Sunday, February 10, 2008

My Choice Restaurant review on Sukhumvit 36

Ok, Bkkeater has been slow updating his site, but we make up with the difference today.

Since the last post, Bkkeater has been to 3 restaurants (with photos only at 1 of them) to enjoy a meal and review the food for the rest of you palate-adventurous in Bangkok.

The first of these was "MY CHOICE" restaurant on Sukhumvit soi 36. The restaurant is situated on the left side approximately 60meters into the soi. There is a sign outside in Thai writing some of their 'specialties', a very intriguing menu with a dish called 'Sator' on it that captured my attention.

For those who don't know what Sator is in English, I'm sorry, I won't be able to help with a direct translation. For my best knowledge, Sator is a vegetable (considered by some to be smelly, but i strongly oppose that viewpoint) that is grown and eaten by many Thai Southerners.

Anyways, the menu being interesting, I decided to stop by there for a meal, and was more than satisfied with the outcome.

This is not some michelin 2 or 3 star restaurant with fancy decor, artistic presentation, and food so incredibly flavorful and pleasant that you'll be dying for the next bite. This is more simply food fair that is just wonderful for the mouth and stomache because it is not commonplace to find a good Southern Style Thai food in Bangkok.

The first dish that came my way was baked duck (Ped Ob Liab). Granted this is probably more Chinese does not belie the taste. The duck was really flavorful. You see, the duck is not baked the Chinese way, I won't be able to describe the difference but its full flavored, and the meet literally flakes off.

The next round for me was Serpent hesh fish filet in yellow curry (Kaeng Leaung Pla), Sator and white rice. The Sator was a great combination of the Sator bitterweet flavor, and the sweet cheweyness from the diced shrimp. The soup had a citrusy-spicy-tangy flavor mellowed out by the taste of the curry, and cucumbers! Yes, CUCUMBERS in the yellow curry. I've never imagined such a combo, and must say that the cucumbers keeps your stomach cool from all the hot spices. In all, the sator and yellow curry combination with rice was superb. The best combo-palate I can think of is like eating bai kraphow kai with tom yum soup. Full flavors just bring alive your tongue.

Didn't have dessert, was too full to even look at the menu.

I ate everything with a Singha beer, and the food and beer really went well together.

Food: 47/50


The place was middle sized, mabye 20+ tables, but only 3 tables were full, Bkkeater was 2, another table of 2 and 1 big party of 12. For this there was 3 servers, and at times you had trouble finding them. Shouldn't happen in a small place. However, the staff was very helpful and knowledgeable about the food.

Service: 25/30


Like sitting in your Thai upper-middleclass Grandma and Grandpa's house with oddly decided paintings, color patterns, and curtains. Yes, those floral curtains that you don't see anywhere. Its a riot, and even though I graded it low, somehow it just worked and created its own charm.

Atmosphere: 15/20

Total: 87/100

Value for Money:

food for 2, one beer, fish, shrimp, and duck for 500++ baht. Very good I'd say.

5 comments:

Michael B said...

My Choice is a terrific restaurant. I've been eating there with my Thai wife, Kasma, since the the mid-1990's. Some of my favorite dishes are the Yum-style salads, such as the Spicy Eggplant Salad made with yummy roasted eggplants.

I've posted an article on the restaurant on my wife's website: My Choice – A Great Thai Restaurant.

Anonymous said...

Hello,

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How can I contact you?
Thanks!

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