FAMISHED? It’s never a wise idea to head to your favorite popular restaurant to grab a bite at peak hours.
In short, forget about your craving of anything popular because chances are these joints will have a long cue of hungry patrons snaking from its doors on peak hours.
Restaurants are out there to earn thus positioning is of utmost important.
Primary choices are malls and prime areas where high foot traffic is present.
As the Thais love to eat, dining places along the city streets to the cooler interiors of the mall have no shortage of patrons.
Now let’s say you’re in Bangkok. You’ve been scouring for the best deals around town from minute one the shops opened and finally you admit to yourself that you’re in need of sustenance.
You had your fill of Thai food on the streets and the fancy joints and the palate is yearning for something Oriental – like the xiao long bao at Din Tai Fung or the ramen at Ippudo.
If you’re at the Central Embassy then you’re at the right place to satisfy your craving for these dishes. Why? Because the “ultra-luxury” mall doesn’t have as much foot traffic as the other malls in the city, which makes waiting for your turn at the dining room short, if not absent.
That tip came from a local. And to prove her point, on the weekend of my visit, she uprooted me from Terminal 21 (where Tim Ho Wan had a long cue lunch hour on a Thursday) and planted me at the posh mall of Central Embassy. That’s a quick ride on the BTS a stop away.
True enough, just before the clock struck noon, the peak hour, we were ushered to our tables and were enjoying the vegetarian versions of the xiao long bao and buns at Din Tai Fung.
Yes, all the tables were eventually taken, but the turnover was comfortably quick for the incoming diners.
At Ippudo, the scene was the same. I went there by myself on an earlier date for dinner and I was seated right away even with an event happening in its premises. Well, there is always a seat for one diner at the common dining table—most often.
The visit though wasn’t a pleasant one for me. I wouldn’t want to give “too much information,” but it’s not a good idea of a non-meat eater to feast on a creamy bowl of Hakata-style tonkotsu pork-based ramen.
Central Embassy has several more oriental food outlets and other cuisines within its premises, and you have to count the adorable desserts places on the list.
So when you find yourself in Bangkok and craving for the food of the popular restaurants, head to Central Embassy.
And please bring your credit card. You might be tempted to satisfy the craving for something else—another Hermes Birkin bag perhaps?
How to get there: Central Embassy Bangkok can be directly accessed from either Ploenchit or Chid Lom BTS Skytrain stations.
Email me at jinggoysalvador@yahoo.com. For more lifestyle & travel stories, visit jeepneyjinggoy.com & ofapplesandlemons.com