There are no end of coffee shops and small cafes in Thailand, easily Googleable and with great reviews and so on a rainy day with no work, we decided to head 60km up the road to Ayutthaya to sit by the river for coffee and a bite to eat...
The lucky establishment on this occasion was Ton Mamaungs Coffee and Dessert. Ayutthaya is big tourist spot just an hours ride North of Bangkok is steeped in history and famed for its old temples. It also straddles the Chao Phraya river which creates an almost perfect storm of 'ticked boxes' for the wife. Many Brownie points were coming my way!
It's very easy to find (using Google maps!) and the first 'plus' was the fact there is a car park. This 'plus' was soon negated by the fact there was a parking attendant with a whistle to help you park, despite there was only one other car in the small carpark. Shouting directions and, waving his hands in the direction he wanted me to turn the wheels and endlessly blowing his whistle at me wasn't putting me into the chill out zone, the lovely, green and cactus strewn entrance suggested I may be about to enter...
I could write a full post where I rant about security guards and parking attendents with whistles but that will wait till I take some photos to create a wall of shame!
The entrance to the cafe. Instagram was already adding a few extra terrabytes to its storage capacity!
The Short path to the cafe itself was lined with greenery and chances for legendary status on instagram and Tik-tok...
Thailand does this very popular, shabby chic, cutesy and green fusion very well. Obviously buildings are designed but I often wonder about the decoration and whether it is planned and designed or simply just thrown together. In truth, probably a combination of the two.
I really liked the paint dripped floor. Very original!
There was an air-con downstairs room as well as the gardens and upstairs area that had a dutch-barn styled roof with a balcony overlooking the river, albeit with a slightly restricted view of the temple on the opposite bank due to some pesky trees.
We went straight upstairs...
The views across the riverbank.
and the other side of the pseky trees as the rain continued to dribble from the sky and the sun failed to break through the grumpy, grey clouds.
The garden area which would look much nicer in both sunshine, or better still, lit-up at night time.
So what about the food and drink?
Usually these places are all about location, setting and ambience but I am very happy to report, not in this case. The menu was extensive covering all manner of cakes, ice cream and waffles but also with the addition of 'proper' food to allow you to cover the whole three+ courses if you wished including a beer or cocktail!
I won't bore you with the full menu so let's have the gratuitious food porn!
Rather a good start. Mixed fruits in crushed ice and laced with vodka and topped with a 70s style nightclub cocktail umbrella. Goes rather well with ice-cream don't you think?
Now I often whine on about how coffee is just coffee to me but this coffee was genuinely, really tasty. I was so impressed, I ordered another! It was ordered as a latte and actually was a cappuccino but either way. I loved it!
Pork Satay? why not indeed. Also delicious and fresh. It's a bit of an eclectic mix, I know, but its the way we roll!
Waffles freshly cooked to order and warmed chocolate sauce and a rabbit. Great presentation.
Someone had to order the toast and ice cream thing. It's very popular here and quite an odd combination to me, even after all these years here but it is delicious and does go rather well.
As for me, I ordered the simple Sunday. Customised to have a scoop of Hokkaido Milk and a scoop of Coconut. My current favourites by a long shot. (If you weren't aware, it is thought that Hokkaido in Japan produces the best milk in the world and so there are many dairy products that include 'Hokkaido milk' in their title.) Loaded with fresh cream, it was the real McCoy and not that tinned squirty shite!
It was very quiet due to the weather and the tourists are only slowly returning so we sat and chilled for a while. Before leaving, I just popped downstairs and out front to get a couple of pics of the gardens.
You could even get right down to the edge of the river where they had one of those ladder thingies to climb and take selfies as if you were in mid-air! I didn't bother. It was pissing it down!
It would also be really nice to come back and sit here on an evening when it's a little cooler and have a full meal.
Was it Expensive?
Taking into consideration it's in a tourist area, popular with both Thais and foreigners alike, I was really impressed with the prices here. The whole bill came to under 700Baht (16GBP, $18USD) so really reasonable.
In Conclusion...
The proof of the pudding is in the eating and the food and drink were freshly made and absolutely tasty and delicious. I don't normally go back to places as we have almost limitless choice in Thailand but I'd make an exception here due to the fantastic combination of location, quality and cost and the fact we regularly pop to Ayutthaya when we have a free day means it probably won't be long before we're back trying some other delicious treats on the menu!
