My best friend, a fellow American who lives in a small provincial capital upcountry with his Thai wife and their two daughters, was in town this weekend with his wife. He comes to Bangkok three or four times a year for a little R&R sometimes mixed with business in the Bangkok office of the company he works with. The town he lives in is pretty quiet even if it is a provincial capital, so he looks forward to his Bangkok trips, and we always do up the bar scene. He spent an evening out alone with his wife on Thursday night, then he had a meeting in the daytime Friday at the office. Friday night was Boys’ Night Out, and we cut a swathe through the Soi Cowboy bar area, paying particular attention to the live lesbian show in Sheba’s. He went back to his hotel relatively early, but as usual I stayed until close to daybreak at the sidewalk bars lining Sukhumvit Road. Great people-watching scene, high entertainment value. Then Saturday night, with wives and other friends in tow, we took in the more family-oriented entertainment at Tawandang German Brewery. A great mix of Western and Thai music and cabaret shows. The wife and I have a membership card that gives us 15% off of everything, including their excellent beer, and we had a great table, having reserved it five weeks in advance. So there was much imbibing of lager last night, too.
So anyway, I’ve spent Sunday recovering from the weekend, not doing much of anything except pondering how old I feel these days after our bar runs. But whenever I have a hangover, eating a big slab of meat is next to heaven. If I’m out and near a Burger King, a triple Whopper with bacon and cheese usually fills the bill. But I stayed in today, and if I can’t get something like that, I order phat kraphao with chicken and a fried egg from the restaurant in our condo compound (they deliver to the rooms here). This is a Thai dish in which the meat is minced and quite spicy. Really, REALLY hits the spot when I’m hung over and cannot get a steak or hamburger.
So, what food helps YOU recover from an evening of overindulgence?
There’s a greasy spoon down the street. Not the kind of place that you would use as a model for opening a restaurant today, but it’s been around for years and is typically packed to overflow from 9 to noon on weekends.
It seems popular with two different groups - the elderly who’ve been going there for years and have incorporated it into their routines as the place to go for bacon and eggs. And the hangover crowd.
This place does my favourite hangover food. A 4 egg omlette, packed densely with bacon, cheese and mushrooms with greasy fried potatoes. Some toast and some good coffee. All served by a grumpy yet efficient waitress.
Well, there’s the post-pub curry or (as in last night’s case) the kebab. Then in the morning it might either be leftovers from the curry or a huge greasy fry-up with buckets of tea.
The rest of the day should be spent laying on the sofa watching trashy television, occasionally with head in hands and the question “why, oh why?” being asked with no real hope of a useful answer.
A Denver omelette, hashbrowns, sourdough toast and maybe a plate of biscuits and cream gravy. All washed down with a large orange juice and lots of coffee.
Been awhile since I’ve had any hangover to speak of…
but during drinking it’s usually a slice of pizza or a hot dog from one of the carts/little shops near the bars. The morning after is, if I go out, several hash browns and the largest coffee from McDonald’s. Otherwise at home, it’s bacon sandwiches or bacon and eggs.
A couple burritos from Taco Bell (with green sauce) and a big bottle of Gatoraid. Maybe the gastronomical distress from this distracts me from the hangover, but it seemed to work back in my drinking days - especially when I had to work at 4:00 AM after < 3 hours sleep.
I fix this if I’m at home. Sometimes a hangover requires a(nother) trip to the Waffle House for a double order of scattered, smothered, covered, chunked, extra crispy hash browns. And lots of diet coke (coffee there isn’t fit to drink).
Wow, ya’lls hangovers must be much different than mine if you can stomach any of those foods after a heavy night of drinking. I’m lucky if I can keep down some Ramen.
Although bloody Marys are a time tested hair of the dog tradition, my favorite early morning drink was introduced to me by a friend who’s dad owns a restaurant. In a pint glass, one part fresh squeezed lime juice, one part triple sec, and two parts Sprite/7-Up. It doesn’t have a name, but I’d say it’s Bloody Lovely. I think I drank about 4 in about 15 minutes.
