books a la cosmopolitan

skoob bookstore

tucked on the second floor of 'penny's balcony' stripmall on thonglor, skoob packs its small space with an impressive amount of new and used english & japanese books. unfortunately, i can't comment on the japanese literature available, but the english selection has a fair number of fiction and non-fiction, popular and slightly more obscure titles. though, if you're looking for something specific, it may be more difficult to find. and as a plus, all the used books i looked at were in good-as-new condition.
there's a jazz-flavored cd corner. it literally is a corner, but i was actually surprised with what albums they had - a mix of world, folk, indie, experimental. and they've got some funky, thai-cut tote bags for sale that are a livelihood project for rural areas.

and for all you caffeine-addicts, stay all day if you like: lavazza coffee & cookies available. seating sparse, though.
skoob. thonglor soi 16 (2nd fl. of "penny's balcony")

webby: www.skoob-bkk.com (it's a great ordering site for such a small shop)

book smart books mart bookmark

bookmark

a trendy 2-story independent bookstore in thonglor (in "the 3rd place"). one of the most interesting features is the "tribute" to the owner painted on the 2nd floor. i think i'm much more used to bookstores with anonymous, nerdy, wallflower-type owners.
the 1st floor is mainly thai books the owner has chosen, covering a wide range of interests. the 2nd floor stocks books and mags that are more geared to the creative/design reader (art, architecture, design, fashion, etc.); very pretty and engrossing.

it's got good ambience: it's quiet, it's well-lit, there's several choices for seating, and nice views out onto the patio garden. plus, the location in "the 3rd place" is super convenient with coffee shops, internet, cozy seating. i can be there all day in this literary oasis. bookmark. thonglor soi 10 (on the 1st floor of "the third place" complex). hours 10am-9pm.

big beefy american

the garage bar and grill

ah, the elusive american beef burger in bangkok. can't all restaurants just make a decent, all-beef, easy-on-the-mayo, grilled burger?
from its burger aptitude, we definitely knew the garage was a restaurant owned by someone american, or at least someone very proficient in american culture. i mean, we were asked how well we wanted it cooked. the garage has a wide smattering of good-sized beef, veggie, and other meat burgers that come with steak fries and coleslaw (~180+B). my "down under aussie burger" came with a fried egg and beets - i'm such a sucker for eggs and beets. in addition, they've got other american fare (pastas, pizzas, corndogs, etc.) and lunch specials for 99B.

the decor of the garage must be mentioned. old car seats line the wall, hand-painted denim jackets with celebrity profiles, english mags and books piled on coffee tables, and a shady balcony patio.
poo boonthanakit, the brains behind the restaurant, moved to ny as a kid, struggled as an artist there (he paints the denim jackets himself - he'll gladly show you his portfolio, too), moved back to bangkok after 21 years, and started the garage.

other fyi:
happy hour 3-7p. buy any 2 drinks and get 1 free. free popcorn and chips&salsa (no refills)
live music playing american covers. the garage bar and grill. 7th floor of central world plaza (original location at All Seasons Place Retail Center, 2nd fl. - near US embassy)
open daily 11a-10p; sat 12p-10p

webby: www.thegaragebkk.com

laborer's rejoice!

บะหมี่ จับกัง (bami jap gang)

i love dives. love love love dives. the more difficult to find, the cheaper the cost, the dingier the place, the more i love it. i attribute this to my chinese dna. so the quest began when my teacher told me about the ultimate noodle dive in chinatown, bami jap gang. it literally translates to "laborer's egg noodles."located down a skinny, covered little soi in chinatown, this place is all about portion size and speed. the uber-mechanical employees churn out bowls and to-go packs (translate: wrapped in newspaper) of pork and egg noodles with apt speed. we didn't even have to order, we just got a bowl flung in front of us.the noodles are all about simplicity and sheer nutrition on-the-go: you get a heaping portion of egg noodles, roast pork, and green onions; extra greasy. season with the normal thai noodle seasonings they have on the table (chili peppers, vinegar, fish sauce, sugar) and you're done. get your day's worth of calories before you head off to your laborious job...or shopping.there is only one sign, and it's obviously one that was created in about a minute and a half on a word processor. basically all it says is the name of the place "bami jap gang" and the price. normal ("tamada") is 25B; special ("pi-set"), which just means bigger is 35B.

bami jap gang (laborer's noodles) in chinatown/yaowarat on Trok Charoen Chai Soi 2 about 50-100m. near Wat Mangkorn (a.k.a wat leng heng yee - the chinese name).

no way is there a webby.

coffee over the chao phraya

vivi the coffee place

i love lounging on the chao phraya river in bangkok. give me a spot on the bank and come back for me in 9 hours.
vivi "the coffee place" is a cute little coffee shop situated directly on the chao phraya across from wat arun. indoor ac and outdoor patio make for the best of both personal-comfort worlds. sip a bubbly italian soda, rich chocolately drink, or your favorite incarnation of coffee and enjoy the river.
kiwi soda on the patio
vivi - the coffee place (next to aurum river house). 394/29 thanon maharat, between soi setthakan and chetuphon, historical rattanakosin (just south of Wat Po/Grand Palace).
hours 8a-8p. drinks and assorted pastries 50-120B.

