3 Farangs Go Into An Mk Restaurant

[DJ Pat]

Todays lunch choice was either Sizzlers or MK. I hate Sizzlers and all their supersize me style dishes and there was a huge queue anyway.

Anyway, our only other option was the much lauded MK, with its colourful ads and inviting looking staff, we thought "why not?"

For those of you unfamiliar with MK, you pretty much pay to cook a huge bowl of soup but with your choice of ingredients. Otherwise your menu choies are limited to green mama noodles and duck in sauce or spare ribs, neither of which gets the wind up my skirt.

Anyway we ordered a huge plate of veg which was to make up the base of the soup, as well as an egg. Still bland as <deleted>. Add some chillis and lemon, still tasteless. When our choice of raw meats arrived, fish, crab balls, pigs kidney, pork, prawns, tofu, salmon and liver, we did what we saw everyone else doing and dipped them into the bubbling soup to cook them, but still bland, like plain boiled pork.

So whats the secret here, some of you must know how to make a trip to MK at least palatable for a farang, I know the obvious "take your missus" thing but if thats all MK actually is, then why the huge success story.

Imagine you went into a restaurant and you were served that soup, you wouldn't pay would you? Instead you pay to cook it yourself!!!

[Rinrada]

Gotta agree on this one.

M.K. is a mystery but the Thais seem to love the idea of a big bucket of hot water in the middle of the table to wash and then eat a load of different vegis and fish balls ......u 2 u...suppose..

If stuck I prefer the help yourself to as much as you can eat type 59bt Bar-B-Q.with the flower pot full of smoldering cinders ......the bacons..... luvley

[davethailand]

I'd rather eat at a street noodle bar

I looked at Sizzlers menu again last night (after watching Herbie Fully Loaded at Royal Garden Plaza with the sprogs and er indoors) and it still does nothing for me, MK I think is crap and would rather go to the thai BBQ places on 3rd rd (don't really like them either).

Thai food i like from normal non poncy real thai restaurants/ stalls and farang food from proper restaurants (not fast food or good ole uk food gaffs)

I normally eat thai food (cooked by the wife) at home everynight with the occasional delivery from door 2 door.

Anyway thats my moan over

Edited August 2, 2005 by davethailand

[DJ Pat]

Sizzlers has that GM-Oversized everything look and taste about it, and price about it!

Eat mainly Thai food, have done half my life, and i know that the best places are the no nonsense regular places.

I know when Thai food is badly prepared!

[Buff-horns]

for some reason thais see a visit to MK some kind of treat ! its a mystery to me.

upcountry in issan you can get the same thing for 100 baht a pop.

for 200bahts you can eat a whole lot .

this could feed around 6-8 people.

maybe its a social thing.

[barryofthailand]

Ate thier one time, with the family, have not been back since.

Barry

[siamesekitty]

Anyway we ordered a huge plate of veg which was to make up the base of the soup, as well as an egg. Still bland as <deleted>. Add some chillis and lemon, still tasteless. When our choice of raw meats arrived, fish, crab balls, pigs kidney, pork, prawns, tofu, salmon and liver, we did what we saw everyone else doing and dipped them into the bubbling soup to cook them, but still bland, like plain boiled pork.

So whats the secret here, some of you must know how to make a trip to MK at least palatable for a farang, I know the obvious "take your missus" thing but if thats all MK actually is, then why the huge success story.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's all in the "nam jim" - the suki sauce.

(.. don't tell me you didn't use any! )

[Curt]

So whats the secret here, some of you must know how to make a trip to MK at least palatable for a farang, I know the obvious "take your missus" thing but if thats all MK actually is, then why the huge success story.

Imagine you went into a restaurant and you were served that soup, you wouldn't pay would you? Instead you pay to cook it yourself!!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

One attraction of suki joints is that it's not cooked with oil.

It's a bit healthier than many other dishes.

Add a generous amount of the sauce (with some garlic and chilis mixed in) to your bowl of soup.

I would imagine the soup sucks without it!

[350torana]

I always thought MK was overpriced, it is not really a buffet, as u have to pay for each dish u order. I think Diadomon or Oishi is much better value and better food..all u can eat . First time i came here there were alot more diadomons around, seems like MK is the big boy on the block now Like other's have said, 69,79, 89 buffet is even better and beer way cheaper

[BambinA]

So whats the secret here, some of you must know how to make a trip to MK at least palatable for a farang, I know the obvious "take your missus" thing but if thats all MK actually is, then why the huge success story.

