Through a Hole in the Wall

One of the great pleasures of visiting or living in Bangkok is that of discovering new eateries in which to sample the wide diversity that makes up the capital’s widely admired cuisine. Visitors usually flock to the well known and often expensive restaurants touted in guidebooks, but there are many smaller places that are unpretentious, packed with locals every night, and consistently serving mouth-watering delights. Here are a few of Dave Stamboulis's personal favorites.




As Bangkok tends to be a city of late nights, breakfast often becomes brunch, and thus it has become quite popular to fill up on Chinese dim sum. While the dim sum eateries in the large hotels and in Chinatown are of great quality, they can be expensive, usually charging around 60 baht per dish. Krua Krungthep, located in Ratchathewi, bucks that trend. Both steamed and deep fried dishes cost 15 baht per serving here, and the menu is extensive. As opposed to many dim sum places that have servers padding around the room carting the same items round and round, Krua Krungthep steams and fries directly to order. The restaurant is run by a doctor who seems to focus on freshness and hygiene, and the big glass windows fronting the restaurant hide nothing from pedestrians outside. Highly recommended are the shrimp and pork dumplings, as well as the fried eggplant. The clear noodles with pork stuffing are very filling, while the fried bananas with sweet condensed milk are perfect for the end of a meal sweet tooth. The menu is in Thai and Chinese, but all of the 50 dim sum offerings on tap are displayed in photos, so one can easily point and choose. There is an a la carte menu available for lunch and dinner as well.

Ying Kitchen hides twice. Firstly, surrounded by all the fast food and neon of bustling Siam Square. Secondly, when one walks through the front door. With cheesecake and chocolate torts sitting in the display case in front of the cashier, it looks like the type of place to grab a cappuccino and dessert with one’s date after a movie. Booths packed with fashionable youngsters sipping milkshakes may leave one wondering about the menu selections, but fear not. One of Baan Ying’s specialties is lap moo (pork salad), not made in the traditional minced meat style, but served instead as full meatballs, pungently flavored with kaffir lime leaves and other spices. Another specialty, not even listed on the menu (Baan Ying does indeed like to hide!) is yam hua plee, a salad made from the flower of the banana leaf, again mixed with an amazing array of distinct and complementary spices. The manager of Baan Ying speaks impeccable English and is keen to recommend dishes to visitors, and no, the chocolate torts in the window are not just for display. They are just as delicious as the rest of the food.

Another hidden gem, both in name and location, is Sara Jane’s. Located in the back corner of the Sindhorn Building on Wireless Road, Sara Jane’s is not a burger joint nor pub, but actually one of the top Isaan restaurants in Bangkok. While the restaurant gets a full house during lunch, due to the number of office workers in the Sindhorn Tower and nearby US Embassy, it is quiet in the evening. The menu is large, featuring all of the main staples of Isaan cooking: fried meats and fish, spicy salads, and sticky rice. The som tam is served the standard way, with papaya, or one can order it made with long beans. Also delicious is the sup nor mai, or bamboo salad, spiced to preference. The moo manao (lime pork) is soft and tangy, and seems to be a staple amongst regulars. For the more adventuresome, there are several salads and meat dishes using various intestinal parts of the pig and cow. I tend to just let my girlfriend order and eat what is served, as it is all good!

Fifty-Five typifies my favorite type of local eatery. Simple, a few indoor and outdoor tables, and packed every night with neighborhood residents. While garden patios and high prices tend to be the norm in Thong Lor, Fifty-Five keeps it basic, focusing instead on fresh food served quickly, practically prepared at ones own table. Highly recommended is the black pepper beef, chicken, or fish, served on a sizzling iron platter, which looks to be in the latter stages of cooking as it makes the journey from kitchen to dining room. The tofu soup is very hearty and is practically a meal in itself. If one is still hungry, try one of the extensive yams (salads) that Fifty-Five does particularly well. The little flower salad, available only in the rainy season, is very exotic, and the yam ma kua (eggplant salad) is delicious, smothered with lime juice, onions...




...and hot chilies. No matter how many plates, glasses, and bottles have come and gone from the table, the owner always seems to get the bill to its exact amount, despite adding everything up in her head without the help of a bill, menu, or calculator. Perhaps it’s just that the patrons of Fifty-Five are so satisfied that they’d agree to whatever number she came up with!

Saeng Chai Pochana is near Fifty-Five, and has the exact same indoor/outdoor café setup, and just as many repeat customers supping each night. Just about everything on the menu is tasty, but every time I have eaten at Pochana, ninety percent of the clientele have large bowls of tom yum on their tables, including myself. The tom yum, whether it be with shrimp, seafood, or meat, has a powerful kick to it, a combination of spice and vinegar, with plenty of lemongrass and ginger lurking in each spoonful. One of the more mouth-watering and heat-inducing tom yum’s I have had anywhere in Thailand, and my drug of choice for getting rid of colds and Bangkok smog from the sinuses. The three seafood salad makes for a great starter, as do the cashew and mango salads, and the pad poo prong ka-ree (crab meat in yellow curry) is also delicious. Heineken and Singha bottles are large and cold, served with buckets of ice, and one will definitely put away several of them if one tackles the tom yum head on!

Tucked away in an alley next to a small shrine, with little indication that it is a restaurant (unless one peers in the window and notices that every seat is taken) is Tong Lai Sun, a Chinese eatery with no signs in Thai or English outside. It is hidden in a sub-soi, 25 meters down Sukhumvit Soi 41 on the right. The clientele are often Chinese and Japanese, and I noticed repeat visitors on my four or five trips there. No wonder, as the cuisine is excellent Beijing style, and very affordable. The menu is in Thai, English, Chinese, and Japanese, and has over 100 items! The steamed pork dumplings are divine, and also come fried or boiled in soup. The Chinese pancakes with spring onions are another novel and tasty option. One can eat them with shredded pork or wrapped around clay pot chicken bits, or spread some mabo dofu (spicy Szechuan tofu) on top, which looks to be a house specialty. The curried beef with garlic and chili sauce is frequently requested, and if all the spices leave one’s mouth numb, cool down with the deep-fried bananas, dipped in cold water and ice cubes. Bon appetit!