Last week I started a new series on LandLopers, the Interactive Travel Guide. The idea is to highlight one city or country every week and then get the best recommendations from you all. By the end of the week, we hopefully will have created the best tips not from guide books, but from real people.
To continue this social media experiment, this week I want to highlight Bangkok.
Bangkok, the capital city of Thailand, is a complex and fascinating city, blending very traditional ways with a modern edge. Bangkok is one of those places that I could visit a dozen times and still feel like I haven’t experienced all that the city has to offer. Rather than highlight an activity though, I want to share with you my favorite restaurant in the city, In Love.
The In Love restaurant, located conveniently at the Thewet pier river taxi stop, is a must for anyone passing through this gorgeous city.
The easiest way to get there is by river taxi, which is also one of the nicest ways of touring around the city. As you leave the pier, the In Love restaurant is directly on your right. You enter through a canopy of tropical plants into the restaurant interior, which has both indoor and patio dining. Unless there’s a monsoon, you must eat outside. Watching the hectic symphony of boats on the river is mesmerizing, along with some stunning views of the Rama VIII Bridge.
In most restaurants with a rich atmosphere, the food usually pales. I am pleased to tell you that this is not the case with the In Love. The service is prompt and polite and can offer the guest a standard variety of beverages, plus cocktails. The menu is comprised of a lot of classic Thai dishes, including both seafood and chicken based plates. What I ordered though is something I still talk about and have yet to find anywhere else.
Basil crispy chicken. It sounds so simple, but was the single most memorable meal I had in Bangkok. Unusual for a Thai meal, at least ones I have had, was the fact it was crispy and not sauteed and the combination of basil and light garlic was pure heaven. I think we ate other things, but all was erased by this one dish. If they still have it, and I hope they do, I would strongly advise you give it a try.
So, about an hour before sunset, head out on a river taxi to Thewet and watch the sunset with a glass of wine (or Singha) in hand.
NOW it’s your turn. Please comment and tell us your favorite thing to do, see or eat in Bangkok. If you haven’t been yet, please let us know what you would most like to do.
