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Got the same email from your spammer.

Rowyco has a point especially when you are on a short trip or fast turnaround. In order to force your body clock to adjust immediately, use the arriving city's time zone as your guide to eat, sleep, party or whatever.

I like to knock myself out (sleeping pill over the counter or doctor prescription), usually on the flight over to LOS. I drink lots of water and keep hydrated on board the plane. Not too much alcohol as the altitude does a number on you if your drunk.

When I get to LOS if it is about 11:30 A.M. coming in from SFO, I jump into the shower and grab a bite to eat for lunch, maybe check out a MBK, head back to the hotel, take a light siesta in the afternoon and start my nite out when the bars open which is routine. If I need a pick up at nite, a couple of red bull's, coffee or coke helps keep you alert and awake. Oh and don't forget your vitamins.. :lol:

Totally agree on Rut & Lek, great place, didn't really know the name but know the location well, great seafood and very, very reasonable.

 

If we are discussing dim sum, one place I go to often (again don't know the name) is located roughly between the Ratchatewi and Playathai BTS stops. Ratchatewi is the stop in front of the Asia Hotel. If you exit at Ratchatewi on the Asia side and walk up to Phetburi Road, cross it, then the dim sum restaurant is about another 200 yards/meters up. Not small, maybe seats about 100 people, never seen another farang in the place. Each plate was 15 baht, and a large choice of dim sum as well as larger thai dishes and seafood. It has always been very crowded each time I have gone. Dim sum is excellent as well as the chrysanthemum tea. The place is an easy 15 minute walk to Panthip as well.

Khagai, wow you are two for two on my posts so far. I will make an effort to check out your recommendation. Your thoughts are right, when you see loads of chinese/thai, etc. in a restaurant, you can be sure that the food is good and freshly prepared. Dimsum is great for lunch as it gives you a chance to try different plates and share them with friends and the girls.

I think you are talking about the Seafood Market on Soi 24, has a big sign in front of it saying "If it swims, we have it". About a 7 -10 minute walk down from the Emporium. It is exactly that, a huge seafood market in which you can pick up and take home OR buy what you want and have it cooked for you in whatever style you like, and eat it there. Has a vegetable market and a wine market as well inside. Quite large and ample parking (if you live in BKK and happen to drive). Caters heavily to the Japanese, quality of the seafood is excellent and the seafood is very fresh. Is on the expensive side, but of course you can control the price by the selections you make, but if you like seafood and have esoteric tastes, not to be missed.

Khagai, thank you for your input. You are spot on about Seafood Market. I know it is expensive somehow I would go there at nite with a girl but during the day, I like venturing to Chinatown in search of seafood and people watching.:rolleyes:

Is there any pizza place that does a true woodfired pizza? I have a preference for really good Italian style pizza.

Not the typical gas ovens that most restaurants use.

I have to stop by Giusto in June when I go there. They seem to have some really interesting menu selections. Thanks for that post.

Dunnman, just wondering about Tai Pan as there have been some posts about the hotel charging for guests staying overnite. Wondering if they have changed their policy.

This was one of my first hotels I stayed in Bangkok. I have to say the room was nice, although I had a really bad experience with management dealing with a problem.

The room above me must have left the water running from the bathtub and the bathroom's ceiling in my room started dripping water. I immediately complained to management to see the damage done. They tried cleaning the mess up but could not stop the leak enough to have a dry floor. I just forced them to change my hotel room and they did not make amends to right the wrong. Suffice it to say, for their prices, there are much better boutique hotels and service apartments in Bangkok now that this hotel isn't as nice as it used to be years back.

Bkk is one of the great eating destinations in the world. One proof of that is the fact that the city has some amazing Chinese restaurants in addition to her great Thai restaurants. Two of my favorite places are:

 

Ta Yang Grou - 5/4 soi Ngamduplee (just off Rama IV), a block south of Sathorn Road, next to the Pinnacle Hotel. This place has amazing dumplings & great northern Chinese food. It is open from 10am - 10:30pm.

 

This storefront restaurant has only 6 tables, but its authentic Beijing-style dishes are excellent. I recommend going the whole 9 yards by ordering the pan-fried dumplings (pork and leek & shrimp, vegetarian), the little "steamed stuffed buns" with pork stuffing, and the "lightly fried dumplings" stuffed with chopped greens and pork in thin pastry. That comes to around 40 dumplings, which should be enough for two hungry people, but I always order ma po dofu (hot Sichuan style ground pork and tofu dish) too. Have I whetted you appetite? Believe me, this is a world class dumpling place!

 

Rut & Lek - at corner of Yaowarat and Soi Texas (Soi Phadungdao) is a great sidewalk Chino-Thai seafood restaurant in the heart of Chinatown. It is open from 6:30pm to 2:45am.

 

The restaurant's specialties include mollusks grilled in their shells, whole kingfish smothered with minced coriander and herbs then baked in foil with black pepper and garlic, grilled succulent giant prawns, deep-fried squid with garlic, whole snapper steamed in a broth with ginger, green onions and preserved Chinese plums and crab fried rice. Don't miss this place. I have been coming here for years.

 

Gogul, thanks for your recommendations. It seems you have a good grasp of chinese food. In your opinion, which restaurant would you recommend for good and authentic Cantonese dimsum?...I prefer Cantonese over the trendy Teuchow cuisine.

Makaaa I too like you, enjoy great tasting seafood. But unfortunately, when it comes to fresh live seafood Bangkok prices tend to cater to tourists. There is a fave of mine, I think is close to soi 24, that is a seafood restaurant, where you choose your seafood from the tanks, they weigh it for you and cook your way, and use the sauce you prefer, steamed, fried, sauteed, sauces can be curry(green, yellow,red), spicy, oyster, XO sauce, thai fermented shrimp or fish paste, you name it they will do it.

If you have the time, a trip to Chinatown, is good and quite reasonable, not to mention the seafood is alive in tanks too. Go there for lunch and have some dimsum with your seafood and prices are cheaper than being in the touristy areas such as Emporium/Siam Paragon, or the big hotels that have chinese restaurants.

I did have an outstanding meal at the Hilton Riverside once. I can tell you the seafood was superb, and the dimsum was very tasty. The entrance has a small kiosk that sells tea of various grades and varieties. If you are a tea fancier, like I am, it is worth a visit for some rare and hard to get teas.