So, this is technically not Thai food but, if you visit just about any city in Thailand, a visit to a Swensen’s ice cream parlor is still a must.
With hundreds in Bangkok and more in the rest of Thailand, Swensen’s is the most popular ice cream parlor in the country.
An American chain, although no longer much visited in the US, Thais go crazy over Swensen’s ice cream and on weekends or after 3pm during the week, when the kids are out of school, it is almost impossible to get a seat. Coming to Swensen’s then, really is a Thai tradition.
Yesterday, I visited my local Swensen’s at Major Ratchayothin mall with an American friend who has just moved to Bangkok for a year, and is still craving American food.
Of course, you can order one scoop of ice cream for 29 baht (92 cents) or, you can do what we both did and order a humongous sundae. The brownie ice cream sundaes were the latest Swensen’s on-sale delight, so of course we had to indulge.
My friend had the chocolate version and me the butterscotch, but both had three big scoops of ice cream, pieces of banana, one big chocolate brownie and two smaller brownie pieces and a big whirl of whipped cream. On sale for only 75 baht ($2.34) and they were huge.
A Thai friend who joined us a few minutes later ordered the green tea ice cream sundae with sweet corn topping and, yes, if I had had any more room, I would probably have ordered one too.
I also ordered a latte, which I had never actually drunk at Swensen’s before but it was delicious. It even looked cool, as it arrived in a funky orange cup and with spiffy sugar and milk containers. The 45 baht ($1.38) price didn’t hurt either.
Swensen’s in Bangkok absolutely ruins my diet every time I’m starting to do so well. But oh, it’s so worth it.