As more and more jobs consist of mainly sitting at a computer and more and more recreational activities consist of mainly sitting in front of a television, it’s no surprise we’re getting fatter. The oft-maligned American diet is usually brought up as a pretty hefty (heh) contributing factor, chronicled brilliantly on ThisIsWhyYou’reFat.com. Well, one of America’s worst culinary offenders has officially landed in Bangkok – the Donut Burger, wherein a donut takes the place of a burger bun. Never being one to resist temptation, I figured I’d do my blogging duty and headed down to try it out.
I’m always up for trying new food. From duck tongue to raw horse to chicken ovaries, I’m usually the first one to dive into whatever local delicacy happens to be in front of me – and usually the first one to wish that I didn’t.
At any rate, finding a good burger in Bangkok is often a bit of a chore. My friend Newley has written about it before, and although most pubs and restaurants will offer a pretty decent burger, it’s that rare gem that gets the attention. So when one of my Twitter friends posted a picture of his buddy standing in front of a sign advertising said donut burger, I knew I had to give it a try.
The sign outside of Le Fenix. However, going by the sparesly populated restaurant, calling it a ‘smash hit’ might be a bit of a stretch.
I’ve seen some pretty awful things served up at American restaurants, from chocolate covered bacon to deep-fried Coca-Cola syrup covered with whipped cream, cinnamon and icing sugar, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. The image I had in mind was the traditional Krispy Kreme-bracketed egg/bacon/ham/beef neutron bomb of heart stoppage. Luckily, Le Fenix’s creation wasn’t that bad, although it was no garden salad.
The famous Krispy Kreme burger. Not sure if this is a perversion of the all-American food icon, or its next greatest evolution.
The restaurant offering Bangkok’s newest snack treat is Le Fenix, located at the end of Sukhumvit 11, right across the street from the famous QBar. I gave my order to the waitress, who didn’t bat an eye, and waited. When it came out, I was both relieved and disappointed. I was relieved because it looked small and cute, and definitely not very dangerous heart-wise. I was also disappointed for the same reason.
The Le Fenix donut burger. The olives and salad are a nice touch. It’s like giving someone an extra Band-Aid after their leg’s been cut off.
Taste-wise it was a bit of a non-story – the burger was fine and there was plenty of cheese, but the plain cake donut neither added nor detracted from the experience. However, I could definitely smell the slight stench of greasy, oily processed fat that you don’t get from a regular bun. It wasn’t unpleasant, but certainly not the taste explosion that the first burger picture gives the impression of. It was also a lot more expensive than I thought. Although the sign says it’s 280 baht, add in a few lime sodas, 10% service charge and 7% VAT and it was over 600 baht!
Yikes.
So, one more volley fired as American food storms its way into Thailand, displacing more traditional culinary fare. Actually, nevermind. As long as Thailand’s superbly talented street food vendors keep whipping up fare like the lady who cooks my dinner (below), the tourists can have all the KFCs, Burger Kings and donut burgers they want; folks in the know will continue to chow down on healthier, tastier and cheaper local fare. Vive la Thai food!
My sweet food-making angel. She knows not of my love.
Greg,
Nice one – interesting/fun blog.
Scott
Greg, why did I not know what a talented writer you are. Seriously, I thought you were pretty cool before, but here you are really, really cool. Really, very cool. And boy did I breathe a sigh of relief when I saw that the burger was not as you (or I) had imagined it!