Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Global Traditions
197
Thiptara
Down by the Riverside
Bangkok, Thailand
Most of Bangkok's top luxury hotels have a
Thai-food option, many of them in gor-
geous riverside garden settings. But
there's something extra special about the
Peninsula's highly regarded Thiptara,
where you can sit in an open-air wooden
pavilion nestled amid gardens along the
banks of the Chao Phraya River, dining on
authentic Thai cooking by the light of flam-
ing torches.
Thai cooking in Thailand may be quite
different from the sauce-laden food you've
had at Thai restaurants back home. Res-
taurants like Thiptara boast of offering
“Thai-style home cooking” to underscore
the fact that the food is simple and flavor-
ful rather than highly wrought. Dining by
the water seems appropriate, given that
seafood is a staple of authentic Thai cui-
sine; even when there is meat, it's added
only in small chunks. The big hotel restau-
rants invariably tone down their flavorings
for Westerners (advise your waiter if you'd
like things more fully spiced). Remember
that it's not all about heat though—
authentic Thai food relies on herbs more
than spices, so that even the hottest cur-
ries don't burn your mouth for long.
Thiptara's set menu includes nine
courses, a wide sampling of different Thai
flavors. You may begin with an appetizer
of crispy shrimp pancakes or chicken-
and-mushroom tartlets; then go on to a
salad (the fried morning glory and prawn
salad is particularly good); followed by a
spicy, warming soup, usually featuring
some kind of seafood and either lemon
grass or coconut. If you've been dying to
try authentic pad thai noodles but have
been uneasy about eating from street
stalls in the city, you can get an excellent
pad thai goong sod
here. Among the
entrees, the duck curry is particularly
good, as is the deep-fried sweet-and-sour
snow fish. For dessert, you might enjoy
mango and sticky rice, or the more unusual
pollamai nampheung,
a two-person des-
sert of Thai fruits roasted in honey with
splashes of chili and vanilla, served with a
refreshing lemon sorbet.
The pavilions, with their steep curling
roofs, are genuine, shipped from the
ancient capital of Ayutthaya and reassem-
bled here on expansive teak decks shaded
by banyan trees. Only two tables are set in
each open-sided pavilion, making them
very private and quiet; there are other
open-air tables as well, set right on the
riverbank. The hotel is downriver from
central Bangkok, in Thonburi; you can get
there via the Peninsula Hotel's free shuttle,
either from Saphan Taksin BTS or from
the hotel's own private pier next to the
Shangri-La Hotel.
333 Charoen Nakhorn Rd. (
&
66/2/861-
2888;
www.peninsula.com).
(
Bangkok International.
L
$$$
Peninsula Hotel,
333 Charoen
Nakhorn Rd. (
&
800/262-9467
or
66/2/861-2888; www.peninsula.com). $$
Chakrabongse Villas,
396 Maharat Rd.
(
&
66/2/224-6686;
www.thaivillas.com).
