Bangkok: Moderately Priced Restaurants With A Good Feel
 

Always looking for some nice places to eat that don't cost an arm and a leg. Here are two that I liked on the last trip. You might want to recommend others.

Both of these had good service, good food, moderate prices and had an "old thai house" feel to them. Not fancy, but solid places I'd go back to again.

Gallery on Soi 11 near the pickled Liver pub

Ban Khun Mae around Siam Square, Soi 8

I've been to Baan Khun Mae before back in '03. Its an ok place. I remember a Thai guy there wearing a Osama Bin Laden t-shirt eating with his family. I was thinking "wtf??" Kinda made me nervous.

I did think of a nice restaurant, btw. I usually go to food stalls or eateries like the MBK one on the 5th floor(there another smaller one on another floor on the opposite side of the mall).

Bua- in the Sofitel Centara across from JJ market. Very good food in a nice atmosphere

Tha Siam- Little restaurant on the ground floor of MBK that serves mostly noodle soups(Its great, but you have to add two scoops of every condiment that they give you to enjoy it properly). The desserts are good too. Real vintage Thai-style.

Moderately priced AND UNIQUE restaurants in Bangkok:

Have you tried the "Secret Garden" restaurant on Sathorn road? Mild, not spicy, Thai-ish food which I quite like for a very good price. Setting is in the compound of an old, 100+ years old house and the garden is a good place to dine al-fresco during the cooler months.

http://bkmagazine.com/review/sweet-secret

Another one is "Chef Thanom" and this one is quite unique. Ex Italian chef from a famous Italian restaurant in Bangkok who decided to cook Thai - Italian fusion dishes at a very reasonable prices. Some of the dishes are very spicy, or hot, so be careful! The location is very strange too, in the middle of the custom department compound.

http://bkmagazine.com/review/steady-fare

Review with pictures but in Thai:

http://topicstock.pantip.com/food/to.../D5734334.html

How about Harmonique? Good food, atmospheric, though the service is chronically sloooow. A bit more upscale is an old fav of mine, Lemongrass.

mango,

did you know that most, if not all, of the Thai "noodle soup" dishes are of Chinese origin.

Does the place have to be in a reconstructed Thai house?

Pen has great food and reasonable prices, but is not beautiful, decoratively speaking.

I second the recommendation for Harmonique. We really enjoyed the food and the atmosphere.

I think Baan Khun Mae is gone - that section of Siam Square is under redevelopment.

Hanuman-

I'm sure you'll also agree that spaghetti pasta comes from the Chinese too, correct? Be sure to save your "facts" for those who really don't know any better, lol. Nothing personal..

It's obvious you don't know much about Thai food or the origin of food in Thailand. The noodle dishes are call "Kway teow" which is Chinese and the origin of the dishes are from the Chinese immigrant to Thailand.

Here's a good website where you can learn a little about it so you will not look foolish.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_noodles

"I think Baan Khun Mae is gone - that section of Siam Square is under redevelopment.'

wow - that must have been quick, I ate there on 5 feb.

Despite its weird name, Cabbages and Condoms (soi 12?) has all the requirements that the OP lists, to my mind at least.

yes don, but the food sucks at C&C....worth a try once however...

i've never a chinese noodle that i did not like...

Have to disagree rhkkmk, food at Cabbges etc. on both occasions we've been was not bad at all; whilst not utterly fantastic, certainly not in the 'sucks' category imo, & atmospheric in the 'garden' area.

i will agree that the garden is nice.... i just simply found the food uninspiring, boring and tasteless...

I've got to go to this C&C place now to resolve this stand -off! I''l waltz in a say: Inspire me, don't bore me and set my taste buds to tingling with delight! Oh, and seat me in the garden right away!

I, too, agree with the Harmonique recommendation. And I'll add Ban Chiang as well. It's near Silom & Surasek. Here's what we said about it in our trip report...

Ban Chaing is in a comfortable old Thai house, an inviting throwback in the middle of the concrete jungle. The atmosphere is wonderful, and the service is fairly decent as well. And by 7:30 pm, the place was pretty well full. We enjoyed a spicy green papaya salad and shrimp pancake for
starters, then feasted on a delicious red curry chicken and beef with basil and vegetables, plus steamed rice for two and a couple of beers. The total was only 880 baht (about $25), which is a terrific bargain. We would definitely go again.

mr_go, going from soi 8 or 11, would Ban Chiang easy to reach around 1830?

Re C&C/rhkkmk: It can be perfectly reasonable for people to hold honest, differing opinions about a place. In this instance, however, I am right and Bob is wrong.