When I was a kid in California, my grandmother used to make homemade fruitcake every Christmas season, which was absolutely delicious. She's been gone for many years now, but I've always loved a good slice of fruitcake ever since I was a kid...

Lately, in BKK to my surprise, I found an outlet that does a very respectable, good version of a western fruitcake priced at 40 baht for a good sized 1 inch or so thick slice...and that's the Arnoma Hotel outdoor bakery shop located just across the street from Central World.

In their version, the fruitcake is a light golden color, very moist but not too dense, and filled with lots of small sized bits of fruit and candy. Makes for a great snack...as pictured below...

In comparsion, the Bei Otto shop in Sukhumvit Soi 20 has their own slices of fruitcake, presumably German style, for sale... It's very different from that at Arnoma... very dark almost black in color, much denser and less of a cake impression. It's also good, but a different style from what I grew up with.

Robertsons, the people who make scottish shortbread, also make an excellent fruitcake with top quality ingredients. In Chiang Mai, it's available at Rim Ping Supermarket.

This has tobe an oxymoron if I ever saw one. Good Fruitcake... in the west it is dispised by most people especially during the holidays

Marks & Spenser. not sure they are in stock yet maybe mid next month, is very good but expensive, also there Christmas puddings are very good.

I say expensive but are they? I normally make my own, last year worked out it cost 1,600baht to make... Not sure what they cost in Marks & Spenser now....[if I remember correct they were about 1,500 baht Christmas 2003]... Have not made one this year, so will be going into Pinklao to buy one this year at Marks & Spenser, then go into the next road and buy 1kg of Marzipan and a kg of icing sugar, from the Bakery Wholesalers.

This has tobe an oxymoron if I ever saw one. Good Fruitcake... in the west it is dispised by most people especially during the holidays

That's because most people get served factory fruitcakes. A good homemade fruitcake with lots of quality fruit and nuts cured in rum and Grand Marnier for a couple of weeks can't be beat.

If you need a recipe, send me an e-mail. I make my own, a little expensive but all ingredients readily available in Thailand and delicious to make.

This has tobe an oxymoron if I ever saw one. Good Fruitcake... in the west it is dispised by most people especially during the holidays

Yes I agree totally. Fruitcake Good

Obviously, the two of you ARE fruitcakes... That certainly explains your comments...

Most people I know hate fruitcake all year round - any fruitcake.

Obviously, the two of you ARE fruitcakes... That certainly explains your comments...

I have been called nuts but not a fruitcake.

Anyways John, before starting such polarizing topics, you may want to consider your position as self appointed TV food / value / smoking critic and how it may reflect on the rest of your reviews.

The words Good and Fruitcake do not belong in the same sentence.

Au contraire James... you are a very good fruitcake!

Never could have imagined fruitcake would engender such a heated TV debate....

Well I love fruitcakes & Christmas Puddings! The denser & richer...the better.

Au contraire James... you are a very good fruitcake!

Never could have imagined fruitcake would engender such a heated TV debate....

It's not a debate John, it's a fact and any attempts to get some unsuspecting individual to go out and try one based on words like "Good, tasty and similar", will be met with a more balanced opinion for the sake of their health.

On that note, should anyone receive a Fruitcake or similar this holiday season (pick whichever is appropriate), do not eat it. Give it to your least favorite relative quickly or squash it down very thinly and e-mail to the following person...

JFC

C/o TV Western Food Forum

Bangkok

MMMMMmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was out on the prowl again today, and now have a new entry in the BKKJames fruitcake derby...

Was strolling down the 6th floor of Central World for some shopping and noticed a cafe called Seefah that I'd heard something about in the past but never visited. So, I meandered inside to check it out, finding a kind of small Thai food sit-down cafe and a modestly-sized refrigerated cakes/deserts case with some pretty nice, distinctive looking items.

And as I scanned the display, what did I find but none other than....

So, of course, I had to take one of the pre-wrapped, 35-baht per serving fruitcake slices home for a test-eat... And the verdict is... not too bad. Fresh, very moist, good consistency. But the slice was maybe half as thick as the Arnoma slice for 40 baht. And between the two, I think I like the taste of the Arnoma slice a bit better. But the Seefah one was perfectly acceptable.

That and they also sell a larger whole-sized fruitcake for a pretty reasonable price, though I didn't take one of those home for sampling yet.

Maybe I need to stop by and try their food for lunch someday... They have a lot of rice and noodle dishes on their food menu...and maybe it would even be an opportunity to try their other variety of fruitcake.

Edited October 6, 200916 yr by jfchandler

A correction. In an earlier post I wrote that Robertson's makes a high quality fruitcake for sale in upscale supermarkets. I was wrong. It's Walker's that makes this fruitcake.

