jpatokal

There's a couple of candidates, and you're probably thinking of Cafe de Laos (which has been around forever and is kinda near HRC), but personally I much prefer this one:

Lan Som Tam Nua, also known as Som Tam Paradise, Siam Square Soi 4. If Thai food isn't spicy enough or you have yet to sample som tam (raw papaya salad), check out this trendy yet very friendly and very Thai restaurant specializing in northern Isaan food. For the full-on Isaan experience, order raw mango salad (ตำมะม่วง tam ma-muang), spicy pork salad (ลาบหมู laap muu ), grilled chicken (ไก่ทอด kai thot) and sticky rice (ข้าวเหนียว khao nio) - which will cost less than 150 baht per head. No English menu, but the staff are glad to help. Warning: This is real Isaan food and thus very spicy!

(courtesy Wikitravel)

tide

You might be thinking of Yum Saap - it's a franchise with restaurants all over the place (including Siam Sq).

MegatopLover

I'm pretty sure it's Lam Som Tam Nua. My friends gave me the impression it's a one-off place, not a chain. And I would have remembered a name like Cafe de Laos. The wikipedia article sounds spot-on, except that I think I saw some English menus.

Michael

This sounds good, and I'll keep it in mind for the next trip.

I don't read Thai script, but AFAIK grilled chicken is not kai thot - that would be fried chicken, I think. Can someone who's been to the restaurant clarify which is available?

- Michael

jpatokal

D'oh -- I always mix up those two (grilled is kai yaang). IIRC, the last time I went I asked for grilled, but they only had fried. It was pretty good though...

transpac

I finally went to Rut & Lek Seafood last night and can give it a huge recommendation. This restaurant, and its competitor, T&K on the opposite corner, set up in the late afternoon on the sidewalk. It can be quite hectic, and the wait for a table lengthy; I noticed nearly 50 people waiting for seats last night. Look to one of the 40+ employees, likely attired in a color-of-the-day polo shirt, to get you into the informal seating queue.

It is located on the corner of Yaowarat Road and Soi Pha Du Dong (aka Soi Texas) in front of the Broadway Hotel. So if heading up (northwest) Yaowarat Road on the right-hand side, not too far from Hua Lamphong train station.

It's a bit like No Signboard food-wise, for those familiar with that restaurant in Singapore, with every type of fresh seafood available. We had barbequed shrimp, pork-stuffed scallops also BBQed, chinese-style stir-fried pepper crabs and fresh oysters. Everything was great.

edited, June 26, 2008: I went to Rut & Lek recently (I go ~ once per month) and it happened to be a Monday so no street-side vending. Was directed to Rut & Lek's indoor restaurant, down the soi opposite on the left. They have a dining room upstairs, with air-con so a different type of environment, which I now prefer.

robb

Bumping just because I can't believe I had to go so far back to find a dining thread in this city of great food!

transpac

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/.../06bangkok.php

or

http://www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=9053428

transpac

Food blog referenced in above article...

http://www.realthai.blogspot.com/

Wilbur

I agree with both of these recommendations.

My preferred food court at MBK is on the sixth floor, where you exchange Baht for coupons. I can dine alone for three dollars, five dollars covers both me and my wife and the three iced coffees we need to wash it down.

transpac

I strongly recommend food courts to all visitors for the many benefits: clean, comfortable, wide variety of choice, inexpensive (maybe 5% more than the street vendor) and easy to find (each mall, shopping center, multi-purpose building has one, typically on an upper floor). These are extremely popular at lunch-time with nearby office workers. Check out the one at Central World (previously known as World Trade, the gigantic mall at the corner of Ratchadamri and Rama I (Sukhumvit) (Ploen Chit BTS then walk towards Siam Sq.), on the 7th floor: bright, open, airy, new, windows with a view.

In a single location you can find as much quality and variety as you'd find on two or three streets. In many cases families operating street outlets expand into the food courts so offer the exact same food.

Many food courts use pre-pay paper coupons, in 5-10-20 denominations, or an RFID card, so you pay up front, guesstimate 75-100 baht/person, then use to purchase food and drink and individual stalls. Then you obtain a redemption if you have value remaining. At Central World you get a RFID card then pay at the exit.

A-la carte items (complete single serving including rice) average 40 baht at a typical food court

There is a slightly higher class of food court (MBK: Fifth Ave; Paragon; Central) which is a bit closer to restaurant fare. You get a RFID card associated with an assigned table, then you walk around choose your food from ~ 20 stalls, then they deliver it to your table. Wider variety (international), better quality and more expensive. You pay on exit and do pay an extra fee, in some cases, for "overhead".

I know many people lamented the move of street-based (pushcart) food vending in Singapore ages ago when the government moved to the food-court system, but I much prefer the latter in Singapore. I wouldn't mind seeing that happen in Bangkok as I think it would be better for everyone, but it won't happen anytime soon.

ajc1970

I think they call this one "kaeng phet bet yang" -- roughly "hot curry BBQ duck," or something like that.

One of my favorite dishes when done well.

There's a restaurant in one of the "red-light districts" called "Love Scene" that makes a awesome red curry duck, on Sukhumvit Soi 23.

I'm usually too embarrassed to bring my Thai friends there because of the area... but I did break down and bring 2 of my Thai teachers there once, and they thought the food at the restaurant was excellent.

ajc1970

I used to eat there frequently, until 1) it moved to Sukhumvit Soi 31, which resulted in me finding and trying Basilico on Suk soi 33 while looking for Bella Napoli, and 2) I discovered Limoncello on Sukhumvit Soi 11.

Limoncello has BKK's best pizza, I think. Even Basilico's is better than Bella Napoli's.

nkedel

Limoncello is the best pizza I've had in Bangkok or anywhere else in Asia. Good stuff, albeit a touch pricy for Bangkok (~500 baht/~$15 for one person: a pizza and a large mineral water, although the pizza would feed two with more modest appetites.)

Also can be a bit busy in the evenings.

transpac

Limoncello is a great Italian restaurant which offers excellent Italian style pizza, typically ordered as part of a 3/4/5-course family-style meal. Lately I've been ordereing, for delivery, from Pia Zanotti, which also has Italian style pizza.

My pizza post quoted above is ~ 3 years old.

The current hot-spot is New York Style Pizza on Sukhumvit Soi 55 (Thong Lo) on Soi 55 directly opposite Thong Lo Soi 8).

Re: red (color) hot (spicy) roasted/bbq duck curry: gaeng=curry, daeng=red, pet=spicy, bet=duck, yang=bbq/roasted, should be easy to find if you look for the open-air restaurants which specialize in duck. So gaeng daeng bet will work, the pet/yang being inferred.