Love To Eat Restaurant - Ayutthaya, Thailand

Situated right on the river in central Ayutthaya, the thing that makes this place so special isn't necessarily the food, which to be honest is quite average, but the service, the value, and of course the setting make it a real "must visit" if you happen to be in the old capital city of Thailand.

Ok, so the Pa Sak river isn't the nicest looking thing in the world, but it isn't as dirty as it appears. After a hard rain every river in Thailand and probably the world looks like that as the dirt from the surrounding area flows into the river.

The menu consists of the usual things such as Pad Thai, green and red curry, and my personal favorite Panang curry (I think I am spelling that right.) Each table comes with a bell that you are meant to ring to get the staff's attention and while this seems a bit rude in my world it is actually expected and if you don't ring said bell, you might be waiting forever for someone to come check on you.

The staff are super friendly and while the furnishings are quite basic, the overall quiet ambiance right next to the river provides such a wonderful and tranquil experience. The food comes out quickly and at night this place can be quite the hotspot with locals, expats, and tourists and this has a lot to do with the fact that it is right next to the downtown area... if you can really call it that. Ayutthaya isn't not a terribly busy city afterall.

source- Love to Eat's FB page

Even if you don't want to eat this is a popular place to have a beer in their unusual net chairs that hover over the water but honestly, these aren't as great as you might be thinking aside from taking a photo - I found them quite difficult to get out of!

While I realize that Ayutthaya isn't exactly a tourism hot spot, I think a lot of people miss out by not coming here. It is on the train route between Bangkok and Chiang Mai afterall, perhaps if you are thinking of going to those two places it might not be a terrible idea to go "off the beaten path" a bit and check out the old city. Places like this one are far more affordable here than in other cities and it is part of the reason why I am happy that I live here.

An average meals costs about 3-4 USD per person and beers are about 2 USD each. It's a great value if you ask me :)