Monday, January 26, 2009

Old German Beer House in Bangkok, Thailand




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Old German Beer House in Bangkok, Thailand

Old German Beer House in Bangkok, Thailand

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There aren’t a lot of places that have a real German atmosphere in Bangkok but the Old German Beerhouse on Sukhumvit Soi 11 is definitely one of them. This place had been established for years on Sukhumvit Soi 23 and was an open air restaurant/bar that was across the street from the Soi Cowboy entertainment area. They always did a good business but when the owner found out he was going to lose his lease because of a new development in that space he opened up in a large space in the Grand President complex on Soi 11. Both places were open for a period of time before the old location closed. Now the Soi 11 location seems to be doing better than the old location ever did.


That’s probably due to the fact that Soi 11 is the busiest soi on Sukhumvit when it comes to foot traffic and that will increase even more when several large condo projects are finished in the next year or two. Also, there is now an air-conditioned space as well as an open air area that fronts right onto the sidewalk. People can now sit in the air-conditioned section or in the front where they can also smoke. Don’t worry about smoke bothering anyone, though, since there are lots of ceiling fans here.


The main reason, however, is the fact that this place is very well managed. These guys are experienced and smart and they know what they’re doing, qualities that you won’t find everywhere here in foreign-owned restaurants. The food comes out of the open-plan kitchen promptly, the service staff is attentive (more on this later) the food is good and the prices are reasonable. It’s hard to find a reason not to come here. I’ve been to this location a number of times over the years and rarely, if ever, have I ever had any kind of problem, however small.


The food here, while mostly German in origin also covers some other culinary bases with some international dishes available as well as the German stalwarts like pork knuckle, schnitzel and various sausages. One special treat here is the Friday night pig roasts which they’ve been doing for years. And every day they’ve got chickens roasting on the rotisserie in front of the restaurant which beckons pedestrians inside with their aroma. The menu also contains roast pork, pork chops, goulashes, sauerbraten, German meatloaf, a good variety of soups including green pea and lots more.


And as an illustration of the smarts and experience they have here, you’re almost guaranteed great service because they’ve placed little bells like you might see on a hotel’s front desk on every table. If a waitress isn’t at your table when you need something just ring the bell and you’ll have one there fast. Anyone who’s been here for any length of time and been in a lot of bars and restaurants will appreciate the genius behind this move. Also, the bartender manning the front bar at night is a real hard worker, flying around the place so that your glass is never empty.


As the Old German Beer House has evolved over the years it has steadily improved and they arenow at their highest level, in my opinion. The chances of them maintaining their current status are excellent and it’s great for anyone who’s looking for a small corner of Germany here in Bangkok.


See http://bangkokdining.ning.com/profile/blog/list for info on Bangkok restaurants.


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Bei Otto German Restaurant in Bangkok




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Bei Otto German Restaurant in Bangkok, Thailand-Photo-02

Bei Otto German Restaurant in Bangkok, Thailand-Photo-02

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For some authentic German food In Bangkok one place to go is Bei Otto on Sukhumvit Soi 20. It's run by chef/owner Otto Dufner, a Bangkok veteran of about 27 years. Otto's a big, burly guy with hands like a pair of Carpathian hams. He looks like the stereotypical German burgher straight out of his native Black Forest, but instead of engaging in some sort of rough physical type of labor Otto mastered the art of cooking and baking.


Those are two of the activities that take place here, the others being a delicatessen and a butchery. Actually, nothing is killed on the premises, but instead, some of the best German sausages, cold cuts and other meat delicacies are manufactured in the large kitchen and food prep areas.


The food that Otto makes here is an important part of the German experience at Bei Otto, but more on that a little later. Of per­haps equal importance is the atmosphere that Otto has created through the decor and the clien­tele that frequent the restaurant.


Our favorite section of this rambling three-part structure is the dining room with the large circular bar as a centerpiece.


There's also another dining room and a deli area where everything from meats, cheeses, beers, prepared foods (including Otto's own line of canned German soups) and a large selection of international newspapers are sold. The bar/dining room has the coziest ambiance, however, and re­minds us of what we think a Ger­man country inn should look like.


White, stuccoed walls and ceilings are set off by narrow, dark beams and window trimmings. Comfortable chairs and banquettes provide seating for about 60 people in this room and the adjoining addition and the walls are covered with dozens of photos of patrons enjoying themselves in the restaurant over the years. There have been seven years here, by the way, and an additional six at an earlier location on Sukhumvit.


