BKK foodies...who's up a free meal in Dec?

[Roarke]

There was a fine dining thread in one of the forums, but not sure where it went, so starting a new thread for anyone interested in a good meal at no cost to them.

The scenario: I'll be in BKK first 2 weeks of December, and some of it will be for work. This work entails eating at restaurants, and requires me to dine with a guest. I have brought working girls in the past and sometimes it has worked out, while other times it has not. As we all know, Thais are not the best at making advance plans, showing up on time or following directions after a few drinks. I am not in a position to have it go poorly on this upcoming trip, so looking for a few farang buddies to join me for various meals.

A few years back, I met up with a board member who happened to be in BKK when I was there, and he joined me for a work dinner at the JW steakhouse. We popped over to Nana afterwards for a few drinks and the evening went much better than the previous time when I brought my Thai GF to an American restaurant in BKK. I'm looking to repeat that experience...Nana not required.

The back story: My wife will not be able to join me until later in December and as much as I love her, she is Thai, so she also sucks as a work dinner guest for the previously stated reasons, and I could use a break from that nonsense. I have other Thai family in Bangkok, and offered to bring my stepson for a meal, but now he's pressuring me to take his Thai GF so she can experience hi-so dining. Her English is worse than my Thai, plus she looks like a 20-something bar girl, so I would rather just take them out for a decent meal on my own dime and forgo the hassle of looking like the douchebag I probably really am at said work dinner.

The details: Upscale restaurants in Silom area; Dec 10-12. Lunches and dinners. We meet for a drink preferably around Sukhumvit the week before so we both know everything is copacetic, you show up in time for the reservation, dressed appropriately, relatively sober and are cool with having only 1 alcoholic drink with dinner. Monger talk is welcome during the meal and if you want to grab a drink after the meal and scope out freelancers in the bar area, that's on the table too. I can share more details privately if you are interested, but just trying to get feel for my options right now, since I don't have any farang friends in BKK this December, and am trying to not count on TF for dinner dates on this trip. I don't need any drama hanging around when the wife shows up later that month...

[nakhon]

I'm there end of December so can't but I'm curious why the one drink during dinner a good dinner needs some wine 

 

[Roarke]

@nakhon it's a company policy I cannot control. Everyone is allowed 1 glass of wine with dinner, but no more.

The idea is that they want my input on food and service, and if I am drinking too much, I am not as trustworthy. Since my employer doesn't want to get into arguing about who drank what, they limit meals to one drink each. There are ways around it, like ordering wine at the bar and brining it to the table with you, but in the end, I need an itemized receipt for the meal that lists one one drink each.

And it's tied into more than just the one dinner for me. It's bunches of meals, my hotel stay, travel expenses, etc., so if I make it through the whole week doing everything by the book, take the wrong girl to dinner the last night and she orders a glass of champagne with dessert while I am in the restroom, it could blow up my entire reimbursement, which is usually thousands of dollars.

A co-worker of mine brought a girl back to the room and after going to sleep, the girl raided the mini-bar and drank a bunch of the booze...and you need itemized receipts for everything, so they had to run around the city trying to find miniature bottles of booze to replace everything before housekeeping came into the room the next day!

Outside of that type of insanity, it can be a good job. I have expensed many trips to Thailand with it over the years, and it's actually how I discovered Bangkok many years ago.

[drifting clouds]

8 hours ago, Roarke said:

@nakhon it's a company policy I cannot control. Everyone is allowed 1 glass of wine with dinner, but no more.

The idea is that they want my input on food and service, and if I am drinking too much, I am not as trustworthy. Since my employer doesn't want to get into arguing about who drank what, they limit meals to one drink each. There are ways around it, like ordering wine at the bar and brining it to the table with you, but in the end, I need an itemized receipt for the meal that lists one one drink each.

And it's tied into more than just the one dinner for me. It's bunches of meals, my hotel stay, travel expenses, etc., so if I make it through the whole week doing everything by the book, take the wrong girl to dinner the last night and she orders a glass of champagne with dessert while I am in the restroom, it could blow up my entire reimbursement, which is usually thousands of dollars.

A co-worker of mine brought a girl back to the room and after going to sleep, the girl raided the mini-bar and drank a bunch of the booze...and you need itemized receipts for everything, so they had to run around the city trying to find miniature bottles of booze to replace everything before housekeeping came into the room the next day!

Outside of that type of insanity, it can be a good job. I have expensed many trips to Thailand with it over the years, and it's actually how I discovered Bangkok many years ago.

Can I get a job like that? Meals, hotels and travel expenses paid for. Sounds like a Dream job to me. Reviewing restaurants and hotels.

Edited October 26 by drifting clouds

[Roarke]

1 hour ago, drifting clouds said:

Can I get a job like that? 

Everyone says that when they hear about the job....until it actually comes time to write the review. It's a lot of work, and your environment is pretty strictly controlled (hence the 1 drink at dinner). Of the dozens of friends and family members I have referred, there's only 1 who stuck with it.

My friends have figured out it's way better to just be my guest. I think that every single personal I know has received a free meal or hotel stay at some point in time over the past 22 years I have been doing this.

My goal is mainly just keeping platinum status with my favorite airlines and/or hotel chain each year, because it makes the travel much easier. I can also parlay all the air and hotel points into actual vacations....

[itsme]

4 hours ago, Roarke said:

Everyone says that when they hear about the job....until it actually comes time to write the review. It's a lot of work, and your environment is pretty strictly controlled (hence the 1 drink at dinner). Of the dozens of friends and family members I have referred, there's only 1 who stuck with it.

My friends have figured out it's way better to just be my guest. I think that every single personal I know has received a free meal or hotel stay at some point in time over the past 22 years I have been doing this.

My goal is mainly just keeping platinum status with my favorite airlines and/or hotel chain each year, because it makes the travel much easier. I can also parlay all the air and hotel points into actual vacations....

That actually sounds like something I could do. I can write a pretty decent detailed review. 

[VietLondon]

I'll be in BKK early-mid December. Not sure what dates as I have to first do Chiang Mai and Sakhon Nakhon with family. Be happy to meet up and def go to Nana after 👍