Imagine you went into a restaurant and you were served that soup, you wouldn't pay would you? Instead you pay to cook it yourself!!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's all in the "nam jim" - the suki sauce. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

agree with SMK , num jim...sauce

anyhow ..it's kinda asian food..so we used to it..so we like it

anyhow DJ Pat , 2 passionate are .. Its fun to share food together(asian style) it makes food more yummy ...and the way we cook by ourself , its fun

Bambi

[Bentley 7]

MK is not a favourite of mine either, dont like this cook your own food concept - can do that at home with a decent glass of wine.

Yet thais love it, I take my staff there on occassion - you want my secret for making it tastier - I go to the nearest 7/11 and grab some Maggi chicken or beef stock cubes and dip 2 into the pot, you'll be surprised what a difference it makes - I've even converted some thais .

[Totster]

MBK is just the same thing as a Jim Jum though isn't it...! Just a lot more expensive and overated.. .. although my missus likes to go there every now and again.

totster

[FreedomDude]

Yeah, I don't get how a culture so well known for delicious, spicy, tasty food can also embrace MBK.

Once boiled, shrimp and beef taste the same as pork, chicken, carrots, whatever. All flavor is destroyed!

[BambinA]

Once boiled, shrimp and beef taste the same as pork, chicken, carrots, whatever. All flavor is destroyed!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

maybe you did it over cooked , for shrimp and beef , u just need 1-3 mins for cook it

Bambi

[meadish_sweetball]

MK boys, not MBK. MBK is a shopping centre in Central Bangkok.

In defense of MK:

The stuff is boiled, which makes it a nice change from all the stir-fried and deep-fried food you get otherwise (which I like too, but... lipid levels and blood pressure...).

Their veggies and mushrooms are generally high quality (although the price is a bit over the top).

The way I eat it. Skip the yucky stuff like the crispy squid, innards and fish. Stick to the shrimps, seaweed rolls, sliced beef, luuk chin MK and veggies/mushrooms.

Start off by breaking an egg and distributing it in the pot through the spoon with holes in it. Makes nice threads of egg through the entire pot.

Chuck in everything that takes a long time to finish - seaweed rolls, luuk chin MK, all mushrooms except for the het khem thawng shrooms (needle mushrooms) as well as the celery (to add taste to the soup).

Get a plate of roast duck (they have excellent duck in the Chiang Mai MK restaurants at any rate, never had it in Bangers so I dont know) to eat from while you are waiting for the first batch.

After a few minutes (4-5 or so), add more vegetables and noodles - morning glory, kale, khana etc. - as well as mee yok or woon sen (green or glass noodles)) and cook for 1 minute.

Then start taking out the finished food and put it in your bowl together with lots of nam jim spiced up with extra garlic and lime, and possibly chili). My tip is to add as much nam jim to the bowl as the amount of soup.

Keep filling up the pot with new veggies but dont overcook them, just one minute is enough normally, then they go soggy and lose taste.

Goes down a treat for me, but it took a few times to get used to.

[Totster]

MK boys, not MBK. MBK is a shopping centre in Central Bangkok.

Ooops... simple mixup..

totster

[penelope]

I'd rather eat at a street noodle bar

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'd rather eat the ashphalt off the street than eat MK Suki!

[lampard10]

Once boiled, shrimp and beef taste the same as pork, chicken, carrots, whatever. All flavor is destroyed!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Actually, I don't think that bears much weight with Thais. Whatever they eat, be it SirloinSteak (weeping tiger) or boiled chicken head, they add so much strong chilli, that's all you can taste anyway. A normal Thai has not had a good meal unless they're left sucking air for about half an hour after.

[penelope]

Once boiled, shrimp and beef taste the same as pork, chicken, carrots, whatever. All flavor is destroyed!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

A normal Thai has not had a good meal unless they're left sucking air for about half an hour after.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[Boatabike]

MK boys, not MBK. MBK is a shopping centre in Central Bangkok.

In defense of MK:

The stuff is boiled, which makes it a nice change from all the stir-fried and deep-fried food you get otherwise (which I like too, but... lipid levels and blood pressure...).

Their veggies and mushrooms are generally high quality (although the price is a bit over the top).

The way I eat it. Skip the yucky stuff like the crispy squid, innards and fish. Stick to the shrimps, seaweed rolls, sliced beef, luuk chin MK and veggies/mushrooms.

Start off by breaking an egg and distributing it in the pot through the spoon with holes in it. Makes nice threads of egg through the entire pot.

Chuck in everything that takes a long time to finish - seaweed rolls, luuk chin MK, all mushrooms except for the het khem thawng shrooms (needle mushrooms) as well as the celery (to add taste to the soup).

