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Lloyd & Mandy
  • 6 minutes ago
A legendary Bangkok beef stew simmered for decades—and a heritage hotel with a remarkable past—make this Thailand food vlog a journey through the city’s history and flavors. Join Lloyd and Mandy as they visit Wattana Panich to try its famously long-simmered beef stew and explore Baan Tuk Din, a hotel once used as a gunpowder factory in the early 1900s.

For viewers searching for Bangkok street food, traditional Thai food, historic hotels in Thailand, or a travel vlog exploring local culture, this episode brings food and heritage together. Discover a memorable stop for anyone planning a Bangkok food trip or enjoying armchair travel through Thailand.

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Travel
Transcript
00:00In today's episode of Lloyd and Mandy, I'm checking out one of Bangkok's most famous family-owned restaurants that serves
00:07up a beef stew that's been cooking for almost half a century.
00:12I also show you around a unique 125-year-old heritage hotel right in the heart of Old Town Bangkok
00:19that was formerly used as a gunpowder factory in the early 1900s.
00:25Stay tuned, and if you're new here, consider liking and subscribing for more content just like this.
00:39Good morning, guys. I'm coming to you from Bangkok.
00:42As you may have seen in the last video, I'm here flying solo for a couple of days.
00:47Mandy's holding down the fort with Bear back home in Hua Hin.
00:51And as promised, I'm going to tell you a little bit about the hotel I'm staying at because it's really
00:55cool.
00:56This is a 125-year-old hotel.
00:59Well, actually, a 125-year-old building that's now a hotel that used to be a gunpowder factory.
01:07So it's called the Ban Tuk Din, which essentially translates to gunpowder house.
01:14And this is located in the historical part of Bangkok, so like the Old Town.
01:19It's literally like a 10-minute walk to Coast Sand Road.
01:23There's temples and stuff everywhere.
01:25So this hotel has about 25 rooms and has been renovated by a bunch of different artists, architects, designers, and
01:34businesses who all sort of chipped in to turn this historical building into the hotel it is today.
01:39And honestly, it's amazing.
01:41Like, it's got a really unique vibe to it.
01:44If you have a walk around the hotel, you'll notice like a bunch of old furniture.
01:47And the most interesting thing about it is there's a ton of these old, like, dinosaur, replica dinosaur skeletons, like
01:57statues, which are really cool.
01:58It's actually attached or semi-attached to a really cool cafe downstairs.
02:03And then next door to that, there's a restaurant and a jazz bar.
02:08And last night, I didn't hear a single thing.
02:10There was a jazz band playing, but I was too tired.
02:13I didn't go down.
02:13I'm going to probably go check it out tonight.
02:15But because it's not actually attached to the hotel, like, it was completely quiet here, which I was very, very
02:23surprised at.
02:23This hotel is actually reasonably cheap.
02:27It starts at about 2,000 baht per night.
02:30And for the quality of hotel that this is, I think that's a really good value, especially in the area
02:36that it is.
02:36Like, you can walk around and there's so much to see and do in this area.
02:40So, I'd highly recommend checking out this hotel.
02:43Ban Tuk Din, it's probably our new favorite hotel.
02:47We say that every time we stay somewhere.
02:49We're probably going to have to do, like, a top 10 Bangkok hotel list soon because we stayed at some
02:55pretty good ones.
02:56So, today, after I have a bit of coffee and maybe some breakfast and just do a little bit of
03:02work on the computer downstairs in the cafe,
03:05I'm going to go and check out this restaurant I've been meaning to go to for a long time, ever
03:11since we first came to Bangkok.
03:13And we were here in November for, like, six or seven weeks, and we just never got there.
03:19There's this restaurant that's been open for, like, 60 plus years.
03:22And the owner learnt how to cook this soup from his father, like, 45 years ago, and he's been doing
03:30it every day ever since.
03:32And the soup has actually been cooking for 45 years.
03:37I know that sounds strange, but I'll explain it all later.
03:41But basically, this is known as, like, the best beef soup you can possibly get in Bangkok, in probably all
03:48of Thailand.
03:49It's become a real popular spot for tourists and even locals go there all the time.
03:53It's getting a little bit late, so I am going to probably hit the road pretty soon because otherwise, I've
04:00heard if you get there too late,
04:02you're going to be lining up for hours and you're going to miss out.
04:04Some people literally line up at this place for, like, two hours just to get in.
04:07So, I'll take you guys there with me.
04:09We'll see if the soup's all it's cracked up to be or if it's just one of those fads that
04:14sometimes gets blown up from social media.
04:16Anyway, we'll check it out together.
04:18Today's video is sponsored by Super Sparrow.
04:22So, we've been traveling for just over two years now,
04:25and one of our pet peeves is just how many plastic bottles we seem to go through while we're on
04:30our travels.
04:31But from now on, we're going to be only using our reusable Super Sparrow bottles.
04:35Super Sparrow's insulated water bottles are made from medical-grade stainless steel material
04:40which can withstand impact without breaking.
04:43They include a food-grade soft silicon straw which is BPA-free, non-toxic, tasteless, safe and healthy.
04:50It also just makes it a hell of a lot easier to drink out of.
04:53We are by no means perfect when it comes to single-use plastics,
04:56but this is something we really believe needs to be reduced across the board.
05:00And that's why from now on, we're going to be taking our Super Sparrow water bottles with us on all
05:04of our adventures.
05:05And honestly, just going to be using them at home as well.
