som tam and son-in-law eggs

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On our second day in Ayutthaya, Amelia and I got up early to go look at the things we hadn't seen on day one. famished after hours of trudging across the town on foot, we abandoned our original plan to eat lunch by the river and ended up sitting down at a pink picnic table outside a streetside cafe. The small eatery was adorned with dozens of tropical potted plants that all, strangely, had hawaiian leis draped over them, making for an odd sort of jungle/PartyCity theme..

While the decor could have done with a makeover, the food was awesome. (though our judgment may have been skewed by our voracious appetites)

We ordered rice (of course - no meal is complete without it), som tam and khai leuk kheuy to share.

khai leuk kheuy, or son-in-law eggs

again, amelia's claw waits impatiently
before pouncing on the plate of eggs i'm photographing

These eggs are hard boiled, then fried so they're soft on the inside and sort of chewy and crisp on the outside. Then they're sliced in half and drenched in a sweet and salty sauce which seems to consist of caramelized onions, sugar, salt and some kind of fat. The dish is topped with chopped fresh cilantro.

sticky, salty, caramely sauce
this might be my favorite Thai egg preparation yet

som tam thai

Unfortunately, as often happens here, they saw our pale faces and made our papaya salad entirely not spicy. aside from that it was just fine - refreshing on a hot day.

s

cabbages and condoms

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Yes, that's the name of a well-known Thai restaurant in Bangkok...

sign.

Recommended by local friends and by Lonely Planet for having relatively authentic food, Millie and I figured the place was worth a visit. Tucked away on Sukhumvit Soi 12, this location (there are a total of 5, i think) sits right next door to the head office of the Population and Community Development Association (PDA) of Thailand. The restaurant was apparently created to help support the PDA with its efforts to educate Thai people on the benefits of safe sex practices and the restaurant says that all proceeds go towards funding for the PDA's "social development projects."

The restaurant's decor is made almost exclusively out of condoms - this shouldn't be surprising, I suppose, though I was nonetheless taken aback when I first realized that lamp hanging over my head was draped with 100s of shiny red condoms. Between the lampshades, the sculptures, the costumed mannequins and the flowers in the garden, there must be enough condoms in the place to protect all of Bangkok for a full night..

a santa suit and a party dress
both made entirely of condoms (her boots are made of condom wrappers)

Captain Condom

Amelia and I sat in the outdoor courtyard/garden area and ordered a light lunch of som tam (spicy green papaya salad), some tom yam goong (tom yam soup with shrimp) and two fruit smoothies. Both of the dishes, while not spicy, were good and tasted fresh. For dessert we shared a bowl of kluay buat chee - bananas cooked in sweet coconut milk.. by far the best part of the meal

when condom promotion tries too hard
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