Taling Pling Siam Paragon (Bangkok, THAILAND) ★★☆☆☆

We are going back to Siam Paragon Shopping Mall one last time before we head home this afternoon. Situated on the ground floor of Siam Paragon, Taling Pling is a local restaurant serving authentic Thai dishes such as Thai-style salad, spring rolls and curry. We've had our share of Thai food on this trip but no one would say no to a refreshing iced Thai milk tea on such a hot day.

I didn't like the dark and quirky décor here but that's just me I guess.

Morning glory tossed with chilli and a couple of curry dishes to start things off. Hey, nice watch, Master shifu!

Of course, our final meal here won't be complete without a pad thai.

Purple rice with shrimp paste, caramelized pork, pork lardon, and raw vegetables. I didn't have the chance to try this one.

We would love to wrap things up with some sticky rice and mango but a few of us still need to do some last-minute shopping at the supermarket so we quickly settled the bill. The countdown (to the airport) is on!

Food Rating: 3.5/10

Price: ฿฿฿

Address: G30 Siam Paragon, 991 Rama I Rd, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand

Closest BTS Station: Siam

Opening Hours: 10:30am - 10:00pm daily

Cabbages & Condoms (Bangkok, THAILAND) ★★☆☆☆

Cabbages and Condoms Restaurant has been the top ranked Bangkok restaurant on Tripadvisor for quite an extensive period of time until the last couple of years when it finally plummeted back to reality.

This condom-themed restaurant is best known for all their decorations with condoms, their own way to promote safe sex. But we were not here solely for this unique decor. We were here because of its location in the heart of the Asok massage district.

After a nice and relaxed morning of thai massage at the neighbouring "King and I", four of us woke up re-energetized. Following a 50 metre walk out of the massage parlour, we found the Cabbages and Condoms hidding behind the bushes.



As per advertised, we saw all sorts of furniture and displays decorated in condoms. Firstly, some ladyswear and menswear with colorful condoms at the entrance area.



After we were seated, there were more interesting decorations to come in the dining room including plants and table clothes labeled with the condom theme.




The Tom Yum Gung is a must-try here. For anyone not familiar with this famous Thai soup, it was a spicy shrimp soup with chilli, lime, lemongrass and galanga. This was not bad.



Chicken and pork satay, we saw them everywhere in Bangkok especially from the street vendors. Unlike most satays we had elsewhere, these did not have any signs of being chargrilled but nevertheless they were fairly good.



Things began to fall apart from here. Our Yum Ben Ja Rong or Thai style assorted vegetables, chicken and shrimp salad with spicy and sour dressing was really a subpar effort.



The pan-grilled chicken fillet with lemongrass and herbs was slightly better but still did not receive a passing grade from the grand jury.



Our only dessert, banana fritter with honey and vanilla ice cream on the side, turned out to be a good choice among a wide selection of dessert.



The condom theme got our cameras rolling during the start of our meal. But apart from this major selling point, the restaurant did not offer enough attractive substance to make our visit worthawhile.



Food Rating: 4/10

Price: ฿฿฿
Address: Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok 10110, Thailand

Closest BTS Station: Asok
Website: www.pda.or.th/restaurant/

Ping's Shark's Fin Restaurant (Bangkok, THAILAND) ★★★☆☆

Generally speaking, when it comes to shark's fin restaurants in Bangkok, there's only one place I go to, Bangkok's Shark's fin. But my friend EH is a frequent flyer to the Land of a Thousand Smiles and while he's traveling with us on this trip, of coz it's wise to tap into his wisdom.

He's bringing us to this place called Ping's Shark's Fin Restaurant, touted as the best Chinese and Thai restaurant in Bangkok according to its own website.



Obviously they are very serious about their famous shark's fin soup. Even have a scale next to the stove to weigh each portion carefully and accurately. That's of course important since I didn't want EH to have a bigger portion than mine!



We decided to break the bank by going for the most expensive braised shark's fin soup with crab meat. Call me biased but I still like the one at Bangkok's Shark's Fin a little more.



The garlic prawns with vermicelli was okay but again not as flavorful as the one at my home court.



Deep fried oyster omelette, again so-so.



Fried rice with crab meat was nicely done although we would all love a little more crab meat in it.






Food Rating: 4.5/10
Price: ฿฿฿
Address: 137/3 Sukhumvit 21 Road, Bangkok, Thailand
Closest BTS Station: Asok
Tel: +66 (0) 2661-7860
Website: www.pingsharksfin.com

Siam Paragon Food Hall (Bangkok, THAILAND) ★★★☆☆

It was getting a little late once we settled ourselves down at Grand Millennium Sukhumvit Hotel so the plan was to grab a quick lunch at Siam Paragon followed by some shopping in the area.

We weren't too picky about what to eat for our first meal here.

One of the most eye-catching sight at the food court was of course the large fish tank sitting on one of the dining tables.

Most things are made to order here at the food hall and I wasted no time getting myself some fried rice noodles with seafood. This was a little more soupy than I hoped but hey, like I said earlier, I wasn't picky!

Price: ฿฿

Address: BF Siam Paragon, 991 Rama I Road, Pathum Wan, 10330 Bangkok, Thailand

Closest BTS Station: Siam

Opening Hours: 10:00am - 10:00pm daily

Grand Millennium Sukhumvit Hotel (Bangkok, THAILAND)

We have been talking about a guys trip for some time now and finally, the four of us managed to agree on a date last month. Master Shifu was the one handling our hotel accommodations making sure that we have a place to stay and he came up with the idea of staying at Grand Millennium Sukhumvit Hotel. Since I have no idea about the hotel scene of Bangkok these days, I was all too happy to accept his proposal.

Check-in was quick and we all thought the hotel lobby looked spacious enough. But where the heck is everybody!? 😒

While the hotel staff was busy taking care of our luggage, we all rushed upstairs to get a sneak peek on our rooms first.

My room was pretty decent and like most hotels in the city, it came with an unobstructed city view.

The queen bed looks pretty comfy too. I think I'll have a few good nights of sleep.

The bathroom wasn't bad. I didn't like all the glass walls though. Not much privacy there but fortunately, we ain't sharing rooms together. 

For the price we were paying, this wasn't a bad choice. Of course we were disappointed that breakfast wasn't included but the fact that the hotel is just a 7-minute walk from Nana BTS station already put a smile on everyone's face.

Rating: ❤❤❤

Price: ฿฿฿

Address: 99 Sukhumvit Rd, Khlong Tan, Khlong Toei, 10110 Bangkok, Thailand

Closest BTS Station: Nana

Tel: +66 2207-9999