Food Courts - 01/24/15

Food courts are popular in Bangkok and it's no wonder.  They offer an incredible variety of foods from Vietnamese to Indian to Chinese to Indonesian to Thai to Japanese and much, much more.  They are also inexpensive with a typical meal ranging from 55 to 100 baht.  Keep in mind 100 baht equals $3 U.S.

The large food courts are usually located in shopping malls, but it's not uncommon to see smaller neighborhood versions.  A feature I haven't seen before at American food courts is the method of payment.  First one goes to a cashier's station to purchase a debit card in an amount specified by the customer.  The amount can be whatever the customer wishes but should be enough to cover all food court purchases.  As purchases are made at various food stations, the card is run through a scanner and the cost of the item is deducted from the card.  At the end of the meal, the customer returns the card to the cashier's station and if there is any credit left on the card receives a refund for the full amount.

So many choices.   Decisions, decisions.

Yum:

Time for dessert:

These fruit juices remind me of precious gem stones:

The ambiance is great too - love this crab sculpture:

The downside of the food courts is not being able to sample everything - we gave it our best shot!