mojovoyager
Google
Bangkok never ceases to amaze me in the number and variety of excellent restaurants that are on offer to locals and visitors alike. In over 200 days of visits to the city over the past 10 years, I thought I had tried every style of Thai cuisine in the various neighborhoods surrounding Sukhumvit and the BTS line. But today, a local Thai friend introduced me to what they described as ancient royal Thai cuisine at the Ruen Mallika on Soi Setthi Thawi Sap near its intersection with Sukhumvit Soi 22. It is by far the best overall Thai dining experience that I have ever had.
The restaurant exterior is a bit hidden in an off-street, sheltered location and the modest entrance belies the wonderful atmosphere and excellent dining experience that you will enjoy inside. As you are guided through the restaurant to your table, you feel like you are wandering through an ancient, royal Thai courtyard. Everything is elegant and speaks to Thai tradition and culture.
Each menu is a three inch thick album containing a page with a large photo and description for each item on the menu. As you page through the menu everything looks and sounds so yummy that you really have a hard time choosing. My Thai friend properly advised that we needed to over order our dishes so that we could sample and enjoy a variety of the wonderful tastes and flavors on offer. We ended up ordering four separate dishes to share including a crispy rice cake/peanut sauce appetizer, sweet and sour chicken soup, papaya salad, and a crispy pork with curry sauce. Everything was so fresh, flavorful and well prepared. We also ordered rice and a berry tea to accompany the meal.
We were fully stuffed about 3/4 of the way through our meal but got a second wind after a few cups of tea and were somehow able to consume our entire order. An outstanding surprise was that our entire meal in this wonderful place only cost 1790 baht. (Not street food prices but about half the cost of some other fancy Thai restaurants that I have experienced.)