Back in the day Kamnan Boonsong was known for his somtam,gai yaang and beef and today his son is running both branches of  his fathers restaurants. We visited the on on the ring road just west of the big new Tesco in Kalasin. Looking for a place to eat the day before the Lions Club Libray opening we were directed to the establishment and tried out the gai yanng,somtam,khao ngiaow and Beer Leo. For some of you that is BBQ chicken, Thai papaya salad, sticky rice and Beer Leo. Now I realize I am not the expert that many of the travel bloggers are on the subject of Isaan food as I am constantly reading their reviews, but after a few thousand chickens, and a few thousand somtam and certainly thousands of restaurants in Isaan I feel quite shy,but still willing to offer my humble opinion……

As far as somtam is concerned every restaurant has their own recipes  with Bangkok style somtam on the bottom of the list. The Bangkok style is sweet and not very popular in the Northeast. Generally the most popular is Lao style and with a small Mealy Crab cut into it.
The, sorry,myth about burn your ears off somtam is just that a myth. Most Isaan people enjoy somtam that may seem quite hot to people who find oatmeal spicey, but many Mexican food are much spicier as Mexican peppers are hotter the the ones that came to Thailand.
Next the much loved gai yaang or as I prefer to call it yard bird. As with many females in Thailand it is difficult to find much in the way of breasts and the offering at most that Gai Yaang establishments show that. I generally will try the bird at most places that I stop, but with few exceptions plan to be underwhelmed. Gai Mun, a rotisseried full bird for just a bit more is becoming more and more popular in Isaan.
Not wanting to give up on the place where the beer was cold, although no Beer Chang, we went back the next day and I tried the Laap Nuea, beef laap, and that did not let me down. The sticky rice was fresh both times. I would recommend the place, with a small caveat. A number of Thai friends mentioned that the place is quite good and popular, but like so many in Northeast Thailand has a bit of a problem with cleanliness. Prices are okay,food is generally good, so if you are in Kalasin give it a shot.

While in Mukdahan my quest for Vietnamese food continued. Sure I now have a few places in town where I can get some decent authentic Vietnamese food, but my real search now was for Banh Mi. Actually an Australian I know in Muk mentioned just how popular Banh Mi was in Australia  I have had great Banh Mi in The US,England, and a few other places around the world but never in Thailand. There is a vietnamese retaurant in Mukdahan call Ku Faet, the twins, that does offer some vietnamese food and I dropped in. The best part of the meal was a very nice cole slaw they do with a sauce having the perfect balance of sweet and sour. When I asked the woman where I could get a real Banh Mi in town she said they sold it at Ku Faet.

I looked at the photo and then asked her to show me the bread they used. You can find Thai style Banh Mi all over Isaan at places that sell Kai Kata, the fried eggs in a pan meal. The bread is generally the little floppy mini loves with some kind of sausage dropped in.I can’t understand why she was so insulted when I told here that that was not Banh Mi, as Banh Mi is made with a proper French Baguette and other ingredients. She went on to tell the stupid farang that I had no clue and …Nevermind I had heard about a stall that sold Bah Mi at the morning market and finally got myself there and found the best, okay 70% the real thing, that I have ever found in Isaan. The best part of the whole thing was that it was an actual French Baguette. But why my quest for the real deal. For that I will let Anthony Bourdain show you….

Songkran takes place from the 13th through the 15th of april. Unlike Buddhist Festivals that are Lunar, the date of the festival that was originally set by astrological calculation,  is now fixed.  Whatever the case in Thailand it is the holiday when Thais from around the world, if possible return home, actually quite a bit like Tet in Vietnam. The Tourism Authority of Thailand has turned it into the worlds biggest waterfight and 7 days of road carnage in Thailand.
Whatever the case from the smallest villages to the cities all sorts of events are planned. Sakon Nakhon puts on a foodfest on the 12th, the day before the start of the festivities that opened at 1600h, just as the cooling shadows fell on the street.

