I'm am soon going to BKK and will be staying in the Oriental. I was wondering, has anybody eaten the food there? How is it? I am interested in afternoon tea, breakfast (which I will definately have) and dinner. Is it terrible, mediocre, good, great, or phenomenal? How does it compare with other hotel restaurants (not that I will be limiting myself to hotels)?

Also, how is Spice Market in the Four Seasons and Celadon in the Sukhothai?

Thanks!

Ate there in December. Excellent! You won't be disappointed. It's actually in a separate building right next to the Sukhothai.

Maha Naga is also suppposed to be very good, but didn't get a chance to eat there. Next trip. See http://www.mahanaga.com/.

You might want to look in the Asia travel forum; lots of good suggestions on places to eat in BKK. Have fun!

Oh, if you want to try Celadon, make a reservation. When we went, a couple walked in ahead of us without one and were told the wait was two hours.

My parents and I spent 4 nights in BKK in February. We split our 4 nights at the Peninsula and the Oriental.

Breakfast-
If your breakfast is not included in the room rate at the Oriental, I recommend that you hop across the river and enjoy the excellent buffet breakfast at the Peninsula.

Not that the buffet breakfast buffet at the Oriental is bad. Far from it. The food is fine. The setting is riverfront, which is a very nice way to enjoy breakfast. Service is fine but lacks the warm Thai hospitality the rest of the hotel is famous for.

The breakfast at the Peninsula is wonderful. The food is much more impressive. Case in point, the pastries are first rate and fresh, where as at the Oriental, because it's an outdoor buffet in a humid environment the pastries become pale and wilted. Also, the outdoor cooking stations at the Peninsula do a very good job of keeping the warm buffet dishes fresh and appealing. You can sit on the riverfront if you want. Service is very attentive.

Lunch and Dinner-
I'd avoid the dinner show at Sala Rim Naam at the Oriental. The food isn't really that good and I've heard that there are better shows in BKK.

The lunch buffet at Sala Rim Naam however is excellent. The food was exquisite and the service was very gracious and a bit on the formal side. I think the buffet cost something like THB600 or THB700. Expensive for BKK but worth it.

I love Thiptara at the Peninsula. I love the wood pavilions. I love the warm, unpretentious, caring service. I love the evening riverfront setting. I love how they try so hard to accommodate to guests' tastes.

The Celadon at the Sukhothai was good but I didn't like it as much as pavilions. The service was a bit sterile but the food was very good. I didn't find the setting to be decidedly Thai; could have been Maui.

We had dinner at Shintaro at the Four Seasons. It was fine. Not overly impressed.

Afternoon Tea-

The afternoon tea at the Peninsula was a bit disappointing. The pastries and sandwiches weren't that good. And this is the first afternoon tea I've been to where they charge extra for refills of sandwiches and pastries (my afternoon tea experiences have included the Peninsula HKG, ORD, Harrods Georgian Room, etc.).

I really like the Authors' Lounge at the Oriental. Having tea there is really a trip to another era. The pastries that come with the tea set are good, but the a la carte French pastries were divine.

By the way, the food at the lunch buffet at Lord Jim at the Oriental is excellent. They have three types of succulent lobster, all deshelled, good sashimi and sushi, made to order if you wish. Fantastic desserts. Pricey for BKK (something like THB1,000) but well worth the price.

The Shangrila across the street also has an excellent resteraunt, Salathip....Riverside which is right on the river for dinner. Fantastic food.

Thanks for all of the great information. Yes, I do have breakfast included at the Oriental, but if the Peninsula's meal is so much better, I may forfeit the included breakfast once or twice...it was a cheaper room with breakfast than without so I thought I would take it. Also, do you know how the a la carte breakfast is at the Oriental? I requested an email and it is not that highly priced. Lord Jim's sounds really fun - I may have to try that, even though I wasn't planning to.