A good fruit cake is dense, rich, filled with fruits and nuts. Those in the pic look like they have alot of cake and a bit of "candied" neon colored fruit? Go online get a recipe start it at the end of this month and enjoy a thing of beauty at the holidays! make sure to douse it regularly with alcohol of your choice! I do mine in the fridge too as not sure about the warm temps here.

Novotel Hotel Sukhumvit Soi 33 has fantastic fruit cake in the bakery. Dark/rich & golden brown, both excellent and not expensive.

Cheers,

Bob

Bob...thanks for the suggestions re Novotel...

I've never been to their bakery, but I've been meaning to try it.. I've seen them advertising some kind of cake buffet from time to time, but never managed to stop by... Now... I'll move them upward on my list!!!

Bob...thanks for the suggestions re Novotel...

I've never been to their bakery, but I've been meaning to try it.. I've seen them advertising some kind of cake buffet from time to time, but never managed to stop by... Now... I'll move them upward on my list!!!

Go there after 6pm any day, most items 50% discount.

Here's the additional info on the Novotel Lotus' (Suk Soi 33) cake buffet... not sure if it includes their fruitcake or not!!

Novotel's Le Boulanger cafe

HAPPY HOUR

The perfect place for tempting selection of homemade mouth-watering pastries, cakes and cookies 50% discount from 6:00 pm – 9:30 pm

For reservations please call 02-610 0111 : 4129.

HI-TEA Buffet

A specialty buffet spread exclusively for bakery and drinks. Plus the happiness by the variety of special complementary every day at Baht 199 nett from : 12.00 - 17.00 p.m.

For reservations please call 02-610 0111 : 4129.

This has tobe an oxymoron if I ever saw one. Good Fruitcake... in the west it is dispised by most people especially during the holidays

Notlost:

Good Western Style Fruitcake in Bkk

I stopped by the Novotel Lotus for their afternoon cake buffet mentioned above, and discovered... (wait for it) that their Le Boulanger bakery has slices of fruitcake for sale for about 70 baht per good-sized slice (although they're not offered as part of the cake buffet ).

Since I had just sampled their 199 baht net cake buffet, I just didn't have the room or the appetite to buy a slice of fruitcake on top of everything else. But I'll be back one day soon to try their fruitcake there.

As to the cake buffet, it's really a pretty good deal, though you won't find the best cakes on offer. But the overall bakery selection is OK, with lots of things to choose from.

Basically, for your price, you get a single, waitress-prepared plate of salad (pretty so-so) with a lot of sliced ham and small sausages, leaf lettuce, some cucumber slices and A LOT of dressing. Go light on the salad, or at least, direct the waitress how to prepare a version that appeals to you from the assorted ingredients on a small salad table.

What's better is your choice of anything and everything in their refrigerated sliced cakes section, as well as anything and everything in their bakery and pastries section, which includes things such as three different flavors of muffins, meal pastries such as spinach and cheese and curry meat puff flavors, several versions of triangle cut finger sandwiches, cinnamon-nut rolls, and quite a few others, more than I could keep track of or try on a first, late-afternoon visit.

The cake varieties tended to fall into the pretty standard, and unexciting, styles of colored/flavored creams layered with white or chocolate cake layers, with some decoration on top. Today, I did notice one variety of cheesecake on offer. And there were some brownie type cakes and such. So if you're looking for tiramisus or fresh fruit parfaits and such, this isn't the place for that.

Assorted Chocolate Cream Cakes

Spinach and Melted Cheese Puff

Along with your cake and pastry selections, the price includes your choice of a help-yourself, refillable drink bar, which offers a hot coffee machine, boiling water and choices of tea bags for hot tea, a familiar Thailand dispenser with several varieties of cold Nestle drinks such as chocolate, milk tea and fruit flavor, and a separate fountain dispenser with Coke and Fanta sodas.

You help yourself to your own drinks, whichever ones you choose and any refills. You pick your pastries off the display trays, and if desired, give them to the staff who will warm them up for a minute in the microwave behind the counter. For the refrigerated cakes, you just pick your choice/choices from the display case, and the staff will bring them to your table.

There isn't much to the Le Boulanger cafe in the Novotel Lotus, just a corner at the back of the lobby floor with a few tables. You also help yourself to your own silverware and napkins, which are on the counter near the drinks bar. The staff, though, were pleasant enough and accommodating. The buffet does end at 5 p.m., though, so if you go later, you'll need to finish your selections before the 5 p.m. cutoff time.

Overall, I was a bit disappointed by the pretty common cake offerings... But, one could skip those entirely, and just concentrate on a late breakfast or lunch focusing on the bakery goods such as sandwiches, puffs, muffins and such, for a very nice meal, along with your choice of multiple hot and/or cold drinks. For 199 baht per person, it's a hard deal to beat, even without the cakes.