Seoul

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BBQ of the Gangnam style

One of the first (and also one of the best) Japanese yakiniku cum Korean BBQ specialty restaurants at Thonglo community, Seoul BBQ Restaurant; its glorious reputation has never faded away year after years.

Seoul BBQ Restaurant ***1/2
Sukhumvit Road Soi 55 (Soi Thonglo)
Wattana, Bangkok 10110
Tel.: 02.392.6046

Open daily : lunch 11:30 am - 2:30 pm, dinner 5 - 10 pm
Pay (food only for one): around THB 400

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White Cafe

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The color must go on

White Cafe, a popular caterer turned restaurant, continues its utmost popularity by pleasing the taste buds of Thonglorians and Bangkok's high-so(ciety) diners. If people like their laab or gaeng cooked with foreign ingredients, or pasta dishes using pungent Thai sauces, yes fusion I mean, then this is the place for them.

Somehow, White Cafe is one of a very few fusion led restaurants in Bangkok that I don't avoid (well, friends know that I am not an admirer of fusion food); I found their dishes also pleased my taste buds.


fermented shrimp-paste dip with tidbits (nam-prik kapi) and seared tuna (thumbs-up!)

nam-prik kapi, THB 280+; deep-fried Thai pilot fish (pla salid tord), THB 220+ (thumbs-up!)

stir-fried asparagus and crab meats with salted eggs, THB 220+ (good!)

White Cafe house recipe NZ mussels with Thai herbs, THB 220+ (thumbs-up!)

organic brown rice; a portion of spicy yellow fish curry salmon (so-so!)

spicy Southern yellow fish curry (gaeng lueng) with salmon, THB 220+

White Cafe ***1/2
G/F Nobel Solo Condominium
988/5 Soi Thonglo (Sukhumvit 55 Road)
off Phetchburi Road
Wattana, Bangkok 10110
Tel.: 02.714.7623

Open daily : 11 am - midnight
Pay (food only for one): around THB 500




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sweet sticky rice @ Maewaree

438
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Sweet and no sweat

During (Thai) summers, ripe mango has its best flavor of the season. It can be either eaten alone, as an exotic fruit, or served as a dessert with other sweetened ingredients involved; for a perfect dessert with a Thai twist, ripe mango usually served with khao-niew moon (sweet glutinous rice with kati coconut cream dressing), becoming the globally renowned 'coconut sticky rice with mango' or khao-niew ma-muang.

In downtown Bangkok, I found that Maewaree is one of the vendors where we can get a fix of the best khao-niew ma-muang (sweet glutinous rice a.k.a. sticky rice, with kati coconut cream dressing, served with ripe mango), and it is tourist accessible.



sweet glutinous rice and ripe mango
at Maewaree Fruit Shop ****
1 Sukhumvit 55 Road (Soi Thonglo)
off Sukgumvit Road
Wattana, Bangkok 10110
Tel.: 02.392.4304

Open daily : 24 hours (sweet sticky rice available during 4 am - midnight)
Pay (sweet sticky rice with ripe mango only for one): around THB 60

khao-chae @ Little Home

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Cheerful food in summer

The Songkran Festival of the year of 2555 (2012) is over, but my khao-chae eating mood is not. Taking an opportunity when I attended a dull meeting at Thonglo, during the break, I took a few minutes ('slipped out') to fill my singing tummy with a set of khao-chae (rice soaked in icy jasmine-scented water, served with tidbits) at the nearby Little Home; though its khao-chae is of so-so standard, it still lighted up my mood for the second session of the meeting.




khao-chae
at Little Home Bakery and Restaurant ***
434/10 Soi Thonglo
off Sukhumvit 55 Road
Wattana, Bangkok 10110
Tel.: 02.185.1485
and at leading shopping centers in Bangkok and upcountry

Open daily : 9 am - 9 pm
Pay (khao-chae for two): around THB 450

Klang Soi

432
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Gem in the soi

Last week I met a friend at Thonglo; we looked for normal food without any gimmick, an owner who put more attention on the food than on fancy decoration, and priced in an affordable range; we opted for a family restaurant whose reputation preceded it. For thirty-two years of service, Klang Soi serves simple but delicious home-style Thai food with the Central accent. It is another old-school fare that is a hidden gem to Bangkokians.


fried minced catfish & shredded raw mango salad (yum pla dukfoo), THB 130+

herbal spicy & sour soup with pork spare ribs (tom klong si-kon moo), THB 90+
red curry with roasted duck meat (gaeng phet ped yang), THB 120+

steamed mixed seafood curry (hor-mok talay), THB 180+

stir-fried ivy gourd leaves (phad pak dtam lung), THB 85+; sala fruit, THB 60+

deep-fried curried fish patties (tord mun pla), THB 105+

Klang Soi Thai Restaurant ****
2 Sukhumvit Soi 49
Wattana, Bangkok 10110
Tel.: 02.391.4988

Open daily : lunch 11 am - 3 pm, dinner 5 -10 pm
Pay (food only for two): around THB 650

Khua Kling + Pak Sod

424
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A seasoned taste of Chumpon

A family-run Southern specialty cuisine operation, Khua Kling + Pak Sod Restaurant (named after a southern specialty dish, khua kling, usually eaten with fresh vegetables or pak sod) has moved to Bangkok's lifestyle hub - Thonglo community (from Sukhumvit Soi 40); offering home-style cuisine with the use of the best ingredients, therefore the price is not on the low-side, but worth our pocket to be dipped in a bit deeper (for the good food).


stir-fried crab meat with dok-ka-jon cowslip creeper flower, THB 350

crab meat curry with chapoo betel leaves, served with kanom-jeen, THB 350

deep-fried premium pla sa-lid snakeskin gourami fish, THB 240

stir-fried Southern sa-tor stink beans with sea prawns, THB 180

lok-tan dessert, THB 75; black herbal jelly, THB 45

Khua Kling + Pak Sod Restaurant ***1/2
98/1 Thonglo Soi 5
Sukhumvit 55 Road
Wattana, Bangkok 10110
Tel.: 02.185.3977

Open daily : lunch 11 am 2 pm, dinner 6 - 10 pm
Pay (food only for two): THB 1,200

Tadaima

422
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Daiso dining at home

A return student from Japan opened a Daiso-model (flat price merchandise in store) isakaya cum eatery, Tadaima, a few months ago in the hip Thonglo lifestyle hub. It offers Japanese izakaya cuisine with an authentic touch but may also please the Thai palate, at an eighty-eight Thai baht each (small portion) dish.



Tadaima Real Japanese Restaurant & Izakaya ***
LG/F Eight Thonglor
88/14 Sukhumvit 55 Road
(Thonglo Soi 8)
Wattana, Bangkok 10110
Tel.: 02.714.9883

Open daily : lunch 11 am - 3 pm, dinner 5 - 11 pm (Sat & Sun 11 am - 11 pm)
Pay (food only for two): around THB 900