When Baannual opened its traditional Thai restaurant in an antique house in Samsen five months ago, we knew it wouldn’t be a passing trend. What we didn’t anticipate was a two-month wait for a table.

We called yesterday to try to secure a seat at the two-table restaurant, only to be told that they’re booked through the end of the month. “Try booking on IG and Line,” they said, which is what we did next, only to discover that the restaurant’s booked out until Mar 24—about two months from now.

Yuwarat Sakornsin and her brother Sittisak Sakornsin, the restaurant’s owners, hadn’t expected this sort of popularity. The advance bookings are important to ensure the quality of the food, cooked with the limited produce available each morning at Trok Mor Market.

“Regular customers know how busy the restaurant is, so they know to reserve well ahead of time," Yuwarat told us. "But the newcomers don’t know that, and often they don't get a table until one or two months after they wanted one. "

Is it all hype? To be fair, on the menu are the mouthwatering yum dokkajorn (B150), a Thai-style cowslip creeper salad with minced pork, and moo pad kapi (B100), a stir-fried pork neck with shrimp paste from Chumporn. Besides, the restaurant’s setting is a novel experience in itself, with flower arrangements, rattan birdcages and an accompanying soundtrack of Thai songs from the '70s and '80s. Have we added our names to the list of hopeful diners? Of course.