Here are the best Thai menus for BK Restaurant Week
From a nose-to-tail specialist and an intimate cruise to the city's most buzzing new southern Thai players.
6 years ago
100 Mahaseth
This partnership between chef Chalee Kader (Surface, Holy Moly) and Randy Noprapa (Fillets) has brought nose-to-tail dining back to Bangkok by serving uncompromised Isaan staples in a space that’s right at home on hipster Charoenkrung. Tuck into rice noodles with pig’s brain, a beautifully rich tom kee lek hang wua (ox tail braised in herb stock and cassia leaves) and some of the best pork crackling we’ve ever tasted. It all comes served alongside a buzzing, high-society crowd.
Blue Elephant
The flagship branch of the globally-known Thai restaurant brand is housed in a stunning colonial-style mansion with a classic interior of dark rattan furnishings and authentic Asian artifacts. Chef and owner Nooror Somany Steppe and her team serve up royal Thai cuisine with authentic flavor. While more modern Thai restaurants have lately grabbed most column inches, Blue Elephant is still worth a visit for both atmosphere and food.
Err
At this riverside shop-house in the shadow of Wat Po, chef couple Duangporn Songvisava and Dylan Jones of Bo.lan curate down-to-earth street-food favorites and one-plate specials, but with quality ingredients and expert culinary techniques. Ignore the tourists and focus on the simple stir-fries, pickles and sausages with organic rice and careful cooking. A bonus are the drinks—original cocktails featuring hard-to-find local spirits—and the kitschy, retro ‘60s and ‘70s vibe.
Manohra Cruise
This intimate cruise on a restored old rice barge offers Thai set dinner packages served the authentic way—to share. Expect to try a six-course menu that charts classic Thai fare like tom yum kung (spicy prawn soup with herbs and lime juice) and massaman nua (beef massaman curry), while enjoying beautiful views of Wat Pho and Wat Arun. Finish your meal with scrumptious Thai desserts like kha nom whan—an assortment of Thai sweets and fresh fruit. Cocktails are available, as is a vegetarian set menu alternative.
Khua Kling Pak Sod
Sometimes the very best Thai restaurants are characterized by the number of customers willing to put up with indifferent service and packed tables for great food. Here, this family-run Southern Thai specialist proves this to be true: the boisterous dining room can result in the occasional distracted server and long wait. But the persistent crowds show that the food makes it all worth it, thanks to the kitchen’s uncompromisingly volcanic levels of spice and deft cooking of fresh ingredients.
Praya Kitchen
Surawong Road’s new Marriott hotel is banking on the talents of a young, local chef, Attapol “X” Naito Thangthong, to boost their Praya kitchen all-day dining restaurant into a hub of forgotten Thai recipes. You’d be forgiven for thinking the well-worn, wooden Thai art motifs that take up entire walls were the genuine article. In fact, they’re recreations taken from temple murals, but still lend the vast open space a genuine sense of occasion. A vast open-kitchen shows off the cooking preparation.Chef X goes in for both ancient old family recipes—taken, he says, from his grandmother’s cooking—as well as more recent-but-forgotten kitsch classics.
Siam Tea Room
Rows of fresh baked items and takeaway tea sets draw guests into this charming Thai cafe and Western bakerfy straight from the otel's Thawan Duchanee-crowned lobby. Nostalgic flavors draw like yum som chun combine tangy pomelo, green mango and Thai bitter orange with braised pork belly, while massaman curry with sweet potato provides hearty comfort food. Don't miss the old-school Thai milk tea.
Sorn
The latest restaurant to try and remedy Bangkok’s insatiable hunger for southern Thai cuisine sees Supaksorn Jongsiri, the owner of Baan Ice, go back to his roots once more in a refined and elegant setting. Sourcing ingredients fresh daily from across 14 southern provinces, his approach to cooking focuses on traditional techniques, from charcoal and clay pot cooking, to pressing and squeezing fresh coconut juice. Taking on the customary Thai sharing style, the menu charts the likes of yellow curry with young mangosteen and gu fish and the must-try morning glory with coconut rice and baby shrimps.
Sri Trat
Even in its first few months, it was clear this former home-turned-eatery was a rousing success. Featuring delicious-yet-underrated Eastern Thai dishes such as chamuang leaf curry and creamy lon chili dip, this restaurant has even been known to turn back hungry customers if their reservations are made too late in the day. One look at the high-end crowd thronging the colorful, stylish dining room amply illustrates this restaurant’s popularity.
You & Mee
This restaurant at the Grand Hyatt Erawan hotel offers up a variety of noodles from Thailand and around Asia. Aside from fancified versions of khao soi (northern Thai-style curry noodles), including one with Canadian lobster, this welcoming spot is known for its khao tom (rice congee) buffet and assorted Thai pastries.
It’s not Thai but….
BK Restaurant Week is also your opportunity to check at the new, hot-in-town Lao offerings of Funky Lam. Intense spices waft around the noir-industrial dining room of Sanya Souvanna Phouma (Bed Supperclub, Maggie Choo’s, Sing Sing and Cactus) and fellow Lao business partner Saya Na Champassak’s latest venture. Taking over the space of breezy brunch cafe Luka Moto at night time, Funky Lam provides a party vibe to go with food that’s not afraid of real-deal, bold flavors—pla ra (fermented fish) included.
From September 14-29, BK Magazine and 60 of the city’s best restaurants will join forces to serve hundreds of special dinners at a knockout fixed price of B1,000++ per person (B1,170 total) for a minimum of three courses. General booking opens this Aug 20, though if you use a Citibank credit card you can start making bookings from Aug 11 and also get special dining perks at each venue. Make your reservations at www.bkrestaurantweek.com.
CITIBANK
SPECIAL BENEFITS FOR CITIBANK CARD MEMBERS
Advance booking for Citi credit card members from Aug 11
Extra dish or other perk when you pay with Citi credit cards
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