3 hours ago, Briggsy said:

Is that in Prachinburi?

I have never been to Prachinburi.

I have been to Montana.

13 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

I have never been to Prachinburi.

I have been to Montana.

13 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

I have never been to Prachinburi.

I have been to Montana.

Where is Montana?

8 minutes ago, Briggsy said:

Where is Montana?

Don't ask where.

Montana is a state of mind.

On 6/26/2026 at 11:33 AM, GammaGlobulin said:

I prefer stainless steel cutlery.

And, I prefer the proper grade of Stainless.

I forget, is it SS 304?

The grade used here in Thailand is GG 1000 (garbage grade) apparently.

Mine are 18/10

2 hours ago, Ralf001 said:

Mine are 18/10

OK.

That is a very nice set. V&B....

But, I am very much afraid that your set would look out of place in my hovel.

Instead, I buy what I need, or used to, from 7-11, for the low cost of about Bt.200 or one spoon, or one knife or one fork.

For sure, they are not stamped Sterling Silver, but I am also not sure about which grade of steel was used.

I am not displeased with the quality.

It is only the cheaper uni forks that bend if one looks at them the wrong way.

The 7-11 knife has a handle so heavy that it must be filled with lead.

On 6/25/2026 at 5:43 AM, emptypockets said:

Buy better quality cutlery and meat.

The quality of the meat and cutlery the OP buys appears to be directly proportional to the quality of the threads he starts.

The only real surprise is that, after producing this level of vapid drivel time and again, he still seems enthusiastic enough to keep posting more of it.

1 minute ago, richard_smith237 said:

The quality of the meat and cutlery the OP buys appears to be directly proportional to the quality of the threads he starts.

The only real surprise is that, after producing this level of vapid drivel time and again, he still seems enthusiastic enough to keep posting more of it.

It has been said, "we are what we eat".

Or, is it "dress for success"?

I forget.

Maybe it's, "Think with your gut!"

On 6/26/2026 at 11:22 AM, KhunLA said:

You guys are killing me. Need to be a home cook to eat Beef steaks, and spend at least 1030 kg, which is what whole AU HARVEY brand beef tenderloin cost at Makro. Anything else, from anywhere else, and it's going to be expensive.

You get a few or more, nice steaks out of it, with plenty for stir fry or ground if wanting. Ground with be lean though, so don't overcook your 'thick' burger. No smash burger unless you like dry burger or use a lot of sauce & cheese on it.

Beef steak at restaurant is just too hit & miss, usually miss, or expensive, or both.

I've done this before - purchased a 'slab' from Makro and portioned it to steaks.

The first time it was decent meat - worth... The second time the meat was tough (I can't recall the brand - but they were vacuum packed Aussie - not sure if it was 'Harvey' brand or not)

The cheat I found was to use the Sous Vide and then reverse sear - which turned poor steak into something thats ok, but turns decent steak into something very good and well worth while.

I rarely eat steaks in restaurants any more - way too expensive for the quality - I've not found good value vs quality, compared to cooking at home.

The last decent batch I had was from Bangkok Beef (online delivery) - 1.2 kgs Australian - Black Angus Flat Iron. MB2+

It was pre-cut into 4x 300gm steaks - cooked Sous Vide - finished with a pan sear in butter rosemary and garlic.

Another batch was the New Zealand - Prime Steer Black Angus Striploin (21 days) - again pre-cut into steaks and most certainly not worth it - even with Sous-vide - the steaks were poor.

I've had good results with Cube Roll from Makro (can't remember the brand) and cut those down to steaks 1.5 to 2" thick - pre-seared in a cast Iron skillet (high temp oil) - then oven finished (in skillet) with butter rosemary and garlic before removing for final baste.

I might try the Harvey Brand again once I run out of this last batch.

On 6/25/2026 at 9:02 AM, stevenl said:

Another oddity about Thai food is that the food is extremely spicy, desserts however are almost tasteless.

Sure it's not that your taste buds are too overloaded by the previous courses they can't process the flavours any more?

36 minutes ago, BeastOfBodmin said:

Sure it's not that your taste buds are too overloaded by the previous courses they can't process the flavours any more?

I doubt I'm alone here, but I find Thai desserts pretty awful.

Thai food itself is outstanding, so this is far from a criticism of Thailand (just incase anyone wanted to go down that accusatory road).

I think Thai cuisine is among some of the best in the world. But the desserts... I've never found one that I find even remotely enjoyable. They're often just far too sweet for my taste, and many have textures that simply don't appeal to me.

