Chinatown in Bangkok

Hua Seng Hong Restaurant
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During our Thailand visit  last January, Don and I got to experience a little bit of the Chinese influence.

After 2 weeks of eating Thai food, 3 meals a day, we switched it up a bit and enjoyed some Chinese food!

Luckily our daughter-in-law was able to find the restaurant she thought she remembered from years ago. I liked the sign with the happy chef!

Exploring
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We worked up an appetite before, roaming the hot and congested streets of Chinatown. I'm lucky I didn't get hit by a tuk tuk or bike. My eyes were so busy taking in the sights and smells surrounding me.
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Smiles and Green Aprons
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It wasn't obvious where we were supposed to go, since the whole entrance was blocked with kitchen excitement, that spilled right onto the sidewalk. We avoided touching huge metal pots, steaming over flames. We carefully made our way past the hanging food-critters and through the cluster of servers and cooks.

To the Back
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The middle room was crowded with shoppers and diners and staff. We were ushered back further, past the shelves of wrapped foods and bottles. Don had to stoop over to step through the low threshold into the back room.
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Little Red Oasis
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Suddenly we were in a small room that at least looked like a restaurant. Whew. Even though we were with our daughter-in-law who has spent many of her years in Bangkok, it had been a little stressful navigating the streets of Chinatown. Finding ourselves in an air-conditioned, fairly quiet room, decorated with a lit up shrine of sorts, was a nice treat.

​Shark's Fin Restaurant, Since 1973

I wish I knew the history of this place. The menu displayed the restaurant's curious name in English, but that's about it.

As we studied the menu, I peeked around at all the serious diners. It was January, peek tourist season in Thailand, but all the diners appeared to be locals on a lunch break. Then I noticed a blond couple sit down right next to us. Did those tourists follow us in?

Rest Room Break

Taking a trip to the restroom always gives me a chance to snoop around. I had to be pretty discreet snapping a photo of the bathroom door. Too bad I didn't capture a man and woman, bumping into each other. I wonder how often that happens?

The 2 little doors sort of amused me with their mint-colored glass and chrome. It seemed like they should be leading us to a swimming pool or spa. 

Lazy Susan
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We were starved and thirsty. The Lazy Suzan spun around quite a bit, with the 4 of us grabbing for food. Then we began to slow down.
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Dim Sum, Cashew Chicken and Sweet & Sour Pork

We weren't too daring with our ordering. After walking by so many curious food stalls with not so appetizing smells, we just went for the basics. We got pleasantly full, using up a lot of the Kleenex thin napkins. Maybe next time we'll check out the Shark Fin Soup!