In hopes of growing their already chunky slice of the global market for medical tourism, Bangkok's hospitals are going all out to blur the line between medical center and hotel — and cuisine is an important part of the offering. If you're bound for the Thai capital for that long-awaited nose job or hip replacement, rest assured that bland hospital food is not on the menu. Hearty gumbo is, however — at least at the new branch of Bangkok's popular Bourbon Street Restaurant and Oyster Bar, located atop the auxiliary wing of Bumrungrad International Hospital, www.bumrungrad.com. The outlet is part of a global lineup at the Mezz, a recently opened food court decorated like a large executive lounge. Apart from Bourbon Street's blackened redfish and popcorn shrimp, you can dine on sashimi, Vietnamese egg rolls and, in keeping with the hospital's increasing patronage from the Middle East, kebabs at a Lebanese stand called Beirut, which serves up to 400 of them a day.
"It's almost unthinkable to go to Bangkok's private hospitals and not eat," says Ruben Toral, head of health care consultancy Mednet Asia and a former group marketing director at Bumrungrad. "These hospitals have a large captive audience and have learned that one way to win customers is to appeal to their stomachs." That's why Bumrungrad already hosts the "Roman-style" Portofino, the Bangla House (serving Bengali, Egyptian and Thai food) and the Au Bon Pain sandwich bar and deli, plus a McDonald's that makes in-house deliveries (hardly a cholesterol-reducing prescription).
At rival Samitivej Hospital, www.samitivejhospitals.com, in the expatriate haven along upper Sukhumvit Road, there's a branch of the Japanese home-style Ootoya chain (as part of a wing for Japanese patients), an excellent croissant bakery and a newly revamped food court, run by the catering arm of international facilities-management giant Sodexo.
Not to neglect diners in hospital beds, Bumrungrad is into the 11th year of a project that sees Thai chefs from major hotels creating themed menus that dovetail with patients' dietary restrictions. Here's hoping they go easy on the chili, though. Not everyone needs to add spice to the results of a CT scan.