Bangkok's routine Part III - Food

"Food, Glorious Food!" - Vultures' song from Ice Age 2

Bangkok = wonderful and affordable food. I have been to Bangkok enough times to get a set eating routine in place now. This time, I took advantage of the newly established night flight (about 9.30 pm) to fly to Bangkok. I was rubbing my hand in glee when I thought about the glorious food which I would be getting my grubby hands on.

Then this shit came along.

Pardon my hokkien but wah lah eh!!! Salmon fillet with rhye bread on Thai Airways flights again! I can't believe that Thai Airlines actually served this shit for breakfast, lunch and even supper! Who eat this for supper? Do I look like a Franciscian Monk?

So the next morning, I hit my favourite eating spot in Bangkok. Does the below picture look familiar?

It is familiar because it is Crystal Jade. Crystal Jade has some branches in Bangkok. The one which I usually frequent is the branch in Amarin Plaza - near BTS Chidlom. I am so in love with Crystal Jade. The place is clean and its food, affordable and awesome. Service is fast and efficient. I tried the noodles and chicken soup (pic above) which almost have me giving thanks on my knees. I finished it so fast that the waitress couldn't believe her eyes when I started waving my hands asking to see the menu again, just minutes after she put the noodles infront of me. She eyed me suspiciously as if I just got out of prison. I placed my visa card on the table just in case she starts calling security. What's up next is of course, the xia long baos.

(The reason why I work)

But these xia long baos are not just the typically xia long baos which are awesome in its own right. These xia long baos are filled with pork and foie gras!! Xiaxue will totally dig this stuff. I know I do. Sometimes, I think my only objective in working is to get enough money to afford baskets of xia long baos.

So I just spent hours at Crystal Jade eating basket after basket of xia long baos, reading a book and drinking hot tea. It was therapeutic and the most enjoyable use of time since . . . the last time I was here. I never have the time to do all this when i was working and living in Singapore. Somehow there just wasn't enough time to just kick back and relax with a book in a restaurant. Singaporeans look at you (eating alone and reading a book carefreely in Crystal Jade) will think you are either gay or good for nothing who is living off rich parents.

This is also one reason that I usually travel alone. There is no irritiating girl pulling your sleeves asking you to hurry up and finish eating so that they could shop for clothes or God forbids, LV bags. I don't know why so many men and women feel so sad, needy and unwanted when they eat alone. I feel liberated.

Another well-kept secret in Bangkok is the German restaurant / pub called "Bei Otto" located in in Sukhomwit Soi 20. I found out recently that this place was actually recommended in some guidebooks. This is another one of my favourite eating joint where I can park my ass for hours just reading a book. The interior:

Some hot round bread with butter to start with. And then . . . .

(Paradise on a plate)

OMG. OMG. OMG. There is a God afterall and He is just and merciful. German Pork Knuckle!!! The Germans called it Schweinshaxe. Look at the size of the pork knuckle, encased in an awesome layer of crispy skin and bubbling fat. (I need to lay down after writing the last line). Check out how much meat and crispy fat/skin it got on it. The whole knuckle is cooked to perfection. This whole plate comes up to less than S$15 or 320 baht. Lawrys and other arty-farty western restaurants from Singapore can take its S$100 steak and shove it up its ass.

(Hallelujah!)

I always wanted to try other things on the menu (like the German sausages) but everytime I see Schweinshaxe on the menu, I just have to order it. Damn. It is days like these where I pity people who are vegetarians. Those dumbasses have no clue what they are missing. Pork knuckle rules.

I also discovered that Sukhumwit Soi 16 is absolutely crawling with Arabs and Middle-Easterners. There is even a Uzbekistan restaurant (I know that Uzbekistan isn't exactly in the middle-east) which I did not have the opportunity to try (note to self : must try their couscous and kebabs). I did notice lots of kebab stalls along the road. Look:

(Vegetarians can go to a corner and sulk)

Ahh . . takes me back to the days when I was walking around in Istanbul, Turkey in 2003. I recalled eating a doner kebab along the shores of the Bosphorous after meeting a Singaporean couple who asked me to take a picture for them on the Galata Bridge during sunset. So I couldn't resist and order one.

After buying it and taking a bite, I decided that I was wrong and it wasn't a Turkish doner kebab. It was actually closer to a felafel (Egyptian food). They used a pitalike bread to stuff all sort of things in it, together with the kebab meat, and then roll it up. It wasn't completely a felafel also because it had no fava beans. Anyways, it wasn't bad and only costs S$2.

On my flight back, they served duck with noodles. Thank God, salmon on bread did not make an appearance. Still tasted horrible though.