Thailand dining

This is our favorite Thai restaurant in Bangkok. It is localed in a cute little house with antique furniture and a nice garden. The atmosphere is so pleasant and comfortable. The service is typically Thai, many servers to cater to your every need. We usually pay about $25 for a four-course lunch for three people. The food is excellent. The green papaya salad is a must, but everything there is good. Indicate how spicy you want the food. Here, as all over Thailand, the locals love extremely hot dishes. If you say "not too spicy", it may still be pretty hot to you. Baan Kanitha understand about Westerners. They have another location which your concierge could find for you, but I have never been there.

One note: it never fails that if you ordered a diet Coke in a restaurant in Thailand that caters to mostly Thais, it will be past its expiration date and taste awful! Order your diet Coke in a big hotel or in the touristy areas. Thais simply don't drink it.

When you visit, be sure to do it during shopping hours. My favorite store is just a door or two down from the restaurant. It is Rasi Sayam, on the same side of the street as you walk back to Sukhimvit. Owned by a Stanford MBA who settled in Thailand, it stocks fine handicraft, weavings, pottery and antiques. I always pick up something unique there at a reasonable price. True, it is more than you'd pay on the street, but the quality is much better and you don't have to sift through a lot of junk. Everything there is made in Thailand. Enjoy!

India Hut is located near the Oriental Hotel. It is very popular, ask at your hotel for directions. It has a great little sign that looks exactly like Pizza Hut. The food is the direct opposite of Pizza Hut! The best thing about it is the staff. One of them has a brother living in Sunnyvale, CA and likes to help you order. If you order a dish, he is likely to say, no, you need something different to go with the two other courses. If you leave it to him, he will decide your whole meal and it will be fabulous. The atmosphere is white tablecloths and a little formal, without being off putting. The neighborhood is dark and feels creepy at night, but there are cabs everywhere out front.

The buffet in the lobby of the Hyatt Erawan is well known as the best in Bangkok. It is pricier than the average lunch, but it is worth it. Bangkok buffets are by and large lavish and well done, but this is superb. They have Western dishes, Thai cuisine, sushi, and a wide variety of salads, desserts, and main dishes. Nothing has been sitting around getting soggy. A chef is there preparing things fresh all the time. We go there at least once a trip because my son who lives there can have a few American dishes (the cheese variety is varied and excellent in a country with little interest in cheese).

The beautiful air-conditioned lobby is a comfortable setting and you can see the famous Erawan shrine right outside. When a new building goes up, the Thais must erect a spirit house for the disturbed earth spirits. Food, flowers, incense and other gifts must be offered daily to the spirits. The spirit house at the Hyatt is one of the largest, complete with dancers. Evidentially, there were so many problems with the construction of the building that they felt the need to appease the spirits.

Good shopping nearby too. There is a huge multi-storied Thai handicraft store across the street. It is directly opposite the World Trade Center, a large shopping mall. Ask at the hotel, they'll know which way to walk.