The Government wonks were due to begin the ceremony at 1900h and then sit down in the VIP section , for the special treatment they so deserve.
Actually and most deservedly since they are right in front of the stage,they are right in front of blasting speakers a position that is quite uncomfortable, even vibrating when speeches are being made and when music blasts.
I got there early to sample the wares and get back home for an adult beverage. All these government sponsored events are No Smoking, No Alcohol events. Once again the local lack of originalit was on display as it was the same pork, fish and chicken that you see at ever food fair in Northeast Thailand. But here is a look around…

People dream of eating Thai food. Well you can experience Thailands favorite snacks a lot closer than you might think. Jus in case you did not know Thailand has five times as many 7/11s per capita than the United States and one of the favorite reasons Thais have for going to 7/11 is for the fine dining experience. For the first time in human history, more people are obese than hungry. Aren’t we lucky buggers .

And don’t you just love your Tom Yum, actual translation is boiled salad especially with goong those wonderful prawns. Well if you really love them there prawns make sure to read Love eating prawns?

Sure I enjot Thai /Isaan food seven days a week. But when I look around at the round children and adults filling the 7/11s I know  the path to obesity comes from Thailand’s fascination with everything that is wrong with the west. Diabetes, obesity, heart disease, liver and kindey ailments do not come from a proper diet, so be careful what you wish for and bon apetit

Someone is always posting about somtam here in Thailand. I have been sent to the best place for somtam in more places than I can remember by 90 day wonders and by people who think that the sweet mess they serve in Bangkok is the way to go. Sure what is sold in Bangkok might be somtam, training somtam I guess. Everyone seems to be an expert on somtam and with great disappointment I have tried some of their recommendations.
The other day browsing through a bookstore I spotted Somtam and the 77 Provinces. Okay so Thai Rak Thai v3.1 and the Prime Minister have still not figured out the number of Provinces in Thailand, but the book looked great. Okay reading the entire thing is beyond my skills, but not to worry….

The book has the Province names in both Thai and English. Wait a minute befor I forget the book is presented by AIS and PTT. Now I am sure those of you who travel about, especially in Isaan have used the PTT road atlas and know what a great job they do identifying everything from places of interest to PPT stations. So it is little wonder they know their somtam. They list  a couple informational photos about each place as well as general price, address, and hours of operation, The also show a bit of a map. The ISBN of the book is 978-974-02-1071-9. They only list restaurants not street stalls, for those of you who absolutely must have a carbon monoxide with your food. Having eaten in a number of places they list I will be using the book to enjoy a few more. Below, as you can see, they list weekkend hangout here in Sakon Nakhon.

I looked at a few posts by other people around Thailand and noticed fowl in the fotos, but not so in Sakon Nakhon. Seems everyone was tired of the birds and for once were free from the barbie. Or perhaps the entire town was sold out. Whatever the case there was no shortage of food and for the VEGETARIANS in the group have a nice glass of fruit juice. Pork ruled,on the stick or on the plate there was plenty of pork on the grill.
No one got adventuresome and the grilled pork at one booth was the same as at the other 10 and the kebabs were uniform as well. Thai people and Chinese Thai included are not in the least daring when it comes to food so little different is ever seen at these events, It is only in the last few years sushi has made an entrance in Isaan.
All that asie there was plenty of food and a hungry crowd and they will be there through the 12th so stop on by>

I have posted about Vietnamese food, the lack of it and where I have found it in some previous posts. As far as Vietnamese food is concerned the only authentic Vietnamese food I have found so far is at the  Golf House in Ubon Ratchatani. What I mean is the menu is in Thai, Vietnamese and English and it serves Vietnamese food, not Thai imitation. A couple weeks ago I found myself reading a few travel blogs and was lamenting the information they provided when I ran across one pointing out Vietnamese Restaurants in Mukdahan, that I had not visited, so I decided to take a look. First of all why don’t people who publish online travel blogs use google maps, especially in towns where GPS is not even needed. Secondly when I see that they could not even get the name of the place I flashed back.

I flash back to a number of years ago when I was contacted by a Travel Guide wanting to hire me to assist their restaurant guide writer. We agreed on a price and were doing some preliminary communication when I found out that their restaurant guide writer was a VEGETARIAN. Now I have nothing against VEGETARIANs, but how do you write up food that you do not eat? This I was told is how travel magazines, guidebooks and the pros do it. I said thanks but no thanks. So remember the are VEGETARIANs telling you about meat out there. There are also people who have never eaten Vietnamese food telling you where to find it in Thailand. It also seems people write about restaurants and do not even try the food. It reads There is a Vietnamese  restaurant on the corner of …. But in actuality it is a restaurant that says it is a Vietnamese Restaurant, that does not have Vietnamese food at all. Once again, I am not saying the food might not be tasty, it is just not what it is advertised as. How much work is it to ask the name of the place? And in one case a Vietnamese Restaurant (with no name across the street from a Vietnamese Restaurant the says Vietnamese Restaurant that the guide fails to mention at all. The name of the place listed in the guidebook is Pa Kaeo. Aunty Kaeo.
To wrap this up I could go into a Cambodian restaurant and do a guidebook entry about Cambodian food according to what guidebook writers do on a daily basis, and that information would be toyatlly useless as I do not have a clue as to what Cambodian food is supposed to taste like or what even constitutes Cambodian food. Sorry I don’t buy it do not tell me about places you haven’t eaten and you don’t know what you are eating. Amen, for now

