***Thailand in London -2..the voucher**

[jandajoy]

it was the same poor value everywhere

That's London, the City, unfortunately, is just Disney world for twat tourists. It's all been bought up by Arabs and Japanese and has got little to do with England or Great Britain.

it was not for tourists per se

It's for tourists, predominantly and "city folk" ie people who make huge amounts of money out of nothing, and err..... no other word for it .. wankers.

Media, TV, Newspapers, yes, I know, all the same and all as bad as each other. Blood sucking producers of a dumb down society, getting worse every day.

[DrB0b]

yeilding to popular demand, and a stalker, here is the restaurant we won a voucher to eat at. Called "Chaopraya" it is situated in Central London behind the HMV store, near Selfridges

here is the small street it is in, in the evening, looking all very busy and fun

I miss going up the city for a drink in this part of London, always a good night was on the cards. Convent Gdns on a summer's afternoon was a real treat.

I used to live near there, on Poland Street in Soho. Lovely place to live, central, great food, great bars, and within walking distance of Piccadilly, China Town, and Trafalgar square (for the National Gallery), also close to Leicester Square but that's a total shithole. Golden Square (mostly because I loved the name, the park itself is tiny) or Green Park was where I'd hang out on a Sunday, with a bottle of wine and some picnic food from Selfridges (who also do a great Pie and Mash, BTW) Great place to live but expensive, jesus was it expensive. Sometimes I wish I was still there but whenever I feel like that I check TD for another Chav stabbing thread and remember why I left in the first place

[DrAndy]

true DrBOb, that area is pricey but nice

as for Janjajoy

It's for tourists, predominantly and "city folk" ie people who make huge amounts of money out of nothing, and err..... no other word for it .. wankers.

I disagree, I was there and I could see the clientele

some tourists, some business after work people and some rich bastards; oh and a couple of subsidised wankers

Butterfly

I am sure there are good deals in London, but there might be hard to find. This is not the same in Paris where you can wonder off in little streets and find little restaurants with very decent food at a bargain.

When I was in London, everything was optimized as a tourist trap when it came to food. Finding good value wasn't obvious. Not surprised by your conclusions.

that was because you didn't know London; there are also small places down small streets, but not usually in the centre where rents are so high

the centre is also the tourist trap area, but there are some Ok places still

[Texpat]

It sounds like Los Angeles.

Trendy, hip and quite possibly the poorest value on the planet.

That's why I left.

[chitown]

Nice thread doctor!!

[DrB0b]

I miss going up the city for a drink in this part of London,

yeah, amazing place isn't it ? love all that area,

Me too, the City itself is no longer such a wonderful place, thanks to the Luftwaffe, but some of the medieval magic still survives. I used to work in the Baltic Exchange, next door to the Gherkin, on Saint Mary Axe in St Andrew Undershaft (the shaft being the old maypole), and, to me, just the names alone were wonderful. On weekends I used to wander through Cloth Fair, Leadenhall Market (Diagon Alley to any Harry Potter fans here), along the Roman Wall, and into Smithfield in the early morning, for a drink at The Bishop's Finger. In the evening I'd meet my friends for a drink at Dirty Dicks, head on to the Olde Cheshire Cheese, and cross the road to El Vinos, heart of the long destroyed (by Rupert Murdoch, may God shit on his soul) society of yellow journalists. I'd buy a bottle from El Vinos and drink it at the fountain in the Temple, one of the few remaining gaslit areas in London. I always found the City magical, the names of the streets, the Bank, the hidden rivers, the 2,000 year old ruins hidden down side streets and in multi-storey car parks. Do you know the London Stone? The heart of London, a small pock-marked piece of rock that's existed as long as London has, maybe longer. The legend has it that as long as the stone exists London exists and if the stone is destroyed London is destroyed. It's on Cannon Street, across the road from the station, in the bank window, hard to find but worth looking for. The story says it was brought from Troy by Brutus, the founder of London. For all its faults London is one of the most magical cities on earth and, even from here in the heart of south-east Asia, I love the place with all my heart (I'm a freeman of the City and proud of it). There are only two cities in all of Europe with that wonderful, magical, historic, and cosmopolitan atmosphere, London and Paris, may God preserve them forever (though odds are that he won't).

[DrAndy]

It sounds like Los Angeles.

Trendy, hip and quite possibly the poorest value on the planet.

That's why I left.

ermm, no Tex, it has no similarities at all

none whatsoever

nada, zilch

once again, you can find excellent value if you know about London

I love cycling around London, there is so much to see and laugh at

[DrB0b]

It sounds like Los Angeles.

Trendy, hip and quite possibly the poorest value on the planet.

