THE FOOD COURTS (Part I)

MAHBOONKRONG (’MBK’) FOOD COURT, 6TH FLOOR

“Why bother about street food when you can come here and eat the same, in civilized surroundings and not stress about the lack of hygiene”, said She Who Must Shop.

A very good point I privately conceded as we surveyed the crowded sixth floor food court of Bangkok’s citadel of consumerism.

It was lunch time on a Friday afternoon and we had come with two staff members of the apartment complex where we stayed at in Bangkok. Anna, who had accompanied us to the street stall a couple of evenings previously and “Pony” from the concierge desk. It wasn’t his real name, but that was what everyone called him.

The first thing was the cashier’s desk, where I purchased 550 baht of coupons for the foursome’s lunch and then the second task was to find a table for the four of us in the crowded food hall. This place is so popular with the locals and it doesn’t take long to find out why it is so popular.

Pony tapped me on the shoulder and said a nearby table was about to vacate so he stood hovering over the patrons as they stood up to leave and the four of us pounced on the vacancy as there were quite a number of people looking out anxiously for somewhere to sit.

I split the coupons into four lots of 100 baht and told She Who Must Shop, Pony and Anna to select what they wanted whilst I stood as a sentinel over the table.

As they went their separate ways I looked around this extraordinary food court and came to the conclusion that it must be the consistently best patronised food court in Central Bangkok. On this particular Friday afternoon there were very few Western faces here – mostly it seemed to be Thais who worked in the immediate vicinity – or locals who had come to MBK for their weekly hit of shopping and thence to the food court.

Pony was the first back with a dish of “crispy chicken rice” (35 baht) and a bottle of lemon iced tea (20 baht). He said this was his favourite dish and that any time he came to MBK it was always the same stall and order for him. The dish consisted of a mound of steamed rice with several pieces of deep fried chicken covered in spices. The delicious odours of the dish assailed my nostrils and it made me impatient for the two women to return with their selections so I could order my “special”.

Soon Anna arrived back a bowl of Tom Yung Goong soup (70 baht). Once again the pungent smell of this famous soup of Thailand had me salivating. “What stall did that come from Anna”, I inquired. She pointed to a stall to my right which had the sign C4 on it as she sipped from her green tea (20 baht). OK, I thought, that changes my strategy just a little bit.

Then the Shopper Girl arrived back with an oval dish of Thai Fish Cakes (35 baht) with some sweet chilli sauce and a papaya salad (40 baht).

As the shopper girl took to her fish cakes, I made a beeline for stall C4 and ordered the same as Anna had done a few minutes earlier. Whilst the stall staff started to prepare the soup, I nipped over to the drinks stall and purchased a bottle of iced lemon tea for the Shopper Girl (20 baht) while I ordered a large bottle of Heineken beer (105 baht).

As there was something else I wanted to order, I then had to return to the table and get some of the left over coupons from the other three to pay for the Tom Yung Goong.

I returned to the table with the pungent liquid and its ingredients. In no time at all I found my nasal passages were completely clear of the accumulation of Bangkok’s pollution and my eyes were streaming from the intake of the fiery liquid and the delicious ingredients.

Pony, Anna and the Shopper Girl had all decided on a coconut shaved cream with ice and Pony had done the gentlemanly thing and arrived back not only with his dessert but also Anna’s and the Shopper Girl’s. At 50 baht each these desserts looked to be a bargain as well as a hit with the trio.

However, I hadn’t hit my favourite stall . . . yet! I headed over the right yet again and found the “oyster girl”. Every time I have eaten at the MBK Food Court, I have never been able to go past the Hoi Tod which is very small oysters in an egg wash and tapioca batter. How I love this simple but tasty dish.

A few minutes later I was devouring and savouring every mouthful of the beautiful Hoi Tod. Of all the dishes that the Thai cuisine can throw at you, this has to be at the top of my list. At 70 baht it was one of the more expensive dishes in the food court, but it was worth every one of those 70 baht.

The others had finished their desserts and as we only had a few coupons left I purchased another 200 baht so I could go to the desserts stall and buy a mango and sticky rice concoction (45 baht). I have never been into desserts or “sweets” as they are commonly referred to and after a few mouthfuls I pushed the plate away. Anna asked if she could finish it and I told her to go for it, which she did with much oohing and aahing.

