Thai lunch buffet at Mandarin Oriental Hotel

I took some foreigner friends to a Thai lunch buffet at one of the best hotel in Thailand, and voted the best in the world a few times too, at Mandarin Oriental Hotel.



The view at the river from Mandarin Oriental Hotel, the Thai buffet restaurant is actually on the other side.  There's a free ferry service to take us over there.



View Larger Map



Some sort of spa area by the ferry port at the hotel before crossing to the restaurant



Mandarin Oriental used to be called just Oriental Hotel.  I have heard the name for a long time but never really got a chance to come to see it myself. 

Sala Rim Naam (or river-side pavillion) is the name of the Thai restaurant of the hotel's.  The head chef of the restaurant is a very well-known Thai chef teaching at the culinary school of the hotel too.

Entrance to the Thai restaurant, Sala Rim Naam

Atmosphere. The decor is so Thai and elegant



Noodle booth.  The have Guai Jub (Flat rice noodle in chinese 5-spice soup).   



They have fried rice and healthy red rice with some healthy seeds (I forgot lol)



Thai salad line. 



Fried stuff line.  As far as I remember, there're fried calamari, fried chicken wings, fried Thai fish cakes, etc.





Another view of the fried stuff line, shrimp crackers, fresh spring rolls 



Dessert and fruit lines



Another view of the dessert line, some cakes and thai dessert (I was so stuffed so didnt get to eat much)



For dinner, they also have Thai traditional dance performance here at the stage



Some of the food I got, Thai chilli paste sauce with various vegies, fried calamari, fresh spring roll



Mango with sticky rice, pomelo, star fruit

Overall, I think they do a really superb job in create such an experience.  The decor is like I was eating in a Thai palace, not just a hotel.  The details of everything is just amazing.  The service is also really great.  They pay attention to you for whatever you want.  And for the taste, judging from my Thai tongue, I still think it's not that great IMO, but all my foreigner friends loved it.  The price of the buffet was 750++ Bht/person, or around 800Bht/person after service and tax (or around ~ 27USD/person).  I wouldn't go there to have lunch on a regular basis, but if I have any friends from abroad visiting again, I would not mind taking them there again since the experience there is just so special.

Atmosphere: 10/10

Service: 10/10

Taste: 7/10

Price: 7/10

7-Eleven food in BKK

I've been back in Bangkok for a month now, and to be honest, I think there hasn't been any single day I didn't visit 7-Eleven!  7-Eleven is so everywhere here now - even by my house there're 5 7-Elevens in the 5-min walk distance, how crazy...


Anyway, I also found out that there're so many types of grab-n-go food in 7-11, and I've been good at trying them (not all yet but on my way there).  Having their slogan in Thai which translates to "Drop by whenever you're hungry", I think they do a pretty decent job in gathering all sort of local Thai snacks to grab and go.  The fact that they open 24 hrs is such a big plus as well.



Milk section, lowfat, nonfat, or yogurt milk can be found here




Snack section, Lay's is the primary brand now even in BKK




Cup noodles, cheap and filling (for those non-lowcarb) Mama is the leading brand




I'm not much a big fan of 7-Eleven's bakery



  



Drink section, there're interesting stuff like Beauty drinks, etc lol





Here's my fav section, the food



Pork balls, I think they're great!  22bht a bag (~0.75USD). There are two types too, the normal porkball and the porkball with tendon.  I personally like the tendon one. 




Sausages and smoked chicken wings.  The wings are goood




Japanese Gyoza by Oishi (FYI Oishi is a big Japanese buffet chain in Thailand)  I heard this is good but still havent tried it myself




Rice/noodle box.  Not bad




I think this is cool, sticky rice with Thai bbq pork (right) and sticky rice with Larb pork (Thai mint salad).  You get the feel of burger in a Thai style




Cake sandwich.  The bread is kinda cakish.  I like the one with sausages on the right.




Thai pork sausage.  7-Eleven has a very good Thai pork sausage (similar to the Vietnamese one) I super like this, although a bit pricey considering the small size (17bht, or 0.55 USD)




They usually have the rice/noodle box here, but now there's the Chinese vegetarian festival, so the fridge is packed with vegetarian food.  Prices are around 25-40 Bht





They also have these sausage varieties you can order.  Just tell them and they will get them out from the fridge and heat it up for you.  One good thing about Thai sausage is that it's not as fatty as the American or European one, though a bit more carby  lol.



They'll heat the hot food up for you, like this one she's heating up the cake sandwich for me



Sticky rice with Larb pork




Porkballs with tendon




Sausage cake sandwich





Porkballs come with sweet spicy and sour sauce (known as Thai chicken sauce)


Hope you guys enjoy food at 7-Eleven in Bkk when visiting too, convenient, cheap and taste pretty good :-)

McDonald's in BKK

You might have started to question already, why the heck would I write a food blog about McDonald's when I'm in Bangkok -_-".  Well, it's because I'm stuck at work today and just got a chance to grab a bite at 9.30pm where everything close by here is already closed, but a 24-hr McDonald's here at Amarin Plaza (near Chitlom BTS Station).




McDonald's Amarin Plaza branch, open 24 hrs and looks pretty fancy inside.

 

So, I just wanna share some Thai variations of McDonald's here, think it might be interesting to some of those who are curious what McD here is like.



Sofa area





Counter





Wall menu, then I heard "Pls don't take picture of the menu!"





They have special ketchup, American Ketchup, which is different from the original one they always have.  The original one is lighter and sweeter, and I actually like it better than the American one -_-'





McFish, this is 115Bht for the meal (~4USD), they also have Double McFish with two lavers of fish patties, 138Bht




Frenchfries, always good at McD





McFish size, is it smaller than in the States?



F



I like this one, TomYum chicken wings, 125 Bht for the meal and 5 wings





Pretty tastie~