My Thai wife cooks better than 99% of food in Bangkok

[farang000999]

I moved from Bkk earlier this year back home and now back again and I can't believe how terrible and low quality the food is in Bangkok from the street to the local shop house restaurants to the malls. I have been truly impressed only a couple of times? Does your wife cook better as well or is my wife just a good cook? My wife did not really start cooking that often until we left. Considering how much Thais care about food it's disappointing how low the quality is.

[HenryB]

Maybe I can come over for a free great meal

Thanks in Advance

[JAFO]

My wife is an incredible cook, way better than anything you can buy and she mixes it up. Not the same dish every day. She even makes Sai Ua from scratch. Takes hours. She is also an excellent BBQ'r as well. She has a passion for cooking and baking.

When we were in the states and she used to travel back to Thailand she would fill up 2 suitcases of spices fromthe North where we live. She said the US uses Jalapeno, Bell Peppers and the wrong onions and the curries are all wrong. She used to laugh when she would meet people and they say how they Love Thai food yet never had been to Thailand.

I seldom eat out. When we do its to her favorite restaurant so she can take a break. I think the only dishes we buy at local places is Kumen Gai and Khao Soi.

[Dmaxdan]

My wife is generally an excellent cook. For example, her green curry is by a country mile the best I personally have ever tasted. So much so that I would never consider ordering it in a restaurant because I am sure pretty I will be disappointed. But there are other dishes that she would cook to her own taste, which on occasions I have enjoyed more elsewhere.

You need to remember that sometimes when a person cooks regularly for someone else, they will adapt to that persons taste requirements. Then when you eat the same dish out, someone else is cooking it to their own taste.

[colinneil]

We eat at home because no restaurant near here has food anywhere near as good as my wife cooks.

[Blackheart]

My wife's father had a restaurant and ended up working in various countries, her mum is even better so she had to work after school.

Good teachers.

[TommyUK1960]

My wife cooks fantastic Indian dishes. Neither of us like Thai

[nikmar]

I'd take my wife's cooking over restaurant food anytime. I am truly a lucky man in that respect.

But then again, her Mum's cooking is better.

(she must never know that i said that!!)

[augustwest]

My wife doesn't cook that often. Just the 2of us so going to market is easy,but when she does it's fantastic

[pgrahmm]

My wife is a fantastic cook of all things Thai & many various types of farang foods from American dishes to some Italian & Mexican fare....

Basically - anything she decides to cook she can - with an eye towards healthy with quality ingredients....

Eating out is a step down unless one of us has a craving for something that might be out of the realm of a normal range for a home prepared meal (like clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls).....

Admittedly - having a great cook at home arrests the spirit of running about trying new places to eat....

But don't miss that very much....

[MrJohnson]

I've no doubt the OP's wife is a great cook. And I've no doubt there are some pretty ordinary street food vendors and restaurants in Bangkok, I have been to plenty of them but let's be honest and say there is also some really fantastic Thai food in Bangkok. Simply because there is.

[mihalis]

Lucky you, food quality is not bad, your just lucky wife is a better cook than them all.. My wife cooks good too, my mates hardly ever eats out, his wife is a great cook too

[nottocus]

Me too. My wife is a great cook.

Think it's an Asian woman thing. In their genes .

Edited June 9, 2016 by nottocus

[gjoo888]

I've no doubt the OP's wife is a great cook. And I've no doubt there are some pretty ordinary street food vendors and restaurants in Bangkok, I have been to plenty of them but let's be honest and say there is also some really fantastic Thai food in Bangkok. Simply because there is.

There's probably many tens of thousands of street vendors, food stalls and restaurants in Bangkok, I guess the OP has been to them all.

[NickJ]

There is not a restaurant in the entire city of Rayong that I look forward to eating at.

Even with my many trips to Pattaya/Jomthien do I look forward to anything there either.

[richard_smith237]

The My Wife is a Great Cook Thread !!!....

My Wife is also an excellent cook... she thoroughly enjoys cooking and baking.

The reason I find her food so great is that for the most part she uses better ingredients...

If she were to sell what she makes in a restaurant etc people would probably find it too expensive.

I believe this is the reason many restaurants while still excellent can't quite compete with home cooking (when done well) - they have no choice but to control costs / raw ingredients.

[manfredtillmann]

I've no doubt the OP's wife is a great cook. And I've no doubt there are some pretty ordinary street food vendors and restaurants in Bangkok, I have been to plenty of them but let's be honest and say there is also some really fantastic Thai food in Bangkok. Simply because there is.

There's probably many tens of thousands of street vendors, food stalls and restaurants in Bangkok, I guess the OP has been to them all.

unlike your street food vendor, my wife has the ability to adapt her cooking to my needs. i do not have to tell her twice i am allergic to mussels - she knows.

i do not have to dissect my plate to eventual traces of my killer.

my wife is issan, she cooks a divers range of foods.

we - at times - watch cooking shows featuring vietnam or cambodian cuisine (i.e. luke nuygen) and after we embark on expanding or diversifying his stuff.

often, we cook german or italian food components mixed with thai - and pretend to travel the world...

a diverse kitchen makes for an interesting life.

[atyclb]

astounding and amazing.

you must have had exceptionally bad luck at bkk restaurants and food courts you ate at since bkk is known for good food

ive had some home prepared meals by thai gals that were quite mediocre, some were good but not the majority.

gals i know with professions dont know much about cooking but know the good places to eat

[stoneyboy]

Eating out is a step down unless one of us has a craving for something that might be out of the realm of a normal range for a home prepared meal (like clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls).....