I noted that all the stalls now had jugs of boiling hot water where the patrons could sanitise their eating utensils. What a far cry from the street cart scene I thought. As the Shopper Girl said at the beginning of our midday repaste “Why bother eating off the street carts when you can come here”. Why, indeed, I concurred.

Anna and Pony bade their farewells as they headed back to work and I collected some loose change from the cashier’s desk as we left the food hall for the Shopper Girl to continue to do what she does best while your correspondent contemplated an afternoon of boredom playing the part of the Shopper Girl’s mule.

LOCATION: Most people know where this famous food court is, however, for first timers to Bangkok, just hop on the Skytrain and alight at National Stadium. Follow the signs and the commuters into the Japanese Department store and walk right through it. You are now on the fourth floor of MBK. Take the elevators up to the sixth floor, where you find more stalls and shops. Keep heading to your right and at the far end you will come to the MBK Food court.

VERDICT: The sixth floor food court at MBK would have to be one of the best known food courts in Central Bangkok. It is vastly popular with locals and visitors alike. Lunch time is the busiest time and the best time to visit as in the evenings some of the most popular stalls have run out of ingredients and have shut up for the night.

COST: Food; 2 x Tom Yung Goong @ 70 baht ea = 140 baht; 1 x Som Tam 40 baht; Thai Fish Cakes (8) with sweet chilli sauce 35 baht; 1 x crispy chicken rice 35 baht; 3 x shaved coconut cream with ice 50 baht ea=150 baht; 1 x hoi to 70 baht; 1 x mango and sticky rice pudding 50 baht. Food total: 520 baht. Drinks: 2 x lemon iced teas @ 20 baht ea=40 baht; 1 x green tea 20 baht; 1 x large bottle of Heineken 105 baht. Drinks total: 165 baht. GRAND TOTAL: 685 baht ($25.37AUD at the time which worked out to be $6.34 per person.
OVERALL IMPRESSION: If you are going to “try” Bangkok Street food this is the place to do it. It is bright, noisy, clean, extremely cheap, with tasty food served in a clanging happy ambience. You won’t head here for a romantic soiree, or for a peaceful lunch interlude and most certainly not for a business lunch. You will head here for some of the best “street” food in Bangkok, at unbelievably low prices. I cannot recommend this place enough.

SCORE: Food, 9/10; Service: N/A; Value for money, 10/10; Ambience 5/10. Total: 24/30.

THE LOFT
This temple to gastronomy is to be found on the 7th floor of the Central Department Store’s Chidlom branch. I have said this in an earlier review some three or so years ago, but let me repeat it here; THIS IS THE BEST FOOD COURT I HAVE EVER SEEN.

Unlike MBK’s 6th floor food court, you do not come here specifically for Bangkok Street Food served in hygienic surrounds, but rather you come here for the eclectic offerings of several of the world’s leading cuisines and more.

This is another very popular eating hall both for Thais and most certainly for ex pats and visitors. Upon entering its portals you are given a card, very much like a credit card with a swipe strip on the back of it. No need to pay up front here, as everything you purchase will be stored on your card which is electronically calculated upon your exit at the cashiers desk.

On this particular occasion it was a Saturday evening visitation and even at 6 pm the place was almost packed. After collecting our cards one of the black-clad male waiters found a table around the corner for us. This is the swishest food court in Thailand or anywhere for that matter.

She Who Must Shop couldn’t wait any longer and hared off to a food stall she had spied on her way to our table. I surveyed the landscape of stainless steel, blonde wood, black walls, floor to ceiling windows, the myriad stalls selling the most delicious dishes in the cleanest and most hygienic food court I have ever seen.

While waiting for the Shopper Girl to return I thought about the meeting I had had with a leading executive of the Westfield Corporation back in Australia a couple of years earlier. I had tried to entice Westfield into setting up something similar to The Loft in their Shopping Centres, but after three fruitless meetings I was informed that they were happy with their food courts as their customers were happy with them.

Ah yes, I thought, the “greasy spoon” food courts of Oz. Hungry Jacks, McDonalds, Snappers Fish & Chips, Muffin Break, Indian food sitting in bain maries for hours, Chinese food ditto the Indian scenario, NZ Ice Cream, Coffee and Cream Cakes, and we had an obesity epidemic. No wonder!