That's why I left.

ermm, no Tex, it has no similarities at all

none whatsoever

nada, zilch

once again, you can find excellent value if you know about London

I love cycling around London, there is so much to see and laugh at

Quite, the man who is tired of London is tired of life.

[jizzybloke]

^^^Can't green you Bob but i like that!

[caller]

I agree that Thai food is over priced and over rated in London, which is why most of us with Thai partners don't meet in restaurants, especially as the wives do so much better.

Chains, like the Thai square group are shite, but usually you can find a local place that suits.

The one place the wife likes to go back to is this, just don't order the satay!

It's popular with Thais and is recommended again in the last Time-Out eating out guide, which is generally critical of thai food places in the capital.

http://www.esarnkheaw.com/

[jizzybloke]

^have heard a lot about that place caller and all good too!

[Gallowspole]

I would have licked the plates for that price!

In seriously fashionable ...ahem ... Newcastle 20 years ago, we were paying around 40 quid per person at the Loy Krathong, so I don't think 75 quid for 2 is so unreasonable in the centre of London.

[DrAndy]

Maybe, especially if you take off the four beers at £32, then it was £41 total

all that aside, as was said, I prefer Thai food at home. Either my wife or one/two/three of her friends can cook it and it is good. except if one of them makes some unpleasant Lao food.

But this was almost a freebie, so it was good

[paulspad2002]

if u didnt have the voucher then i guess the real price of that meal is about 73 pounds am i right...mmmmm so for what u had isnt that a bit expensive, now ive lived in london a good amount of my time and to me 73 notes seems a tad expensive...i mean 4 quid for singha are u for real, i do agree its central london, but would u really go out and spend that much on a meal....i dont think many would be able to go out too often with the high priced living in london well the average bloke anyway......

[DrAndy]

no, the real price of the meal was £41

drinks were extra, obviously

and yes, I have spent that much on a meal before; £20 a head is not much for good food

although I prefer to go to bars and eat (£30 for two at my local Tapas bar incl a decent bottle of red)

[Mister Fixit]

I would have licked the plates for that price!

In seriously fashionable ...ahem ... Newcastle 20 years ago, we were paying around 40 quid per person at the Loy Krathong, so I don't think 75 quid for 2 is so unreasonable in the centre of London.

Nowt wrang with w' Nyucassel, wor kid!

I had a pretty good Thai meal in New York, (not the Merkin one), a small place just north of Newcastle, last month when I was over for my old mam's 90th birthday. It was a pub called the Wheatsheaf, and the owner is apparently married to a Thai and also has a place in Jomtien, where he was when I ate there.

It was not at all bad price-wise and the food was great. My mum had tom yam gung at £4.50 a small bowl, but really excellent, then she had gai pad king at 6 quid a pop, but again very nice.

I had something they called Bangkok beef, which I have never had in Bangers, but it was lovely, tender and cooked in oyster and soy sauce, I think. Then I had yam woonsen, a very large bowl and 6 quid a pop, rather more than Thailand. However, It was very nice indeed and we were both stuffed afterwards.

I also had a small bottle of Chang at 2.35 a go, a bit steep, but it was a nice round-off to a pretty good meal. Total was £32.20 for two, not at all bad for UK prices.

Better still, my mum insisted on paying, saying that as I had travelled 8,000 miles or so for her birthday, the least she could do was to pay! Well done, mum! ;-)

The Thai staff were great too. I went the day before to check it out and spoke to a waitress who turned out to be from Bang Kapi. She gave us a huge bowl of sticky rice free, and in return I took some nam prik bao the girlfriend had made for her and the cooks to have with their own sticky rice.

I reckon it was well worth 32 quid for a nice authentic Thai meal,even if it could be had for a fifth of the price in Thailand, probably less.

[peterpan]

To be honest if its as Good as the good Doctor says it is, the meal price sounds OK to me, I guess for good Thai you would pay those prices in Sydney, near that price in Auckland.
Its not exorbitant. I remember paying roughly 30+ quid with no drinks for two in Peterborough and that was 5 / 6 years ago.

[DrAndy]

It was OK for central London PP, but you could get a cheaper version in the suburbs, although maybe not so tasty

[CharleyFarley]

To me eating out is partly the food and partly the ambiance.

Generally if you end up with a bill that is 50% food 50% drink, it means you've had a good time.

I wouldn't ponce about going to a Thai restaurant in central london and have just 2 miserable 33cl beers with my meal.

There again there are restaurants ( Vietnamese & Thai ) in Greenwich where all you want is Jasmine tea with your meal , and the food is excellent.

[DrAndy]

well Charley, if your ambiance can only be achieved with drink, it would not be a good place to go. Your "good time" would be 10 beers, at 50%

we did go to a nice bar afterwards, where drinks could be had for half the price