All photos are mine except the header logo which I got form their Facebook page and the location has been pinned precisely on @pinmapple
PS. If you wanted to take home a cactus, they even had a shop full of the things to buy and take home.
PPS. The pillock with the whistle didn't get a tip when I left!
Hello @nathen007
What a stunning location! The good thing is that with the climate, you could enjoy coffee by the river all year round. I really like those steps that lead to the water.
The dishes look awesome and so tempting.
The price sounds pretty reasonable for what you're getting...and it says it all when you want to return, because from what I've heard about Thailand, the options are endless.
Nice post 🙌
PS. I do like the dutch-barn style roof too and the paint drip floor. They add character:)))
The climate here is the key to the success of these sorts of places but the range and individuality of them all is mind blowing. Within a square mile of me there must be 20 coffee shops. When I first came out here, coffee shops were popular but then the interest seemed to wane but they've certainly bounced back with a vengeance in the last couple of years.
Hope you're both well and handling the heat in your little ship :-)
Well, the decoration looks planned and well put together :D
I think youre right, they have some really creative people who design these places with that cutesy, thrown together look. Theyre notvreally my personal style but do make for a chilled out place to relax!
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Love all the delicious snacks you can get in these cafes. Recently I've also been collecting those small cactus plants too!
Yes, I do too. it wouldn't really work in Southend in late November would it?! Nice to see you've gone native lol
I thought about you the other day. I helped this guy jump start a stunning blue split screen VW outside a 7/11. Never thought to grab a picture.
Christ, I didnt know that those kind of selfies were a thing!
Looks a great place! I had always wondered about the Hokkaido milk thing. I have occasionallty seen it in places and wondered what was so special or was meant to be so special about it.
I am intrigued by the toast and ice cream, it sounds nuts!
When I was a kid, we had 'sandwiches' from the ice cream man. Two wafers with a block of vanilla stuffed between. When I came here, a bloke rode by on a bike with a couple of tubs of ice cream attached and I was asked if I wanted one. Flavours were Coconut or nothing. Wife say, "you want sandwich?" Thai word for sandwich is actually sandwich but they dont do ending sounds so you actually hear, sandwit cos they also can't make a 'ch' sound.
Happy days, thinks I and this bloke pulls out thick slice of bread, drops two mini scoops of ice cream on one side, sprinkles on a few peanuts and smothers it in chocolate sauce before folding it in half and squashing it down!
It's wouldn't be so bad actually if the bread here wasn't so sweet! one of those and a coke with ice in a plastic bag and I'm a happy boy!
I used to get them as well! A wafer sandwich and sometimes as a tasty one of the wafers would bea thick nougat thing.
I world defo try it not if the bread is sweet too it might be a bit much as you say!
It would have been trying to see your face when he did that!
Thank you. Until now I was unaware Googleable is a word and never considered coffee in a desert.
Only thing cooler than first floor A/C is if I could say save me a seat.
Adding an adjectival suffix to a proper noun, being used as a verb is bloody rebellious!
Desert; could I blame the 50c an hour Burmese proof reader?
Edit. Yikes!! I take it all back!
Food porn, I love food porn.
Toast and ice cream sounds interesting. I'd give that a shot.
The waffles look cute in a way - if waffle can be considered cute 🤔
A whistle? Lol what's that all about, I wouldn't tip him either.
18 bucks for all that food is cheap hey. I'm not sure about the toast and icecream - not a fan of sweet breakfast.. but it did look quite yummy.
Seems like a place to return to for sure.
The cafes and food look impressive and the place looks fascinating.
Photography and coffee shops are two reasons why I dream about Thailand. I missed the chance to visit during Hivefest but maybe one day. I follow a lot of vintage photographers from there and I love the aesthetics of that environment ☀️
This all looks really interesting! The food, the plants, the building
That's toast underneath the ice cream you say? This to me is an eye-opener. Never considered combining those two things but there you go. I'll have to give it a try myself. It's refreshing and unique as an idea but as you say, quite common over there. Never would have occurred to me. Just goes to show how personally enriching spending time in different parts of the world, in different cultures, can be
The parking attendant situation sounds hilarious. Hardly any other vehicles in the carpark yet this guy's bossing you around. Got a job to do here folks! 😂
Great read! Thanks for sharing