That said, Thailand more than makes up for it with its international desserts. There are countless cafés, bakeries and restaurants serving superb cheesecakes, chocolate cakes, gateaux, tarts, pies, pastries, croissants, éclairs, mille-feuille, tiramisu, panna cotta, crème brûlée, profiteroles, macarons, baklava, brownies, cookies, ice cream and gelato.

In that respect, we're absolutely spoilt for choice - just not in 'very Thai style Thai restaurants' !!...

41 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

I've done this before - purchased a 'slab' from Makro and portioned it to steaks.

The first time it was decent meat - worth... The second time the meat was tough (I can't recall the brand - but they were vacuum packed Aussie - not sure if it was 'Harvey' brand or not)

The cheat I found was to use the Sous Vide and then reverse sear - which turned poor steak into something thats ok, but turns decent steak into something very good and well worth while.

I rarely eat steaks in restaurants any more - way too expensive for the quality - I've not found good value vs quality, compared to cooking at home.

The last decent batch I had was from Bangkok Beef (online delivery) - 1.2 kgs Australian - Black Angus Flat Iron. MB2+

It was pre-cut into 4x 300gm steaks - cooked Sous Vide - finished with a pan sear in butter rosemary and garlic.

Another batch was the New Zealand - Prime Steer Black Angus Striploin (21 days) - again pre-cut into steaks and most certainly not worth it - even with Sous-vide - the steaks were poor.

I've had good results with Cube Roll from Makro (can't remember the brand) and cut those down to steaks 1.5 to 2" thick - pre-seared in a cast Iron skillet (high temp oil) - then oven finished (in skillet) with butter rosemary and garlic before removing for final baste.

I might try the Harvey Brand again once I run out of this last batch.

I only get the tenderloins, and picky about them, but they get a good size one ever once in awhile. Also do reverse sear, oven then to skillet. Almost impossible to screw up.

Maybe the cutlery is cheap lazada or temu crap bought by the pound ?

Maybe they just buy the cheapest type of beef in the market that is obviously never going to go tender unless marinated with care and cooked with love and not just to cash in a fast buck from the guilable falang ?

Often seen in restaurants that the locals get better served then the foreigners. Say this is quite a few restaurants in Hua Hin for instance.

5 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

I only get the tenderloins, and picky about them, but they get a good size one ever once in awhile. Also do reverse sear, oven then to skillet. Almost impossible to screw up.

Tenderloin is one of the easiest steaks to cook and, as mentioned, it's surprisingly difficult to ruin.

It's my go-to cut for cooking over charcoal. The subtle smokiness from the barbecue complements it beautifully and adds some of the flavour that the cut itself naturally lacks. The same is true of sirloin (striploin) IMO although supposedly it has naturally richer beef flavour - I don't find that.

I've never been quite as taken with ribeye. A good one is exceptional, but I find the quality can be inconsistent. Depending on where the steak is cut from the rib section, you can sometimes end up with more sinew and connective tissue than I'd like. Some of that renders during cooking, but some doesn't, leaving parts of the steak chewier than I enjoy.

That said, judged purely as a steak, tenderloin has a relatively mild flavour profile. Compared with other premium cuts at a similar price point, such as ribeye, striploin or picanha, it can be a little underwhelming.

Lately I've found myself favouring picanha instead. It has far more character, a richer beef flavour, and an outstanding fat cap that renders well. Served with a homemade chimichurri sauce, it's hard to beat.

I think I'm going to have to take a visit to Makro and see what the Harvey Brand offers , looking for a decent Pichania.

Edit: As a warning - Do not buy Oyster Blade - it has a horribly tough central fascia that ruins it that ruins it as a steak - but if you can do it neatly - you can make a decent flat-iron from a big slab - ensuring you can correctly cut away that central layer of gristle).

Edited June 28Jun 28 by richard_smith237

38 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

I doubt I'm alone here, but I find Thai desserts pretty awful.

Thai food itself is outstanding, so this is far from a criticism of Thailand (just incase anyone wanted to go down that accusatory road).

I think Thai cuisine is among some of the best in the world. But the desserts... I've never found one that I find even remotely enjoyable. They're often just far too sweet for my taste, and many have textures that simply don't appeal to me.

That said, Thailand more than makes up for it with its international desserts. There are countless cafés, bakeries and restaurants serving superb cheesecakes, chocolate cakes, gateaux, tarts, pies, pastries, croissants, éclairs, mille-feuille, tiramisu, panna cotta, crème brûlée, profiteroles, macarons, baklava, brownies, cookies, ice cream and gelato.

In that respect, we're absolutely spoilt for choice - just not in 'very Thai style Thai restaurants' !!...