NYT loved it. NPR loved it.

chote chitr

even before i moved to bangkok, a friend told me about chote chitr which she had heard about on npr. and me, being the npr nerd that i am, hold npr standards above gold. is it weird that i consider jonathan gold as one of my favorite writers?

i got a tip from another friend who had visited this place that the woman who owns it speaks english fluently and has little patience. she was scolded for trying to ask and order in thai. tip: use your english. honestly, the woman is a little like the thai version of the soup nazi. she had little patience for me when i asked questions about the dishes and only repeated her scripted responses (obviously for farangs) with a sigh of annoyance. that's ok for me, though - i'm chinese and was raised on curt service.

so, with that, we put aside the extensive menu and ordered what she suggested: tom yum goong, banana flower salad, and mee krob with shrimp.tom yum goong with 3 massive, palm-sized prawns was on the sour and creamier end of the spectrum of this dish with a sweet tinge (which is a bit more unusual). i loved the tender bamboo shoots in this. i was hesitant about submitting to thai-soup-nazi about ordering this since it's so 'ordinary' here, but i was pleasantly surprised. on account of the mutant prawns, this dish was the priciest at 150B.

banana flower salad, also with shrimp and chicken. tangy and sweet without much chile spice. this was my fave. the mee krob (fried, crunchy noodles) with shrimp, fruits and nuts was pretty sweet, though not without a little sour tang, and had a fair amount of carmelized sugar drizzled over it.

all in all, it was a good eat and i can see why foreigners like it so much: 1. the woman speaks english, 2. the dishes aren't raging spicy hot, 3. everything's a little sweet (they use a lot of fresh fruits in their dishes, too), and 4. though it's without AC, it's a comfortable little place to sit and feel like you're discovering something off the beaten path (though now, the path is pretty beaten).chote chitr. 146 phraeng phuton (just of thanon tanao) in rattanakosin (south of democracy mon.)
dishes 30-150B

wait your turn, bub

12 อร่อย ซาลาเปา (12 aroy salapao)

crowds around food always pique my curiosity. especially if they're waiting.
i just joined the line of chinese thai folks waiting around stacks of steamers at '12 aroy salapao.' and i ended up being the only one who didn't buy a batch. being chinese, i've had a few salapao buns (chinese: bao zi) in my lifetime and they're usually pretty run of the mill: airy white bread encasing a sweet or savory filling. good for on-the-go.
i tried a black sesame paste bun fresh out of the steamer. i have never had a fluffier, lighter bun with a just-sweet-enough black sesame paste. i had no idea salapao could be so much better than what i'd had before. no savoring possible. next time i'm getting one of each filling.

flavors: red bean, black sesame, cream, ground pork, and red pork (18B). taro and ba gway (20B).
12 aroy salapao (look for '12'), 53 thanon mahannop (at the corner of trok wat mahanop 1) , rattanakosin
18-20B per bun

ruby ruby ruby rubyyyyy (tribute to the kaiser chiefs)

ทับทิมกรอบ (tup tim grob)

tup tim grob. literally translated they mean "crunchy rubies." ruby is also the word for pomegranates - see the resemblance to their seeds? i stinkin' love these little buggers, and the best i've had is from Lek (below, in red). what they are like little water chestnut mochis in shaved ice and coconut milk. super refreshing in scorching thailand with just the right mix of chewy and crispy. Lek specially smokes fragrance into her tup tim grob, making them particularly aromatic.

Lek has lots of other things you can have in shaved ice, but she's famous for her tup tim grob. She sells in conjunction with a boat-noodle soup stand (the kind made with cow's blood - it's actually good) so you can come for a complete meal for cheap. during the week, this place is always packed. Lek's little stand - "tup tim grob", pratunam boat pier (under the awning, past the tattoo shop)
15B a bowl. closed weekends.

how can they profit?

รสเด็ด (rot det)

honestly, how do you make a profit when you charge the equivalent of $3 for all-you-can-eat?
the best part about this place is the gata, which is a coal-fired pan that has a raised grill in the center and a soup moat that holds whatever kind of soup you decide to make that collects all the meat juices that have run off the grill. take a moment to wipe the drool off your face.

this place has "shrimp" in its name so they have pretty large raw prawns, but they go quick, so keep alive. there's also raw beef, pork, seafoods, chicken, various processed meats (like fish cakes & hot dogs) for the grilling. not high quality meat, but very tasty. for brevity, i will only list some of the other non-grill items: grilled whole fish, pre-grilled pepper steak, raw veggies for the soup, pad thai, spring rolls, siu mai, squid salad, som tam, fried crab rangoon, chicken wings, coconut ice cream, fresh fruit, donuts, muffins, sticky rice and mango, shaved ice with thai sweets. oh yeah, 99B gets you all that and you can stay till they close if you like.
note: it's all outdoors. don't expect an 'A' health code rating.rot det shrimp gata (sign is in thai only). nawamin on the corner of soi 155. (also at sukhumvit 71)
99B per person, all you can eat. if you don't finish too much of what you get, you get charged 20B for every extra 0.1kg. don't load up on the questionable meats.
open from 4pm to midnight, you can stay the whole time if you like.