47 replies to this topic

[fiona]

I was in Bangkok this summer and went to this great restaurant called 'Cabbages and Condoms' in the Sumkumvit area. Don't be discouraged by the name! The income from the restaurant goes towards helping AIDS, population, development and other projects. It is truly a unique restaurant... you eat in a sort of covered garden. The decorations and ambiance is great, and the food is excellent as well. There is even a little room at the back where you can get a massage after your meal. We ended up going to this restaurant twice because it was so good. Highly recommendable! I know there are also a lot of other restaurants like this one, where the profits go to some good cause. They are usually all very intersting and unique restaurants in my opinion

[prasantrin]

Cabbages and Condoms has some dishes that are difficult to find these days--khao tang na tang and krathong thong, for example. But quite honestly, I don't find the food to be particularly good. It's fine, but you can do better elsewhere (at better prices).

I also hate that C&C encourages tipping. You don't have to tip in Thailand. You can if you want, but you shouldn't be made to feel guilty if you don't.

[Behemoth]

A newish place in Bangkok called Bo.lan is worth a visit if you are in Bangkok. Not entirely succesful,
but they are trying hard to do high end, interesting, traditional Thai food, in a contemporary setting.

Some Australian guy from Nahm is the chef, together with someone else. It is very much better than Nahm though, which is fairly mediocre.
I liked it more than my host -- some friends who were coincidentally at another table the same night absolutely loved it.

Downsides -- clueless service, mediocre wine list, food maybe lacks some sparkle, but it beats other competing places in Bangkok.

On Sukhumvit Soi 26
Bo.lan

Good fancy place to take the parents for a celebratory dinner? (They won't care about the wine list.) The other option I was considering was Celadon. Other similar suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Er, I hope neither of these places places were burned down in the protests?

[balex]

Better than Celadon which was Westernised to extinction,
I assume they are both still operating but worth checking beforehand,

[g.johnson]

Not Thai* but we had an excellent Chinese meal at Mei Jiang in the Peninsula Hotel.

*We'd been in Thailand for a bit and wanted something other than Thai.

[g.johnson]

Looking up Celadon, I realize we ate there too*. Good but not great and not particularly celebratory.

*We were staying at the hotel which is wonderful but not in a great location.

[Behemoth]

Not Thai* but we had an excellent Chinese meal at Mei Jiang in the Peninsula Hotel.

*We'd been in Thailand for a bit and wanted something other than Thai.

They're heading to HK after that but I'll file it away for future use. OK, Bo.lan it is!

[yvonne johnson]

Not Thai* but we had an excellent Chinese meal at Mei Jiang in the Peninsula Hotel.

*We'd been in Thailand for a bit and wanted something other than Thai.

They're heading to HK after that but I'll file it away for future use. OK, Bo.lan it is!

But, but.....the Chinese food at Bangkok's Peninsula is better than the Chinese food in HK! (Joshing, kind of.)

[g.johnson]

Not Thai* but we had an excellent Chinese meal at Mei Jiang in the Peninsula Hotel.

*We'd been in Thailand for a bit and wanted something other than Thai.

They're heading to HK after that but I'll file it away for future use. OK, Bo.lan it is!

Spring Moon in the Peninsula in HK is very good too, though we only had lunch there.

Lung King Heen at the Four Seasons is also very good.

[prasantrin]

Not Thai* but we had an excellent Chinese meal at Mei Jiang in the Peninsula Hotel.

*We'd been in Thailand for a bit and wanted something other than Thai.

They're heading to HK after that but I'll file it away for future use. OK, Bo.lan it is!

But, but.....the Chinese food at Bangkok's Peninsula is better than the Chinese food in HK! (Joshing, kind of.)

Have you ever tried Peking duck in Bangkok? It's old style, so it's very crisp skin with no fat or meat attached for the first course, unlike the "newer" versions in Beijing or HK that have fat and meat. Best I've ever had.

[yvonne johnson]

Not Thai* but we had an excellent Chinese meal at Mei Jiang in the Peninsula Hotel.

*We'd been in Thailand for a bit and wanted something other than Thai.

They're heading to HK after that but I'll file it away for future use. OK, Bo.lan it is!

But, but.....the Chinese food at Bangkok's Peninsula is better than the Chinese food in HK! (Joshing, kind of.)

Have you ever tried Peking duck in Bangkok? It's old style, so it's very crisp skin with no fat or meat attached for the first course, unlike the "newer" versions in Beijing or HK that have fat and meat. Best I've ever had.

Had that in HK. It was very weird to me as I like the meat and skin together.

[balex]

Not Thai* but we had an excellent Chinese meal at Mei Jiang in the Peninsula Hotel.

*We'd been in Thailand for a bit and wanted something other than Thai.

They're heading to HK after that but I'll file it away for future use. OK, Bo.lan it is!

But, but.....the Chinese food at Bangkok's Peninsula is better than the Chinese food in HK! (Joshing, kind of.)

Have you ever tried Peking duck in Bangkok? It's old style, so it's very crisp skin with no fat or meat attached for the first course, unlike the "newer" versions in Beijing or HK that have fat and meat. Best I've ever had.

Absolutely! I haven't been to China, but this is what everyone says. Certainly the best I have had. Also very good suckling pig served in the same way: pure skin.

[prasantrin]

The suckling pig served that way is great, too. A little place near Chatachuk was the first time (and only) time I'd ever had it. I remember watching my dad tear off the ears and the tail--it kind of grossed me out, but the skin was sooooooo crispy and delicious!

@yvonne--I guess the preference is all about frame of reference. I grew up eating the skin-only style, so I was very disappointed the first time I had Peking duck with fat and skin attached (in Hong Kong). Now almost every place serves PD "new style", so I try to get it whenever I'm in Bangkok.

I like getting fried chicken skin in BKK, too, but that's getting harder to find.

[Behemoth]

Well, Bo.Lan certainly wins the prize for most useless website. Lots of fancy Flash but none of it works, and neither does the online reservation link. Ugh!

[prasantrin]

Well, Bo.Lan certainly wins the prize for most useless website. Lots of fancy Flash but none of it works, and neither does the online reservation link. Ugh!

I got to the reservation page, it just took forever and a day to get there (plus it's a pop-up window, so if you block pop-ups, you have to allow them then start from the very beginning again). Does it not submit? I filled it out, just to see if I could, but I didn't submit.

You can get there directly from http://bolan.co.th/reservation.html if you want to try again.

Definitely an annoying restaurant website.