Best Cheap Eats in Bangkok

Chef Boonlert - the man, the legend behind Gold Bay Leaves.

While the best eats are not always the cheapest, Bangkok is home to loads of restaurants serving extraordinary food for just a few dollars.

If you don't have the budget to eat this pricy bowl of rad na, don't fret because fantastic and affordable food is around most corners of the capital.  And not just Thai food.  Here are a few of our favourite "cheap but good" places...

A recent trip to the old school, and much vaunted, Royal India (tucked away in probably the most famous alley in Pahurat), was disappointing.  Lucky for me, my good dining buddy Adam put me onto Namuskaar on Sukhumvit Soi 8 a little while back.  It's the 'dog's bollocks' for North Indian cuisine and their chickpea curry, daal makani and many other plates are sensational.  The owners are also super friendly, and as long as you're not seated too close to American tourists bragging about their trip adventures it's always a great spot for a bloody good eating night out.

Chennai Kitchen's finest.

A block away on Soi 14 is Istanbul, a new'ish Turkish restaurant serving big plates of Turkish staples.  Istanbul's eggplant and tomato casserole is terrific - balancing savoury and sweet flavours well.  Also recommended is the lamb stew, falafel and variety of salads.  Sure it feels, and looks like a mobster's joint, and the menu is unreadable (three languages crammed in) - but don't be intimidated you are in Planet Nana after all.  And Istanbul is miles better than many awful Middle Eastern places on Sukhumvit Soi 3.

I waxed lyrical about Gold Bay Leaves last year and it has been "well and truly discovered" judging by the packed house during our last visit.  Chef Boonlert deserves his success because the food is sublime and cheap - offering maximum culinary bang for the buck.  Where else are you going to get a beautifully cooked fish for around 250-280 baht?  Just a small quibble (and it's minor), service could do with a tune-up to better meet the increased popularity.

Ok, Pala is not a cheap charlie sort of place but its pizza is better than the rest.  If you're going to pay over the odds for a slice of pie in Bangkok (as you do in most places) you may as well eat the best.  Pala is the only pizzeria in the Kingdom to serve square slices of pizza - Rome style I believe.  Every slice is a crunchy, cheesy, herby winner, as are their magnificent and generous antipasto plates.

Finally in lower Silom - an under the radar sort of area - you'll find the tiny Chennai Kitchen (about 50 metres from the landmark Hindu Temple) famed for its South Indian vegetarian delights including dosas, utappam, poori, chappathi, and masala tea.  While the food is super tasty and low priced, service varies depending on the mood of the owners (this is part of its charm as well).

And two blocks down on Silom Soi 19 is Lo Strabacco, my latest budget blockbusting find.  Run by a couple of Italian gents, Lo Strobbaco is a trattoria serving Italian basics prepared superbly.  Their pizzas, pastas and sauces are heavy on flavour and quality, but light on the wallet.  Their robust and flavoursome tomato soup is the best I've had in Thailand and their lunch set menus are generous to say the least and siesta will beckon after dining.

Blue Genius

Christmas is coming early with this Blue Lines 21st anniversary box set arriving in a few days.

All great music takes you back to the first time you heard it, how it got absorbed into your bloodstream and stayed forever. I was living in London when Blue Lines came out and to my ears, it totally captured the temper of the times and was big favourite with bunch of friends living in Pimlico.

I brought it as part of a three-album purchase - along with Nirvana's Nevermind and Prince's Diamonds and Pearls. Nevermind got played once (I hate Nirvana); Diamonds and Pearls quite often, and Blue Lines every day. I loved the albums diversity and brilliant fusion of sounds and influences - dub, reggae, hip-hop beats, rhymes, epic soundtrack influences and stunning vocals from Shara Nelson and Horace Andy. And it sounded uniquely British - their sound (don't get me started on trip-hop) couldn't have come from anywhere else.

And every track is a stone cold-classic - I remember walking down Tokyo's Ginza a few years back with Five Man Army booming through the headphones, grinning like a Cheshire cat when I heard these lines...

Tokyo city's one place that we toured

Four technic plus two mixer board

Sharper than a Wilkinson razor sword

Anyways, my new purchase got me thinking about all things blue (musically) and how many bands, songs, and album titles - with blue in it - are brilliant - here's my blue list of brilliance....

• Kind of Blue - one of Miles Davis' masterworks and regularly named as best jazz album ever
• Blue - Joni Mitchell's critically acclaimed opus
• Blue Monday - best selling 12 inch single ever
• Blue Suede Shoes & Blue Moon - big Elvis hits
• Blue Nile - lazy-ass, genius Scot-synth band
• Mr Blue Sky - ELO's pop genius moment - a song that pops up regularly in TV ads and movies
• Tangled Up in Blue & It's All Over Now Baby Blue - great Dylan track
• Blue Bayou - Big O's contribution to the blue cannon
• Blue Velvet - Bobby Vinton's classic immortalised/terrorised by David Lynch

Feel free to add more...

