SIAM PARAGON FOOD HALL
The Thai corporation that owns the Emporium Shopping Centre also built and owns the Siam Paragon. Its motto “The Pride of Bangkok”. This very much up market shopping centre has half a million square feet of retail space, yet I have seen very few people actually buying anything in the marbled halls of this gigantic place.

However, I have seen thousands of people eating away to their heart’s content in the Food Hall on the centre’s ground floor.

In keeping with the overall tenor of the shopping centre, the food hall is also very up market and covers around half the space of the entire ground floor.

There are three different concepts in this gigantic food hall namely: Food Hall Food Court, Food Hall Gallery and there is the Food Hall Take Home.

On the first occasion we dined here at a particularly busy lunch time we chose to eat in the Food Court.

Like the other food courts of Bangkok, this particular food court offers mainly Asian choices, with Japanese, Malaysian, Vietnamese, Chinese (Cantonese), a stall specialising in dumplings, a desserts stall, two drinks stalls and of course, half a dozen stalls offering Thai including one stall specialising in food from the north-east of Thailand (Isaan) .

The Food Hall is shaped like a crescent moon, with marble top tables, marble floors and a lot of clattering and ambient noise.

On this Wednesday lunchtime it didn’t take us long to decide that we would go Thai. A quick march around the Thai food stalls resulted in us settling for one bowl of Tom Yung Goong, one Yaam Thas Poo (Winged Bean Salad), one Mee Grob (crispy fried noodles), one som tum salad and one Gaeng Khiaw Waan Goong (green curry with prawns).

Payment is similar to the MBK Food Court, in that one purchases a clutch of vouchers from the service counters at the entrance to the food court. What is not used can be redeemed on your departure.

The food court is surrounded by tanks of creatures from the deep, with many species of colourful fish, and it makes a nice contrast to the usual Bangkok food hall scene.

Don’t confuse this food court with the more up-scaled Food Hall Gallery, which offers an eclectic mix of cuisine from all corners of the world and where a card with a magnetic swipe strip is issued for the purchases.

After a wait of several minutes, our food was ready on big wooden trays. The Tom Yung Goong was pungent, tangy and eye-watering. There are variations on a theme for this famous dish of Thai cuisine, but the operators of this particular stall had not strayed from the original recipe. Clear fish stock, red chillies, galangal, ginger, garlic, small eggplants the size of large peas, four river prawns, holy basil, green chillies, Kaffir lime leaves torn – not pulverised in a mortar, palm sugar and some fish sauce. All of it combined to clear the nasal passages, water the eyes, delight the palate and send shivers down one’s spine.

The Yam Thas Poo – or winged bean salad I had not encountered before – hence the reason for its selection. This consisted of the aforementioned winged beans, some shallots finely slivered, a handful of shrimps, some chicken meat, some finely chopped green chillies and a smattering of similarly chopped red chillies, a spreading of roasted peanuts, with the ingredients smothered in a dressing of coconut cream, fish sauce, lime juice, chilli sauce and finished with grated coconut.

This particularly pungent salad had all of us gasping and oohing and ahhing simultaneously. Was it enjoyable? Very much so, and I made a mental note to order it again whenever I see it in either a restaurant or a food hall.

Next was the Mee Grob or crispy fried noodles. This Thai staple did not disappoint. Like the Tom Yung Goong I have never come across a bad version of this dish. This one consisted of the usual suspects in rice vermicelli, some finely sliced chicken meat, some equally finely sliced pork, a couple of slivered shallots, there was some garlic there was a small addition of yellow bean curd, a handful of bean sprouts, some egg omelette and the dish was finalised with a dash of fish sauce, some granulated palm sugar, a dusting of chilli powder and was dressed with fresh coriander leaves.

Everyone loved this dish and it was devoured in a few blinks of the eyes.

By now we were in “chilli overload” so we all hopped into the soothing ingredients of the som tum. Freshly julienned papaya with all of the usual additions soon had our palates re-balanced and the tongues less tingling than earlier.

Then to finish off it was another Thai staple – green curry with prawns. This well known and loved dish of Thai cuisine with its combination of green chillies, shallots, garlic, ginger, coriander roots, lemon grass, Kaffir lime leaves, and shrimp paste with a very generous helping of river prawns was an idyllic way to finish a memorable lunch in an equally memorable eating hall. To accompany this last dish a mound of Jasmine rice was supplied with the green curry dish.

To wash down these lovely dishes we each had two bottles of chilled green tea.

For such salubrious surroundings, the food on offer here is surprisingly cheap. The place is huge – surely the biggest food court in Thailand! The din is obvious as soon as you enter the food hall area, everyone seems to have a good time here and why shouldn’t they when the food is so delicious and cheap.

VERDICT: This is an outstanding food hall and is very popular with locals and visitors alike.

LOCATION:
You can’t miss this colossal shopping as you alight at Siam Station on the BTS.

