Elizabeth_S

Number of minutes from alighting from the Tuk Tuk to actually finding the restaurant: 35

Number of people who helped us when we showed them the Thai directions (obtained by our hotel calling the restaurant before we left) : 4

Number of phone calls made by above people to the restaurant: 1

Number of false start restaurants we sat in and ordered a beer before realizing we were in the wrong restaurant: 1

Having a lovely lunch at Chote Chitr: Priceless

(with apologies to Mastercard)

So....here are our directions - there is one major difference between the directions that are available on one of the links.

Get to the corner of Tanao Road and Rat'Chadamoen Klang Road.

Facing south on Tanao Road (the Democracy Monument is on your left) head south walking down the right hand side of Tanao.....keep going past Mahannop Road.......you are looking for Phraeng Phouthon (also spelled Phuton) - we couldn't find a street sign for it but you are looking for a shoe/clothing store on the southwest corner. Turn right at the shoe store and the restaurant is a few meters in on the same side as the shoe store. There is an English sign (Chote Chikr) and the street number is 146. The phone number is 02221 4082. The restaurant has teak chairs and 5 tables (versus stools as many do) and large white tiles on the walls, with dark accent tiles (an important piece of information from the NYTimes article which we had with us - that is how we discovered we were in the wrong restaurant as we sat on our stools drinking our beer!)

The owner was charming - we replicated the NY Times menu which was delicious (details and photos of the shoe store and exterior will be posted shortly on our blog

http://lizandrichardsa.typepad.com/2007_adventures/

It's not easy to find but worth it! The important landmark seems to be the shoe store as the kind gentlemen who phoned the restaurant gave us that important piece of information. Once you find the shoe store at corner of Tanoa south of Mahannop....you're close!

We had a ton of food and two large beer and the bill was $20 US......as I said, pix and descriptions of the food will be on our blog shortly.

Kathie

Elizabeth, I'll have to copy your directions, as we are going back at least once in November. That food was truly superlative!

I can't imagine how you got $20 worth of food... our food cost us under $US10 and we tipped hugely.

Elizabeth_S

Kathie - the beer, maybe? I think I rounded up a bit - but it was around $17 or $18 with beer..............just remember the shoe store!

shellio

We spent at least 30 minutes with a guide and driver trying to find the darn place and never could. We finally gave up and went to Polo Fried Chicken instead. It was wonderful! They have a new annex which is air conditioned and bring the food over from the open-air restaurant on the same street. Enough food for three of us, beers and take-home doggie bag for the guide was $23. It's at 137 1/2 Soi Polo near Lumpini.
http://cheapeatsbangkok.com/polo_chk.php

shandy

The restaurant sounds good Elizabeth and I even went found the NY Times article you mentioned. As this is such a tiny restaurant I assusme it doesn't have air conditioning. If so, as it is likely to be very hot and humid in May would you consider going at that time?

Elizabeth_S

Shellio - thanks for the info re the Polo fried chicken - I had noted it but didn't have an address....might go there tomorrow!

Shandy - you're right - no a/c - they do have a lot of big fans that might help but it certainly will be hot.

We're just back after a very long day with Tong (that's a story and a half for another posting! we had so much fun!) - Tong doesn't like Chote Chitr at all.....doesn't understand why all we farang like it !! (although the reason is the food isn't hot enough for her!)

Tomorrow we're going to a restaurant very near Arun Residence that she recommends - called Coconut Palm. We have a piece of paper on which she has written out our order in Thai.......will report back.

It's about 9:30 and we're sitting on the balcony and the hotel's wi-fi signal is pretty good (goes up and down) - Wat Arun is so close I think I could touch it.

lovesadventure

Coconut Palm is delicious! She took us there and ordered a whole table full of dishes. A variety of flavors, each dish unique. How the tiny kitchens produce so many flavors in such a quick time is amazing!

I wish I could tell you what we ordered--but we just left it to her. I do remember a spicy fruit salad the was delicious.

Their iced coffee is particularly refreshing on a hot day.

Kathie

Elizabeth, maybe it was the beer! (I'm not a beer drinker) Also, the baht is stronger now against the dollar than when we were there.


I'll be interested to hear your thoughts about Coconut Palm.

Elizabeth_S

Chote Chitr was mentioned in this month's Food and Wine issue as part of the "Go To" list in Bangkok.

