Located just a few minutes down the largely residential Sathorn Soi 11, this chic, two-unit shop-house stands out from the old-school surroundings with its floor-to-ceiling windows, and crisp, white decor. Here, bathed in natural light, the team behind tonkatsu specialist Katsu King (K Village, Digital Gateway) serves up all-day American and Japanese fare in generous portions.

The mish-mash of a menu goes big on breakfast, with very mixed results. The mostly Western-style dishes include scrambled eggs with truffle and crab (B295) and DIY crabcake Benedict (B295), which comprises an English muffin, sous-vide egg, Cajun hollandaise, house-made onion peach chutney and a crabcake that tastes rather disappointingly like Thai-Chinese hoy jor (crab meat roll). Despite the emphasis on quality ingredients, these complex dishes fail to come together as a whole. On the sweeter side, too, the pancakes (starting at B115) are too dense and rather bland.

The so-called American-Japanese fusion items are also confusing, like the pork bulgogi burger (B185), which doesn’t seem to contain anything to do with Japan nor bulgogi (Korean marinated grilled meat). While the bun is pretty decent and the kimchi-mixed pork slices actually taste good on their own, the whole burger (with some cheese and a fried egg) just doesn’t seem to make a good combination.

For us, you’re better off sticking to the straight-up Japanese dishes, like the Tokyo stamina beef (B225) or pork (B195) sets, in which the thinly sliced meat is cooked in a delectable sweet and sour sauce, sprinkled with sesame and topped with an onsen egg. Also, their tonkatsu (B175) is a safe bet: crispy yet tender and not at all greasy. The drinks list spans beer, coffee and juice, and we particularly like the cloudy apple juice (B75), which is produced by the restaurant’s mother company and sold here at an even lower price than in supermarkets.

Though some of the food is decent enough, The Lucky Room isn’t really much of a foodie destination. But add free Wi-Fi to the ambient, sun-drenched setting and we can see why it appeals to the types of people who like to work long hours in cafes or catch up with friends over a few comfort dishes.   

This review took place in November 2015 and is based on a visit to the restaurant without the restaurant's knowledge. For more on BK's review policy, click here.