Showing 31 - 40 of 44
Prime Time
Holiday Time, Gary Boyle, Published on 11/12/2015
» Steak lovers are spoilt for choice in Bangkok these days. Cattle are being pampered around the world and their best chunks of beef are flying in daily, landing on plates across the capital. But for the true beef fiend, only the best will do.
Uptown is the new downtown
News, Gary Boyle, Published on 12/12/2014
» Sorry CBD dwellers, zone 1 citizens and heart of the city hipsters: downtown is over. Developers have ripped the soul out of your neighbourhood and hoodwinked you into paying astonishing rent for the privilege. Who wants to pay more for a macaroon in Ploen Chit than in Paris, or buy a New York Deli-style brunch for the price of a flight to Phuket?
Every firework at once
News, Gary Boyle, Published on 22/12/2014
» Question: where's the best place to watch Bangkok's countdown fireworks? Is it in the city centre, craning your neck trying to see them all? Or from the rooftop of a glitzy downtown hotel, trying to glimpse them as they explode behind the neighbouring, slightly taller glitzy hotel?
Northern Explorations
News, Gary Boyle, Published on 26/12/2014
» Famed explorer Sir Edmund Hillary racked up a fair amount of frequent flyer miles in his life of adventuring. He was the first man to stand atop Mount Everest, and the first to score the hat-trick of doing Everest and both the North and South Poles. His 1953 expedition to conquer the world's highest mountain was done wearing just a thin cotton and nylon jacket and carrying a scant 20 kilograms of supplies.
Truffle Hound Heaven
News, Gary Boyle, Published on 30/12/2014
» It's odd how we ascribe value these days. We're happy to spend several hundred baht daily for a couple of coffees and a stale bun, but baulk at rewarding a musician's soulful outpourings by actually paying the same amount for an album. Food, however, in its stubborn refusal to be digitised, has avoided devaluation and Bangkokians are seeking ever higher and more expensive culinary experiences. Michelin-trained chefs used to be enough but now we crave an actual multi-Michelin-star celebrity in the kitchen. Decadent treats like foie gras perennially pop up on every festive menu whether people actually enjoy them or not. But this month Centara Grand at CentralWorld has trumped them all with its truffle menu.
A pleasant pillage
News, Gary Boyle, Published on 04/12/2014
» The high-ceilinged lobby plays tricks of scale; everything seems Alice in Wonderland odd and Gulliver's Travels large. Guests sip tea in giant chairs, staff wander amongst oversized flora and fauna, and everywhere there is art. Big art, like the 10-foot tall traditional Thai drums outside their Sra Bua by Kiin Kiin restaurant. It all adds up to a surprisingly subtle yet impressive effect, as entering a lobby should feel like an event or a passage to somewhere other: a place for escape, for relaxation, or for gorging on international cuisine.
A touch of Michelin magic
Life, Gary Boyle, Published on 19/12/2013
» Who are the heavyweights of cooking right now: Heston Blumenthal and his avant-garde creations? Bellowing TV bully Gordon Ramsey? The woman who wrote 'Cooking with Poo'? Yes and no. Yes, they get plenty of column inches and television moments, but the real powerhouses of cooking are Michelin magnets like Ferran Adria, Alain Ducasse and, for Thai cuisine, David Thompson.
Head to Hank's
Life, Gary Boyle, Published on 23/12/2013
» You'll hear Christmas songs, you'll hear classic party music, you might even hear some Elvis but one sound that's definitely absent is the rumbling of tummies. No one goes hungry here. Henry J. Beans is a classic American diner, which means everything is big: huge plates of wings, 750g T-bones, two-hander tacos and giant glasses of margarhita. Go alone if you dare, but it's best to share.
Between Heaven and Earth
Life, Gary Boyle, Published on 27/12/2013
» The name means new heaven and Earth, and although the altitude of the 22nd floor is not quite heavenly, the food certainly is. Master chef is the talented Singaporean-Chinese Lam Kok Weng whose skills ensured that this place won the Chinese category in the 2013 awards from Bangkok's Best Restaurants.
Lights, Camera, Cuisine!
Life, Gary Boyle, Published on 16/12/2013
» It begins, like a good movie, with a great opening sequence. You enter the lift in the Landmark Bangkok lobby, hit the highest button, and the glass cage slowly ascends 31 floors of the hotel's facade as Bangkok's inverted constellation of night time neon reveals itself, extending out to the horizon. You emerge from the lift into a plush bar fitted with deep seats and a wall of spirit bottles flanked by two wine cellars. To the right is the restaurant, bathed in red light...but is it the red of sensuality or danger?