Food Experiences Abroad (Bangkok,Singapore)

Continuing some of the experiences from abroad, I'll elaborate on some of the food experiences. Unfortunately anyone who's been to Bangkok or Singapore will probably recognise the establishments as they're quite popular with tourists. Unfortunately a number of places did not allow cameras so a lot of the images below are from the respective websites.

BANGKOK
The Fifth
Located in the MBK shopping centre it's hardly what you would call a food court. Thoughts from home sparked images of high-school casuals turning over old stir fry or toasting a bone dry sandwich which would be ripe for a trip to the latrine. I'll admit that it was devoid of locals which doesn't usually bode well. There are around 16 different establishments, all setup in the same fashion with a small square area where chefs mill around in a confined space, cooking meals to order. Upon entering, you receive a card by which you pass to any of the outlets for scanning, but you only pay once you've finished and exit.

It's probably not the ideal place to experience the local food, as all have different cuisines, however after quite some time trekking through the mall, it was good just to take a seat. We ordered about 4 different dishes to share between the 3 of us. A couple of bowls of Vietnamese noodles (I just had a hankering for them!) at 70 Baht each ($2.40 aud), Tom Yum Goong (120 Baht, $4.13 aud), a platter of Thai cold meats, Thai noodles, a few coconuts to drink (50 Baht each, $1.70 aud) and a variety of desserts. Overall a good selection of food, made fresh and certainly tasty, all in a pretty swish setting that wouldn't be out of place in a restaurant. Suddenly I was loving the Aussie exchange rate!

There are plenty of vendors on the streets so I'd say its a pretty good bet to try out those for the authentic taste from the city!

On the second day we were so exhausted from the day's events we lazily ordered room service. This time there were 4 Thai dishes between the 2 of us pigs, including some stwamed rice.

SINGAPORE
Takashimaya Food Court
Located on the main shopping street Orchard Rd, again, the loose term of food court from home can be used here. With limited seating, its an eat and run affair with a bustling crowd sampling foods from a seemingly endless amount of small stalls. (80 I've read)

I inhaled 3 custard cream puffs in 3 days and certainly enjoyed each one, and the small prawn/squid dumplings cooked in what looked like a giant muffin tin were also good for a snack on the run. It looks like the custard puffs are coming to Australia, so I'll be in line to get some as soon as they open. (Éclair, Vanilla and Strawberry have been sampled, and those 12 packs look positively evil!)

I came across an interesting device that would certainly ease some of the effort in preparing skewers. Ironically my brother pointed out that a friend of his was interested in importing one, but at $10,000 it seemed to be an expensive addition! I can't remember if it cooked them on the other side, but it certainly helped the procession of skewers to be prepared.

Brazil Churrascaria
Ok, I don't think Brazilian isn't part of Singapore's local cuisine, but it was certainly an interesting experience. Located at 14/16 Sixth Avenue, check your arteries at the door as this is a carnivore's dream!

A salad buffet makes way for a constant stream of waiters lugging around large skewers and knives carving off meat on demand. Don't think of the souvlaki shop's version of meat, these are small cuts of meat cooked and sliced immediately. Beef, sausage, fish, lamb, and chicken were all sampled from memory and an endless number had to be refused due to a full stomach. Fresh, juicy, warm pineapple that appeared was a surprising and nice alternative to break up the meat procession and allow some time to loosen belts and breathe a little.

Hint: be quick to determine if you want the offering as each table/plate has to be visited so they will race through the whole restaurant.

For dessert I tried the mango/icecream mix which was a satisfying end to the all-you-can-eat buffet.

No Signboard Seafood
The second last day in Singapore and last chance to go out with a food eating binge brought us to a cleverly named seafood restaurant, which had twice as many waiters than patrons at one stage late in the night. From memory I think we went out to the Geylang location, around 15-20 minutes from the CBD and although being a Monday night and 10:30, this place was packed. Not having eaten for some time (nice disclaimer), an order of chilli crab, 2 small lobsters, fresh prawns, Chinese broccoli and these small square bread rolls certainly satisfied our 3 bellies.

Cooked at the table, the tastiness of the prawns were a sideshow to the soup that they were boiled in. Full of flavour, it was an unexpected tummy favourite. Unfortunately with seafood there's always an initial tentativeness, as once you dig in, there's no return from the grubby fingers (hands, mouth, cheeks, etc). I think I paced myself well, starting off with my greens that required the use of utensils, progressing to the lobster which was conveniently halved down the middle to aid the extraction of meat, to the prawns and finally the crab. The small bread squares (no taller than a thumb and about the size of a tic-tac packet) were slightly sweet and crunchy but unfortunately too few to soak up the sauce from the chilli crab!

The locations on the website show a pretty classy set of tables chairs etc, but this one was outdoor with a couple of plastic chairs seen at most bbqs on the weekend. Service was very good and atmosphere fitting the humid surroundings. Definitely a nice place to end the trip and at least I can now tick chilli crab in Singapore off the list of things to eat.