Thailand is a fabulous country. We’ve had the most amazing time here between Phuket, Ko Samui and Bangkok. I loved Phuket and Ko Samui for their picturesque backdrops and chilled out nature. We spent most of time in these two places poolside or beachside and a fair bit pool bar side! Our hotel in Phuket had a pool where you could sit and watch the sunset and it was absoulely stunning.

Bangkok was a whole other world in comparison to Phuket and Ko Samui. Seriously the word that comes to mind when I think of Bangkok is “crazy”..You’ll soon understand why.

The first day that we arrived into Bangkok we checked into our hotel, got ready to head out and then had a couple of cocktails in one of the hotel’s bars. A friend had suggested we visit the Sky Dome in the Lebua Hotel (it features in The Hangover 2 and has amazing skyline views). We went up there and had one drink, which was the cheapest on the menu and was still $30NZD.. so unless you’re ballin’ I suggest you head up there for one drink, enjoy the views and then continue exploring.

Our plan was now to go find a local Thai place to eat. As we walked out of the Lebua hotel a driver approached us and offered us a taxi (this happens about every 10 seconds) and we declined saying we were just going to go find some food. He said he would take us to his favourite restaurant. I always think when a local is offering to take you to his favourite food place you can’t say no (as long as you feel safe etc) so we obliged.

He soon introduced himself as Win and took us to a seafood and Thai restaurant. He told us to order the tom yum goong so we did. We also ordered a tom kha gai (I didn’t enjoy this as I found the flavour of the coconut cream quite overpowering but if you love coconut cream I’m sure you’ll love it). We also ordered pad kra pao moo (minced pork with basil and chilli) and a phad thai.

Before we got to the restaurant Win asked us if we had anything planned for the evening and we said no we were just going to see what happened. He then mentioned a ping pong show and that he would take us to it. Now as I mentioned before, I tend to oblige when a local suggests something. I knew what the show was and thought it would be good for a laugh and you’re certainly not going to see anything like that in NZ!

So off we went to a bloody ping pong show. At first I was a little hesitant when Win took us down this dodgy looking alley way but when we got in it was filled with tourists. I’m not going to say anymore about it on here. Let’s just say that my mind was blown and it was far more ‘intense’ (not sure if that’s even the right word… I have no idea how to describe the abosulte craziness that followed in the next couple of hours) haha! Anyway it made for a hilarious night.

Now to my food guide for what to eat!

Like Vietnam, Thailand uses a lot of fresh herbs and spices.. However I found that overall the food wasn’t as fresh as the food we found in Vietnam and it tended to be a little oilier. I’m not sure if we would have found that had we visited Thailand before we visited Vietnam but going from the absolute freshness of Vietnamese food to Thailand made me notice the different big time.

I have always enjoyed Thai food since my friend Amy first introduced me to it years ago. It’s always one of my go to cuisines for takeaway night.

Tom yum goong

I tried tom yum goong at a few places in Thailand. This hot and sour soup is packed with flavor. It usually includes mushrooms, ginger, lemongrass and prawns (goong means prawns). I mostly enjoyed this as an appetiser and loved the punch it packed.

Phad thai

Phad thai is one of my all time favourite dishes. It’s the ultimate comfort food – full of carbs and the beautiful sweetness of tamarind. In Thailand this is mostly served with prawns and dried shrimp. It also has been sprouts, fish sauce and is served with lime juice and chopped peanuts to balance out the flavours. I think phad thai is likely the dish most people think of when picturing Thai food. I’ve been to plenty of BYO dinners at Thai restaurants and usually at least half of the table orders it!

I can’t blame them either. My favourite places for Phad Thai – or any Thai food is wellington is Thai Chef on Blair Street in the city or Thai Country Café in Tawa also has awesome food.

Massaman curry

This is one of the dishes that surprised me in Thailand. I make this at home. It’s one of my super easy go to dishes using a Valcom jar of massaman curry paste. I have always made it with beef, potato and onion and reduced the sauce until it is quite thick and then served on rice with crushed peanuts.

Now the version I’ve had in Thailand is so different – it’s creamy, sweet, spicy and not thick at all and it’s served with chicken. It was absolutely amazing. One of the highlights of the dishes I tried here. Possibly even my favourite. Although I love my beef version that I make at home (although I’m not sure I can continue to call it massaman after the glorious one I had here.. I might need to find a new name for it haha). But I will learn how to make a traditional massaman with the tender chicken and amazing curry.

Red duck curry

Red duck curry is a favourite in our house. We usually get this if we go out to a Thai restaurant for dinner. Duck is the perfect meat for a red curry. It brings out the flavor so well. A red curry is made with red chillies and is spicy with a little bit of sweetness to it. A red curry with duck usually has pineapple, lychees and tomatoes as well as vegetables etc. Super yum. I recommend you try it. Even if you’re unsure about duck I can guarantee you’ll enjoy it.

We went to a restaurant called Café 69 in Ko Samui and they did red duck dumplings and they were amazing! If you’re ever in Ko Samui definitely visit this restaurant. Just be sure to book as it’s quite a small restaurant and while we were there we saw three different groups of people be turned away due to lack of space.

Pad kee mao – rice noodles with basil and chilli

This was one of my favourite dishes in Phuket. The rice noodles were thick with a beautiful texture while the chilli and basil added an amazing depth of flavour. I did have to request extra chilli for this though. I think they toned it down for us tourists! Little do they know that we are chilli pheens here!

I’ve had a chef congratulate me before at a little Thai restaurant in Taupo because he couldn’t believe the amount of chilli I had just eaten. Although those were the days when I smoked cigarettes and had probably burned away half of my taste buds. These days I can handle a lot less!

Green curry

I looooove green curry. It’s so tasty and creamy.. I could go on forever. Generally a green curry comes with chicken. I’m not a massive fan of chicken or meat so I will quite often order it with tofu which is amaaaazing. Even though Blair (fiancé) continues to liken it to polystyrene. One day I’ll sneak it into a dish and force him to love it..

The best green curry I’ve ever had was at Café 69 in Ko Samui. It had the perfect balance of flavour and I could’ve swam in the bowl. We were going to go there again for dinner the following night too so I could get this green curry one more time before we left but we left booking until too late!

Pad kra pao moo – minced pork with basil and chilli

This is a must try dish in Thailand. It needs a little steamed rice to balance it out a lot as it is quite rich in flavour but it’s delicious. Thai people really know what they’re doing with this basil and chilli flavour combination!

You can also get this with chicken but it’s called pad kra pao gai (moo means pork and gai chicken). This can be helpful when looking at menus if you’re looking for a particular kind of meat.

Alright, I’m signing off now! Bloody hell, I thought the Vietnam post was long. I’ve outdone myself this time.

As always, let me know if you have any questions. You can contact me atcaseyskitchen@outlook.co.nz or Casey’s Kitchen on Facebook