Frozen Food

[kurnell]

Frozen food seems to be taking off at the moment, with supermarket freezers full of S&P, CP, Rang Mahal and Blue Elephant products to name but a few. Due to my busy lifestyle and the fact that my soi is food free, I have resorted to this old food staple.

After 6 months of experimentation I can conclude that 90% of it is, at best, very ordinary. CP was terrible. Poor quality ingredients seems to be their problem. Most of the mexican food was dire also. S&P was reasonable, green chicken curry being the best. I tried Blue Elephant yesterday, which should be good at 149 baht, but the description on the box did not correspond with the contents - "tender grilled chicken breast", reality was "gristly nuked chicken thigh".

The winner for me was Rang Mahal and Chicken Makhanwala in particular. Their other dishes are ok, but this one seems to be a winner. Seems I am not alone as Tops supermarket freezers seem to be void of my favourite dish in the last few weeks.

[lothda]

I've read that Thailand is just about top of the world for consumption of frozen meals - can't be just expats. Obviously there should be some high quality stuff around. Actually I find CP to be quite good. Their shrimp wonton soup is excellent. S&P is fine, too, as far as lower-priced brands go. Rang Mahal is really good, but I don't find it's good value. By the way, your food free soi must be the only one in Thailand...

Edited May 9, 2009 by lothda

[Daren]

Oh this thread makes me very sad. There's nothing good about TV dinners, other than convenience. Nourition, taste and love, the three best things in food, are all completely absent IMO. I used to eat those frozen things but thankfully now I have a girlfriend who's a wonderful cook. I highly recommend getting one. ps- sorry for the wierd formatting, writing from my phone.

[lopburi3]

I've read that Thailand is just about top of the world for consumption of frozen meals

I have no idea where you may have read any such thing - but I highly suspect it is totally false. You can not even obtain frozen foods in most locations and very few people have freezers. The small amount/verity that is available in supermarkets I believe speaks for itself. Although it is increasing it is nothing like aisles of choice in the US or Europe.

[kurnell]

Oh this thread makes me very sad. There's nothing good about TV dinners, other than convenience. Nourition, taste and love, the three best things in food, are all completely absent IMO. I used to eat those frozen things but thankfully now I have a girlfriend who's a wonderful cook. I highly recommend getting one. ps- sorry for the wierd formatting, writing from my phone.

Married. Wife works full time, no time to cook. Neither of our nannies can cook.

[p_brownstone]

I'm guessing "Rang Mahal" is produced by the people who run the Indian restaurant of the same name on the top floor of the Rembrandt Hotel?

If so, although I'm not a great fan of frozen food, I will definitely try their offerings next time I go shopping - is it only at Tops, or have you found it elsewhere?

Patrick

[ricklev]

I've always wondered who is buying those expensive Amy"s frozen dinners from the USA that are at all of the Top's. They still have a shelf life of another year. At this point most of them look like they have been thawed and refrozen so many times that the cardboard has worn out and Top's wraps them in plastic. I used to really enjoy Amy's in the USA at half the price, but who in their right mind would pay 350 baht for for a two year old frozen piza etc. in a package that looks like it floated over here through the Paific.

Same for lots of thet frozen stuff from England......

[Boater]

i would love tesco to introduce a proper range of western frozen foods like inthe uk

used to love there sausgage and mash for 99p ( 50 THB )

[DP25]

I've always wondered who is buying those expensive Amy"s frozen dinners from the USA that are at all of the Top's. They still have a shelf life of another year. At this point most of them look like they have been thawed and refrozen so many times that the cardboard has worn out and Top's wraps them in plastic. I used to really enjoy Amy's in the USA at half the price, but who in their right mind would pay 350 baht for for a two year old frozen piza etc. in a package that looks like it floated over here through the Paific.

Same for lots of thet frozen stuff from England......

I think there's a small segment of expats that prefer to eat no local food at all if they can help it. They want everything imported.

[lothda]

I'm guessing "Rang Mahal" is produced by the people who run the Indian restaurant of the same name on the top floor of the Rembrandt Hotel?

If so, although I'm not a great fan of frozen food, I will definitely try their offerings next time I go shopping - is it only at Tops, or have you found it elsewhere?

Patrick

Yes, it is related to the restaurant. You can find it at Tesco Lotus (On Nut for sure).

[pattayaGaz]

The frozen food here is very limited and overpriced, a high percentage of it seems to be fish based I am sure that these companies make products for the European and US market but dont bother stocking most of them locally, I also cannot understand the logic of some of the imported frozen food and why anyone would be prepared to pay 3-400 bht for a 350gm portion, great if you want to diet and pay over the top for it, what I miss is the range of chilled food that is available in the UK, and there are allways buy one get one free promotions on them, genuine as well not the double the price first Thai logic, I notice Tesco/Lotus stock a small range of oriental chilled food in the South Pattaya branch including a version of Spaghetti bolognaise.

