Bangkok is rammed to the rafters with the richest variety of options for the culinarily inquisitive. From high end to low end, and everything in between, the mega-metropolis has got your back. Being a vast city, to put it mildly, and with most restaurants specialising in one type of cuisine or famous for one type of dish, makes for a certain amount of travel to experience a range of the country’s cuisine in the same day. As any visitor to the city well knows, travel and time efficiency is not a marriage made in heaven here. How about sticking regional, well executed cuisine from the north, the south, and the middle all under one roof, saving a thousand journeys and plenty more baht?

IDEA

Thai Lao Yeh’s cuisine purports to be primarily of Isaan descendance, but in all honestly, the menu stretches, and infact crosses, Thailand’s borders. The food of the North-East is represented well, but offerings from Lao, Chiang Mai and plenty of hot, vibrant Southern curries also make an appearance. Authenticity (a dirty word when liberally used) issues abound, the food is uniformly delicious, and the opportunity to sample such a broad range extremely welcome. 

LOCATION

The restaurant is nestled in the regal Cabochon hotel, in the Siam area of Bangkok, and is stylised to feel like an affluent home from the 1920s. Vintage Mercedes sit outside, and antique flourishes adorn the walls. It feels cool and sophisticated. 

ATMOSPHERE

The decor of the room is reminiscent of what you’d imagine a wealthy household in Ancient Siam to be like. Restored wooden wall panels are crafted from 100-year old timber salvaged from a remote Thai Village and deep, dark wood furnishings create an ambience suggestive of low, gentle voices. The owners collection of decorative wooden bird cages dangle from the ceiling. Crockery is a carefully curated collection of blue and white Thai ceramics and the ornate utensils, locally crafted and sourced from Chatuchak market, is beautiful and reassuringly heavy. Wait staff glide around with unassuming authority and through the open-plan kitchen you can see the cooks.  Aromatic smells of lemongrass and ginger permeate the air and the sound pestle striking mortar and the sizzle of woks all add up to multi-sensory pleasure.

FOOD

With the menu being on the lengthy side, we sought guidance from our waiter. We were steered towards Larb Pla, a delicious Northern minced fish salad. It was as good a rendition of this dish as we have tried anywhere – fragrant and zesty, just as it should be. Equally good was the Northern sausage, all sour and immensely herbal, supported by salted, roasted peanuts and some soothing chilled vegetables. The knock-outs just kept coming. A majestic oxtail soup was complemented by hints of star anise, the combination working in exquisite harmony. Roasted, crispy pork with a piquant tamarind dipping sauce continued the crowd pleasing. Even the green, stir fried vegetables were moreish and perfectly executed.

DRINK

Light and refreshing Thai beers are the perfect accompaniment to this type of food – soothing, crisp and just right with chili. A decent, affordable wine list also suits the air of sophistication.

MUST TRY

The oxtail soup was the stand-out star in a shimmering sky. Seasoning and spicing was elegant, ethereal, even, and the meat melted as it should if cooked well. A bowl of plain rice was the perfect foil, as in any Thai spread of repute. Need we say more?

WHY GO

For a trailblazing, fingerlicking ride through Thai food, in relaxed, cool surrounds, go to Thai Lao Yeh. Its sophistication and spice, in equal, abundant measure, seemed to sum up the heat, diversity and class of the city so well. We loved it. So will you.

Website: www.cabochonhotel.com

Address: Cabochon Hotel, 14/29 Sukhumvit Soi 45, Bangkok, 10110 Thailand

IDEAL dined as a guest of the hotel

Bangkok. A culinary mecca. A foodie tour de force. A diner’s dream. The most visited city in the world has everything to satisfy the hungry traveler, from cheap-as-chips streetfood to lavish-as-lobster fine dining. The Michelin Guide will, finally, sprinkle some stardust on the city at the end of the year and Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants was dominated by restaurants from this metropolis. It’s been a wonderful few years for this great food city, and the accolades just keep coming.

Capitalising on all this attention, and hitting its stride just in time for that tyre-guide, comes Charcoal.  Opened in late 2014, the restaurant took a while to perfect its schtick. Now, it feels like the best place in the city for this type of cuisine.

Idea

Bangkok is a sophisticated place, with a taste for cocktails, a love of spice, and a close proximity to India lending a large diaspora from the sub-continent to the city. On the back of all this, Charcoal was bound to be a success.

The Soho Hospitality Group had already nailed the cocktail formula in the hugely popular rooftop bar of the same building. It didn’t take much foresight to replicate those exquisite cocktails downstairs, and pair them with highly spiced, highly aromatic food served straight from the flames of the tandoor.

Location

The closest sky-train stop is Nana, and its just a short walk from there. Alternatively, Sukhumvit metro station serves the area.

Atmosphere

The lighting is low, like, really low. We were surprised a torch wasn’t offered with the menu. This fits the ambience of the play perfectly though, as there’s an air of the sensual, the sultry and the primal that a starkly lit room would betray.

The smell of coals cooking meat and the sight of flames licking the ceiling in the open kitchen, add theatre and excitement to the experience.

Food

Kebabs are king here, and it would be churlish not to enjoy one. 3am, British high street offerings these aint. They are smoky, spicy and sophisticated. A whole shoulder of lamb, smoked and charred and falling apart was a revelation. As with any genuinely great Indian place, vegetables and pulses are celebrated as much as the meat – a tomato daal managed to be both creamy and retain the integrity of the lentil. It really was a showstopper. We’ve also heard great things about their tandoor malai broccoli dish but purposely didn’t try it, just for an excuse to go back. 

A huge shout out too, to the poppadoms. The tricolor of accouterments so familiar to the curry house devotee – mint sauce, mango chutney and the pickly one – had been given respect and attention which elevated them to something grand and moreish. We had to use all powers of self-control to decline a second batch so as not to ruin our appetites.

Drink

Drinks share equal billing with the glorious culinary delights at Charcoal, and with good reason – they’re bloody fantastic. Suggestions accompany the food menu and, in the spirit of the occasion, we followed dutifully. Horn Ok Please offered lip puckering citrus and the heft of good gin. New Delhi Duty Free was delicious, but what’s more, served with a duty-free bag containing an Indian passport. We are sad to report that we weren’t allowed to board a hastily booked flight to Mumbai the following day.

Must-try

Both food and drink menus are such a miasma of good taste, bright flavours and ingenious combinations that it’s impossible to single one out. We would, however, strongly recommend one of Charcoal’s signature dishes to finish your feast – the ‘Paan’. This Mumbai staple, sold on every street corner of the city, is a small snack of nuts and sweet flavourings wrapped in betel leaf. It was a revelation – first aromatic, savoury, then sweet and finally minty and refreshing – a really intriguing way to finish a meal. Charcoal has its own paan stall in thrall to the ubiquitous roadside ones of India’s capital, with a chef constantly rolling fresh ones for the restaurant.

Why go

Charcoal manages to stand out in a city of spice and fire. This is partly due to the sensational food, and even more so because of the unique drinks. Theatre and fun are at the heart of the operation, with even the toilets (we’ll let you find out for yourselves) contributing to the sense of joyful experience and occasion.

A restaurant we fell in love with and can’t wait to visit again!

Address: 38/8 Sukhumvit 11 Rd., Fraser Suites Hotel, 5th Fl. Bangkok, Thailand

Website: charcoalbkk.com