cocktail bars in bangkok: lebua sky bar and maggie choo's

View from the Sky Bar at the Lebua Hotel.

This post is a study in two cocktail bars: the Lebua Sky Bar and Maggie Choo's.

I must admit that when Mr. Sazy Rock and I visited Bangkok and met up with our chum, Lex, I insisted on going to some rooftop bar. I suppose, the whole thing was my fault.

After an early night of enjoying the offerings at Jaekoy, my group decided to explore the Bangkok cocktail scene. After all, it was Mr. SR's job to know about global cuisine and beverages. So, off we went with a lot of optimism in our eyes.

exploring the night market in trang, thailand (video)

Someone once recommended to Mr. Sazy Rock that we visit Trang in Southern Thailand because it was supposed to a food haven. So, on our last visit, we did.

Below is a short video of our night market excursion. I hope you enjoy it.

restaurant review: je-ngor kitchen in lat krabang

Seafood Spring Roll.

Staying near Bangkok International Airport (BKK) does not have to be a drag. It may not be near the fun Bangkok night markets and restaurants and streets, but this area, called Lat Krabang, can still be proud of its seafood offering, thanks to Je-Ngor Kitchen.

restaurant review: tong tem toh in lat krabang

The Food.

If you ever find yourself staying near Bangkok International Airport (BKK) - perhaps due to an early or late flight - and night market food has lost its luster, I recommend a visit to the Paseo Mall in Lat Krabang, which is the neighborhood where BKK is located.

Yes, it's a mall, but the food there is not your typical American food court selection. Sure, there is a McDonald's and a Starbucks that cater to the expat community, but there are also other local restaurants that provide tasty, non-Western fare.

Tong Tem Toh is one of those local restaurants in the Paseo Mall.

travel zen on friday: bangkok at night

A breathtaking view from the Lebua Sky Bar in Bangkok.

View from the Lebua Bar.

restaurant review: kao tom pui in trang, thailand

Food at Kao Tom Pui.

"Trang is Thailand's new food haven," was what we were told while planning our trip to Thailand. Mr. Sazy Rock has previously been to the country but not to Trang so he was very enthusiastic about checking it out.

Kao Tom Pui.

True, there were night markets, Malay inspired dishes (due to its proximity to Malaysia), Thai-style dim sum for breakfast and such. But, it's still a very sleepy, small town (about an hour away from the coast that provided the gateway to the glorious Andaman sea islands) and spending four week nights there (I heard weekends are better) was a bit of an overkill.

Although we indulged in street food and night market action, we did find some decent sit-down places to eat. One of those was at Kao Tom Pui, located on the Main Street leading to the train station, and where we dined two nights in a row.

restaurant review: jaekoy in bangkok

In my last post, I introduced you to my friend, Lex. Mr. Sazy Rock met her during his travels and I've since met her during ours. She's been living in Bangkok and was happy to show us her eating haunts. 

For our next outing, Lex has introduced us to her friend, Han, who was originally from Isaan, in the northeast region of Thailand. Although Han now happily lives in Bangkok, he still wanted to eat some of his hometown's cuisine every so often. 

On this outing, Lex and Han introduced us to their favorite Isaan restaurant in town. Isaan cuisine is known to be spicy, which I love, and pungent, which I also love. So, we were very excited to check it out. We went to Jaekoy, located off the Ratchathewi BTS stop.

The Jaekoy Feast.

restaurant review: soul food in bangkok

Soul Food.

Eating while traveling is an amazing thing. But, it's even more special when one meets new friends.

Through our travels, Mr. Sazy Rock and I have met so many people that we've kept in touch with through the years. One of those friends is Lex, who the hubs met on his own travels around the world but I've since met in our travels. Lex is a lovely young lady from Malaysia who has recently moved to Thailand. She's also really into food. I've met her twice before in other places she's lived in - Kuala Lumpur and London - and each meeting involved a lot of eating. I actually really love that about her because she's introduced me to many tasty and memorable haunts.

When I told her that Mr. SR - who she lovingly refers to as "Uncle" - and I were visiting Bangkok, she made sure that we had to visit her favorite restaurant called, Soul Food, in Thong Lo in the Sukumvit area of Bangkok. I was more than happy to be led around.

restaurant review: chote chitr in bangkok

I was very excited to finally eat Thai food in Thailand - except there, they just called it food. For my (and the lovely Mr. Sazy Rock's) first meal, we headed to the old city and sought out Chote Chitr, one of the oldest restaurants in the city. The hubs has previously dined here on a prior visit and it made such an impression on him that he wanted to see how things have changed (or not changed) since his last visit. I was more than happy to indulge him as it meant I was going to eat. (Contrary to anecdotal theories that heat and humidity suppress the appetite, mine has always maintained a constant level of needing to feed my tummy.)

Chote Chitr.

The Scene

When we arrived close to noon, the place - a small, 6-table restaurant - was empty. Indeed, it remained empty the whole time we were there. This did not really bother me but it seemed odd that no one else was there.