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Thursday, June 21, 2007

Bangpoo Resort Seafood


BANGKOK HIDDEN GOURMET
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Bangpoo Resort Seafood Restaurant
@ Royal Thai Army Recreation Centre


My friends were satisfied with the riverside dining at SamSenSoiSam, today they asked for another restaurant where locals eat. Of course I have more than a few dozens to show them, including eating in an army recreation center compound distanced from Bangkok that tourists hardly found their way to.

Bangpoo, in Samut Prakarn Province, is 20km or an hour's drive (don't forget, traffic jam is a gift to the city of angel!) from Bangkok city center in the Southeast, stretching to the Gulf of Thailand, where the river meets the sea. So today is about seaside, not just riverside. Bangpoo Resort is not a new establishment. It was popular in the 70’s where Bangkokians fond of spending their holidays at the seaside, went to Samut Prakarn especially the Bangpoo Resort run by the Royal Thai Army Quarter-master General’s Department. The resort attached seafood restaurant on the edge of the Sukta Bridge became famous since then.

It is advisable to dine (at Bangpoo Resort) during lunch, because after dark I see nothing from the sea, just dark, completely dark. The ambience during lunch can be relaxing, cool breeze from the sea and seagulls sing in orchestra (only from November through February while seagulls come down from Tibet and Mongolia to escape from the winter there) give us an extra dimension to our culinary experience.

We went there on a weekday to avoid the weekend crowd, but on arrival we found that the 300-seat restaurant was packed (even on a weekday!) with governmet employees and local families, thus romantic dining is not the option at Bangpoo Resort Seafood Restaurant. We waited for a while at the restaurant entrance until a helpful receptionist found us a table and ushered us to it. We were seated on the open-air terrace. Although we didn’t see any seagulls but cooling from the breeze with panorama sea view, were pleasant enough. Our waitperson was helpful too.


Our first dish was the Sea Asparagus in Oyster Sauce. It was briny, fresh with a flavor of the ocean in my mouth; could be the right choice to start our lunch by the seaside. Followed were the Stir-fried Curry Crab Meat and the Goong Ob Wensen (prawn baked on a bed of glass noodles). They were tasty without fail, prefect choices to accompany with a bowl of hot plain jasmine rice.

Tomyum Talay Nam Khon (spicy and sour seafood soup with coconut milk) shone and lifted our palate to the ultimate pleasure. Followed were Grilled Sea Bass in Salt Wrapper, and Stir-fried Kanar Veggie. The fare was quite Thai-Chinese accent wasn’t it?

With a spectacular sea view and delightful selection, Bangpoo Resort Seafood Restaurant is a feast for eyes as well as the palate. Reservation is advised for both weekday and weekend dining, esp. for lunch.

Our Ratings (1 to 5 the higher the better): Bangpoo has [3.9]
(Ratings are based on Food, Service and Ambience, with Price taken into account in relation to Quality) Food=4, Service=3.5, Ambiance=3.5, Money Worth=4.5


Price range for two without drinks (incl. local water) in Thai Baht = BBB
(B=below 200, BB=201-500, BBB=501-1,000, BBBB=1,001-2,000, BBBBB=over 2,000)

Details: Open daily 11am – 9:00pm
Bangpoo Resort Seafood Restaurant, Sukhumwit km 37 (in front of Bangpoo Industrial Estate), Bangpoo Mai, Bang Pli, Samutprakarn; Tel.:02-3239911
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1 comment:

Stella said...

Look forward to these 3 new restaurants.