No introduction is necessary for the famous food court within Bangkok's Terminal 21 shopping mall as almost every Bangkok-fanatic blogger has given it some mention on their social media platforms.
Even i am aware of its popularity even though i didn't care much about it until my recent trip when our choice of hotel (Park Plaza) was just a few minutes walk away.
Before i share my experience, do purchase for a prepaid food court card with the counter. My recommendation is to have a value of about 200 baht (approximately S$8). Do not be overly worried if you spend much lesser as any remaining amount can be "refunded".
Since we stayed so near, we held on to the card till the very last day!
Despite being one of the biggest food courts in the capital, you would find it hard to get seats during peak hours, especially lunch when you have to jostle with the office crowd keen to partake in cheap and good food in an air-conditioned environment!
Unlike Singapore's food courts, each table had a tissue dispenser! If that happens in the little red dot, our poor tissue auntie / uncle would suffer the most! Another cool feature was the hot water pot at cutlery stations where you can dip in your spoons and forks for added disinfection.
Stir Fried Noodle w Chicken, Pork & Seafood
The key to identifying a good stall, in Singapore's standard, is the length of the queue outside a stall and this was one of the better ones in Pier 21 that day.
With fresh ingredients daringly displayed for customers, i am only hoping that my first meal at Pier 21 would be impressive enough as i didn't plan many food places to try out for this relaxed-focused trip.
Tasted like sticky char kway teow, this was appetising enough for me to clean it up but the fragrance and taste couldn't be compared to our local black version. Nevertheless, for 37 baht with chicken, pork, squid and prawn, i am not complaining.
Menu as above for ease of reference.
Egg Noodle with Pork
It was only about 10.30am when i arrived at Pier 21 and there's no queue reference! Whatever the case, i was craving for dry noodles and opted for the egg noodles with pork (35 baht) even though the signature dishes were the ones with thicken soup.
Damn, the disgusting pork liver was included too! The one great thing about the order was the egg noodles that were cooked al dente with the ever-lovely egg flavour i personally enjoy.
Problem (aside from the liver) was the sweet sauce drizzled on the noodles; it was diluted yet it still succeed in affecting the overall taste, adversely.
Sweet Sticky Rice with Mango
I mentioned two things you must order at Pier 21 and one of them was Thailand's second best dish (Tom Yum is usually ranked first); Mango Sticky Rice!
So far, the mango sticky rice i had in Bangkok turned out to be decent and i am in fact drawing comparison to the one i had before at Thong Lo (Sukhumvit Soi 38 Food Street). To be fair and objective, i even travelled to the food street a few days later.
At the same stall, you can also give their Thai desserts a try; similar to our cheng tng, i did order (no picture though) and find it too sweet for my liking. The Thais really have a sweet tooth!
This was tastier than the one at Sukhumvit Soi 38 Food Street for two reasons; the glutinous rice had a nicer aroma and the fruit was sweeter.
Another picture as we had this like a total of three or four times in our six-day trip. There's another reason why this was better than Sukhumvit Soi 38 Food Street; pricing as a large portion was only 70 baht!
Appended menu for your reference. Those with a smaller appetite / have a healthier food plan can opt for the small portion which translated into half a mango.
Thai Omelette with Rice
As testament to its position as the number one item that i feel you must order at Pier 21, i had this every single day of this trip, except for the first day.
Given the language barrier, ordering was rather straightforward and you just need to point to the ingredients you want for your omelette; do keep in mind that meat-based ingredients were more expensive.
I have attempted this omelette numerous times in my new home but failed miserably in attaining that absolutely irresistible flavour! How difficult can that be given that it's only eggs and simple ingredients?! Hm... Maybe it's the wok or the oil that's used.
It's a simple enough meal; both visually and realistically yet the insides spoke length of its delicious simplicity that continued to tug my heartstrings, even now!
There could be another factor in play for my affection towards this specific omelette; the price ranged from 20 to 30 baht. 20 baht is only about 80 Singapore cents; do let me know if you manage to find food of this pricing in any food court in Singapore!
Menu as above!
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Location
5th Floor (San Francisco Floor),
Terminal 21 (Next to Asok BTS)
To read more on my relaxing 6 days, 5 nights Bangkok itinerary,
please click here. :)