A notch above in price and décor, Indigo borders on stuffy. But it has its own butcher shop across the street, Gargantua, making its meats an absolute must-try. Go for lunch, when the deals make it a lot more affordable. 6 Convent Rd., 02-235-3268. Open daily 11:30-midnight
French restaurants without the stuffiness.
Crustacean lovers might want to visit The Glass House (5/F, Eastin Grand Hotel, 33/1 South Sathorn Rd., Bangkok, 02-210-8100) for their Crab Crazy promotion, a buffet which features selections of black mud crab, Alaska king crab, blue swimmer crab and spanner crab, served steamed, poached and cold on ice, ob woonsen (braised in a clay pot with glass noodles) or stir-fried with chili paste. The price is B1,199 for the buffet on Saturday-Sunday from 6-10pm, available until February.
Located at the site of the old Vanilla, the new Vanilla Home Café (G/F, Silom Complex, Silom Rd., Bangkok, 02-231-3168) offers an intriguing Thai cuisine focus. The décor and packaging is still tastefully chic, while the menu is filled with Thai classics like pla too tom sai bua (mackerel in coconut soup with lotus stem, B150) and tom saep nuea toon sai kapi (spicy soup with beef and shrimp paste, B165). Desserts are also pretty old-school, including pla haeng tangmo (watermelon topped with sun-dried fish, B70) and aa-lua (flour with coconut milk, B30).
Showing yet again that dessert cafés never go out of style, the newly opened Kyo Roll En (M/F, Gateway Ekkamai, Sukhumvit Rd., Bangkok, 02-108-2660. www.kyorollen.com) shines the spotlight on the humble roll cake in a two-story wood-dominated venue. Owned by the same company as ice cream shop Sfree, the team boasts that the recipes and matcha green tea have been brought over from Kyoto.
Forget all the new eateries and dining trends for a moment as BK recalls some childhood favorites worth revisiting in honor of Children’s Day (Jan 12).
Can’t get enough of Magnum? Why not reward yourself with a visit to the newly launched pop-up eatery Magnum Café at Siam Center (1/F, Siam Center, Rama 1 Rd., Bangkok). The menu for the sweet toothed includes Magnum ice cream with your choice of twenty toppings, while savory options include pizza, pasta and tapas that feature chocolate as one of the ingredients. Expected to begin its five-month stay on Jan 11, they boast this will be the biggest Magnum café yet, beating out precursors in London, Paris and Jakarta.
As the name suggests, The Gallery Sushi Bar (19th Bld.,19 Chidlom Rd., Bangkok, 02-250-7280) rolls together two things: sushi and a gallery (of travel photographs). The owners promise high quality fish and all the benefits more than ten years’ working in a Japanese kitchen in the US brings. Recommendations include the sashimi platter (B590) and some fusion rolls like the Salmon Solomon (rolls topped with salmon and lemon with chili mayo sauce, B400). Heineken draught beer also comes in cheap at B249 for 1 liter.
KiSara (3/F, Conrad Bangkok, 87 Wireless Rd., Bangkok, 02-690-9999) is the new name for the rebranded Drinking Tea Eating Rice. To mark the makeover, Chef Kenji Shindo has created numerous new dishes promising authentic Japanese flavors utilising fresh ingredients, like the snow fish with black truffle wrapped in sasa leaves and doused with sake (B980). You can still watch all the action at the teppanyaki table, where you can order some Matsusaka beef teppanyaki (B8,450 for 180g). Also, drop by on a weekday for the buffet lunch at B1,000.
Inspired by the man behind the well-known travel-focused Passport bookshop, a group of friends open the new Dialogue Coffee and Gallery (533 Phrasumen Rd., Bangkok, 084-754-8799). Expect occasional rotating exhibitions in a space that feels part home office and part gallery, all set in a hundred-year-old house. Park your ride in the large spot for bicycles out front before enjoying a cappuccino (B65) along with a quesadilla with meat sauce (B90) or homemade pate with toast (B120).
Compared to the famous version served in Yaowarat, the soup here is more full-bodied and, as a result, more scrumptious. You’ll get a bowl (Chinese noodles, B40) with a good balance of shredded pork, sliced pork, sieng jee (kidney) and properly cleaned and perfectly cooked intestines. But we recommend you ask for some extra parts (B10) as portions aren’t the largest and, really, too much is not enough.
081-859-1480, 086-557-1466. Open daily 6pm-10pm
Splashed all your cash during the festive season? Head down to Charoen Nakorn to get good deals on good meals.
