People who reckon that I went to Thailand for the food would be wrong. Of all the major Asian cuisines, I am probably least enthusiastic about Thai food. The opportunities just weren’t there. Besides, given the option, I’d pick Korean or Japanese food over Thai ten times out of ten.
Not to say Thai food isn’t great, of course. I like a good plate of pad thai as much as anybody. Fried rice placed inside of a half-sliced pineapple? I can’t ever hate fried rice. Tom yum though I am actually not a fan. I would happily drink Thai iced tea by the gallons if I didn’t care an ounce about my health.
But that’s about it as far as my experience with Thai cuisine. Therefore, my list of must-eat foods while I was in Bangkok was relatively short.
Pad thai is easy enough: they’re available practically everywhere. As a foreigner unaccustomed to the steamy Bangkok weather, I chickened out and went to an indoor sit-down restaurant with air-conditioning. I suppose the street stall pad thai is even more authentically delicious, but I didn’t want to eat a plate of hot food in the searing humidity. Verdict: it’s not overly better than what’s available in the States. Unlikes eating sushi in Japan, pad thai has not been ruined for me.
The two food items I most want to eat was banana roti and watermelon smoothie. This stems from watching lots of Korean-language variety shows. Whenever those shows travel to Bangkok, roti and watermelon smoothie make frequent appearances. Both can be found at any mall food court or night market. Roti is essentially crepe. Sliced banana is one of the many fillings you can choose. After finally tasting one, I can say it is indeed fantastic.
Koreaboo?