My neighbor Nut invited me along to dinner last night to what she called a "buffet". She has her daughter, son-in-law, and grand child visiting and wanted to take them someplace special. The place is best described as what we in the west would call a Mongolian BBQ where diners cook their own food on a hot hibachi style grill right at the table. There is a water reservoir around the perimeter of the grill which is boiling hot.Pictures couldn't show how large a place this is. There were easily a couple thousand tables in the place and by the time we finished (we lingered quite a while), there were only a few hundred empty tables. There are several "coal preparation stations" where the charcoal is ignited and fans are used to get them really hot before whisking to tables.
There are rows and rows of raw foods to choose from including vegetables, meat, fruit, desserts, and many prepared foods ready to eat without additional cooking.
Drinks are also included in the price which include at least 20 different fruit and tea drinks, coke, and water.
Seafood is also available to cook on the grill of which I saw cuttlefish, white fish, squid, and others. The prawns, however, are too large for the table-top grill to accommodate, so there is a special area of large grills to take your prawns for grilling.
Dessert also comes in many forms and I tried a few things for the first time. There is even ice cream with various toppings. As a side note, I am still satisfied this morning while writing this blog postponing breakfast for awhile.
The procedure for grilling is to use separate plates for raw meat and clean plates for the finished cooked items. In order not to cross contaminate raw with cooked, you simply dip your chopsticks into the boiling water which surrounds the grill. This water is also where you place items you want boiled like vegetables, mushrooms, perhaps liver, or delicate fish. Many people, especially westerners, have become seriously ill after visiting these venues because of not understanding the concept of cross contamination.
Price? $6
Now Daniel, I doubt Nut ever used the word buffet in connection with this meal. The Thai name for it is, like so many other names, difficult to translate into English, and difficult to hear correctly coming from Nut, as we both well know by now 5555.
ReplyDeleteIt's quite a feed though. I hope you held up your side of the bargain and ate everything on your plate.
I can see from your post that you enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing. I wish I were there rather than here :-(
Yes Dave, "Buffet" is my word because no other translation conveys the idea. I did not "eat everything on my plate" because even though Nut would place things on my plate, as a westerner a few things just don't appeal!
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