The Girl Who Must Shop returned with a strawberry crumble. “What the” I exclaimed “it’s a dessert”!
“So” she responded. “You don’t start a meal with a dessert”, I said admonishingly. “But, if I had waited they might have all been gone”. What’s the use I thought.

I went to drinks bar and purchased a large Heineken (140 baht) and a glass of Italian white wine (Fressiano) for the dessert muncher which was rather costly at 140 baht, but one instinctively knows that you will be skinned ordering wine in Thailand.

I then headed for the Chinese stall and ordered a hot and sour soup, which was brought to our table in about four minutes by one of the black clad waiters. The Shopper Girl had crumbled her way through her strawberry crumble and now looked at me as I sipped the delectable spoonfuls of the hot and sour soup. “I don’t know how you can eat that hot soup”, she said dismissively. “Better to start with this than a bloody strawberry crumble”, I grumped.

She disappeared once again for the food stalls as I sipped intermittently on the Heineken and the hot and sour soup. “Superb”, I thought as I swallowed the last spoonful of the hot and sour.

At this juncture the Strawberry Crumble Girl returned and said she had ordered some sushi from of course the Japanese counter. A few minutes later the same black clad waiter returned with six pieces of freshly made sushi with a small mound of wasabi paste and a small container of Kikkoman Soy Sauce.

I pinched one of the Girl’s sushi dabbed it in the wasabi paste and poured a little soy over it. The seaweed wall, the rice and prawn inside were magic. This had opened my appetite and I thought “I’ve had Chinese – what shall I go for now”?

A walk around the shiny stalls led me to the conclusion that some Vietnamese would be the go. So I placed an order for six Vietnamese deep fried spring rolls and a banana flower salad.

The latter I had not had since we had visited Hanoi a couple of years earlier where we had discovered this delightful dish at a training school for street kids run by an Australian Vietnamese chef.

The black clad one arrived after about 10 minutes with an oval dish of six spring rolls, deep fried to perfection, non greasy, and not breaking up, with a container of soy sauce. The Shopper Girl gave me hand with the spring rolls and we concluded that they were exactly like the ones we had so loved when we were in Hoi An and which we used as the benchmark for other Vietnamese spring rolls ever since.

And then it was on to the crème de la crème - the banana flower salad.

This signature of Vietnamese cuisine consisted of two banana flowers, some thinly sliced red chillies, some grated ginger, I detected some palm sugar, lime juice, fish sauce, there was a handful of bean sprouts, a generous amount of small river prawns, a julienned papaya, some coriander leaves, a few red shallots thinly sliced, a few small Thai basil leaves, the traditional Vietnamese mint leaves and some peanuts which had been roasted and pounded in the mortar. The dressing consisted of fried French shallots and vegetable oil.

This outstanding dish from Vietnam was devoured by both of us in a few minutes. It left us with a fresh and tingling palate each, so flavoursome, so cool, so hot, so healthy, so fresh, so memorable.

It was my time for desserts, so I couldn’t go past the bowl of fresh fruit. Consisting of banana, strawberries, star fruit, blueberries, oranges, apple, and rambutan it was the perfect ending to my meal and a foil for what had preceded it.

We picked up Shopping Girl’s umpteen bags of merchandise and checked out at the cashier's before heading back down the line on the Skytrain.

VERDICT: Yep, this is the best food court ever. The concept is simple, it is upmarket, you have eclectic offerings from all around the globe, it has a good vibe, it is justifiably hugely popular and it would seem we will never see its like in Australia.

COST: 1 X strawberry crumble 80 baht; 1 x glass of Italian white wine 140 baht; 1 x Heineken bottle of beer large 140 baht; Japanese susih 155 baht; 1 x hot and sour soup 105 baht; 1 x banana flower Vietnamese salad 95 baht. 1 x bowl of fresh fruit 65 baht. TOTAL COST: 635 baht ($AUD25.51 at the time).

SCORE: Food, 9/10; Value for money, 9/10; ambience 7/10; service, 9/10. Total: 34/40.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: The Loft continues to be the benchmark for all other food courts everywhere. It has everything going for it from sleek customer service, top notch food, to smart waiters with a comprehensive command of the English language. My tip: Don’t leave Bangkok without a visitation to this outstanding food court.

