{"id":4041,"date":"2018-08-21T10:09:00","date_gmt":"2018-08-21T08:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bleisuretraveller.com\/?p=4041"},"modified":"2020-04-29T06:20:11","modified_gmt":"2020-04-29T04:20:11","slug":"soul-kitchen-in-bangkok","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bleisuretraveller.com\/en\/soul-kitchen-in-bangkok\/","title":{"rendered":"SOUL KITCHEN IN BANGKOK"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Relaxed people and a cuisine that makes you happy: Bangkok is balm for body and soul.” Sabine Galas, Editor in chief of Business Traveller Germany
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To get right to the point: Bangkok is a singular culinary temptation – cooking and roasting is done on every corner. Cooking kitchens are as much a part of the cityscape as rattling tuk-tuks. Fortunately, the planned ban on the popular street stands is off the table – the Bangkok authorities recently announced a hygiene offensive, but after fierce protests at home and abroad agreed on stricter conditions for the stand operators. So gastronomic diversity is preserved – what a blessing!<\/p>\n

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Street food everywhere
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I don’t need white tablecloths to feel like I’m in seventh heaven. Bangkok’s cooking kitchens are my terrain – sitting on plastic chairs with strangers, breathing in the aroma of freshly prepared food, getting to know the country, the people and above all Thai cuisine. It is simply delicious and is one of the healthiest in the world, low in fat, rich in vitamins and – from coriander to tamarind – wonderfully seasoned. Among them is Phat Thai, which Vietnamese traders are said to have brought to Thailand and which is now considered one of the national dishes. It mainly consists of noodles fried with eggs, fish, shrimps or meat. In addition there are chili, peanuts and coriander, seasoned with chili, lime, fish sauce and cane sugar. Fruity, sour and hearty at the same time! And at unbelievably many places in the metropolis you can enjoy it incredibly well.<\/p>\n

Everywhere and everything is eaten with spoon and fork, chopsticks are only served with soups and noodles (Chinese). And the best addresses for street food? Actually everywhere. For beginners, we recommend the Khao San Road and the Yaowarat Road in Chinatown, where most of the stand operators speak English and can explain what’s on the table. Afterwards: just swarm out and feed! By the way: Hygiene has never been a problem in Thailand, the stalls are usually clean and the fresh ingredients ice-cold.<\/p>\n

Business lunch with a heli connection
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For upscale business lunches there are countless locations in the Thai capital, a very special one is the “Paribatra Aviation Lounge” in The Peninsula Bangkok. It is named after the first aircraft built in Thailand and offers a great setting for business people who love aviation and want to stay among themselves. The lounge on the 37th floor, which can be booked via the hotel’s banquet service, turns every detail of the theme into a programme: turbines, cockpits, pictures and airline logos from the past, plus a clear panoramic view of Bangkok – a real experience.<\/p>\n

Whatever the guests could want comes on the table – the chefs of the numerous hotel kitchens serve Thai, Cantonese, international cuisine or simply canap\u00e9s with cocktails. Those in a hurry can then be picked up by helicopter. The landing place, by the way also the starting point of helicopter tours over Bangkok, is one floor higher.<\/p>\n

Artistic Fine Dining<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"\"It took a very long time for the Michelin Guide to start its test lap in the country for some inexplicable reason. Since 2018 there has been a Thailand edition of its own. And at least 17 restaurants were allowed to decorate themselves with the coveted celestial body in the first year. The two-star restaurants include the Mezzaluna in the Lebua Hotel with its European-Japanese creations as well as the “Gaggan”, which is also regularly among the top performers in “Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants”, the Asian edition of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards. The progressive Indian cuisine of the “Gaggan” (photo left) comes so beautifully arranged on the plate that you’d rather frame it than eat it.<\/p>\n

Also part of “Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants”: the “Nahm” in the Comohotel with its high-class Thai cuisine under Chef Pim Techamuanvivit. For those of you who would like to change to German cuisine, we recommend the recently opened “Restaurant S\u00fchring” of the Berlin twins Thomas and Mathias S\u00fchring, who have immediately cooked their way to a top-20 position on the Asian list of the best with sophisticated home-made food from their home country. The newcomer is not really centrally located, but in the middle of a tropical garden. The brothers offer tasting menus with eight to twelve courses – ideal for introducing Thai business partners to German cuisine.<\/p>\n

Drinks vom Dach
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Those who finally want a cocktail with the illuminated Bangkok at their feet are spoilt for choice: from the legendary Vertigo-Bar \u00a0in the Banyan Tree over the Sky Bar and Scirocco \u00a0in the Lebua State Tower to the Three Sixty in the Hilton. One of the highest and chicest roof terraces is the Cru Rooftop Bar on the 59th floor above the Centara Grand in Central World. The bar offers some exclusive brands of G.H. Mumm Champagne. The atmosphere is more intimate than in the bars “Red Sky” and “Uno Mas” some floors lower, guests arrive in their own elevator on the terrace. In the centre there is a large circular bar with a curved round arch, which is illuminated in changing colours, pink, blue, green – very atmospheric!<\/p>\n

One of the newer spots in Bangkok’s nightlife is the Char Rooftop Bar\u00a0on the 26th floor of the Indigo Hotel in Ploenchit, a stylish location that is not very large, but cleverly divided so that you also have a certain privacy for yourself. The “Char” is not (yet) an in-address, but the ideal place to have a relaxed glass of wine and, leaning loosely into your pillow, look into the night.<\/p>\n

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Sabine Galas …<\/span><\/h3>\n

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likes the whole range of this city – from the shirt-sleeved kitchen to the chic rooftop bar. But most of all she enjoys the relaxation of the people and their positive attitude to life: “Sabai, sabai” – everything is good!<\/p>\n

Fotos: \u00a9 iStock\/aluxum, Gaggan<\/p>\n