American food in Udon Thani.

[PAUL STAKER]

I was just wondering if there is a wide variety of American food there in Udon Thani. I have been to the Philippines and there was a great US style diner in Manila that I really enjoyed.

I might try the local chow but not sure if I can eat bugs and stuff. I reckon I might eat rice dishes but I will need my fix of cheeseburgers and fries and shakes. Do you guys eat the Thai food or can you get a good burger or pizza?

Thank you,

Paul.

[Prenders88]

You could try TJ's. (Hamburgers) Not been there myself but have seen good reviews on this forum.
Lots of places though in Udon for the British, Irish, and Australian communities. Not much for our American cousins. Only KFC. Chern Chim British supermarket, cafe and deli. British Fish and Chip shop opening soon.

[snowman]

Hello Staker
Unless things have changed , there is a pizza place at the shopping mall that I like and wife likes there salad bar or there is a steak place upstairs there by the bowling alley that's not bad.

[beer monkey]

A McDonalds is coming soon....if you can hang on a while.

But get stuck in the Thai Favourites and i am not talking about 'Bugs'...much better than a Burger and Fries....not that i don't enjoy those, but if you are coming for a visit its all worth trying.

Sizzlers i think you mean Snowman......Surely you must like other stuff Paul apart from the stuff you mentioned.

[TJ]

You will be able to find a plentiful selection of American-style food. As mentioned, the main complex has a sizzler, a KFC. and ice cream and doughnut shops. It also has The Pizza Company which I like. A short walk away are two good German restaurants with good selections of beef and pork dishes. I especially like their schnitzels and potato salads. There are a great many Italian restaurants. The many English hotels and restaurants offer burgers, french fries, and other American foods. Steak and pork chops are easy to find. Udon Thani is a small city and there are plenty of other restaurants scattered about you will like. TJs is well known for good burgers and chili. Harry's has good burgers and pork chops. Fuzzy Ken's does a good cheese burger and tasty spicy chicken sandwich. Mexican food can be found.

Thai food is certanly abundent and varied and you will likely find a favorite Thai restaurant. My favorite is a open-air Thai place that serves the best fried rice I've eaten. In addition to the usual choices of chicken, pork, or vegatable fried rice they offer one with stir-fried vegatables on top and also an omlet on top. Some Thai soups are as good or better than American soups.

There is no American-style eatery such as the classsic dinner. You probably won't find clam chowder, chipped beef on toast or corn dogs.

For more information, You can look at the forum's section on restaurants and food.

[beer monkey]

There is no American-style eatery such as the classsic dinner. You probably won't find clam chowder, chipped beef on toast

Reading that line it brought it all back....
lol........SOS...sh** on a Shingle, there was a place that did it (the chipped beef/toast) but it closed.

[jimboLV]

Yes. I was surprised when i first came here to find all the Western food available. You won't find any good pizza or steakhouses, at least not what you were used to in the USA, but as mentioned before, plenty of excellent western style food at reasonable prices. But definitely try the local fare. For Thai food, I eat where the locals eat and try to stay away from places frequented by westerners. Much better food and cheaper too. Street vendors and the stalls at markets are a good bet for some really authentic local food.

[UdonExpat]

Over the years American food has been lacking in Udon. Plenty of Italian, British, and Aussie food and restaurants.

TJ's is the only American restaurant, but in my opinion the quality has gone down since Tommie's death. I never eat their burgers, as the flavoring is unpleasant to me.

I think Harry's Bar has the best burgers and steaks in town, but the smokers in the place keep me away. Don't need second hand smoke with my food.

The chains include KFC for greasy chicken and fries, Pizza Company a Thai knock off of Pizza Hut, Sizzler Steakhouse for overpriced mediocre steaks and burgers, Mr. Donut for fattening up, and Swensen's Ice Cream for your cholesterol hit.

Even though there's a lack of familiar American food I've never gone hungry and have a constant struggle with being overweight. Thai restaurant food in generally better and cheaper than any of the western restaurants, but it's nice to have the option of some western style food.

[polehawk]

TJ covered all the bases pretty well for American food. Agree with UdonExpat that Harry's has the best burger in town. Chili? No contest. TJ's, hands down. AND, don't forget, TJ's has grits.

Like to BBQ? You could buy a small, cheap grill and do your own steaks and burgers just the way you like 'em. Lots of places to shop for the meat and fixings. TOPS above Robinson's at the mall, Tesco, Big C, Carrefour, Makro to name a few.

[BobHelm]

What Polehawk says makes sense (well as long as you are not staying in a Hotel as they may get a little upset about it !!).
A "Thai" B B Q (a bucket with cement in it) will cost about 50 baht, the major supermarkets sell a little more conventional ones (from a Falang viewpoint) for a few 100 baht for use with charcoal - which is available at every Mum & Pops. Up to something for serious B B Q makers from Quik Fire - but they do not come cheap!.
In general the frozen burgers are not worth wasting your baht on. Beef can be poor (understatement) but even the best you buy will come no where close to beef in USA. I tend to stay away from beef completely as I only end up disappointed. Pork is excellent, as is the chicken and prawns (& other sea food)if you are that way inclined. If you like plain white rolls for burgers then they are pretty readily available, anything else on the roll front is pretty difficult to find. There is a pretty good supply & assortment of what I think polehawk means by 'fixings' in jars, but most of the raw ingredients are available for anyone who likes to make their own too..

[skipper / red]

STATION CAFE / best burgers in town ,Also the tacos pretty dam good, cheap 2
Sams a yank as well ,Plus the eye candy down the night market is second 2 nun

[TJ]

The American favorite I most miss is popcorn. The only source that I could find was buckets of the stuff sold at the Cineplex. At almost 140 baht for a large bucket I gave it a miss. None of the department stores I searched stock the hot-air popcorn poppers either.

[BKKSTAN]

The American favorite I most miss is popcorn. The only source that I could find was buckets of the stuff sold at the Cineplex. At almost 140 baht for a large bucket I gave it a miss. None of the department stores I searched stock the hot-air popcorn poppers either.

go 1 floor down to the food court and you can buy your popcorn,freshly popped for 10 baht a bag!

[polehawk]

The microwave varieties of popcorn are available at all of the aforementioned stores. Not quite as good as the theater popcorn back home but good enough for watching a dvd movie here.

[wazza]

Tesco has freshly made pop corn available.

[wazza]

Starbucks also proposed for the UD town also Paul,

But i heard from staff at SB in Nong Khai, its only 50/50 now.

U might try Monkey Bar in Nutty Park for good homemade pizzas.

[saint]

what about the irish clock . not american in origin i know , but plenty of our colonial cousins eat in there . or theres the new place opening tomorrow , opposite , used to be harley otooles , new name , new york grill , or something . im no detective , but im guessing they will be doing colonial food !!!!!! anyways , doesnt matter how fussy you are , there is absolutely no chance of you starving to death in our fair city .

[beer monkey]

Plenty of choices...the op won't go hungry.

[thrilled]

Paul ,i'm A picky eater.I'm an american I was at Udon last October.I ate at the irish Clock every morning.
I've been reading where the chern chem is getting to be the best place in Udon.Like Beer Monkey said you won't go hungry thats for sure.

[PAUL STAKER]

So you can get American food in the irish clock?