The clientele here on the Tuesday night we visited was mostly foreigners with a sprin­kling of Thais and everyone was busily eating and drinking. For a Tuesday, it was actually quite a good crowd. The other dining room across the way was doing a brisk business as well. In fact, if you're interested in visiting on a weekend you better make reservations first or you could find yourself waiting for a table. Anyway, the foreigners here looked like they could all have been German, so it lended a little more authenticity to the surroundings.


And if you do, at some time, find yourself waiting for a table, you won't mind too much be­cause you'll be able to experience another aspect of the authentic German flavor of the restaurant by Sipping on one of the imported beers that are available. Otto brings in some real German wheat beers as well as some pilsners like Warsteiner and Kaiser and the excellent Deibel's Alt, a dark amber brew with a nutty, toasty taste that's light on the hops and very smooth on the palate. Try one of the Schneider Weisse varieties too, for a representative taste of some of Germany's best wheat beers.


When you get to the menu you'll find a wide variety of well­known German favorites and some lesser known dishes as well. A pan-fried Bavarian meat­loaf and braised beef in sweet and sour gravy fall into the latter category. Various German sausages, wiener schnitzel and pork knuckle are representative of the former category.


The appetizer and soup sections contain dishes from Ger­many and the rest of Europe with entries like Norwegian smoked salmon, deep-fried camembert cheese, Hungarian goulash, Ital­ian tomato soup, potato soup, and German pea soup.


The sausage page contains nine entrees and all of the sausages are, of course, made in Otto's butchery. And, in addition to the regular entrees, which cover several pages, there are five steak entrees that are pre­pared on the Lava Grill. We neglected to ask what a Lava Grill is, but the dishes looked quite appetizing, especially the Chateau briand.


The desserts page features some German favorites also with strudel leading the way. We've never made it that far because the portions here are very large. You'll have to struggle to make it through an appetizer and main course, so keep that in mind if you want to have dessert.


One thing that must be men­tioned is the level of the service here. It is undoubtedly one of the top places in Bangkok when it comes to the attentiveness of the waiters, the speed of the kitchen in putting out the food and the overall friendliness of the staff. Whoever is responsible for man­aging this end of the operation deserves the highest kudos.


Great service always helps one to enjoy the food more and some of our favorites here include the grilled .half chicken with French fries, a real deal at only 150 baht, the pan-fried sole fillet at 250 baht and any of the sausage dishes which range from 95 to 180 baht. These and any of the other dishes offer real value for money.


We don't know if value for money is another German characteristic or just one of Otto's, but either way this is a great place to experience a full range of German delicacies in an authentic way. Bei Otto has certainly made a tremendous effort to present as authentic an experience as possible for diners and they should be commended for reaching the level that they have. It's the next best thing to being in Germany.


See http://bangkokdining.ning.com/profile/blog/list for info on Bangkok restaurants.


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Bull's Head Pub in Bangkok, Thailand




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Bulls Head Pub in Bangkok, Thailand-Photo-03

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If, after spending several days checking out the exotic foods and sights of Thailand, you'd like to relax for a while in familiar environs, try spending some time at the Bull's Head Pub on Sukhumvit Soi 33/1. It's a British pub that's authentic in decor and food, that assessment having been verified by British friends during a recent visit.


The crowd is a mixture of expats, travelers and Thais and on a recent Sunday evening it looked to be probably the busiest pub in Bangkok, not packed but comfortably full.


One of the reasons may have been the unique happy hour that the Bull's Head puts into effect on Sundays between 5 and 7 pm. Every drink that you buy is accompanied by a flip of a coin. If you call heads or tails correctly, your drink is free. If you're wrong, you pay the regular price. Obviously, over time, the bar will even out at 50/50, so it's the same as offering two for one drinks, but it gives the customer a chance to get a few free drinks on any given night and adds a bit of fun to the proceedings as well.


Whether or not we were ahead or behind by the end of Happy Hour is a fact that will always remain obscured by the sands of time, however we did have fun occasionally winning and that's the point.


The main attractions here are the crowd and the very good CD juke box which contains a sizable selection for the over 30 and over 40 crowds which is the predominant age group here it seems. The atmosphere is very relaxed as it probably is in any real pub back in the isles, so don't worry about what you're wearing, just show up and have a good time.


The food is a pleasant surprise, consisting of many old English favorites as well as a selection of steaks from the U.S. and Australia and lamb and salmon, too.


So when it's time to relax after the hectic pace of traveling, find your way to the Bull's Head and it's familiar environs. You'll be glad you did.


See http://bangkokdining.ning.com/profile/blog/list for info on Bangkok restaurants.


