It’s easy to forget, as travelers, that what feels “inauthentic” by our own cultural standards doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not authentic to the culture we’re visiting.
As a foodie, Kiki was over the moon about visiting Bangkok, but when she asked some Thais at our hotel where they might go to find great mango sticky rice in the Sukhumvit district, she was skeptical when their answer was: “At the food court of the Terminal 21 Mall.”
Indeed, by American standards, shopping-mall food courts evoke stereotypes of bored teenagers dining at chain restaurants like Sbarro’s or Panda Express or Orange Julius.
In the upscale, air-conditioned environs of Bangkok’s Terminal 21 Mall, however, we found a food court packed with enthusiastic Asian diners queued up for all manner of delicious Thai food. Not only did Kiki eventually find her mango sticky rice, she came back to sample other food-court cuisine later that week.
Indeed, while the traditional outdoor street markets of Thailand will always (with good reason) figure in the tourist imagination, the shopping-mall food courts of the Sukhumvit district proved very much worthy of a visit as well!
Note: “Dispatches” are short vignettes, profiles, and mini-essays written and posted from the road, often in tandem with my Instagram account. I don’t host a “comments” section, but I’m happy to hear your thoughts via my Contact page.
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