A very brief follow up to my story on visa-runs and Whoppers in 2000BC: what do Hanoi/Saigon expats secretly (and not so secretly) yearn to eat in Bangkok today?
I never understand why expats miss things like Branston pickle or marmite… my biggest gripe was the opening of the evil that is Starbucks in a country famed for amazing coffee…at a fraction of the price.
On a side note, my daughter will no longer eat Burger King after it being the only place to get ‘breakfast’ before an early flight out of Saigon. She projectile vomited said burger over her seat (and those nearby) just as we touched down in…Bangkok…
Surprise, surprise, Starbucks also predicted rapid growth for itself when it opened to great pomp but... its biz. performance (based on those projections) has been 'underwhelming'. The big one in the bottom of the Red on Pasteur closed a few months ago. And I don't see any new ones around D1. They assume they'll strangle-hold the middle class market wherever the go, but in Saigon, they're just another option in a city with thousands and thousands of cafes.
And jaysus, your poor daughter -- but also... the poor punters in front of her!!!! They probably never ate a whopper again either!
I never understand why expats miss things like Branston pickle or marmite… my biggest gripe was the opening of the evil that is Starbucks in a country famed for amazing coffee…at a fraction of the price.
On a side note, my daughter will no longer eat Burger King after it being the only place to get ‘breakfast’ before an early flight out of Saigon. She projectile vomited said burger over her seat (and those nearby) just as we touched down in…Bangkok…
Surprise, surprise, Starbucks also predicted rapid growth for itself when it opened to great pomp but... its biz. performance (based on those projections) has been 'underwhelming'. The big one in the bottom of the Red on Pasteur closed a few months ago. And I don't see any new ones around D1. They assume they'll strangle-hold the middle class market wherever the go, but in Saigon, they're just another option in a city with thousands and thousands of cafes.
And jaysus, your poor daughter -- but also... the poor punters in front of her!!!! They probably never ate a whopper again either!
I would add Kinokuniya book store as a thing that Bangkok has that Saigon doesn't
If they don’t sell burgers i’m not interested :))) but Yeah, that bookstore is ridiculous for anyone who is stuck with Fahasa and Phuong Nam.
I spent a couple of hours there on Sunday and really had to restrain myself from buying a load of books.
yes, and all the worse now that the bookshop on Dong Khoi has closed and the bootleg booksellers on Pham Ngu Lau have all but disappeared.