How can you have anything negative to say about mango plus sticky rice?

12 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

How can you have anything negative to say about mango plus sticky rice?

Mango on its own - great - but its a fruit not a desert... The sticky rice part..... meh... kind of like stawberry's and cream - the fruit is just better on its own (IMO of course)

37 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

I've never been quite as taken with ribeye. A good one is exceptional, but I find the quality can be inconsistent.

Lately I've found myself favouring picanha instead.

I think I'm going to have to take a visit to Makro and see what the Harvey Brand offers , looking for a decent Pichania.

Edit: As a warning - Do not buy Oyster Blade - it has a horribly tough central fascia that ruins it that ruins it as a steak - but if you can do it neatly - you can make a decent flat-iron from a big slab - ensuring you can correctly cut away that central layer of gristle).

Agree, and find Ribeye, a bit tastier, but when done, I seem to leave a bit too much on the plate, and really hit & miss. Like the consistency of Tenderloin.

Picanha is nice also, and Makro gets some nice ones occasionally. Added plus, restocks my Beef Tallow.

17 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Mango on its own - great - but its a fruit not a desert... The sticky rice part..... meh... kind of like stawberry's and cream - the fruit is just better on its own (IMO of course)

That's fine.

You are not Asian, but a Farang, and have developed Farang Tastes since you were born in the west, eating a western diet, loaded with sugar.

Eating dessert in China is sort of a recent development, other than sweet bean soups, and fruit, and, in China, often just one extra large bowl of rice after the meal.

In Thailand, as well, few order dessert, and this is why Farang are so FAT.....making their dentists so wealthy in the process.

We can see pastries on sale in Thailand. but are these really consumed after a full meal?....NO, OF COURSE NOT......

Only Farang do silly things like eat a cake after a full meal...and this is nonsense from a health perspective.

51 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

How can you have anything negative to say about mango plus sticky rice?

I'm allergic to mango, so yes I can say a lot of negative about mango.

Just to add I have 50 mango trees and hate everyone if them. I used to have 250 trees but didn't water them and they died. The last 50 still won't die.

Edited June 28Jun 28 by emptypockets

7 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

That's fine.

You are not Asian, but a Farang, and have developed Farang Tastes since you were born in the west, eating a western diet, loaded with sugar.

Being deliberately obtuse ? Are you seriously suggesting that mango sticky rice, tub tim grob, bualoy, lod chong, coconut ice cream, kanom, or shaved ice buried under syrup somehow don't contain sugar?

Thailand's diet is already heavily laden with sugar. It's a recognised public health issue, diabetes rates continue to rise, and it's exactly why successive governments have introduced sugar taxes and keep talking about tightening them further.

7 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

Eating dessert in China is sort of a recent development, other than sweet bean soups, and fruit, and, in China, often just one extra large bowl of rice after the meal.

In Thailand, as well, few order dessert, and this is why Farang are so FAT.....making their dentists so wealthy in the process.

Bit this is your masterpiece of dunfluckery !! - foreigners are fat because they eat dessert !!! really...

but, no. They're fat for exactly the same reasons overweight people are everywhere else. Too many calories, too little exercise, too much alcohol, oversized portions and increasingly sedentary lifestyles. That's how obesity works. It isn't caused by the occasional slice of cake after dinner.

And this idea that "only Farang eat dessert after a meal" is so detached from reality it's difficult to know where to start.

Thai dessert shops don't seem to be struggling for customers, and they're certainly not being kept afloat by westerners.

7 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

We can see pastries on sale in Thailand. but are these really consumed after a full meal?....NO, OF COURSE NOT......

Only Farang do silly things like eat a cake after a full meal...and this is nonsense from a health perspective.

The real problem with your post isn't that it's wrong, it's that virtually every sentence is another gallacticially stupid sweeping generalisation presented as though it's established fact.

"Farang have sweet tastes."

"Only Farang eat dessert."

"Farang are fat because they eat cake."

"Asian people don't."

It's as though you've replaced evidence with clichés and hoped nobody would notice.

It seems you've simply written whatever happened to pop into your head while typing. It's difficult to take you seriously because of the utter tosh you make-up that fails survives even the most cursory fact check.

As for forks - never had a flimsy fork anywhere outside of a cheap-food court - or a plastic plate / plastic stool type restaurant - never in somewhere that isn't cheap and cheerful.

Equally so - the spoons aren't think 'because' they can be used as a knife - they are thin because they are made cheaply from thin pressed metal - Thai food isn't made to be 'cut' up (or needing of a knife) - just like Japanese food - its just the poorly made food is sometimes prepared poorly.

