CHARMING THAI CUISINE p4
At Charm Eatery & Bar traditional Thai cuisine is still unpretentious and good
It’s clear that over the past several months Thai cuisine has fully blossomed in Bangkok’s fine dining scene. Long-familiar local recipes now come in the form of highfalutin degustation meals and with price tags so high one may wonder whether they were prepared somewhere other than Earth, let alone Thailand.
Yet, amid relentless new openings of haute-cuisine establishments, there’s the humble two-year-old Charm Eatery and Bar. And I am pleased to have recently learnt that this small family-run Thai restaurant now enjoys its second, and much larger, outlet in the city.
Set in a small arcade of cafés and restaurants in Phahon Yothin 5 (Soi Ratchakru), the eatery with its first outlet in the Sathon area looking more like a dim and stuffy jazz bar now makes full use of its breezy new space and boasts a modern bistro-like ambience.
Culinary-wise, Charm serves up authentic homestyle Thai cuisine using top quality seasonal ingredients and recipes that have been passed on in the family.
At the Ratchakru branch I was told the menu is slightly bigger, listing more than 150 dishes plus lunch sets. A selection of cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks, from juice and coffee to mocktails, is also extensive here.
It was my first time eating larb khao poon (190 baht) and I am hooked. The dish features a hefty jumble of fermented rice vermicelli (aka khanom jeen) thoroughly tossed with minced pork, pork cracklings, roasted rice powder and a variety of herbs including kaffir lime leaves, shallots and Thai basil. The scrumptious and spicy salad was complemented nicely by chilled fresh vegetables and carrot sticks.
Another appetiser proved worth having is the northeastern Thai-style rocket salad (320 baht). Behind the dish’s conventional look was a well-balanced taste between mustardy arugula, fruity balsamic vinaigrette, salty milky Parmesan cheese and Thai-style sour sausages, the latter crushed and deep-fried to form a fluffily crispy texture.
As for entrées (mains) to eat with rice, I recommend gaeng som koong malakor (240 baht). This widely popular southern-style sour curry came with thick slices of green papaya and supple, chewy and naturally sweet prawn, and was kept warm over a small tea-light flame.
Try Phrik nhoom phad khai (220 baht), or stir-fried fresh northern green chilli peppers with egg, coarsely diced shrimp and pork. The young, lime-green hued capsicum, julienned into long slices, has a nice sweet fragrance and mild taste. When woktossed with egg and shrimp, it provides the rice with a delicious complement.
Should you be in the mood for a local fish dish, I urge that you order pla jaramed thord phrik kleua, or deep-fried pomfret with garlic and chillies (550 baht). When it comes to pomfret, connoisseurs know that smaller-sized fish are fresher and tastier than larger ones. Here, the fish was perfectly deep-fried to ultimate crispiness and came under a golden blanket of flaky deepfried garlic and chillies.
Normally, when in a Thai restaurant, especially the ones who follow long-inherited homestyle recipes, I wouldn’t want to be confused (and later disappointed) by dishes that come with a “farang twist”.
But let me assure you that it’s not going to happen here and that the pizza and pasta sections in the back part of the menu are there for a very good reason.
Charm’s owner is in fact a Le Cordon Bleu graduate, and his first culinary venture is a thriving Italian restaurant, Mazzaro, which has for the past decade been wellloved by expats and local epicures.
As far as farang twists go, you’ll like his pasta pla khem (280 baht), featuring al dente spaghetti tossed with crispy morsels of deep-fried salted mackerel, basil, dried chillies and finely grated Parmesan. The dish is a perfect marriage of Thai and Italian food.
Spaghetti aglio olio is often favoured by Thais as well as those who are into pungent dishes. And for that case, I’m sure they will also love Charm’s pasta pla ra sup
(280 baht), which pushes a Thai-take on the Italian garlic and olive oil pasta to the deliciously exotic extreme. The spaghetti are tossed with hefty pieces of fatty pork crackling and seasoned with pungent local garlic, peppercorns, kaffir lime leaves and, of course, the star of the show, pla ra sup,
or fully-cooked fermented fish. The dish is said to have converted many pla ra sceptics.
The eatery’s signature pizza with Thaistyle toppings such as pork phad kaphrao
and chicken green curry (390 baht each) are also worth having. And you can always go for the classic Napoli, margarita or pepperoni if you crave one.
Desserts options range from baked-toorder red velvet cookie with house-made sherbet (320 baht) to Thai tea cheesecake (125 baht), apple crumble (125 baht) and lemon pie (125 baht).
The 120-seater is flocked mainly by locals, from families to high-ranking politicians and keen-palated youngsters. Live bands playing 90s music take turns to perform nightly. Service was quick and enjoyable.