05:08The insulated design can keep cold drinks cold for up to 12 hours and warm drinks warm for up to
05:146 hours,
05:15making them the perfect travel accessory for any situation.
05:18The top of the water bottle can be unscrewed, so you can easily fill it with ice cubes and clean
05:23it.
05:23Also, the water bottle, the lid and the straw are all dishwasher safe, making it super simple to clean.
05:30I actually fill up my Super Sparrow bottle with water in the beginning of the day and fill it up
05:34with ice cubes,
05:35and it stays cool all day, even in the Thailand heat.
05:38And if you click the link down below or use the code Lloyd and Mandy at checkout,
05:42you'll get 15% off your order.
05:44Okay, back to the video.
06:30What is this?
06:32Sand.
06:33Sand?
06:34Sand, yeah.
06:35Sand.
06:38Sand.
06:41Sand.
06:42Sand.
06:44Sand.
06:50Sand.
06:55Sand.
06:56Sand.
06:58Sand.
06:58Sand.
06:59Sand.
07:00Sand.
07:01Sand.
07:02Sand.
07:03Sand.
07:08scotch coffee is the best coffee I've ever had. I don't even know how they made it so
07:16good. Vanilla, whiskey, milk chocolate, creamy mouthful. It's black coffee but they
07:23make it in this really interesting way with like hot sand to like boil it and
07:30then it drips. I have to show you the video because it's insane and it's the
07:35best coffee I've ever had.
07:43Okay so there are a lot of ways to get to this restaurant which is located around
07:48the Thong Law area but from my experience the cheapest and fastest and actually
07:53probably the most fun way to get there is by motorbike.
08:19Now let's go!
08:21A Vista in a box is the most easy to get to damage the spot.
08:22I didn't have a big deal.
08:23I am not a little nut.
08:26I am so busy but I got to go.
08:28I am so busy.
08:29We sat there and outside.
08:32We will go!
09:07All right, that was definitely a smart option getting a bike.
09:11As you could see, probably, the traffic was just insane.
09:16And it's not even like peak hour or anything.
09:19It's the middle of the day and the traffic was at a standstill.
09:23But luckily, my motorbike driver was weaving in and out.
09:27He got us here pretty quick.
09:29It only took about 20 minutes.
09:30I think it would have taken maybe 45 from Bangkok Old Town to get to Thong Law here.
09:39And it cost me 130 baht, which is very cheap.
09:44Now, now I've got to find this restaurant, which all I'm really going off is a Google photo that I
09:51saw.
09:51I know the name of the restaurant, but everything here, all the signs and everything are written in Thai or
10:01Chinese.
10:02So, I'm hoping I stumble across a restaurant with a big pot of stew boiling.
10:10That would be the obvious thing.
10:13If not, I don't know.
10:15We'll just have to keep searching around.
10:17I might have to ask around.
10:18We'll see how we go.
10:19So, to be honest, this stew is actually pretty famous.
10:22And the reason it's so popular is because the man who's cooking it has been simmering it for 45 years.
10:33He grew up studying the different spices and ingredients from his father.
10:40Now, it's actually been around for 60 years and he doesn't actually have a recipe.
10:46He just does it all by taste.
10:48And what he does is he takes a little bit of the broth every day at the end of the
10:54day.
10:55And then he puts it aside and he adds it to the next day's soup.
11:01And that's what gives it the rich flavor.
11:03So, don't get me wrong.
11:06It's not the same soup from 45 years ago.
11:09That would obviously be disgusting.
11:11But the base ingredient of it is the same.
11:14And this guy apparently is a wizard and this soup is one of the best in Thailand.
11:22He's one of the best in Bangkok.
11:24It's got five-star reviews.
11:26It's become a massive, massive place for tourists to check out.
11:30And I've been wanting to go there for a while.
11:32So, I'm going to go check it out and see how this soup holds up.
11:36Hopefully, it's good.
11:37All right, I think we might have stumbled across it here.
11:39I've seen a few restaurants that look similar, but there's a huge line out the front of this one.
11:45Which tells me this is probably it.
11:47I'm going to check it out.
12:19I'm going to check it out.
12:52I'm going to check it out.
12:59Well, I've got to say, first of all, that was hectic.
13:04So many people there.
13:05There was about 20 people lining up.
13:09I mean, because I was on my own, I got pretty lucky and I was able to get a spot
13:13right away.
13:14Although, I did have to sit with a group of other people.
13:16And it was just mayhem.
13:18Just like people yelling and just absolutely insane how busy it is.
13:22But I will say this, it definitely lived up to the height.
13:25That was probably one of the best soups I've ever tasted.
13:31It was almost like a gravy.
13:32You can tell that it's been simmering in so much time and effort and spices and everything has been put
13:40into it.
13:40It just goes to show, really, how much of an effect social media can have.
13:44Because a little place like that, which is essentially just a family-owned business, is so busy all the time.
13:50And it's because everybody goes there and shares it on Instagram or on YouTube, like I'm doing.
13:57Heaps of people have their phones out, videoing it.
13:59So, definitely, if you're in Bangkok, it's worth going to check it out.
14:04Go and check it out.
14:05I'll leave the link for you down below in the description so you can find it.
14:10It wasn't too hard to find.
14:13And it was also really cheap.
14:15I think I paid 120 baht for the soup, which is like a beef noodle soup.
14:21And a can of Coke, which was basically the only drink option they had.
14:25So, yeah.
14:25Go and check it out.
14:26And I'm going to get out of this heat because it is absolutely disgustingly hot.
14:32And I'm going to head back to the hotel because apparently they have a jazz bar there that I'm going
14:39to check out and maybe have a cocktail or two and just wind down.

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