My friend and his wife were staying at the Novotel Hotel at Siam and invited my girlfriend and myself to lunch and to stroll around Siam Square area for a day of shopping. We met at the Siam Square BTS station which was just a 2 minute walk to "Ban Khun Mae" Thai restaurant where we were going to start our day with a traditional Thai meal. It is a great location for anybody staying at Prathumwan Princess, Novotel Hotel or for people that are shopping at nearby MBK, Siam Center or Siam Discovery. Anyway, as you walk thru the double door entrance there is an immediate sense of traditional Thai cuisine being served here with a soft lit interior, decorated in dark wood, with antiques prominently displayed thru-out the dining room. Just inside the entrance there are ladies preparing traditional Thai desserts and displaying them on large trays, suited in lovely Thai dress while the gentlemen wear standard white shirts and black slacks.

I was very fortunate on this occasion as I was to be treated by my three Thai friends who wanted me to get a real taste of authentic Thai food. They selected a vast array of different dishes from the menu. We started with two orders of Chicken Satay, a popular appetizer from Singapore to Malaysia, and one that went well with the bottles of Singha we started to enjoy with our meal. I left the ordering up to my friends and soon the food that they ordered began to arrive. Since I speak no Thai ...I had no idea we were about to enjoy a feast. First up was "Tom Yam Goong", definitely one of Thailand's most popular signature dishes, it was filled with big shrimps amongst this sour and spicy soup ... it was excellent. Then we received an order of "Baked Shrimp with Glass Noodles" with the shrimp being quite large. With our discussion of food, it seemed we all agreed that seafood was our favorite type of cuisine and mean while the dishes of food kept flowing. Next up was a whole fish on a platter with a lovely sauce that was soon accompanied by a Crab dish that was equally impressive. Everytime I thought I had seen the last dish delivered ...another beautifully presented specimen of Thai food arrived. We received an order of "Stir-fried Chicken with Cashew Nut" and a bowl of "Roasted Duck with Red Curry".

NOT A MEMBER OF THE VIP CLUB.