I’ve actually had breakfast in Bangkok. It was in August 1970, and I can assure you that August in Bangkok is nothing short of a hot mess — but in an “exotic” way that this San Francisco-born boy found magical. I was on my way to a year of undergraduate study in south India (to Bangalore, as it was then known), and Bangkok was a stopover.

I wish I could tell you what I had for breakfast while I was there, but I draw a culinary blank when I think back to what my 18 year-old self thought of as breakfast back then. Having grown up with parents from the American Midwest, however, the term “ethnic” was definitely not in my culinary lexicon.

I suspect my amnesia on the subject of Breakfast in Bangkok is largely due to the fact that my classmates and I were staying at the Oriental Hotel — even then a legendary bastion of colonial hospitality. Among its guests was the English writer Somerset Maugham, whose novel The Razor’s Edge had inspired my decision to study in India, with a little nudge as well from George Harrison, courtesy of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” I suspect breakfast at the Oriental Hotel more likely involved biscuits and bangers than coconut milk curries or red lentils and rice. I would have remembered that for sure.

As an aside, I should mention that Somerset Maugham didn’t give the Oriental Hotel what I would describe as a rave review. ”The hotel faced the river. My room was dark, one of a long line, with a verandah on each side of it, the breeze blew through, but it was stifling. The dining-room was large and dim, and for coolness sake the windows were shuttered. One was waited on by silent Chinese boys. I did not know why, the insipid Eastern food sickened me. The heat of Bangkok was overwhelming. The wats oppressed me by their garish magnificence, making my headache.”

Ouch.

It now occurs to me that Somerset’s churlishness in describing what I considered (as an urban blue collar kid from more than half a century ago) to be quite a posh establishment might have had something to do with the lack of a decent breakfast. Of course, when it comes to breakfast, I’m proud to say that I’m a charter member of the “Breakfast Is the Most Important Meal of the Day” Club. My experience has long been that a really great breakfast puts you in fine fettle for whatever the rest of the day may bring. If you are serious about carpe-ing the heck out of your diem, you want to take a good breakfast on board. And at this point in my life, a generic “bacon, eggs, and toast” offering just won’t cut it. I’m always on the lookout for something more genre busting if given the choice.

Which is precisely why the recent announcement by Mount Vernon’s venerable Thai House that it would be introducing a breakfast menu beginning May 31 caught my wife’s and my attention. Thai House opened its doors that morning at 7:30, and my wife and I walked in about half an hour later, only to be embraced by restaurant owner Jessie Wongkaew as her very first breakfast guests! Imagine the honor.

Although I plan to do a Tales of the Magic Skagit podcast interview with Jessie, she deserves a few words relative to this particular story. Jessie came to Mount Vernon from a career in high tech in Thailand with the goal of owning a Thai restaurant. Take a moment to ponder the gutsiness of that move: leaving your country of birth to come to another country that speaks another language to purchase and operate one of the riskiest business ventures one can imagine. I’ve had enough friends in the restaurant business to know that it’s not a career for the faint of heart. Jessie has been here for about a decade now, and I recently earned that she is opening a new restaurant in…wait for it…Georgia. Like I said, gutsy.

When I first began eating at Thai House, not long before its owner at the time sold the restaurant to Jessie, I have to admit that I was a little skeptical regarding the size of its menu. My concern with really extensive menus is whether or not the backend staff can do more than a dozen or so things with equal competence — which is always why I ask wait staff and owners what they consider their restaurant’s “signature dish” to be. In the case of Thai House, however, I’m pleased to say that I’ve never had anything from its menu that wasn’t outstanding. I think that at least one reason for its consistent quality is that it has had the same head chef since its beginning — and she is very accomplished, as anyone who has eaten at Thai House will no doubt agree.

In creating her restaurant’s breakfast menu, however, Jessie Wongkaew reached out to the land of her birth for some additional expertise. She engaged a well known Thai chef and restaurant consultant with a distinguished career in resort venues. When my wife and I sat down for breakfast at Thai House on Saturday, May 31, the menu we looked over was the result of that collaboration — and it was an impressive display of 10 different breakfast dishes.

I might have been a bit overwhelmed with my choices, but I had studied the menu online the previous evening, and I came into Thai House with my mind made up: Khai Jian Poo with Jasmine Rice (Thai Crab Omelet), which the breakfast menu described as “Golden, crispy, Thai-style omelet with lump crab meat, topped with green onion and cilantro. Served with Jasmine rice.” After some reflection, my wife went with her breakfast default: eggs benedict. In the case of Thai House, however, it was Tom Yum Eggs Benedict: “Perfectly poached eggs on a toasted English muffin, layered with smoked salmon and topped with a creamy, tangy Tom Yum hollandaise and fresh dill. A bold Thai twist on the classic brunch favorite.” And indeed it was.

Out of the goodness of her heart, Jessie treated us to a complimentary Thai Rice Porridge, which the menu describes as “Creamy Thai-style rice porridge served with your choice of chicken or shrimp, topped with fresh ginger, crispy noodles, cilantro and green onions. A comforting and flavorful start to your day — the ultimate Thai breakfast classic.” How do you say no to that?

I’ve included a photo of the Thai House Breakfast Menu, which my wife and I plan to work our way through over the course of the year. We’ve already decided on the Khao Neow Moo Ping (Grilled Pork Skewers with Sticky Rice), and I’m leaning heavily towards the Thai-Style Shakshuka — Nam Prik Ong, which offers up an intriguing interpretation of a Middle Eastern classic with a Thai ground chicken chili dip. I’m thinking this might also be the Thai equivalent of the Mexican dish chilaquiles. I’ll keep you posted on that.

That prospect alone is enough to make this my next breakfast in Bangkok. It saddens me that Somerset Maugham couldn’t have had a similar experience when he was there. I would have ordered the Chicken Burger with Massaman Curry Sauce for him, and I expect he’d have subsequently given the Oriental Hotel a gushing review on Yelp. It’s amazing just how much better the world seems after a good breakfast.