LOCATION: Take the Skytrain to Chidlom. The Central Department store is on the same side as you alight if you are coming from Siam station. Follow the commuters into the store. You are on the second floor. Take the escalators to the 7th floor and you can’t miss the THE LOFT.

Next week: In Part B of the food courts, we visit the Siam Paragon Food Court, Central World’s food court and finish off at the Tesco Lotus Food Court at On Nut.

Emdee,
It was your original review of The Loft many moons ago that led me there a few years back and now it is on the top of our list every time we are in Bangkok. I love the little "sunken" seating area, extremely comfortable and they quite often have a jazz duo playing there adding to the atmosphere. They should have put something like this in at Crown Casino.
Great Food,freshly cooked, amazing choice and I love the card system, much better than the prepaid vouchers but it makes it more difficult to stay within a budget...but who cares.

__________________
I love Thailand this much

Shanek,

I think it would be very difficult to stick to any sort of budget at The Loft. There are just far too many temptations and the food as you have pointed out is fresh and magnificent. Boy, would I love to see a food hall like this in Oz - it would undoubtedly be a smash hit.

Food halls are stating to pop up in many shopping malls in the States. Although most vendors are established franchises, there are some tasty exceptions.

Hi emdee, I'd never even heard of The Loft before, so I'll check it out next trip to BKK. Though 140Bt for a Heineken is way too much, generally I won't order if the price is over 90Bt, unless there's some special reason. I agree that food courts are an excellent way to try cheap Thai street-style food in comfortable and hygenic surroundings.

PS: On the subject of beer. I'm starting to rethink my earlier opinion of Beerlao. This last trip to Pakse in South Laos we found a nice garden restaurant with draft Beerlao, and that was excellent. I far prefered the taste of the draft to the bottles or cans, and the price was absurd, about 50THB for a jug. Very nice indeed.

__________________
The Truly Wise Man Never Plays Leapfrog With A Unicorn

Agreed BobMac, 140 baht is over the limit for a Heineken. That is only mild criticism I would have about The Loft - the price of alcoholic drinks. All other non-alcoholic drinks are most reasonably priced.

Also BobMac, you will be pleased to know that there are many vegetarian choices to be had at The Loft. The Indian stall has some brilliant vegetarian dishes as does the Japanese stall. There are others as well.

Ah Emdee....... Another good read and it makes me hungry just reading you review.

MBK Food Court..... its hard to get a bad meal here and there is so much choice and as well they churn out top class street food in quick time at such good prices for us tourists. There is a little food court just off the China Town entrance in Sydney, but of course not Thai food and this place mainly serves slop from the bain Maries. If you arrive for an early lunch you will find the food is fresh and not stewed in the early part of the day and it is cheap. However, I agree, a mini MBK in any of our major cities would be a blessing, perhaps some day.

We also tried the Food Hall at the Emporium Shopping Centre, a bit more upmarket and a bit more pricey than MBK but once again quality eating and a fairly good range of outlets which operate on the swipe card system and the seating is good as well. I gave it 10/10 for food and cleanliness, a little less for the prices, but still value for the Oz dollar spenders. For those who are interested its at the Emporium Shopping Centre, Sukhumvit 24- catch the skytrain to Phrom Phong station and you can walk straight into the centre from the station exit on the left heading towards Nana. The food part is on the fifth floor- ignore the Burger King, Starbucks and Swensens etc (no Maccas from memory) and go straight for the real stuff- you won't regret having lunch here.

Oh I could almost taste that soup. I don't know what was making me drool the most the thought of the food or the shopping LOL
Thanks for another great report

__________________
Kiss
God laughs at people who make plans.

Isn't food so cheap in Thailand when you convert it into Oz dollars and compare what that amount would get you back home. Last night wife & I had dinner at one of our regular Khao Tom restaurants, we had a deep-fried fish in spicy sauce, a dried shrimp yum, a stir-fried vegi dish, rice and 3 large bottles of Heineken. When the bill came it was $16 AUD. I said to my wife, back in Oz the fish dish alone would be $16.

__________________
The Truly Wise Man Never Plays Leapfrog With A Unicorn

So many places to eat; so many dishes to try; so little time!

__________________
Alison

------------
It's Better to Burn Out than just to Fade Away!