As for tea, the Oriental sounds really nice. I'm considering doing it when I arrive in BKK as it is in the afternoon. That is a bit wrong that the Pen wouldn't give you free refills. From the teas I've been to (FS LON, Lanesbourough, Claridges, Ritz Madrid), I found that they would all give refills.

Thanks so much, though for the advice.

Food at the Oriental ranges from very good to superb.

First -- tea at the oriental is a special treat. Don;t miss it.

Outstanding food -- Lord Jim for either lunch or dinner. Their lunch buffet is truly incredible. Also Normandie Grill which is considered one of the top restaurants in Asia. And China House is one of the best Chinese restaurants in town and it's a beautiful setting.

The lunch buffet at Sala Rim is excellent but I would not have dinner there.
All the other restaurants at the Oriental are very very good.

I found Spice Market to be mediocre at best and thought Celadon was good but not worth the taxi ride.

I agree that that's very wrong. Perhaps it's a result of the Pen charging only $8 for afternoon tea whereas the Oriental charges $30+ (!). The ambience at the Oriental's Author's Lounge is far superior.

Just to add: The hot entrees at the Pen's breakfast buffet includes rice and noodles, both of which can be prepared fresh at the outdoor cooking station if you ask for it i.e. if you'd rather not scoop from the already-prepared warm buffet section. Also, variety is astounding! IIRC, it's just under $20/pp.

I agree with previous poster's comments about Sala Rim Naam at dinnertime: highly avoidable. Food was a major disappointment as it feels mass-produced. I found the show lackluster but I'm sure others would disagree. Thiptara has fantastic ambience but food was disappointing as well. Mahanaga was interesting: great decor/ambience, yummy food but more fusion than authentic Thai. It is rather out of the way so cab it. I have yet to try Celadon and can't wait for my next trip to do so! Spice Market is nice - great service and good authentic Thai food. The setting is informal so don't expect luxury here. Come for dinner - the set menu is a great value and a good sampler, but I'm afraid the portions might be too large for a simple lunch.

I can also recommend Lan Na Thai in Silom - great authentic Thai food and ambience (you dine in a traditional Thai house on stilts). Also, Blue Elephant one Skytrain stop away from the Oriental - housed in a mansion, the quality of food is high here. For local standards, the prices in these establishments (as well as the hotel restaurants) are high but reasonable for foreigners used to NYC prices.

Try to request a window table when making reservations. And don't eat a big breakfast so that you will have a room to savor the seafood extravaganza during lunch.

I found this on the Pen's website. It seems that on weekends they have an afternoon tea buffet! And for only US$10!!!

http://newscenter.peninsula.com/webl...tch1=pen-press

Can you tell I'm a glutton?

blueDC is correct. The buffet breakfast at the Pen is about US$20:

http://newscenter.peninsula.com/webl...tch1=pen-press

Enjoy your trip!

Thank's so much everybody...can't wait to go!

I can second the recommendation for the Blue Elephant. The atmosphere was great, the food very good, service friendly, but not all that professional. Recommended.

Could you elaborate? I've just booked a table there and so far I have only read glowing reports...

People's tastes (and opinions) will naturally differ on restaurants. RE Celadon (and Blue Elephant for that matter), I've read posts indicating people love them or were underwhelmed by them. I though the food at Celadon was excellent, as was the service. The foie gras with tamarid sauce is by itself worth a visit to Blue Elephant (assuming of course that you like foie gras). Go and form your own opinion--I don't think Celadon will disappoint (I believe it made Gourment magazine's list of 50 best restaurants).

Yeah, that was one awesome dish...YUM!

I was very unimpressed by Spice Market (though the visit was many years ago) and Salathip (the restaurant at the ShangriLa). I have heard nothing but mediocrity about Sala Rim Naam at the Oriental. For upmarket Thai dining, my BKK resident friends say Blue Elephant is the best bet -- not as tired as some of the other choices mentioned. I hear pretty good things about Celadon a lot too -- not great, but nice.