Brunch places worth a visit at Bangkok

Recently, I travelled to the land of smiles and coined this visit my Thailand Cafe Hunting and Lifestyle trip. It's my first trip there since I was age 9 and a lot has changed. I'm really pleased that the places I shortlisted from research proved to be satisfying to my taste buds and made my entire trip all the more enjoyable. I'll be sharing some of the brunch places I went and my thoughts on it.

My first stop was at On Luk Yun. The Thailand equivalent to Chin Mee Chin Confectionary in Singapore which I wrote about not too long ago. This old school traditional breakfast place is almost a must visit for me the next time I come back. There's a couple of key highlights that I like. The French Toast is very flavourful, you can taste the good blend of the eggs wrapped around a fluffy bread. Yummy! I like the egg kaya with steamed bread. Really, the bread is awesome fluffy and doesn't fill your tummy up and goes perfectly with the egg kaya (uniquely thailand). Even bought one kaya home for my mom. The soft boiled eggs served in a cup surprisingly carries a very addictive taste. I kept gobbling up my cup till all is gone and if not because this is such an eggy meal, I'd order a second cup. I think the soft boiled eggs addictive taste has to do with the special nestle thai sauce that is added with the pepper unlike our dark sauce back home. But I'm left blown away given that I never knew soft boiled eggs can taste any nicer. I didn't pay the bill but the total cost for two is less than $15 SGD.

On Luk Yun
72 Charoen Krung Road, Talat Noi, Samphanthawong
Bangkok 10100

Roast is another place I wish to highlight. I felt the portions are really generous and all the dishes were executed technically perfect. Why technically perfect? I felt that the eggs were creamy well beaten, bacon crispy, bread well toasted and salmon properly done, however there's no wow factor. The eggs tasted like a typical properly done scrambled eggs but it isn't a stand out scrambled eggs. There's nothing on the menu that jumps out. Thats the problem. However, if you are looking for a decent brunch fix that doesn't spoil your day, Roast is the place to be. Roast Breakfast (400 Baht with coffee), Smoked Salmon Rosti (320 Baht) and dessert was S'mores Custard Cake (280 Baht). The outlet that I went was at the Commons, a new shopping mall concept that promotes lush greenery. I think that Roast is by far the costliest brunch meal I ate at Bangkok, but it's highly popular among expats and tourist because the ambiance is really relaxing. I enjoyed myself despite not being exceptionally impressed with the food. 

Roast
Unit #T1 (Roast), The COMMONS
335 Thonglor Soi 17, Sukhumvit 55
Klongton Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110

Rocket Coffeebar is another satisfying discovery on my first adult Thailand trip. Rocket Coffeebar is a Nordic Cafe and I like it that everything about it is simple and not complicated. The eggs benedict (290 Baht) that we tried had very good hollandaise sauce, light yet brings out the flavour and the eggs were soft and runny. The eggs are fat and generous and goes very well with the sauce and bread. The salmon according to the brother is much fresher than the ones at Roast. I like my order of quail eggs and truffle (240 Baht) tasted really good too. The potato waffle that the eggs and truffle were served on wasn't too hard and eating it didn't feel tiresome at all unlike some waffles I've tried elsewhere. The bacon was fried till crispy something distinctly Thailand. I like that the truffle and eggs blended really well with the potato waffles that I enjoyed eating them together. I'm looking forward to try their other dishes the next time I return.

Rocket Coffeebar
147 Soi Sathon 12, Khwaeng Silom, Khet Bang Rak, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10500, Thailand

Chin Mee Chin Confectionary

This weekend is a very rushed week. I was just telling Vain Pot that I'm so overwhelmed with work I didn't have time to make any balloon sculptures. As a big fan of living an enjoyable and exciting life, I feel particularly proud of myself this week because I still managed to head to somewhere meaningful with Vain Pot for a comfortable 1 hour meal. It's simple and easy to do. I get especially riled whenever people who have more time on their hands don't even bother to come up with something more exciting than window shopping and movies week in and out whenever they initiate a meet up. Buay sian meh?

Our choice of leisure this week is to pamper ourselves with some simple old school comfort food. Kaya bread on toast and soft-boiled eggs. Vain Pot loves this place a lot while I don't really fancy coming here for a number of non-food related reasons. Chin Mee Chin Confectionary specialises in traditional bread on toast with kaya or butter spread and soft boiled eggs. They also are wildly popular for their cakes and egg tarts. The place is so popular, you'll have to share tables.

The cakes which mostly go for a dollar are soft and fluffy. They are also rich in flavour and easy to eat. I would like to highlight the egg tart which I find very different from egg tarts I find elsewhere. Vain pot especially likes this one. The crust taste more like a cookie crust and the egg in the center taste a lot more like custard than your usual soft yellow creamy eggs. The egg custard and cookie tart gives it a uniquely CMC taste that makes the tart very popular among CMC visitors. Be sure to go early because there's a chance the tart may go out of stock due to strong demand.

The traditional kaya toast with soft boiled eggs is also clearly a winner. The toast is very old school, look at the buns, it's made in house freshly baked using the charcoal grill we see on TV for shows depicting that semi-modern era.

The eggs are big and fat. See the yolk still so big despite breaking. It makes for an extremely filling meal despite its simplicity. The total damage is only $10.80 with drinks included. A simple yet awesome way to kick start a weekend. I don't only eat atas food okay! Haha! My friends tend to feel that my definition of enjoyment is to spend a lot of money which doesn't necessarily have to be the case if you bother to look hard enough.

So will I come back here? I'll be very honest. I'll only come back when I wanna give Vain Pot a treat after a stressful week of work. I don't like the parallel parking here. I think the hygiene factor sucks and the attitude of the old timers extremely bo chap sometimes I feel like I'm talking to myself when I ask them questions about my orders or the food. (For example, they screwed up my eggs order and served me 3 eggs instead of 4. I even had to chase for that 1 elusive egg myself even after they acknowledge its their mistake) So I'll only suggest visiting this place if you can look past all the non-food negative points and just want cheap and good comfort food.

Chin Mee Chin Confectionary
204 East Coast Road