....

I had to laugh at that line,even hi so Bangkok types can be seen eating 40 baht noodles or a plate of Larb moo,your other half must be an exception,I have never known any Thais irrespective of their upbringing to shun Thai food for a bowl of clam chowder soup.

Maybe she eats out on the sly to keep you happy.

[Ombra]

My wife is a superb cook and she has the ability to look at online recipes for western food and cook something delicious at the very first attempt. Her food tastes better than anything offered by local restaurants, and partly for the reason mentioned by richard_smith: she buys high quality ingredients.

[leither69]

I've got 2 Thai wives and they are the best cooks in thailand

[samsensam]

not surprising really as she knows your tastes, i can cook better food than i eat in many bkk restaurants because i know what i like and exactly how to prepare it to my taste

[lovelomsak]

My wife is a terrible cook. we drive 5 kilometers every night into Lomsak to eat. The only thing she cooks I really like are pancakes.She has a passion for baking.The first time she bakes something it will be great she follows the recipe to a T. The next time not so good because she then adapts the recipe to Thai tastes and changes the whole thing.i take trips to Bangkok and Pattaya just to go to restaurants.

[Rimbuman]

We've been lucky and have had good food left and right, but terrible food as well. Where we live we have our steady addresses where they are consistently good although even then we have an occasional disappointment.

Same as some other guys here my wife and some of her family are excellent cooks and I am a good cooks also :-)

I've said so many times to my wife that if you are a good/great cook and consistent, you don't have to worry about money.

[JAFO]

I've no doubt the OP's wife is a great cook. And I've no doubt there are some pretty ordinary street food vendors and restaurants in Bangkok, I have been to plenty of them but let's be honest and say there is also some really fantastic Thai food in Bangkok. Simply because there is.

Clearly BKK will have foods for all liking's so saying all food in BBK is bad is really an opinion from the individual and what they like to eat. When I lived there for 2+ years what I found was it had definitely migrated to "Fusion" type foods. It seems affluent Thais with more disposable income like to say they are eating something with some sort of western flare and are willing to pay a wad to eat it. But IMHO it is very very bland. A big seller is the food presentation with condiments and special little things on the plate that no one eats. Outside the big 5 star hotels that cater almost exclusively to foreigners, I found the great majority of Thai food in the city to be pretty boring compared to the food in the North. For fun I tried a few mexican places, pretty bad. Nice attempt but. There are a few good Sushi places but you will drop some serious money to enjoy them. Of course you could go eat at Sizzler, McDonalds, BurgerKing, KFC, HardRock Cafe. LOL!!!

[Suradit69]

I've no doubt the OP's wife is a great cook. And I've no doubt there are some pretty ordinary street food vendors and restaurants in Bangkok, I have been to plenty of them but let's be honest and say there is also some really fantastic Thai food in Bangkok. Simply because there is.

There's probably many tens of thousands of street vendors, food stalls and restaurants in Bangkok, I guess the OP has been to them all.

Yes, food prepared in quantity and maybe, at least in part, hours before it's served, isn't usually going to compare well to something made at home. Certainly some food I've had in Bangkok has been unremarkable, but I've also had some excellent food at some smaller, out-of-the-way places not likely to cater primarily for the tourist trade.

I'm sure this will inspire howls of protest, but I will say it can be easier to find great tasting restaurant/vendor food in Pattaya than Bangkok ... but that's probably because I know which places to avoid and which are almost always quite good for certain dishes in Pattaya.

[Merylhighground]

Oh strewth! Another 'My wife is....' thread......

I also think the OP means his wife cooks better than 99% of Thai restaurants in Bangkok that he has been to as I doubt he has been to them all to make such a daft statement.....

[ExoticMatter]

I also have to say that my wife is the best cook I have ever known and I consider myself lucky to have her -I would prefer her food over a restuarant any time, but getting quality ingredients in the UK can be difficult. Restuarants everywhere generally don't put the best and most expensive ingredients in, for example the giant wild prawns are rarely used -they are usually small and cheap farm prawns which are way different.

As far as finding good street food, we always try to get out of the tourist areas, the Khaosan road area has to be some of the worst and most expensive food I have ever had in Bangkok, although compared to the an average 'Greasy Joes' cafe at home, its still 2 levels above our bottom line, I suppose it depends what standard you start off with, Thais have further to fall.

[off road pat]

Me too. My wife is a great cook.

Think it's an Asian woman thing. In their genes .

My wife is also a great cook but most of her Thai friends can not cook !!!....

[Kabula]

Are you writing this to impress your wife?

Obviously you have not been to the finer restaurants in Bangkok.

I've lived in Bangkok for going on 10 years and avoid street food and most restaurants that serve punters in the tourist areas.

Many of the highly recommended fine dinning restaurants here compare to New York City and San Francisco.

Chefs in these fine dining restaurants devote their lives in educating themselves and mentoring with the best chefs in the world.

My last two wives were beautiful, but didn't do much for me so I swept them out of my home and dined out in many countries while visiting clients.

I was also involved in gourmet dining clubs so I'm familiar with great food preparation and presentation.

You need to seek out high end restaurants for a real treat.

Take your wife and you will find her cooking will get even better as well as the food presentation.

However, keep your weight down!