walking tour/birthday dinner

As mentioned in a previous post, yesterday was Conrad’s birthday.  And a big birthday at that!  There will be a celebration down in the desert next month, but yesterday it was just the two of us.  And bookending the afternoon nap and pool time?  A morning walking tour and an evening celebratory dinner at the hotel.  Shall we?

The walking tour of Old Bangkok with a focus on food markets was the second of two that I had booked through Withlocals.  The first one, as you know, we had to cancel.  Not the case with this one, happily.  Conrad navigated us to a metro station, and a few stops later we were at the Art and Culture Center meeting up with our guide, Piyaporn.

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That market was devoted to clothing, though,

and so it was into a tuk tuk

and off to the next market where we immediately stopped at a vendor selling bananas two ways.  

One way the bananas were less ripe, starchier like plantains.  The other and even tastier way was banana breaded, and as part of the breading, unripe rice was used.  It lent a green colour, and the treat as a whole had a nutty flavour added to it.  Excellent stuff.  We moved into the market.

The third item was the one that Conrad and I agreed was the best.  At the stall, the vendors grilled long, green eggplants over a charcoal grill.  These were cooled and cut up to be mixed with a dressing that Piyaporn asked them to keep super mild for us.  The result was so good.  Unctuous eggplant dressed in sour, salty, herbaceous dressing.  We took the bowl with us to another vendor who was making delicately thin mung bean batter crepes.  These had a vegetarian filling that included tofu, coconut, and sprouts.  We took one of those and sat at a table to devour it and the eggplant.  Both excellent, the eggplant a winner.  I did add a bit of chile to mine for some zip.

I should clarify at this point that we did NOT eat all of pretty much anything, and I say that even though we shared everything.  It would have been way too much.

Next stop was at a little restaurant that had sheltered but not indoor seating.  A bowl of a beef soup with assorted cuts and organs plus noodles.  

We would take the beef and dip it into a sauce we mixed ourselves.  Well, Piyaporn mixed it for us, customizing it for each of us.  This, too, was tasty.  And quick - on to the next stop in the market.

I wish I knew the name of the next treat, but it was one we had had before, in the market in Sattahip.  I loved them then and I loved them again, little pancakes with custardy middles.  

Yum!  Down the aisle a turn, and a stall where there were crisp crepes with an egg and coconut filling.  Mildly sweet, looking like tacos.  Lighter than I expected.

Piyaporn had given us a heads up that we would have sweet things later on, including mango sticky rice, and I half jokingly commented about having durian sticky rice.  Next thing I know, we are at a shop where they sold that, and I have to say, the fruit is better as part of sticky rice.  Really tasty.  Still pungent!  

What was even better about that stop, though, is that the shop sells old time sweets apparently, and we were able to find the coconut treats we loved so much in our hotel room in Chiang Mai.  Yay!! Three bags to come home!

The next stop was the last of the savoury foods.  Green curry and fish cakes at a sitdown restaurant, but one with a royal connection.  The woman who founded the restaurant had been the cook for the king’s sister, and when the sister learned of the venture, she came to visit and dine during regular restaurant hours.  I liked the curry - called sweet for its soft green colour - and I really liked the fish cakes seasoned with red curry.  Nice stop!

We walked onward from there.  That part of town had more government offices, and we could see the uniforms and such that marked off the area and its people.  Piyaporn next took us to a Michelin mentioned place noted for its mango sticky rice.  

Good, of course, but I think I liked the durian sticky rice more.  One more stop after that,

Ice cream!  Conrad had his coconut ice cream plain, but I had mine with palm fruit and sticky rice.  

And with that, we were done.  And done in!  So much food, all of it good.

Piyaporn walked a little farther with us and then pointed us to the royal palace and a temple.  We thanked her, headed off, and quickly veered to the metro station nearest.  It was time to get back to the hotel and refresh.  One ride and a quick shop later, and we were cooling off and eventually napping.

Post nap we headed to the pool for a bit of a swim.  It’s a 25m pool, a large one for a hotel.  We actually swam a few casual laps before lounging a bit.  Then it was time to begin getting ready for Conrad’s birthday dinner.

Van had told us that the hotel has a couple of good restaurants, one of them being La Scala, an Italian restaurant.  Conrad opted for that one.  Yes, despite how much we enjoyed our day and all the food, we are looking forward to the greater variety of food (Japanese, Mexican, Venezuelan, French, American) that we enjoy back home.  The funny thing is, the restaurant wasn’t especially Italian to our eyes.  Pizza and pasta and some antipasto, but the mains seemed less Italian.  No, I am not complaining.  

There were no other diners when we arrived, and that was nice.  Others eventually came, but it is always a treat to be able to hear each other.  The menu was deceptively simple because the food that came out was gorgeous and delicious.  Service was polished.  The martinis were properly dry and huge.  We had a lovely bottle of wine.  And the staff brought out a special dessert for Conrad and sang happy birthday to him.  He was delighted with the meal, the whole day.  I’m so glad he could have a celebration he enjoyed so much.

Dinner done, we headed upstairs.  Slowly got ready for bed.  Lights out, his birthday all done.  One more day in Bangkok ahead of us before travel home the next day.