunam & Bear House

    Felt lazy to went out for dinner, so we ordered some food through Grab Food. We had no idea what to eat, and found "Siam Seafood" as a recommended restaurant nearby. Even though it's a seafood restaurant, we didn't order seafood meal. Instead, we ordered "Stir Fried Pork Belly with Chili and Basil (served with rice)" and "Seafood Pad See Ew". I love the pork belly so much. It has a perfect taste, especially when you eat it together with rice. However, it was too spicy for us who's not a spicy food lover. Yeah, we're in Thailand and their spicy food is extremely spicy :) 

Dinner from Grab Food

Stir Fry Pork Belly with Basil (Pad Kana Moo Krob) from Siam Seafood

About the Pad See Ew, it wasn't as good as we were expecting. It's not sweet like other pad see ew that we had before, and even we think it's quite tasteless. If you're wondering "What is Pad See Ew?", Pad See Ew is a stir fried rice noodles with soy sauce and other ingredients such as vegetables, pork, seafood, and chicken. You can choose your favorite protein as the toppings. Ivan really love this food and everytime we visit Thai restaurant, this dish is a mandatory. 

Bearhouse Milk Tea - THB 75

Besides food, we also ordered a drink. Since we're a boba - milk tea lover, tried the famous boba milk tea in Bangkok was on our "list". This time we ordered milk tea from Bear House. I've been eyeing on this drink before we're in Bangkok. It has a simple - cute packaging, and the drink itself looks different with the usual boba drink. When I tried, I found out this milk tea taste better than I was expecting. It has a perfect sweetness level, and the boba size was really small and not too chewy. Very different with the usual boba which has bigger size. Actually, besides boba milk tea they also well known for "Mochi Roll". However it was sold out at that time so I didn't order it. Maybe another time when I back to Bangkok again.

... to be continued to part 2

Bangkok Trip Experience During Covid-19 Pandemic

Empty toilet at Iconsiam - Bangkok

Covid-19 is something that people are afraid of right now. It affects almost every country and has a lot of 

impacts. Almost every sector got impacts from this virus, including travel. As a person who likes to travel, I have many travel plans that have been canceled because of coronavirus outbreak. It was really frustrating because I need to contact the airlines and every accommodation that I've booked to cancel it and ask for refund. Even though I knew not all of them can give me a refund, but at least I tried to minimize losses. However, there was a trip that I didn't cancel because both flights and hotels were "non refundable" -- a trip to Bangkok.

I planned this Bangkok trip from last year, when coronavirus wasn't exist. Since it's just a short flight from Jakarta (around 3,5 hours), we booked flights with budget airlines. We also have made reservation for hotels from last year, and all "non refundable". FYI, I always choose this option because it's much cheaper than "free cancel". When I heard about this outbreak has reached Thailand, I tried to contact the airlines and hotels to ask for refund. However, as I was thinking, it's rejected. It was really stressed me out. I was thinking whether we keep going or not, because I have kids and the little one is just 3 years old. I can't make him keep quiet and not touch anything around him. It's very dangerous especially at public places such as airplane and airport. At the end, my husband and I decided to keep going, and leave kids at home with their grand parents. I was really sad at that time because it's the first time I left them for traveling. Previously, we always travel together as a family. Besides, actually we planned this trip for kids who were on mid term break.

We departed from Soekarno Hatta Airport - Jakarta and landed at Don Mueang Airport - Bangkok. Both airport were empty, even there's no other peoples when we're checked in. Inside the airplane itself, there were only half of passengers. Many people give up their tickets forfeited rather than continuing to travel abroad. Although the number of cases at that time is not as much as now. As I remember, the case was still under 100 in Thailand. During this trip, suddenly we became OCD persons who cleaned everything. At the airplane, we always sprayed the seats with Naturein spray, before we sat. We also cleaned the table, window, and everything around us with antiseptic wipes. To cleaned our hand, we used hand sanitizer every 15 minutes, and we used mask all the time.

Naturein Spray is a must especially when you're traveling

Arrived at Don Mueang Airport, we're shocked with the situation. It was empty, and there were only 3 flights landed at that time. It was something unusual that I found at the airport. It also happened at the city, Bangkok. This city was empty. It was very different with Bangkok at normal condition, where you can see traffic jam everywhere. We were taking Grab to go to the hotel rather than bus to avoid contacts with other peoples. Before we get in to the car, we spray the seats first -- and we always do that while in Bangkok.

