Food in Thailand

In our recent visit to Thailand I again realized how much fresh un-processed food is available to the rest of the world and isn't available to us at reasonable prices. A visit to the market in Thailand makes one drool, the variety of fruit, vegetables and even meats is awesome. 
And beyond the raw materials restaurants are very reasonable - one can eat a feast in $10US. 

Here's a link to a slideshow: Flickr link to slide show

With that said what were my favourites?
1) The barracuda with curry paste @ Jai's restaurant in Khao Lak
2) The massaman curry @ Jai's restaurant in Khao Lak
3) Mango and sticky rice - everywhere!
4) Fried fish cakes - at the Khao lak / Bang Nga market
5) Fried chicken at Chatuchak market in BKK

Many things I didn't get to try as it was a family vacation, and some things I did try were a let down.
The biggest letdown?  'Roti Mataba' recommended in Lonely Planet! Ripoff and not that tasty compared to all the other things available.

Review in a few words: would love to go to Thailand again.  Thank you Sister & B-in-Law for having us over.

Batts grill

Batt's Grill is our favorite sea food place anywhere in the world...may be anywhere in the world other than British Columbia!  Located in Surf City, NC; this is the highlight of our summer beach trips.  We found this place in the summer of 2007 when we were at the beach for our friends Matt and Crystal's wedding and had a strong recommendation from the locals. 

Batt's is a no non-sense fried seafood place.  You can have a plate of fried shrimp, oysters, fish, clam strip - alone or in various combinations.  They also make chowders and baked stuffed crabs and such but honestly, nothing beats a plate of seafood.  Their hush puppies are great and come with the seafood plate along with two other sides.  There is a wide variety to choose from - green beans, corn, mashed potatoes, fries, peas, black eyed peas, cole slaw, rice and more.  What Salil loves is the fact that you can get desserts as sides and they make some good banana pudding!! An endless cup of sweet tea on a hot summer day is a bonus.

All in all, a highly recommended place.  Though the prices have gone up in the last couple of years, they are nowhere close to the other touristy places.  For $6-8, expect a good comforting meal without too many frills.  Fortunately, they dont smoke in the restaurant anymore!! Surf City/ Topsail Island area is very accessible from the triangle and is much less crowded than Wilmington or Myrtle Beach.   

In addition to our summer trip, we went to the beach this year for thankgiving.  Batt's had an amazing thanksgiving spread for $6.  Salil had his best birthday meal that day.

Quehog (?)

at Iggy's!

Clam shell stuffed with clam, bread crumbs, parsley, spices....just needs a squirt of lemon juice :).

Clamcakes

For a southerner, these are hush puppies with bits of clam and think they make the batter in clam juice.  They were absolutely yummy, especially when hot but if you are going to Iggy's once, focus on the lobster roll.  Eat 2 lobster rolls if you can, that will undoubtedly be a better use of the appetite.

If you are like Salil with a very flexible appetite, go for these ;).