Kantary: Not your average breakfast buffet

Sometimes the best buffets are to be found not in the capital city, but up-country in a novel and comfortable hotel.

By Karn G. Bulsuk

Intercontinental Breakfast Buffet: 200 baht (6.00 US Dollars)

While I was out in Ayuthaya a few weeks ago, we stayed at a hotel/serviced apartment called Kantary. The rooms were excellent, large and clean, and I really looked forward to coming back home everyday to the fluffy bed, hot bath, LCD TV and deliciously cold air conditioning.

Despite a tiring and late night at work, I always looked forward to waking up in the morning for the biggest and most delicious breakfast buffet I had ever had.

When you think of a typical breakfast buffet, you would normally think of ham, bread and cereals with milk. If you’re lucky, there might even be an omelet counter where the cook will freshly cook some eggs with a dash of butter. Breakfasts are pretty much uninspired and unimaginative.

Not so at Kantary. The breakfasts here are almost like lunches, with dishes changing everyday. In the two weeks I was there, we saw everything from roast beef to grilled chicken, from Japanese oden to Japanese curry. If anything, it was more than a lunch rather than a breakfast.

It made my day. The food was excellent and a scrumptious feast first thing in the morning. The team would spend at least 30 minutes feasting to give us the energy to last the entire day.

Despite being an international buffet, the taste of each dish was authentic and well prepared. Because there were so Japanese people staying long-term at the hotel, the Japanese food was spot on and the taste was perfect. It is said that one can judge the skill of a Japanese chef by the taste of their tamagoyaki, as it is a dish which, although simple to make, is difficult to master. Their chef passed the test in my case. Even the miso soup, which often takes a beating to adapt to local tastes, was authentically Japanese.

The western food was also amazing, and the taste of roast beef in the morning took me back to the fabled Sunday dinners of lore. Their pancakes were perfectly made, being soft yet not overcooked, and a dash of maple syrup was certainly helpful. Even their selection of cereals were well thought out, as muesli was also offered along-side the more typical selections. In addition, real apple juice as well as freshly fried strip bacon added to the delight of the morning meal.

For guests, the breakfast added just 200 baht (6.00 US dollars) to the room rate. It was beyond worth-it, given the quality and excellent taste of food which would have given even more expensive hotels and restaurants in Bangkok a run for the money - decent buffets in the city start at at least 500 baht (15 US dollars) and run up to the thousands (30 USD and up).

A fresh selection of breads and cakes.

The pastries are baked fresh every morning, and are kept hot and crispy.

The salads even included vegetables which are difficult to obtain in Bangkok

Sausages that would even have passed German standards

Obviously the Thai food excelled