COST: 1 x Tom Yung Goong 70 baht; 1 x winged bean salad 45 baht; 1 x crispy fried noodles 50 baht; 1 x som tum salad 40 baht; 1 x green curry with prawns 65 baht; 1 x dish of Jasmine rice 15 baht; 6 x bottles of green tea @ 20 each. TOTAL: 405 BAHT ($AUD15.28 at the time or $AUD5.09 per person.

SCORE: Food 8/10; value for money, 8/10; service n/a; ambience 4/10. Total : 20/30.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: A truly massive food court with a bewildering array of choices. We haven’t tried as yet the Food Hall Gallery, but I hope to report back on that posh place after our next visitation in February. I have no hesitation in recommending the Food Court Food Hall at Siam Paragon Shopping Centre.

TESCO LOTUS FOOD COURT AT ON NUT
Travelling around Bangkok on the BTS you will eventually end up at On Nut (pronounced “on noot”). It is either the beginning or the end of the Sukhumvit line depending on which way you look at it. Alighting at On Nut on the right you cannot miss the green vistage that is the huge Tesco Lotus Hypermart.

After shopping there for goodness knows how long for all manner of things, most of them inexpensive, and having built up an appetite in the process, one can exit from the massive hypermart into a modest food court.

This place is mostly patronised by Thai locals. It has numerous stalls offering Thai cuisine, a drinks stall, a dumplings stall and those hideous standbys of Western fast food, McDonalds, KFC and Wendys.

Giving the Western grease outlets a big miss, we ordered for our lunch Tod Hoi (oyster omelette) from one stall, red chicken curry from another with steamed rice and two bottles of green tea from the drinks stall.

This particular Monday lunch time had the food court very packed and it took us some time to find a table for two.

Eventually seated, I hoed into the Hoi Tod. Again, this dish never fails to disappoint me. A lovely tapioca and egg batter smothered in small juicy molluscs with finely chopped shallots and crunchy bean sprouts. Why don’t the Asian food courts in Melbourne do this marvellous Thai dish I wondered? Probably because the food courts do not have access to these lovely tiny oysters. Yes that would be it I concluded.

She Who Must Shop had beads of perspiration on her shopping brow as she slowly made head way into her red chicken curry. I just had to give her hand, so I went back to vendors, asked for a spoon and soon I was tucking into the lovely succulence of the red curry sauce and unfortunately rather dry chicken which I surmised had been pre-cooked rather than cooked with the sauce. However, the sauce that comprised red chillies, shallots, garlic, ginger, lemon grass, coriander roots, turmeric powder and black pepper did a commendable job in disguising the short comings of the basic ingredient.

The two bottles of green tea were the perfect accompaniments to this simple but tasty lunch time repaste.

VERDICT: Despite the fact that many farang shop here, the food court is very Thai, which is not surprising as it is located in a Thai neighbourhood. It seats about 300 or thereabouts and is nearly always crowded at lunch and dinner.

LOCATION: You can’t miss it. Take the BTS right to the end and alight at On Nut. Tesco Lotus is on your immediate right. Just follow the commuters over the air bridge, descend the steps and you’re in Tesco.

COST: 1 X Hoi Tod (oyster omelette), 49 baht; 1 x red chicken curry, 32 baht; 1 x bowl of steamed rice 12 baht; 2 x green teas at 15 baht each. TOTAL: 123 baht ($AUD4.69 at the time or $AUD2.35 each).

SCORE: Service, n/a; Food, 6/10; value for money, 10/10; ambience 5/10. TOTAL: 21/30.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: A cheap, cheerful Thai food court attached to one of Tesco Lotus’ hypermarts right next to the BTS On Nut Station. You can’t go wrong at these prices and as an added bonus, you can shop for just everything you would see at the markets here in the big Tesco mart for little more than you would pay at the markets – sans the haggling.

CENTRAL WORLD FOOD COURT
Of the food courts reviewed thus far, this is our least favourite. At night time you may as well forget about it and look elsewhere as most of the vendors have shut up by 7 pm and with so few diners in a cavernous food court it gives off a spooky ambience.

At lunch time it is all systems go with the place ending up being very crowded by the shop assistants in the massive shopping centre, visitors, shoppers, and nearby office workers.

On the only occasion we dined here at lunch time we ordered two Heinekens (large), one plate of Haw Mog Hoy (spicy steamed mussels), and one Tom Gai Proong (spicy chicken soup).

As it was so crowded we waited longer than normal for our dishes but after about 15 minutes our number appeared on the neon board and we meandered over and picked up our meals. Once again, this is a voucher food hall, purchased at the desk upon entry, and any leftover baht is recovered upon exit at the other cashier’s desk.

My dining companion who is a young Kiwi and works for PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Bangkok didn’t waste any time in tucking into the spicy chicken soup. The aroma from the steaming bowl smelt nice, and I detected pepper, shallots, ginger, lemon grass and lime leaves amongst some of its many ingredients.

