Expats On A Budget: Your List Of Luxury Food/drink Items

[Jingthing]

This ain't for the lives of the rich and famous expat package bunch.

This is for the expats who do what they can to live in the local Thai economy, but are still human.

Some food luxury items are not luxury items in the west (such a Paramagiano cheese) but are in Thailand, they still count.

So what is your list of items you can't live without and those that you have sacrificed enjoying living in Thailand?

I have limited it to take home grocery items, but if you want to list restaurant indulgences as well, why not?

My list (can't live without)

good coffee

Paramagiano cheese

smoked salmon (and cream cheese to go with it)

avocados

sometimes 100 percent agave Tequila

sometimes good beers like Guinness

western breakfast cereals

My list (can live without)

good beef

western mushrooms

wine (painful!)

really good coffee

ricotta cheese

greek olives

Edited February 20, 2009 by Jingthing

[patklang]

After being in Thailand for over 5 years there are no things i cannot live without,as i am very very lucky to eat mainly thai food.My mates back home would love to do the same for ever but cannot,so we should enrich what we have.

this list is the odd farang food i have for a little change.

English breakfast

steak

pie/chips/gravy

indian curry

sausage sarnie or bacon sarnie with cheese on.

thats it realy and thats about once a month.

i enjoy the odd pint of beer or cider too.

[jtp]

Hey Jingthing,i'm not in a situation where i cannot afford to endulge,but if i was i would not live without Pepsi.I know,i know it's silly and bad as all hel_l for you,but it's just something that reminds me of home. I really like MK restaurants,but missing small things like Weetbix and having a BBQ,sometimes you long for certain things that make you feel more comfortable,and i am not really that into Thai food,but the misses loves the spicy food.

[patklang]

Not all thai food is spicy,and why cant you have a bbq here in Thailand???

I didnt read the op well enough,it said luxory food and i put a sausage sarnie pmsl.

I meant any type of food not luxury food.

[G54]

I sold they yacht last week, sacked the maids and told the g/f no more money and I stopped going out 7 nights a week (this one is true ), now I can afford to keep up with the basics of living such as

I will not do without :-

Coffee - a must.

more coffee.

my one night out a week with my good friend.

I can do without:-

going to the restaurant more than twice a week.

driving off here there and everywhere for a day or weekend out.

buying clothes and gifts for the g/f.

As I cook, clean and do the laundry etc., myself, I find that saves money.

[jtp]

Not all thai food is spicy,and why cant you have a bbq here in Thailand???

I didnt read the op well enough,it said luxory food and i put a sausage sarnie pmsl.

I meant any type of food not luxury food.

Mate,everything my wife brings home is spicy....And where the hel_l do i get a BBQ in Sawan???And let us not forget the small matter of sausages... I don't live in BKK or Pattaya,so it is a lot harder to find some items.

[Denim]

Decent coffee and decent bread. The coffee is easy to find in Esahn but the bread is another thing. When I occasionally go to Korat there is a place in The Mall that sells decent bread but as I only go there about once a month its a luxury item.

[scottyd]

Big Borger, Big greasy cheesy Borger.

[patklang]

Not all thai food is spicy,and why cant you have a bbq here in Thailand???

I didnt read the op well enough,it said luxory food and i put a sausage sarnie pmsl.

I meant any type of food not luxury food.

Mate,everything my wife brings home is spicy....And where the hel_l do i get a BBQ in Sawan???And let us not forget the small matter of sausages... I don't live in BKK or Pattaya,so it is a lot harder to find some items.

I understand what you are saying but surely a thai can make you a traditional charcoal bbq,they are much better.You can have a bbq without sausage too.

[lannarebirth]

Apparently the latest thing we can't live without is Truffle Oil. Wife was given some free by a friend and we've been buying it ever since. Admittedly, it is a nice enhancement to foods, but for crissakes we already have olive oil, grapeseed oil, rice bran oil and sunflowere seed oil.

[Pierrot]

The funny thing is , the food I crave the most is very basic but almost impossible to find in Asia : raw beef and raw vegetable. Meat is always overcooked and it's almost impossible to order a green salad in Asia.

[Moonrakers]

Cheddar is one of my favourite foods, but alas a rare treat.

Guinness occasionally (Depends if the boss is buying )

Indian curry maybe once a month (Usually a social occasion)

[jtp]

Not all thai food is spicy,and why cant you have a bbq here in Thailand???

I didnt read the op well enough,it said luxory food and i put a sausage sarnie pmsl.

I meant any type of food not luxury food.

Mate,everything my wife brings home is spicy....And where the hel_l do i get a BBQ in Sawan???And let us not forget the small matter of sausages... I don't live in BKK or Pattaya,so it is a lot harder to find some items.

I understand what you are saying but surely a thai can make you a traditional charcoal bbq,they are much better.You can have a bbq without sausage too.

Yes,but then there is the small matter of the whole god dam_n town converging on my house for "The silly farang is having BBQ,what BBQ? Can eat free?"

[patklang]

Hehehehehehehhe i didnt think of that.

have 2 on the go and the one for the village can be chicken feet and dog,then you have yours hiden away lol.

[noahvail]

The funny thing is , the food I crave the most is very basic but almost impossible to find in Asia : raw beef and raw vegetable. Meat is always overcooked and it's almost impossible to order a green salad in Asia.

So far, haven't been able to find a decent steak, but have started getting salad fixings from the local market, putting it together myself...lots of good stuff, lots of yum, not lots of baht. three days' of a large salad each day set me back a whole 100 baht.

that being said, i do so very much miss my propane bbq with rotisserie. can't control the fire of a charcoal bbq like you can with gas, and with all the different things you can add to the fire here to complement the dish... used to make the world's second best rotisserie chicken (only cuz there must be *somebody* out there who can cook it better than me ).