5 minutes ago, emptypockets said:

I'm allergic to mango, so yes I can say a lot of negative about mango.

Just to add I have 50 mango trees and hate everyone if them. I used to have 250 trees but didn't water them and they died. The last 50 still won't die.

I wish I had 50 fruit trees of any kind.

Is there not any effective medical treatment you can receive so that you will be able to eat mangoes in the future?

7 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Bit this is your masterpiece of dunfluckery !! -

Yet, a masterpiece, just the same.

Do you really think that Thai people eat dessert after a large meal?

I have not noticed this.

You are correct that high daily sugar intake is a killer, and that diabetes is a problem here in Thailand.

However, just out of curiosity, would you not say that most of this sugar intake is due to the consumption of sugary drinks, including sugary teas, and all other drinks.

I have not noticed that PanangGai is particularly sugary, for example, although it is both spicey and a bit sweet.

If all 7-ll sugary drinks were banned, as they should be, then we could probably reduce the diabetes medical burden here in Thailand by a huge amount.

Chinese do not eat dessert after a meal, normally, except at banquets, and similar occasions.

After a good Thai meal, the very LAST thing I want is to spoil it with a sweet dessert.

But, maybe I am not like you.

For sure, though, I will NOT develop Type Two Diabestes, unlke a few others around here, one supposes.

14 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

I wish I had 50 fruit trees of any kind.

Is there not any effective medical treatment you can receive so that you will be able to eat mangoes in the future?

No. Short term steroid use is the only treatment. Not sustainable without the danger of liver damage.

A lot of people suffer from sap burn when picking mangoes. That's a short term effect and easily treated.

My allergy is much more serious.

Edited June 28Jun 28 by emptypockets

31 minutes ago, emptypockets said:

No. Short term steroid use is the only treatment. Not sustainable without the danger of liver damage.

A lot of people suffer from sap burn when picking mangoes. That's a short term effect and easily treated.

My allergy is much more serious.

I have a mango tree, however I cannot eat the fruit, a situation that is not due to any allergy.

For some reason, when I open the fruit, the fruit seems to have been spoiled by some form of insect or maybe worm or something.

The core, or parts of the core, near the seed, is black in places.

Such a tragedy, really, since I do enjoy mangoes.

This happens each year to the fruit still on the tree.

Now, I just let the fruit fall on the ground, and weep over the loss.

3 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

I have a mango tree, however I cannot eat the fruit, a situation that is not due to any allergy.

For some reason, when I open the fruit, the fruit seems to have been spoiled by some form of insect or maybe worm or something.

The core, or parts of the core, near the seed, is black in places.

Such a tragedy, really, since I do enjoy mangoes.

This happens each year to the fruit still on the tree.

Now, I just let the fruit fall on the ground, and weep over the loss.

I have no knowledge of fruit rot. My biggest problem was from parrots eating part of the fruit making them unsellable.

1 hour ago, emptypockets said:

I have no knowledge of fruit rot. My biggest problem was from parrots eating part of the fruit making them unsellable.

If only you had had a few scarecrows.

Such a shame to waste the fruit.

I think, for whatever reason, Taiwan seems to have more variety of mangoes.

Now, after reading these references to mangoes, I have developed a sudden hankering for a few.

I think the very large red ones are easiest to consume.

Obviously, once again, Makro is not want I want.

I want good quality, and BIG REDDISH GREENISH ones with firm juicy fruit....

I really doubt Makro can come through for me.....once again.

I might even need to return to Taiwan for the best.

Also, if I tried to use a Thai Fork on these......Forget About it......never happen without getting bent out of shape.

Anyway, Here is an excellent vid showing various good varieties.

So, why in Thailand, is the selection so limited, especially at Makro?

Edited June 28Jun 28 by GammaGlobulin

youre demonstrably going to the cheapest possible resturants, but all is not lost, buy 1 fork of quality and carry it with you at all times

1 hour ago, mordothailand said:

youre demonstrably going to the cheapest possible resturants, but all is not lost, buy 1 fork of quality and carry it with you at all times

If I should fall on my fork?

35 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

If I should fall on my fork?

I'm sure you've ended up in ER having 'accidentally' slipped fallen on worse... 💡

4 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

I'm sure you've ended up in ER having 'accidentally' slipped fallen on worse... 💡

I have, for sure, never fallen on my sword.

16 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

I have, for sure, never fallen on my sword.

Hmm... yes, you don't strike me as the seppuku type. More the sort whose hara-kiri involves accidentally falling onto someone else's sword while insisting it wasn't what it looked like.... 🤫