Get a plate of roast duck (they have excellent duck in the Chiang Mai MK restaurants at any rate, never had it in Bangers so I dont know) to eat from while you are waiting for the first batch.

After a few minutes (4-5 or so), add more vegetables and noodles - morning glory, kale, khana etc. - as well as mee yok or woon sen (green or glass noodles)) and cook for 1 minute.

Then start taking out the finished food and put it in your bowl together with lots of nam jim spiced up with extra garlic and lime, and possibly chili). My tip is to add as much nam jim to the bowl as the amount of soup.

Keep filling up the pot with new veggies but dont overcook them, just one minute is enough normally, then they go soggy and lose taste.

Goes down a treat for me, but it took a few times to get used to.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Blimey Meadish, sounds like the Haynes workshop manuel of MK. (Do you spread your egg in a counter clockwise or clockwise movement? And when do you get to use the hammer?

[The_Doctor]

MK

I only eat there when I'm forced to, through being polite to Thai guests.... I normally then pretend I'm already stuffed and then head to the food court as soon as no ones looking...

The duck thing - about the only edible food on the menu, and even that is just bearable. I don't get why it's so popular...!

[pluto_manibo]

Add a generous amount of the sauce (with some garlic and chilis mixed in) to your bowl of soup.

I would imagine the soup sucks without it!

\

The secret to Mk is to order 4-5 plates on the dim sum trolley. Then before you start cooking, order 2 plates per person of nam jim with garlic,chillis add copious

amounts to your bowl.......As the poster stated above....I would do without the pigs' kidneys and liver though.....It is a very healthy alternative to stir fried....and is pleasant once in a while...The only thing is that 2 hrs later you are starving.....

[pedro01]

Anyway we ordered a huge plate of veg which was to make up the base of the soup, as well as an egg. Still bland as &lt;deleted&gt;. Add some chillis and lemon, still tasteless. When our choice of raw meats arrived, fish, crab balls, pigs kidney, pork, prawns, tofu, salmon and liver, we did what we saw everyone else doing and dipped them into the bubbling soup to cook them, but still bland, like plain boiled pork.

So whats the secret here, some of you must know how to make a trip to MK at least palatable for a farang, I know the obvious "take your missus" thing but if thats all MK actually is, then why the huge success story.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's all in the "nam jim" - the suki sauce.

(.. don't tell me you didn't use any! )

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Agreed - take the sauce & add chopped chillis & garlic. All food should pass through this sauce before being eaten.

Great fresh food - healthy & delicious IMO

[WhiteShiva]

Considering all the bitching about MK, I guess I must be going native - I like it, and so does my wife. Tasty, healthy and fun. But I do agree that without the sauce, it would probably be a bit dull. Add chili, manao and as much garlilc as you can to the sauce and voila!

And the duck is yummy, too! And the Dim Sum.

If you don't like it - why go there, and why complain about it? It is not like you are spoiled for choise here in LOS, is it?

Personally I find English food (an oxymoron!) disgusting, but I have no problems with Brits flocking to English restaurants & bars to eat food that the Thais (and most other nationalities) would not find fit for pigs.

Edited August 3, 2005 by WhiteShiva

[ThaiPauly]

MBK is just the same thing as a Jim Jum though isn't it...!  Just a lot more expensive and overated.. ..  although my missus likes to go there every now and again.

totster 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Love the new Avitar Totster, think its the best on the forum right now.

As for MK I would have to be starving to death before I would set foot in one, from what I had previously heard.

But then again they have their own footie team don't they MK Dons

[RamdomChances]

I actually quite like it as well, though I dont go overboard on the soup. The dim sum, duck, raost pork are great. I also like the "green noddles" with lots of the sauce over. I find the soup better without the egg.

[bkkexplorer]

Between MK and the 89baht BBQ, I'd much prefer the BBQ. MK is bland and way overpriced compared to all you can eat BBQ. Grilled bacon, yummy.

[Firefan]

Where is that 89B BBQ again? Cheers!

[smacko]

Where is that 89B BBQ again? Cheers!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

there's one in sukhumvit soi 22

where are the others?

[chaiyapoon]

Have to say I don't rate MKs' either.Once you have tried a quality Jim Jum, Mk sucks! Grossly overpriced and as said before bland.In our small town there are 4 Jim Jum style restaurants and every one is better than the two MK's I've been in.I had Thais with me on both occasions and they were disappointed as well.Though it was probably their first time in an MK.

A big meal for 4 with several second plates and beers usually comes to well under 500b in my favourite Jim Jum.