Thaied and tasted
By Ken Hom

Living in central Bangkok is foodie heaven. I feel very spoiled as there are countless great eating possibilities, many within a 10 to 20-minute walk from my flat.

In fact, when Crystal Jade first opened, I ran to the famous Erawan shrine next door and offered thanks to the spirits. I have always found Chinese food in Thailand to be rather dismal and was delighted with this offshoot from the Singaporean chain. Although the cafeteria-style decor is rather sterile, the food is superb. If you don’t speak or read Thai or Chinese, the illustrated menu with lovely photography is the perfect guide.

Avoid the chef’s recommendations and stick to the more simple and basic dishes. I have managed to eat my way through the entire menu of close to 100 dishes. Fried minced pork with Sichuan preserved vegetables is not to be missed, with its combination of pork stir-fried with pickled vegetables – you fill it in the sesame bread pocket that comes with the dish. A great favourite is Fried “La Mian” with shredded pork black fungus where hand-pulled noodles with their wonderful, slightly chewy texture are stir-fried with pork. Another you must try is “La Mian” with beef in chilli oil , braised beef shanks cooked and thinly sliced with a fragrant chilli oil – sure to wake the dead. The signature dish is the Shanghai steam pork dumpling in which delicate thin pastry encases a savoury pork mixture with soup that explodes in your mouth. It is very hard to limit oneself to just one tray of four dumplings.

A very popular restaurant is The Little Kitchen, located in Central Chitlom department store. It offers a quick and simple menu of surprising, delicious food that is extremely affordable. It was recommended by a close friend, Nong, who used to eat there with his school friends. The spicy crispy fish skin salad is quite spicy, with a shower of sliced onions, Chinese celery and plenty of chillies, all covered with lots of lime juice and fish sauce. The crunchy bits of fish skin add a wonderful textural contrast to the salad. Another salad to try is the spicy sour pork sausage salad, with thick slices of tangy fermented pork sausage from northern Thailand. A wonderful vegetarian dish is deep-fried bean curd and taro, which comes with a sweet and spicy dipping sauce. Fresh bean curd is deep-fried for a lovely crispy crust and paired with a straw-like tangle of crunchy sweet taro strips.

Upstairs on the seventh floor of the Central Chitlom department store is The Food Loft, a rather trendy, upscale, food-court dining concept representing some of Bangkok’s most popular restaurants. You are given a card upon entering and it is tabulated when you exit. Go and pick from one of many open kitchens including Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Singaporean, Indian, Thai and even Italian. All the food is prepared and cooked in front of you and comes out rather quickly.

One of the great charms of Bangkok’s streets is that all the food vendors cooking with their woks and smoky grills. However, I somehow don’t relish eating in uncomfortable chairs amid the car fumes and the noisy traffic. Instead I go to The Food Court at Siam Paragon shopping centre. Located in the basement, it has 24 food concessions, including two for drinks and dessert. There is an array of pan-Asian cuisine choices, mostly Thai with some Chinese and one Japanese. It is all quite delicious and amazingly inexpensive and you just point to the dishes that look most appealing to you. Huge fish tanks are part of the decor so children love it.

If I am looking for a quieter, calmer experience, I simply go upstairs to L’Espace de l’Oriental, on the main floor of Siam Paragon. There I can enjoy the cuisine of the famed Mandarin Oriental Hotel without going all the way out to the river. Parma ham with sweet mango and sesame cracker strikes the right tone as the salty ham is paired with the sweet mango for a refreshing light starter. The classic Thai fried rice – khow pad – with pork, shrimp, spring onions, topped with a fried egg and accompanied with an assortment of satays, is delectable and great value. Of course, there is also the famous phad Thai of rice noodles stir-fried with blue river prawns and accompanied by Chinese chives, bean sprouts and bean curd – all very Thai and tasty.

As much as I love Asian food, I do crave Italian sometimes. Then I simply go to Gianni, which by consensus is the best and most reliable in town. Just 10 minutes away, this comfortable, relaxed restaurant has a huge and excellent Italian wine list. Gianni is passionate about his cooking, which is a unique blend of traditional and modern. Innovative pasta combinations change daily. You can see Gianni’s Adriatic influence in his wonderful dishes made with local Thai fish and seafood. His grigliatina di pesce filettato e crostacei, grilled fish fillets with scallop, mussels and prawns, is sublime. Gianni’s home-made sausages, lobster-stuffed ravioli and braised lamb shanks transport me to the Adriatic in mid-Bangkok.

Five minutes from my flat is the restaurant I love the best. The crowd at Thang Long matches the restaurant: hip, young, mostly Thais. However, this popular restaurant consistently makes the best, inspired Vietnamese food with just the right Thai touches. When you sit down, you are given a flowerpot of fresh lettuce, fragrant herbs, cucumber and carrot sticks to nibble on, with a bowl of shredded daikon and carrot in a sweet and spicy sauce. Banh xeo is a turmeric-flavoured crackling crêpe, a classic, Vietnamese dish filled with minced pork, prawns, chives and bean spouts. Fried soft-shell crab with garlic and pepper was right on the mark. Marinated fish served with an array of steamed cabbage and green beans was magnificent when it was dipped in the extraordinary sauce made of tomatoes, chilli, garlic and onion. I never fail to order bo la lot, cured pork wrapped in “Good King Henry” leaves. I always leave this restaurant with a satisfied stomach and a smile on my face as I slowly walk home.