Friday 26 August 2016

Ohh Milk - A Thai Milk Bar

In Thailand a popular way to socialise with friends and family is to go to the Thai milk bar. you can not compare it to the milk bars you see in Russia and Eastern Europe, this is actually a bar that serves what it says in the title, milk! Most of the milk bars open here from around 5pm till about 11pm and serve all flavours of milk which i will explain more of a little further down. The bars are very popular with the students as they are not as expensive as a coffee shop or a public bars that serve beer and cocktails and provide a nice and relaxing atmosphere as you sit out doors and enjoy the night, just bear in mind most of these are out doors so if the weather is not showing its best, its better to avoid it as you will get wet.



As you enter the bar don't be afraid to just walk in and sit at a table of your choice, the waiter or waitress will bring you the menu and a piece of paper to write out your own order and hand it back to them (dont worry this is a common practice to order your food in Thailand). If you struggle to find a table wave the waiter/waitress over and ask for a table, there may be no table free, as you can see above, as these milk bar are very popular, and they will give you a ticket with a number on and you wait in line to be seated.

Once you get the menu do not be alarmed, the menus can be extensive, its not just milk they sell, they sell a couple of rice dishes, bar snacks like chicken wings/nuggets fries, and the choice of deserts is to die for it really is. You will be looking at the menu for ages mainly because of a couple of reasons. 1 the menu is so huge you just done know where to start and 2 the menu is properly in the thai language and not in english or the language you prefer. Im not saying that all milk bars the language of the menu is like this, but if you go into the suburbs you are mostly guaranteed this. DO NOT PANIC though, the thai people are very humbling and friendly and will try there best to help you out as much as thy can. 

Like i mentioned above the types of milk and flavours you can get is immense, you have 3 options but all may not be able to deliver depending on the flavour and fresh ingredients you wish for. the options you have is hot milk, cold milk, and blended milk with ice so its a little like a slushy soda. The options of flavours are as followed - plain milk, banana, strawberry, cocoa, kiwi, caramel, almond, green tea and the list of flavours go on, most of these are made with fresh fruits as well so its an all round heathy option for an evening out spent with friends and family. 




Once you have ordered your milk, why not order some food, the list of hot food is not extensive but by golly its tasty and packed full of flavour from simple dishes There are usually a few rice dishes to choose from and some western food snacks if you want a change from all the rice and noodles and want a taste of back home or even try different culture's foods if your from an asian country as well.
The food here rivals most street vendors and not expensive at all and as you know with rice dishes, it fills a very well deserved gap after travelling and exploring all. I must say even the western food they serve is not half bad as well and is also extremely cheap if you want to compare it to McDonalds or KFC over here, which in my opinion and i will talk about western food chains here in another blog is quite expensive for the Thai cost of living here. 





Once we have all had our dinner is time for the best of the meal in my opinion, the dessert. Now as i said before at the start of this article that having milk is a healthy choice, forget about everything i said now about that, The desserts here are a delicious, yummy, heaven on a spoon, and basically heart attack food. And this is sometimes exactly what you want, something hearty and full of treats that you know you shouldn't have but you just got to have it. Most of the desserts here are a bread/toast pudding, with lots of sauce on top, you can all kinds of toppings on from chocolate to whipped cream, to bananas and ice cream, or you can just ask for everything on top, Now please don't knock it till you tried it like i did, you will be presently surprised with the softness of the toast with the sauce and ice cream to go with it, its a delight to eat. Now if you are really featuring adventurous you can get a bowl of flavoured milk with ice, Oreo's, Kit Kats, jelly/jello toast, ice cream, cornflakes with chocolate flavour wafers in plus more. This is for the ultimate dessert expert to indulge in and a desert worth ordering in my opinion.

Just to leave it here, i just wish to say if you ever come to Thailand this is a place to check out, well worth the time and a nice way to spend an evening on some occasions, especially if its a nice day. Last time we went to the milk bar we got 2 milks, fried chicken with rice, fried pork with rice, fries and a the bowl of chocolate delight and the bill came to 290 Baht which is around £6.50 or $10 USD

So basically it is not expensive at all to try out. 






9 comments:

  1. I obviously have not made it to that part of the world yet because I have never heard of milk bars! I would have never thought that would be a thing! Sounds pretty tasty though.

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  2. Now I'm hungry! I'd totally go here, thanks for sharing. Happy travels :)

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  3. Never heard of a milk bar before, I wonder if they will start popping up over here any time soon. Looks delicious, like a milkshake.

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  4. I have never heard of a milk bar or seen one when I was in Thailand, looks like a great alternative :-)

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  5. Ive never heard of a milk bar before, and ive been to most parts, ive never looked out for one, but as of now it has my attention and im on the look out, thanks for sharing.

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  6. All this sounds incredible! I've never been to a milk bar. Thanks for breaking it down for me. I'd probably be intimidated by all the selection, but you've demystified it for me.

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  7. Never saw any milk bars in Thailand but will admit to them not really being on my radar. Looks interesting, but I have to say that it all feels more American to me.

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  8. This is abolustely something new to me as well! Milk bars looks cool and a nice place to hang out :)

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  9. No one visits these bars with his family for the reasons that are not difficult to understand. Scootamania

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