[tigerbalm]

I see nothing wrong in frozen food but am always put of by the price and quantity of the ready made meals on offer, i would call most high priced snacks rather than meals, i remember not so long ago i found some frozen cauliflower cheese on offer, huge carton and it was some thing like 50 or 60 bht, i came away with ten of the things only to find out that the sell by date had expired like two months previous and this was from one of the big three food stores..could not believe it.

We have a chest freezer mainly for the wifes food products that she sells but it is full of other frozen goodies like sausage rolls, meat pies beef stew and Mash potato, yes one can even freeze mash potato but there is a trick with it that i learnt during my time when i had a small restaurant in Pattaya a few years back that really developed in to a delivery service for expats in and around the area which i lived.

I think we had about 67 customers and rising locally , and believe me when you get a half a dozen orders for a delivery which includes mash potato you don't want to keep the customer waiting like 20 mins just while you peel and boil the spuds.

Things we found that were able to be frozen included the things like Mash, pies, sausage rolls, liver bacon and onions, pizzas curries, beef stew, burgers, spring rolls, Chille con carnie, onion rings, etc and were all made by us oh except the curries we had a really good supplier farrang.

Just down the road from me i remember a guy opening up a Frozen food shop called it ICELAND (yes we all know that name) stocked many local farrang made products and had the sense to buy things like fries and peas and bacon sausages etc in bulk then re packaging them in to smaller manageable portions for those who did not have a large freezer.

There is a market for this sort of thing and I would assume could be a good little business for some one with the potential of operating in various locations around Thailand where there is a high population of farrang the trick is to find areas where there is a high density of farrang expats as these tend to be people who live here most of the time so your business would not be prone to the high low seasons.

The cost of setting up the business would be minimal..its just freezers really, and some advertising.

Edited May 28, 2009 by tigerbalm

[bonobo]

I am not a big fan of frozen food as a rule.  I do freeze putenesca sauce after I make it (use half fresh, then freeze the other half.) But most of the prepared frozen foods just don't do it for me.  However, I do buy frozen berries (mostly at Makro).  I use them four or five times a week for smoothies, and I use the frozen rasberries for my one sweet-tooth vice, rasberries and chocolate ice cream. I also freeze fresh pineapples and grapes for my smoothies, as well.

[kurnell]

Just discoverd some frozen Paratha and Roti. You take them out of the freezer, fry them in a pan (without oil) for a few minutes and they are ready. Fantastic. Some are stuffed with dahl sour cream and chives etc.

[Datsun240Z]

I tried some frozen food, but it's impossible to chew on it, am I doing something wrong?

[Jungian]

Carrefour and Rimping sell a lot of imported frozen foods that are quite good but quite expensive as well.

[khunjake]

The winner for me was Rang Mahal and Chicken Makhanwala in particular. Their other dishes are ok, but this one seems to be a winner. Seems I am not alone as Tops supermarket freezers seem to be void of my favourite dish in the last few weeks.

This one does sell out fast and it is not cheap. 149THB at Tops. Together with the 40THB Butter or Garlic Naan works quite well though. Too me, S&P, CP are mai aloy mak, utter garbage.

Also give the Oishi Frozen Gyoza a try as well. The misses pan fry's them up to perfection.

[Swelters]

Can't help but think that eating frozen food you're missing 40 percent of the point of living here. Make salads, source some good bread, and learn how to stir fry, it's not much more work than cooking frozen food. Get the nannies to chop everything up for you if you want, that's the time consuming part.

Swelters

Edited July 7, 2009 by Swelters

[khunjake]

Can't help but think that eating frozen food you're missing 40 percent of the point of living here.

Its also about changing things up a bit and not eating the same things day in an day out. Eating out Thai, cooking in farang and nuking up a plate of Indian grub once in a while are all part of being anywhere actually.

[pattayaGaz]

I'm guessing "Rang Mahal" is produced by the people who run the Indian restaurant of the same name on the top floor of the Rembrandt Hotel?

If so, although I'm not a great fan of frozen food, I will definitely try their offerings next time I go shopping - is it only at Tops, or have you found it elsewhere?

Patrick

Their Nan bread is good but don't bother buying the Chicken Tikka Masala curry, though it's only 75 Bht in Friendship there is very little chicken in this curry and in chunks smaller than the size of a 10 Bht coin, and as for the sauce it's just a hot bland taste the same as a Tesco value Madras that you get in the UK.