And here are some great Blue Lines write ups here, here and here.

Fearless Frank

God bless Frank Ocean.

Just as I was on the brink of giving up on albums forever, up pops Frank with the most coherent, relevant, socially-aware, honest, groovy, and soulful record (Channel Orange) in many a year.

Such is his poise, talent, and all-round game, it's hard to believe he's only 24.

Yes, the production is slick and smooth, but Frank's songs, to my ears anyways, share the same spirit, fire, and vision as Stevie Wonder, Prince, Marvin Gaye and Donny Hatthaway at their respective peaks.

Above all else, Frank is an incredible story teller and Super Rich Kids, Sweet Life and Pyramids are terrific examples of this. Nobody else in the R&B world is telling it like it is in 2012 like Frank and it's fantastic that he has found a sizable audience and long list of celebrity admirers.

You know a song/s are great when they keep popping up in your head, day and night, and this has been the case for me since I brought Channel Orange two weeks ago.

And judging by this video, he's smart, grounded and ready, willing, and capable of delivering much more - god bless you Frank and look forward to more audio greatness in the near future.

RIP Terry Callier

Travel light and well Mr Callier and thanks for some of the most heartfelt, beautiful, emotional, and melodic jazz/soul sounds ever including this gem .. still the most played track on my iPod.

and these..

Bangkok Snapshot

Things you can't do or bring into a cab in Bangkok, from left: Fresh durian, dogs, alcohol, pass wind, make babies, ?, vomit, and smoke.

Aree Bar

Hard liquor heaven - superb selection for spirits drinkers.

If a Pad Thai Western film is ever made in Thailand, the relatively new Aree Bar would be perfect for the obligatory saloon scenes and shots.

It's darkish brown, exposed brick interior, wooden floors, bar stools, round and long tables, swinging doors and a whiskey and bourbon laden open bar evokes a Siam 'honky tonk' vibe (in a good way).

Triple treats, from left: salmon larb, lemon grass steamed mussels and chicken knuckles.

Run, I believe, by the same family/group, who manage the very successful (and good) Salt restaurant across the road, Aree Bar is built for drinking and snacking Thai style.

So not too many beers or wines, but an excellent selection of spirits complemented by a compact menu of glab glaem (Thai bar snacks and salads) dishes. While the menu is quite small, the dishes are full of big flavours, packing as much punch as their impressive selection of bourbons and single malts. We really liked our lemon grass steamed mussels and salmon larb.

Calm before the storm - all quiet before the band kicks into action.

And why aren't deep fried lemongrass chicken knuckles on more bar menus around the world? Yes, the cholesterol damage is likely to be immense but now, and again, they are finger licking awesome.

In addition to hard liquor and bar nibbles, Aree is popular as a live music venue - we visited too early to catch any acts but given its layout, and vibe, I think Aree Bar would be a good place to watch a band. Wonder if Willie Nelson or Tammy Wynette are keen to play Bangkok?

More information about Aree Bar

Steve Cafe & Cuisine

Location, location, location.

If charm, character, and warmth could be packaged and sold, the owners of Steve Cafe & Cuisine (SCC) would be billionaires.

Raw power -  prawns and red hot dipping sauce.

Besides stunning river views, SCC offers a 'dining with the family' vibe that's unmatched (only my opinion) and pretty special.

The restaurant is an old riverside family home that has  been renovated to accommodate around 40-50 dining guests. Besides a sheltered open-air front deck, there are small side dining rooms and a large'ish lobby.

On arrival (after a short walk from the National Library car park), guests are invited to take off their shoes before being welcomed by the SCC staff. The servers range in age from 8-40+ and everyone is friendly, affable and helpful - the "Tao of Steve" is a serene, and peaceful one.

Onto the food, the menu is crammed with Thai home-cooked favourites.

We tucked into raw river prawns - served with spicy dressing, Yam Som O, a refreshing pomelo salad, and wafer thin sliced deep fried chicken with lemon sauce (a very creative and delicious take on lemon chicken). In need of some carbs we also enjoyed thin pasta with bacon, preserved egg, bacon bits, onion complemented with deep fried onion and fish - another creative dish that proved yet again, everything tastes better with bacon and eggs.

Don't tell the Colonel - this lemon chicken dish is sensational.

Like the ambience, the food was spot-on and according to my mum-in-law, was prepared and flavoured with Thai people in mind.

Yam Som O - delicious and refreshing pomelo salad

Oh, and their coffee is excellent. All up, a great afternoon out and SSC is a super relaxing wining and dining spot by the river - we think we're going to be long-term friends with Steve.

Pasta Thai? Pasta with a Thai twist or three.

More information:
The Steve Cafe & Cuisine web site