Other restaurants on that list are:

- Anotai Restaurant
- Bangkok Retro
- Savoury Gastrocafe
- Talad Loong Perm

Anybody have any comments on those restaurants?

Kathie

Elizabeth, I was just chatting with someone about this at the Pasadena GTG. I don't know any of the restuarants you listed... do they give reviews or suggested dishes or anything?

Elizabeth_S

Kathie - there are short reviews in the hard copy of the magazine but not on the webiste - I'll hand type them in on this posting later today......

janaturner

I found the reviews (or maybe there was more in the magazine?) on the Food and Wine web site - hopefully you see this before you start typing Elizabeth!

Here's the link, just scroll down to see Bangkok http://www.foodandwine.com/golist/20...cfm?label=asia

Jana

Elizabeth_S

Thanks! Saved my fingers!

cruisinred

I could be mistaken, but I think the Hazara restaurant mentioned on the Beijing portion of the Food & Wine list is owned by the same people the own Face in Bangkok (a Fodorite fave)

ekscrunchy

Elizabeth: You have been a huge help to me in planning my upcoming trip. Now that most of the details are in place, I am turning my attention to food.

Of course, I will plan to have a meal at Chote Chitr...question: since the place appears to be tiny, can I make reservations and if not, what is the best time to arrive (lunch or, preferably, dinner) to avoid a long wait)? (By the way, they now have a map on their website so hopefully I will not get lost!!)


And, did you eat at the Polo chicken and if so, should I put it on my list?

Any other places I should know about?? I guess I will start a Bangkok dining thread...

Thanks!!

Kathie

Eks - Here are our directions to Chote Chitr:

We had carefully studied Elizabeth's directions to Chote Chitr with the goal of walking there without needing to ask directions. Last year, it took us an hour and the assistance of many friendly Thais to get to this renowned eatery from Wat Suthat.

This year, from Wat Suthat, we succeeded in walking to Chote Chitr in under 15 minutes without a false turn. We were amazed! I think this qualifies us for permanent resident status. The food was as stunning as before. The ower came and chatted with us, recommending a new fish preparation. The fish is in red coconut curry (almost a custard in texture) atop a bed of sauteed morning glory, and the whole thing is steamed in "boats" made of banana leaves. It was wonderful! We also had her ambrosial mee krob, plus the salad of smokey eggplants and the banana flower salad. Cheryl had a large Singha and I had Singha bottled water. Our total bill was barely over 400 baht. We chatted with the owner about what we should try next time, which will probably be two weeks from now.

For those who want to try, here are our directions from Wat Suthat. As you exit Wat Suthat, you are facing the Giant Swing. Turn left, and walk down Bamrung Mueang to Tanao Road. This is not far, as you cross just one busy intersection before you come to Tanao Road. Turn right on Tanao Road and cross the street so you are walking on the south side of Tanao. Chote Chitr is on the first small street that branches off of Tanao. Elizabeth is right, the shoe/clothing store on the SW corner of Tanao and Phraeng Phuton is a great landmark. There is no street sign for Phraeng Phuton, but the tiny restaurant is just a few shops up this small side street. It pays to arrive before noon, as it fills up quickly and completely at at noon.

The one other place I wanted to go to that was reviewed by Johnny Apple: the Pen (not the Peninsula). Gloria ate there last year.

ekscrunchy

Thanks, Kathie. I plan to try Chote Chitr and Pen and a few other places so would love to hear accounts of great dishes to sample. Perhaps the Chote Chitr website is new; it has a map in Thai so I will take that along just in case! Did you make reservations there?

Also, all of the guidebooks mention those large outdoor seafood market/restaurants. I remember visiting one years ago when I was last in Bangkok and thinking it was fantastic..but maybe back then I was easily impressed!
What is your opinion of these places??..(There is a famous one starting with the letter "S&quot

Gpanda

We found it very easily. You can see the sign from Thanon Tanao. If you're walking up TT from Bamrung Mueng and you get to the Chinese temple, you've gone too far.

Two dishes that should be tried are the Mee Grob and the Eggplant salad. Both are among the best dishes we've had anywhere.

The restaurant has only about 6 tables, but was never full either at lunch or dinner.

ekscrunchy

Thanks, Panda! By the way, are you the person who used Gregg at Innovasian??