My favorite daytime restaurant, Krua Srisaard, is history. The property has been sold and Khun Suttipong and his wife Dtim are looking for a new premises. Ed and Jane are on their, generally, annual visit to the region from Canada so we all got together at Menu Neua, now also known as Menu Classic for an afternoon of food and drink. Don’t forget to click on the Title to view the entire post.

The good Mister Dtoy and his girl friend joined the proceedings.  Back in the time I lived in Khon Kaen we met at least weekly, when Khun Suttipong was in town for the weekend from his business in Bangkok and  for a fair while I lived meters from the old restaurant and would eat there nearly daily. We aalso used to get together, about 6 or so of us for a monthly Geezer get together  and sadly over the years a few of our number have died.
Anyhow in all these years it was the first time Dtim was without a restaurant and was able to sit with us and enjoy the meal. Fish and   somtam and rice and soup and veg and a whole lot of beer was consumed during the 4 hours of this get together. I read that the Ministry of Culture comes up with Thai Cultural stuff, as was mentioned in the Bangkok Post keeps adding Cultural thing to their whatever list, well I am of the opinion that multi hour weekend meals should definitely  be part of the list. It is a fine social tradition, especially here in Northeast Thailand, Isaan and is a fine way to bring people together and is a fine way to introduce friends from one place to other friends. Ed and Jane certainly enjoyed the , not only the food, but the conversation with Khun Suttipong as both he and Ed are bean counters. Eating alone in Isaan is sot of seen as some sort of punishment and meals like this prove that living to eat beats the hell out of eating to live. Another might fine Isaan Day.

I would never have thought that my post about MK Restaurant would have raised the comments that it did, especially on Twitter. And, for sure I never knew that there was a MK song. Opinions are just that and we all have at least one and I am glad we all do not like the same thing. Do not forget to click on the title to read the entire post

When it comes to food in Northeast Thailand we are spoiled for choice and another choice we have foodwise are the food courts that are found at places like Makro, Tesco and Big C. These places are in air conditioned buildings, clean and provide pleanty of choice. You have to purchase a ticket, nowadays usually good for a month, to present at the food stall, as they do not accept money. It is do it yourself,but you see what you are buying and can sort of graze to you hearts content, choosing from rice or noodle dishes and some places even have Vietnamese choies and waffles.
There generally is a beverage station the has juices and soft beverages as well as drinking water. For me, when I have to shop at one of these malls I find the Food Court a healthy, clean, value for money alternative to the likes of KFC or MK

Truth be told I would not have been in the place if it were not for two 100 Baht vouchers. I do not like chains in the first place and if I want suki I go to one of the many suki restaurants that are usually all you can eat like one of my favorite in Khon Kaen. But aa voucher is a voucher and for what it was worth, it was not worth 300 baht after the 100 Baht voucher or 400 Bhat is we were stupid enough to come in on our own for the meal.. WE had duck and boiled pork ribs and kale and dim sum.
The sauces were too sweet the duck was greasy no crispy skin. The pork was boiled probably for days. The vegetable overcooked and in some kind of grazy. The dim sum was at best boring at least tasteless.
click on the title if you want the rest of the bad news.

Yes the noodles with the duck were green. Why were they green, no one seems to know. If I want dim sum it is just a few blocks away in Sakon Nakhon. And if I really want duck and dim sum I go to my second favorite duck and dim sum place in the world in Khon Kaen. And I still have 1 more voucher. I am a lucky bugger I am.
I suppose a tourist with know local knowledge, dying of hunger might find good reason to eat there, but come to think of it the Big C food court is right there and that is much better value for money. Oh yeah guess I need to do a post for that food court soon as well.
Bon Appetit  Y’all