Author: Phyllis Entis

Grazing in Bangkok – Part 1

There are numerous Western-style fast food outlets in Bangkok, including Dunkin’ Donuts. And 7-11 Stores are even more plentiful that in many U.S. cities. But the locals prefer their own version of fast food. Here are a few examples of what we saw while walking along some of the main streets of central Bangkok. Click on the individual photos to get the “big picture”.

First, here’s a bird’s eye view of one of the food “strip malls”. Note the signature “7-11” store colors on the building across from the food stalls.

Anyone for fresh-squeezed orange juice? We saw several of these mini-factories along the sidewalks. The stall operator spent her time between customers hand-juicing the oranges. When the metal cup was full, she would pour the contents into the plastic pitcher. Once the pitcher was filled, she poured the juice into the plastic bottles and closed the bottles with self-sealing screw-caps. To her credit, the sealed bottles of juice were kept on crushed ice (unlike the juice in the pitcher).

Here are a few of the breakfast and lunch options available at sidewalk stalls. Many of the foods are mixed or dispensed by ungloved hand, and the food must fend for itself amid the hustle-bustle of street traffic.

And now for dessert. These lovely cakes and cream-filled pastries were protected in covered display cases from the air pollution and street traffic – but there was nothing to prevent the pastries from spoiling in the 30ºC heat of mid-morning Bangkok.

Bon Appétit!

Dunkin’ Donuts – Thai Style (cont’d)

Dunkin’ Donuts doesn’t advertise this, but their Bangkok (Siam Square) location provides some entertainment along with their coffee and donuts. We were able to watch the assembly of a ham, lettuce & tomato croissant sandwich. Here’s how it’s done.

  1. Don a disposable glove on your left hand and grab a croissant. Take a bread knife in your (ungloved) right hand, put the croissant on the bare, stainless steel counter, slice the croissant and place it in the toaster.
  2. While waiting for the toaster, take a piece of ham out of the refrigerator with your gloved left hand, transfer it into your ungloved right hand, and place the ham on the bare counter. Repeat the process with a slice of tomato and a leaf of lettuce.
  3. While waiting for the croissant to toast, make sword slashes in the air with your bread knife, then saw on the (hatted) head of a co-worker with the knife blade. Wipe the knife blade using a towel that has been sitting on the counter.
  4. Remove the croissant from the toaster using your gloved hand, place it on the bare counter, and build the sandwich, finishing with a squirt of mayonnaise. Cut the sandwich in half, using the same bread knife; wipe the knife on the same towel.
  5. Remove your disposable glove and lay it carefully on the counter for reuse.
  6. Wipe the counter using that same towel, and lay the towel aside for reuse.

Now you know how to build a Dunkin’ Donuts ham croissant sandwich, Bangkok style. Enjoy!

Dunkin’ Donuts – Thai Style

When traveling in foreign lands, especially those in the “Third World”, it can be comforting to stumble across a western food chain. On our third morning in Bangkok, we spotted a Dunkin’ Donuts coffee shop and decided to drop in for coffee and donuts.

We walked up to the counter, selected our donuts, and ordered two coffees with cream. The clerk grabbed two empty coffee cups from the stack and walked over to the cream dispenser. She lifted the handle twice, to deliver two “shots” of cream into the handy plastic cup that was sitting – probably all morning – under the spigot (see photo). Then, she poured the cream from the plastic cup into the two empty coffee cups.

Fortunately, I happened to glance that way just as she was dispensing the cream, and and yelled out for her to STOP! The poor girl looked quite bewildered and couldn’t understand what she had done wrong. I told her that we wanted the cream to be dispensed directly from the spigot into the coffee cups. She nodded, and poured the cream from the coffee cups back into the plastic cup to await the next customer. I then asked for clean coffee cups. She complied, and began, once more, to dispense fresh cream into the plastic cup, and then into the coffee cups. I stopped her again.

Finally, Michael (my husband and traveling companion) asked the clerk whether they had cold milk in their refrigerator. He instructed the clerk to pour milk from the refrigerated jug into two clean coffee cups. She did so, and we sat down to enjoy our hard-earned coffee and donuts. But from that day on, I made sure to carry non-dairy creamer with me at all times.

Michael and I spent four weeks touring countries in Southeast Asia. We visited Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar. During the next several weeks, I’ll be sharing with you some of our experiences from this highly educational – and sometimes challenging – voyage of discovery.