 


 


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Novotel Siam Square Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand




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The Novotel Siam Square Hotel has been open in the midst of one of the city’s shopping and entertainment areas since 1989. It has a Chinese restaurant, an international restaurant, a nightclub complex and a spa among other amenities. As well as being in the middle of Siam Square, an interesting collection of shops, restaurants, nightspots and other businesses, the Novotel is also right next to the Siam Square Skytrain station, making it a very convenient location to reach.


The hotel contains 429 guest rooms and suites and is decorated to a four-star level. The guest rooms contain many of the amenities you would expect in a hotel of this class including satellite and pay per view TV, high-speed internet line, minibar, safe and voicemail.


The food and beverage facilities provide an adequate selection of foods and entertainment both. The Lok Wah Hin Chinese restaurant is a high-end place featuring a wide variety of traditional Chinese dishes. There are over 300 dishes from various areas of China such as Hong Kong, Szechwan, Canton and Shanghai. There is also a dim sum menu with items starting as low as 60 baht.


The Square international restaurant offers a daily buffet at mealtimes as well as an ala carte menu and a kid’s menu. The cuisine comes from all over the world and there is a large fresh-cooked selection as part of the buffet, giving The Square much more of an interactive element than most buffet restaurants. There is also the La Brioche bakery and deli shop which has a good variety of baked goods, sandwiches, salads, and cheeses.


The entertainment complex in the basement of the hotel, Concept CM2 focuses primarily on its large live music room that features international bands nightly, but there are also a sports bar, B@S, and four other bars in the complex along with various chill-out seating areas in different motifs. This place has been a very popular meeting place for over 12 years now.


For relaxation there is a nice pool area and also the Tammachart Day Spa which specializes in natural therapies for both men and women, refreshing the senses with a number of relaxing, treatments and massage services which include sports massage, aroma oil massage, cellulite massage, Swedish massage, traditional Thai massage and feet or hand massages, all with an emphasis on nature. There is also a small fitness facility here which nevertheless has enough equipment to provide you with a good workout.


Considering the central location of the Novotel Siam Square it’s a good choice for people who want to travel around the city a lot. However, it also has enough facilities of its own as that you can stay at the hotel whenever you want too.


See http://thaihotels.ning.com/profiles/blog/list for info on hotels in Thailand.


 


 


 


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Resort Dining at the Boathouse -- Phuket, Thailand




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Resort Dining At The Boathouse In Phuket, Thailand

Resort Dining At The Boathouse In Phuket, Thailand

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Resort restaurants often fall into a number of different categories: novelty themes, stuffy haute cuisine or super casual beachside outlets being some of these. The Boathouse Wine & Grill in Phuket, Thailand is none of the above, al­though some of the elements of these types of restaurants are pre­sent.


The most striking feature of the Boathouse Wine & Grill is its loca­tion — right on the sand at lovely Kata Beach. It’s attached, of course, to The Boathouse, a 36-room hotel that offers guests a small, intimate retreat from the normal mega-hotel but including the usual amenities.


The other distinguishing feature of the restaurant is its award-win­ning wine list. The U.S.magazine Wine Spectator has presented it an Award of Excellence for having one of the best restaurant wine lists in the world. That’s pretty heady stuff for a small establishment like The Boathouse, but it’s certainly well­deserved as becomes evident when you peruse the list itself.


Let’s not forget the food, howev­er, as there is more to The Boathouse than a great view and some good vino. The eclectic mix of Thai and Western dishes pro­vides the right mix of casual and sophisticated dining without being too relaxed or too uptight. It fits in beautifully with the open-air dining area and the constant, gentle sound of the surf 30 meters away.


Each section of the menu except for the one labeled Meat contains an almost even mix of Thai and Western dishes. Appetizers, for ex­ample feature warm smoked salmon crepes and duck carpaccio alongside Kung Sarong (prawns with vermicelli) and Poo Grob (deep-fried crispy minced crab and prawns). You can alternate, as we did, from East to West as you make your way through the courses.


Soups include the traditional Tom Yum Kung and Tom Kha Gai Maprow Orn (chicken soup with coconut milk, ginger and lemon­grass) as well as gazpacho and vichyssoise, covering two ends of a broad spectrum. Seafood does the same, going from a poached salmon topped with a basil cream sauce to Phla Kaow Tod Bai Krapow (deep-fried garoupa with basil and chili garlic sauce). Whatever your tastes are, it would be dif­ficult not to find something on this menu that would satisfy you.


A good variety of Phuket lobster dishes, steak and lamb, poultry, noodles and pasta and even a vege­tarian section round out this menu, providing a great range of choices. We’re sure we could return here many times and always find some­thing new to try.


