Isaan cuisine is something you can find on the streets as well as inside lovely restaurants in Bangkok . Heavily influenced by Laos and Khmer cooking , it is very different from the delicate and fine dishes Bangkok is so famous for.
I find myself here on Soi 5 , because I am a sucker for a crowd and a queue . From ear alone , I notice that this is a mostly after office hours local haunt , plus there seem to be so many happy smiling customers inside .....must mean it is good right ?
Reviews plastered all over the front door . Check.
Bad reviews on bad service only ( not the taste of the food ) via foursquare. Ok , I think I can close one eye and take it .
Nothing could be further from the truth .
If you intend to dine in this outlet , lemme give you a heads up . Otherwise skip this one and head to their other outlets . Please .
Even before they accept your request to get in line , you will first have to contend with the most unhappy looking person you have ever seen in the whole of Bangkok and then have to place your order out on the pavement ASAP !
There are no numbers but the waiting period is not too long . Here's the good part . The usher will be the only person in this restaurant who can manage a faint smile .
But by the time he gets you to your spot , you do not want to return the favour as your food has arrived before you and frankly , how do you know how long it has been sitting there ?
Next , the famous sticky rice ( in that upright bamboo basket ) was hard as glue and starch left overnight . If a lizard fell on it , it would get stuck and the starch would crust it up like a hostile parasite takeover .
Very hard to chew , swallow and digest .
White rice was a necessity . So we waited . Real long. During which time , our drinks NEVER arrived and only after reminding them twice , it appeared on our table .
Dear gawd . The fish got softer and colder . It posed there on our tabletop like a museum artifact , a relic fished out of a forgotten muck pond .
Though I have to admit , the sauce was rather delicate and delish . But the fish smelled earthy at certain parts . And that made me squeamish and show the whites of my teeth .
Wings were nice . Until I saw those red defrosted twice telltale signs on the flesh . Some marrow had leaked out . Ugh .
Salted crab som tam was the last dish to arrive . At which point , I saw no point in photographing anything at the moment .
No doubt , the texture of the papaya was top rate , unforgettable and marvellous but tastewise , it was just mediocre . Also the portion was too tiny and the so called salted crab lacked umph .
Yes sometimes we end up in places like this which leaves a bad taste in the mouth and makes me want to reach for cup noodles .
If you must , order the som tam . Based on the texture alone , it is worth trying .
Warning : the price printed on the menu outside and your final bill could be worlds apart . We got billed an extra 200 baht . Seeing how the bill was in Thai and the place was still so busy , we did not argue , but paid up and left
Location : Siam Square , Bangkok
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