Ever since Big C in Bangkok opened, it would always be our first destination on our first lunch during our yearly trips. Big C is a huge supermarket with a really really mind-blowing section on fresh food, cooked food and beauty products. In fact, I think Big C has become one of the models for supermarkets such as SM Hypermart and Shopwise, where it even has a second floor for clothes, appliances, home and office equipment and even hardware.
Big C has a lovely Thai food court, with lots of hawker quality food in it…so I think that for those who find it quite awkward to eat amongst the walking passengers and passing buses, this is the perfect place to get the closest grub you can get from the hawkers outside.
Everytime we have our first lunch, we always start off with the usual: Som Tam or Papaya Salad, and yes, we eat the ones with the raw crab in it…though we’ve been warned by our Filipino friends that people can actually die from the bacteria in the crab…nothing beats a fiery plate of Som Tam Poo, which is Papaya Salad with Crab. They have the authentic Thai spiciness, as well as the mix and seasonings used. Topped with peanuts and mixed with a little beans and tomato, this is one of the things we can always look forward to on our first lunch.
Then there’s the Khao Kluk Kapi which is the Thai Bagoong Rice with Pork. A little sweet, salty and quite spicy, this dish balances off the layers of flavors with the thinly sliced mango. The sweetened pork is something that we’ve already been able to copy at home, but there’s nothing like the real Thai Shrimp paste. It smells like hell but tastes like heaven.
Then we also have the oyster cake. Which is nice and crisp on the outside (with the very refreshing beansprouts) and chewy on the inside. The creamy taste and soft texture of the oyster plus the elastic but crisp texture of the pancake is just surprising.
We also have the Pork Noodle, which is spicy and has the intense flavor of long simmered broth and the mix of different ingredients like lemongrass, kaffir lime, thai fish sauce, chili paste, with a hint of red curry.
We have a great new discovery which is the Tom Yum Noodle. This tom yum noodle doesn’t have any soup with it, so it has a nice soft texture from the noodles, a little crisp from the peanuts, and ultimately fiery from the chili. It also has that sour, tangy and salty flavor layers you could only get from Thai limes and fish sauce. This one is something that will be on the mainstay of our next 1st lunches in Big C.
Nothing beats a Big C lunch which I usually wash down with a Chai Yen or Thai Iced Tea.
So I highly recommend munching at Big C for those who want to eat hawker food but are a bit hesitant to hit the streets. It’s clean, airconditioned and is value for money. Then after a nice big meal you can go down and make the food go down while shopping in their huge grocery.
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