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[go to separate pages for more extensive reviews of Siam Paragon , Emporium, Shopping around Siam Square ]
Shopping Guide : Department Stores | Computers | Hardware, Do it Yourself, Furniture | Mobile Phones (limited information)| Sportswear | Fast food, bread (?), sandwiches, coffee shops | Smoking and Drinking in Bangkok | Supermarkets review : Tops, Foodland, Gourmet Market (at Emporium and Siam Paragon) | Books and Bookstores : Asia Books, Kinokuniya, Bookazine
Fast food, bread and the like :
McDonald's can be found all around town. Other burger fast food restaurants have not fully developed, so you will have to stick with this one. Prices are in our opinion extremely low. Example, one hamburger + one cheeseburger + medium French fries goes for about 85 baht. There are many Pizza outlets around town, the two most available being Pizza Hut and the Pizza Company. Their wares are very similar, and when compared to McDonald's their prizes are higher.
Finding reasonable bread in Bangkok is difficult. As far as we know there are no proper bakeries anywhere to purchase standard 'usual' fresh bread. Most bread you can buy is industrially made and tastes as such. Furthermore, standard bread bought in supermarkets is usually sweetened, sometimes with honey. You can find somehow acceptable bread at the 'Boulange' bakeries available in most Tops supermarkets.
The best bagels in town are at Au Bon Pain outlets. The outlets however are not widely scattered around town. There is one somewhere in the back at the ground floor of Discovery Center (Siam Square), and one at Bumrungrad hospital. The branch that is most conveniently located is close to the exit of the Silom station of the subway. You will find also a branch at the basement floor level (close to Gourmet Market) at Siam Paragon. Unfortunately, supply of bagels is somewhat erratic, and on more than just one occasion, the bakery runs out of stock.
Nevertheless, the bagels are in our opinion the best in town, but they are also very expensive. Not that long ago, they were priced at 18 baht, but recently the price has gone up to 40 baht. The same can actually be said for most pastries and sandwiches at Au Bon Pain. The management seems to have a policy of raising their prices faster than inflation. One very good thing (but not justifying high prices) is that a lot of the cookies and the pastries at Au Bon Pain do not contain trans fatty acids, and thus are healthier than what is available at other bakeries. It does not follow that all sandwiches at Au Bon Pain are good and healthy. We recently had a 'California chicken' sandwich. We did not pay much attention, and noticed too late that besides the unwarranted slice of cheese, our sandwich was also layered with a thick coat of greenish butter. Surely we were served about 30 grams of mostly saturated fat right there.
Coffee at Au Bon Pain is more reasonably priced, and though only one choice of hot coffee is available, it invariably is better than what you get at Starbucks.
Reasonable, but somewhat sweetened bagels can be found at Villa Market (close to Phromphong skytrain station).
Delifrance has a few outlets in Bangkok (Silom Road, MBK-Center, Royal Orchid Sheraton). As far as sandwiches are concerned, we think this chain offers best value for money. They offer mostly chewy bread varieties (not like the soggy ones at Subway) and the coffee you get does not come by the gallon, but is quite tasty.
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Inside Delifrance on Silom Road. Offering good coffee (in small cups though) and a selection of sandwiches, breakfast and lunch menus. |
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Pretzels can be found at Foodland (Sukhumvit soi 5), and if you can find them also at the 'Boulange' bakeries of Tops Market Place.
Danish rolls and baked goods (except at outlets of Delifrance and Au Bon Pain) are usually a clear disaster. Just looking at the contraptions will make you loose your appetite. Somehow though, they seem to be popular with Thai people. You will find Danish with mayonnaise spread out on top, if that is something you favor.
Subway has opened a few outlets in Bangkok and they are available close to Nana on both sides of Sukhumvit road, and at the beginning of soi 23, Sukhumvit road. Now, Subway seems to position itself as providing healthy food, but while we enjoy their sandwiches once in a while, we also understand that they are partly to blame for overall obesity in the U.S.A. This in view of the size of their servings. Cheese seems to be added to any bread you order, adding another 150-200 unnecessary calories. Maybe our American friends do not know better, but in our opinion the four different breads to choose from all basically taste the same, and have the same texture. The bread is obviously designed for eating without chewing first, and that way is perfectly suitable for edentates. Possibly at least one choice of bread should be just a little bit chewy. A newspaper report in the Nation newspaper end October 2006, suggests that Subway is going to expand widely in Thailand (with more than 100 branches planned). Also seven new menus have been developed that contain less than 6 grams of fat.
Actually the best fresh bread can be found at Indian and Arab restaurants. If you are not islamophobic we can recommend one restaurant where you can buy freshly baked flat Arab bread made in front of your eyes. It is located in soi 3/1 (a small soi in between soi 3, which is the wide road at Nana intersection, and soi 5 Sukhumvit Road, where Foodland is located). Just walk into the soi, and after about 50 meters on the left you will find Petra Restaurant. It looks like a back entrance to the restaurant, but as far as we know, it is the front entrance. Order a few flat breads, it will be done in a few minutes. Then get one or two portions of hummus, and you will have a very decent healthy meal (maybe you can ask not to put olive oil on top, and use your own oil at home, just to avoid spilling the oil while going home).
Some basic shopping advice
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