Tuesday, February 25, 2020

As I mentioned before, the breakfast at the Marriott Sukhumvit Thonglor is ‘okay’ – but by far not up to par with the SGS. For example I’m missing the delicious mangos which are served there.

So today I was asked by the chef if everything is okay and I asked ‘why no mangos?’ He answered that they have to be cut in time, but he could serve me at the table. Therefore today, in addition to my noodle-soup I had a very tasty mango.


Afterwards up to the pool, unfortunately it was partly clouded. At around 12 to the gym where I did my usual program for 1 ˝ hours.

At around 4 it was time for lunch. Near to the Marriott, on Soi 55 there’s a highly recommended restaurant for Pad Thai and Hoi-Tod.


Most people think, that Pad Thai is the Thai national dish – but it comes from the south of Thailand. While the traditional dish in the north is more Khao Soi, in Bangkok area it’s Hoi-Tod, a oyster omelette with rice flour. Hoi-Tod is served in two ways, crispy or chewy – I prefer the later.

I took a seat inside,


checked the menu


and ordered one portion of Pad Thai Goong (with shrimps) and Hoi-Tod, watched the chef to prepare it.




When it arrived it already looked not like top-dishes, but maybe the taste would convince.


Actually it didn’t, both dishes were pretty standard, far from the best which are served in China town.

When I paid already my friend with his spouse arrived so I waited until the ate. Then we moved further up Soi 55 where ‘Souffle’ is located,




a small café on the upper floor of a shophouse where the now famous ‘souffle-pancakes’ are served.


The interior is pretty, we took a seat, me watching the souffle-pancakes to be made (which took 20 minutes).


While I went for the standard souffle pancakes with cream and maple syrup my friend went for the chocolate version. And I have been lucky – because the standard version looked much more appealing than the chocolate version, which wasn’t as fluffy as mine.


Okay, it worth the hype ? Yes, it is, 150% ! They were so airy, just melting in my mouth, with a wonderful discrete taste. Just WOW !!!

Back to the hotel where I decided to go on the treadmill for another 30 minutes before I relaxed until the evening.

At around 8:30 my friend called, told me it’s time to leave for the evening program. So we took a taxi to Lebua State Tower where the famous restaurant/bar ‘Sirocco’, which everybody know from the movie ‘Hangover’ is located.

Some years ago I had a very expensive dinner up there with my girlfriend… I’ll never forget it – because the food was so bad. This time we just went for the view and, because such a low amount of tourists in town, came in within minutes.

We drove up to 64th floor, went the huge staircase down,


through the restaurant area towards the bar.


Even there, no problem to find a place at the edge to enjoy the view.

But after 2 minutes you’ve seen it, really no need to spend US$ 300 for a bottle of champagne. So we left even without having a Coke Zero, drove down to the lobby and walked towards the Mandarin Oriental hotel, the most expensive hotel in Bangkok.

I’ve stayed there once, many years back – but it’s absolutely not my style plus I don’t like the location at the river, it’s too far from any BTS station, which is a problem with Bangkok traffic.

We went to the terrace at the river,


took a seat and enjoyed a drink (in my case, of course, Coke Zero) in combination with the view towards the river and the skyline.

By the Mandarin Oriental boat we crossed the river,


went to the Millenium Hilton, which, in my eyes, offers the best roof-top terrace of all Bangkok.


It’s not as crowded as the others, at a perfect height and is closer to the Royal Palace with its temples. That’s why at the Hilton Millenium you have the best view


After another Coke Zero I got hungry, luckily my friends, too. Since the Pad Thai for lunch had been pretty standard I decided to drive to ‘Thipsamai’ where in my opinion one of the best Pad Thai Goong is served.

Within 10 minutes taxi-ride we arrived and I was shocked ! Normally you do have a long, very long queue in front of the restaurant, hundreds of people waiting for a seat. 30 minutes of wait is luck, 1 hour is the standard.

But today, just 5 persons waiting in front of us.


And no cooking on the street ! In the past, while waiting, you could observe the process, very interesting to see. But now, I guess due to a new law, they moved the kitchen inside – quite boring.

After less than 5 minutes we were guided to our table,


ordered 3x Pad Thai Goong and a big bottle of their fantastic orange juice. Honestly, I don’t know what is better, their Pad Thai or their orange juice. The juice comes with a lot of pulp, the taste is more tangerine than orange – and it’s very, very sweet, without added sugar !

I went to the kitchen section, observed how they prepare the very thin omelette, wrap the noodles inside. Always a please to see.


After a while of wait our Pad Thai arrived,


I added crushed peanuts, sugar, rice vinegar with chili, lots of hot chili powder, bean sprouts and squeezed a lime over it. Then I mixed – and enjoyed.

Actually it was so good I ordered a second portion !

After we paid the bill we searched for a taxi, not too easy when you insist to pay by the meter.

Just after midnight we arrived back to the hotel, a very tasty day ended.