[jtp]

Hehehehehehehhe i didnt think of that.

have 2 on the go and the one for the village can be chicken feet and dog,then you have yours hiden away lol.

Every hungry bugger in the village would smell my cooking...

[PeaceBlondie]

I take it that this is a list of happy culinary/dietary items,not carnal delights.

Skippy crunchy peanut butter, just like I used to go to town from the beach and buy in Tapachula, Chiapas.

A good bacon cheeseburger about once a week.

Mexican food: enchilada, taco salad, Spanish rice, black beans, etc.

When I am in the mood, eggs sunny side up - barely warm, very runny; with American bacon, crisp and thin.

Bacon lettuce tomato sandwich on special bread.

Good Italian sausage pizza.

[loubrockbank]

mozarella cheese..seems really expense here so only a monthly thing i think.

not a food but detol! im a cleaning freak but again its pretty expensive here so thats a treat

my boyfriend would love to buy a nice cold magners...but he begrudges paying 250 bt when he can get chang for 33! so magners will be a rare treat

decent bread is a regular, have now ecome addicted though to those frozen mini bread rolls from macro that you bake in the oven yum.

but i am craving a can of iron bru BIG TIME, but havnt seen it anywhere if anyone has seen anyone selling it in phuket pleeeeeease let me know

[Jingthing]

I also buy good bread here but I find the price for it here similar to recent US prices, so I don't consider that a luxury food item. But it is dearer than rice, that's for sure.

[luisparis]

Such a painful thread... food in Thailand... such a disaster... go all the way to Paragon to only find a handfull of basic french cheeses and a few bland dutch dairy products , go to a posh western restaurant to be faced with a clueless local waiter... the beef , as someone mentionned and this sugar they seem to pour grossly over every dish...put abt 8kgs since we moved here and I don't even enjoy the food...than the girls even uglier than the beef the tasteless oysters the smelly hot dirty streets...argh... no ... I've learned about Kharma in Thailand... figured out that in matter of taste... ending up in BKK meant we must have done something terrible earlier on. As of living upcountry ... at least the twelth circle of hel_l

Starbucks has a decent coffee BTW, much better than most 5 stars hotels around. Without starbucks and the riverside hotels, condos and restaurants I doubt I could stay over here.

What I couldn't do without, it's probably a trip to Paris every few weeks... and Hong Kong of course...

[luisparis]

"raw beef and raw vegetable"

Do I miss raw beef as well... and cured ham... the pork leg hanging in the kitchen... the well stocked wine cellar underground... but for raw food there are plenty of japanese restaurants in BKK, some quite fancy who offer kinds of sushis not widely available back home...hhhmmm... might go for some red whale tomorrow....

[madjbs]

Mate,everything my wife brings home is spicy....And where the hel_l do i get a BBQ in Sawan???And let us not forget the small matter of sausages... I don't live in BKK or Pattaya,so it is a lot harder to find some items.

You can buy decent frozen western style sausages, bacon, steak, salmon etc.. at Makro. Look for the "Frozen International Food Section"

The Sausages and Bacon are the best stuff they do.

[junkofdavid2]

mozarella cheese..seems really expense here so only a monthly thing i think.

Mozzarella cheese can be bought in Makro for 315 baht per kilogram.

Quality is not "great", but it's decent and does the trick!

[Mattchu9999]

Nutella.

What is this stuff and why cant I break my addiction to it?

I've only seen it once or twice America, but it's all over the Tesco's here and I'll be damned if I cant go down the isle and not have 2 or 3 containers in my cart at checkout.

[pattaya_girl]

Oh i miss the Chocolate & Sweets Variety in the UK, I still buy Chocolate here but its more expensive and there's not much variety.

I have never seen any Hollands Steak & kidney Puddings here - still searching, i doubt if i ever will, so will carry on dreaming and remembering what they tasted like.

[ozzieovaseas]

having lived in Tasmania Australia for the last 5 years and feasted on the biggest,darkest,hardest sweetest cherries in the world (californian not even close)

i find it really hard to look at a cherry,or should i say the price and quality of them here.

[dave9988]

u can buy local buffalo mozeralla at central chitlom for 49 baht/100 grams and ricotta is now widely available for 270 baht for a small tub.

[daoyai]

My list is quite similar to the O.P., I like local food and eat it everyday but I have to cook my own pasta so, Parmesan cheese, Italian pasta, olive oil, pesto, good coffee and red wine, can get all from Rimping market but expensive. One thing I crave but can't get here is a great beer at any price. Like a Sierra Nevada pale ale or a U.S. style microbrew where they actually use hops. or even Bass ale, something amber and tasty. All things considered I never complain about the food situation here.

[Jingthing]

Right you are. I forgot about olive oil. A must have. Its funny that a home pasta meal in the west is a very cheap meal. In Thailand, not so cheap.

[Marksamui]

Can't live without

Heinz Baked Beans

Good sausages

Wine Gums (have to get from M&S in Thailand although duty free have Bassett's)

Starbucks

Can live without (only just)

Buying decent beef burgers to ccok at home (I just can't find them)

Nice fresh bread (it is always a little sweet for me)

English Fish and Chips from a Chip Shop (You can get fish and chips but they are never the same as in England)

Sky TV (only just)

Making the live without list makes me wonder how I do it!

I can of course also live without paying a small fortune for a round of drinks in a London pub, and standing around bored all night.