We always use Grab during in Bangkok. No bus and train

This situation made us became more aware with people around us. Even we’re afraid to touch the door or the elevator button. To avoid get infected by coronavirus, we always cover our hand with tissue before press the elevator button or push the door. And the worse, we became paranoia and afraid to go to public places. At the end, we spent more time at hotel room than outside. Once we went out, it only for lunch or dinner. Sometimes when we felt lazy to go out (because of many “preparation”), we just ordered some food and drink from Grab Food. 

Our first dinner was at the hotel room and delivered by Grabfood

(Notes : When you travel to South East Asia, make sure you download Grab application on your phone. Not just for transportation, but you also can order food through this application. It really useful.)

Peoples were waiting in line for mask and some food as a help at Central World, Bangkok

How’s the situation in Bangkok?

Well, even though the last time I visited Bangkok was in 2014, but I know for sure Bangkok is a crowded city. As the capital city of Thailand, Bangkok become a city that never sleep. Traffic jam all the time, crowd in public places, and the night market always full with tourist that craving for Thai street food. But because of Covid-19, the situation was totally different. 

First, about the airport situation. As I was saying before, the airport situation was really creeping me out. But honestly, deep down in my heart I felt safe. Because the fewer people around us, the less likely it is to be infected with Covid-19.

Next, we were surprised with the street situation - where there was no traffic jam at all. Only in 30 minutes, we could reach the hotel which located at Pratunam area. As you know, Pratunam is a crowded area and the traffic jam is a normal “sightseeing” here. I remember the last time I went to Bangkok, I also stayed at Pratunam area and it took almost 1 hour to reach Don Mueang Airport.

About the hotel situation, we stayed at Berkeley Pratunam Hotel. The lobby looked normal and I could see many tourists came and stayed at this hotel. It was at the middle of March where the case was not as much as now. However, when I went into the swimming pool area, it was empty. 

Bar at the swimming pool Berkeley Pratunam Hotel

Beautiful morning view 

At the next day we went to Central World shopping mall for lunch, and another surprise was waiting. The Trimurti Shrine in front of the shopping mall that usually packed of peoples praying, it’s empty. Even when we walked inside the shopping mall at the lunch time, it’s also empty. After lunch, we went to Platinum Fashion Mall at the next building to shop little bit. FYI, Platinum Fashion Mall know as a place that never be quiet. Peoples (especially tourists) like to go to this mall for shopping because they sell everything in affordable prices. However because of Coronavirus, this place was also empty. Even the food court also there’s no visitor. 

Food court situation at Central World

A candid picture of me at the food court of Plartinum Fashion Mall. As you can see behind me, there were no other peoples. Although it's lunch time

(Notes : food court at Platinum Fashion Mall known as one of the best food court in Bangkok. Almost every food stall in here sell delicious meal.)

Empty racks at Tesco Lotus grocery store

At this trip we also visited new shopping mall in Bangkok - Iconsiam. This shopping mall is really huge and beautifully located at the side of Chao Phraya river. The situation at this place was really surprising me. It's really quiet, and even it looks like that we're the only visitor here. 

The situation at Iconsiam shopping mall

This kind of situation made us couldn't enjoy this trip. While usually we wanted our trip to not ended soon, this time we wanna back to our country and just stay at home as soon as possible. In addition to the tense situation, we also wanted to go home quickly because we wanted to be with our children. We couldn’t enjoy this trip anymore. 

How we look during in Bangkok

One day before our flight back supposed to be, I got an email that my flight back got cancelled. At the same time, I also heard news that Indonesia will have travel ban at the next day. It’s like a destiny for us to back home earlier. So we bought flight tickets back for that day immediately. The flight ticket cost 4 times higher than usual, but there’s no other options for us. I didn’t want to stay for another day because I was afraid if suddenly there’s no more flight available and I couldn’t back to our country. 

Leaving Bangkok earlier and changed the flight. We were flying back from Suvarnabhumi Airport

That’s our last trip experiences, that we will never forget in our whole life. Honestly I really miss traveling right now. But what can we do?? We can’t travel until this pandemic has ended. So please, if there’s nothing important things to do, don’t go out. Just stay at home until the virus really gone, and we can back to our routines. I’m so happy to see the situation in European countries that got better right now. I hope other countries also will be better, and we can say “Bye!” to Coronavirus.