My first trip there for the lunch buffet (NOV97) had me in a goosebump fit! Wonderful. I took my honey there in '99, and he thought highly of it as well. I think it came to about $15 with tax & tip.

P.S.: I prefer to stay at the Peninsula; haven't had lunch there, though; just their tasty breakfast buffet.

[This message has been edited by LGA (edited 07-09-2001).]

LGA, I took a look at your website and was amazed at the breadth and depth of the dining section. If anyone has a more voluminous and impressive first-person list of world restaurants with personal, yet objective commentary, I have yet to see it. Suggestion: given the current format of theses forums, you might want to consider dividing your dining section and posting links to sections in the appropriate forums.

I was especially interested in the Thai restaurants you listed in the U.S. In my own experience, which is limited in terms of U.S. Thai venues, even the best establishments, including those run by Thais, seem to dramatically water down their offerings for local tastes. However, based on some of your reviews, I plan to keep an open mind and check out a few more in the U.S., perhaps in the NYC area.

Thank you! I have thought of (at the very least) doing those # tags so that I don't have to create separate pages but at least people can jump to the right section. I'll get around to it eventually...

After 14 years of childhood in Texas, I can handle a fair amount of spice; Sripraphai (in Woodside, Queens), at the "American medium" level, is around my maximum comfort level! I lived in SFO for 4 1/2 years, and Sripraphai is my favorite (extant) Thai restaurant in North America. (I would still miss Siam Grill in the Castro if Sripraphai were not a 13-minute walk from my home!) Details at www.angelfire.com/ny3/globalgourmets (http://www.angelfire.com/ny3/globalgourmets) (do a Ctrl-F to find Sripraphai on the page).

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Life's a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death!

Actually, Sala Rim Naa, the thai restaurant at the oriental, is NOT their best brunch. Next time, try the brunch at Lord Jim's on the BKK side of the Chao Phraya river....lots of Thai cooking, but also sushi, cheeses flown in every few days from France...simply superb. A "marker" for how fine the service is is that the sugar comes as a syrup so you won't have undissolved crystals in your iced tea!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Steve007NY:
Actually, Sala Rim Naa, the thai restaurant at the oriental, is NOT their best brunch. Next time, try the brunch at Lord Jim's on the BKK side of the Chao Phraya river....lots of Thai cooking, but also sushi, cheeses flown in every few days from France...simply superb. A "marker" for how fine the service is is that the sugar comes as a syrup so you won't have undissolved crystals in your iced tea!

</font>

Brunch is a different category, and when in BKK, I'd compare the Thai food at lunch at Sala Rim Nam to the Thai food at lunch at Lord Jim's. I'll try to remember that for the next trip.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Steve007NY:
A "marker" for how fine the service is is that the sugar comes as a syrup so you won't have undissolved crystals in your iced tea!
</font> Well then, I must know several dozen of the finest shophouse and hawker venues in Bangkok;) A mini-carafe of liquid sweetener served alongside iced tea, nam manao (lemon/lime-ade), and various nam polomai (fruit juices) is not uncommon in a variety of establishments.

UAL--Judging form many of your responses in the past, I bet you DO know many of the finest "shophouse and hawker venues in Bangkok". I suppose I could have used the "we refold your napkin in a different pattern each time you leave the table" example. Try finding napkins at your roadside stands! :-)

Only the finest Steve, only the finest http://www.flyertalk.com/dining/ftdining_forum/wink.gif BTW, FWIW, at 99% of Thai restaurants (the real ones), they are called tissues (pronounced 'titz-yoo' in Thai) and are made of, horrors... paper!

Ever eat at any restaurant in Thailand, where the tissuz is a roll of toilette tissue?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by ROADRUNNER:
Ever eat at any restaurant in Thailand, where the tissuz is a roll of toilette tissue?</font> Surely, but you must understand the difference between 'tissue' and 'gra-daht chum-ra' and the implications... ;)

Headed back to BKK for 2 weeks in Dec and a friend will join me for an introduction to the Thai smile! http://www.flyertalk.com/dining/ftdining_forum/smile.gif

Would like to know of the better restaurants for lunch and dinners at the present time. Will appreciate any places, since I am insisting he treat his private tour guide to good meals. Not necessarily, the most expensive places.

I tried the lunch buffet at the Penisula last year. Lord Jim's sounds like a nice try this time, since I haven't given the Oriental, it's due!

Other interesting dinner spots with a show might be fun to.

Thanks for any suggestions! RR

[This message has been edited by ROADRUNNER (edited 11-09-2001).]

I was just in BKK and had a memorably bad meal at the Oriental. It is hard to see why anyone would bother going except for the location. One would do as well to eat on the street. I would, however, highly recommend the restaurant at the Sukhothai Hotel. A lovely room, gracious service and remarkably good food.

Agree about the buffet at Sukkothai... one of the best in the Kingdom.