The wine cellar offers a great deal of choice also with approxi­mately 230 different bottles to pick from. If that size list seems a bit in­timidating to you, then the expert staff can help with a selection. A complete tour of the cellar, main­tained at a perfect 57 degrees Fahrenheit, revealed as well the knowledge that went behind putting together this collection of fine wines.


The list of French reds alone, is as large as many restaurant’s com­plete list. French whites are also strongly represented with Aus­tralian, Italian and California promi­nently featured as well. To round out the international nature of the list, New Zealand, Chile, South Africa and Spain are given some space too.


As with the whites, reds cover a very wide gamut of styles and countries. As well as the large French contingent, Italy and espe­cially Australia are well represented with California, Chile, South Africa and Spain included in lesser num­bers.


Eight different champagnes, led by Deutz, Moet and Taittinger highlight the list of sparkling en­tries with California and Australia on the list as well. All in all, it’s an enormous selection, not just in numbers but also in styles and vari­eties covered. We’re certain that Oenephiles would dine here just for the opportunity to try many of these wines. It’s definitely the most comprehensive we’ve seen yet in Thailand.


Even without the great food and wine here, the natural beauty of Kata Beach and the great sunsets would probably be enough to at­tract diners, When you add up all of the elements The Boathouse has to offer, however, you end with a lot more than just another resort restaurant; you get a complete din­ing experience that benefits from a superb location and provides guests with a memorable time.


 


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Sunday, January 25, 2009

Chaophya Park Hotel Offers Great Value In Bangkok, Thailand

The Chaophya Park Hotel, located on Ratchadapisek Road in Bangkok, Thailand, is a 400-room hotel that offers guests four-star service at three-star prices. Actually, at some of the restaurants you’d have to go to a top five-star restaurant to beat the quality. If value for money is something that’s important to you, however, it’s hard to beat anything that this hotel has to offer.

Quiet, well-appointed rooms that feature Thai artifacts are all a minimum size of 37 square meters and feature direct IDD telephones, satellite television, electronic control panel board, safe deposit box, mini-bar, coffee/tea making facilities and a private marble bathroom with a separate shower and bathtub. And non-smoking floors are available. Another important feature is the free internet and wi-fi access throughout the hotel. These amenities are all something that you would expect at any five-star establishment.

And another nice feature of the hotel is its convenient location. It wasn’t nearly as great a location until the subway started running a few years ago. Now, though, a couple minutes of walking takes you to the nearest station and in about 15 minutes you’re at Sukhumvit Road in in 20 minutes you’re at Silom Road, the two major thoroughfares in Bangkok. And these two stations connect directly to the overhead Skytrain system which opens up many more destinations for shopping, dining and entertainment. Mass transit is definitely the way to get around Bangkok which you will certainly know if you’ve traveled here before or live here now.

The Chaophya Park also has an adjacent convention and recreation center that is comprised of a 2,100 square meter banquet space along with a spa and massage center, the Bali Spa and Thai Massage. With a total of 70 treatment rooms this is one of the largest therapeutic massage centers in Bangkok. And with three ballrooms and nine meeting rooms the banquet center is a very convenient place for corporate events, MICE functions and conferences and also elegant wedding, birthday and anniversary parties. And don’t worry about parking since the property has 900 parking spaces.

One area the hotel pays particular attention to is its food and beverage service. With four full restaurants and other services as well, the hotel can offer you a wide variety of dining options. The featured restaurants are the Al Massimo Italian restaurant, the Park CafĂ©, which features all-day dining and ala carte and buffet meals, the Garden Court Chinese restaurant and the Mori Grill which features Japanese cuisine. Al Massimo and the Garden Court also have some buffet offerings, Al Massimo only at dinner (it’s closed for lunch) and the Garden Court at both lunch and dinner. At each of the restaurants we’ve dined at here we’ve found excellent value for money. In addition to these restaurants there’s also the Lobby Lounge bar and wine cellar, a coffee shop featuring pastries, baked goods and ice cream and a kao tom buffet. Even if you’re swimming or sunbathing you can get a drink from the Pool Bar.

To work off all the great food you’ll consume here the hotel has a fully equipped gymnasium and the above-mentioned pool along with a Jacuzzi. And, it is the only city center hotel to feature a full service golf driving range on two levels. It’s one of a kind complete with fully computerized caddies. There’s a full service golf shop and food and beverage service is available here throughout the day.

So if you want to maximize the service you get while minimizing the bill you pay, the Chaophya Park Hotel in Bangkok is a good alternative to many of the pricier places in the Sukhumvit and Silom areas and worth taking a look at.