Meanwhile my big bowl spicy steamed mussels looked invitingly devouring. In this huge bowl of molluscs I also detected shallots, garlic, red chillies. Coriander pounded in the mortar, lemon grass, lime peel, shrimp paste, coconut milk, egg wash dribbled over the top of the concoction and black pepper with sweet basil leaves.

The young one from the Land Of The Long White Shroud declared that the spicy chicken soup was just OK at its conclusion and he said he had eaten the dish at other food courts nearby and it was much better elsewhere. He said he scored it 4/10.

On the other hand my spicy mussels were sweet, and with the additional ingredients “spicing” them up several notches, I sensed I had made a wiser choice than my young dining companion.

The two Heinekens went down very well with the food, and with almost an hour up, the Kiwi headed back to balance more balance sheets, whilst I headed for the cashier’s desk to get a rebate.

VERDICT: A big food court in a truly massive shopping centre. Don’t go at night, as it is nearly all closed after 7 pm.

LOCATION: You can see the massive grey structure that is Central World as the BTS pulls into Chidlom station. The food court is located on the fourth floor.

COST: 1 x Tom Gai Proong (spicy chicken soup), 55 baht; 1 x Haw Mog Hoay (spicy steamed musels), 70 baht; 2 x large Heinekens at 100 baht each. TOTAL: 325 baht ($AUD12.40 at the time or $AUD6.20 each).

SCORE: Service, n/a. Food, 6/10; Value for Money, 7/10; ambience 5/10. 18/30.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: An OK food court, big and noisy, located in one of Bangkok’s massive shopping centres. There are better food courts around than this one, but the food is not too bad and it is rather cheap.

Well, that is all for the reviews of the food courts at this juncture.

NEXT WEEK: We take the Nonthaburi Express boat all the way up the Chao Phraya River to the town of Nonthaburi and we review a lunch on a floating pontoon at the Nonthaburi Ferry Landing.

Hey emdee, how's this value, last nights dinner for missus & I at a Khon Kaen Khao Tom restaurant in the city center: A red snapper steamed with ginger & Chinese herbs (the fish was smallish but OK for two), a plate of stir-fried vegi (pak boong) and a dish of cashew nut yum, plus rice and 5 large Heinekens. Bill was 580Bt. Well under $20AUD. Plus it cost me an extra 40Bt for the missus to buy bags of sugarcane to give to the elephants that walked past the restaurant, one of which was playing the harmonica with its trunk.

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The Truly Wise Man Never Plays Leapfrog With A Unicorn

Are you sure you weren't "elephant's trunk" BobMac, when you saw the elephant playing the harmonica?

That is incredible value - in fact there is nowhere in Bangkok that could possibly equal what you and your wife had last night. Some say, correctly, that Thailand is becoming expensive, but as both you and I have demonstrated, a visitor can still have a great time in Thailand without spending a veritable fortune on food and drink.

Would love to see that elephant playing the harmonica. I watched in amazement at some elephants in the Chiang Mai elephant camp paint scenes on paper. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I would never have believed it. Such elegant, but at the same time ungainly creatures, so intelligent, so gorgeous, so intelligent.

LOL. You always hear the elephants coming before you see them as their "trumpets" (I think thats the sound an elephant makes) is rather loud, but this time I heard the harmonica, we had a good laugh with that.

Yes, there is outstanding food value around if you know where to go. We never cook at home, not worth it, always eat out.

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The Truly Wise Man Never Plays Leapfrog With A Unicorn

Ohhh is the floating restaurant the one you sent me last year, Im to lazy to check my website haha.
Now Im hungry!!
Cathy

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http://www.cathyandgarystravelpages.com

Could be Cathy. I do this trip every time we are in Bangkok, sometimes twice if things are getting to me. I always feel relaxed and refreshed after the trip on the Express Boat and having a nice lunch at the pontoon restaurant.

Are you going back to Thailand this year?

Yes we are going back for another 4 months with a week in Cambodia (Phnom Penh) and god knows where else Gary will drive us to haha. The drives are the best part as sometimes we are gone for a week at a time. The countdown is officially on only another 21 weeks to go, sounds funny though as we have only been back from the last trip just over 10 weeks!!
Cathy

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http://www.cathyandgarystravelpages.com

Gee Cathy, how can you manage it. 3-4 months every year? I am struggling to find 3-4 weeks. We should have had kids earlier in life and then they could be supporting us rather than us supporting them!!
Do Gary and yourself both have very flexible jobs or have you invested wisely or won the lottery. I dont mean to pry but I aspire to be in your shoes one day and any information about how you make it happen may help.

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I love Thailand this much

Another great review Emdee, I haven't been to any of these places yet so it is great to have a few more for my list.

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I love Thailand this much

Shane, we are a lot older than you lol, our children are off our hands and have been for many years. Gary is retired after spending a lifetime in the army and a bonus from the old days is an army pension for life. We still save hard to be able to spend so long away and make every cent count here and there. (But its so much cheaper for us to live in Thailand).
Cathy

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http://www.cathyandgarystravelpages.com