Many three to five-star hotels advertise an “American Breakfast”, usually as part of your room charge. It’s commonly a buffet-style setup which also includes Thai-type foods grouped in their own section.
Often, grouped with the “American” breakfast foods are the following:
- Grilled tomatoes
- Baked beans
- Hot dog frankfurters or Vienna sausages
- Salads (lettuce with all the veggie additions you can add, with assorted salad dressings)
- French fries (usually cold or lukewarm)
- etc.
Some online friends and I were recently discussing where these ideas of “American” breakfast foods came from, and I got some fantastic stories:
The other day, one of my western friends told me they were overjoyed to see “potato salad” on the menu at a smaller Isaan restaurant, and they ordered it so see how authentic it might be.
The result? French fries on a bed of shredded lettuce.
and my personal favourite:
Anyway, when I was there about 4 years ago, I noticed that many of the restaurants were offering identical American Breakfasts at identical prices. Usual stuff, bacon, sausages, ham and eggs. One place, though, broke this trend and offered baked beans. Intrigued, I thought I’d try these Lao baked beans that no other restaurant had. The result? Peanuts in ketchup!
Sounds delicious, non?