Bo Lan Restaurant Review
Oct 29th, 2009, 07:26 AM
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Bo Lan Restaurant Review
Just finished having dinner at Bo Lan restaurant and I would like to share my thoughts on the restaurant and food.
Location: You will need a taxi to get there and for those that knows Bangkok it's located in Soi 24 near the Emporium.
The restaurant: A converted house with outside dining option. The main restaurant is not that big but cozy. Modern decoration but the tables were a bit "rocky" and were not stable enough.
The food: Very authentic and they did not hold back on the spice or chili! Their recipes are from the old Siam period and their inspiration came from Khun Ying Pleon Bunnag who during the reign of King Rama 5 was credited with collecting all the recipes and published them in her books. We were surprised to see a copy of the book on every table and to learn of the chef's inspiration and doubly so because the friend who accompanied us is the great grandson of the Khun Ying!
The food most closely relate to the royal cooking style of the Thai royal court so it is not the most spicy or the hot style of Thai food. However the chefs, Bo and Dylan hence the naem Bo Lan which coincidently mean "old" or "ancient" in Thai, were very faithful to the recipe and did not tone anything down. Out of all the dishes, a lot of them were generously complemented by the chefs, I would give 1 dish 10 out 10 and the rest around 7 to 8 out 10 points. Very good for 2 farang(Dylan and Adam) and 1 Thai(Bo) chefs!
The menu changes every month or every few months, the service was a bit flawed but overall good, the food did not take too long and the owners/chefs were very friendly and took the time greet us and see as of. Prices for the food were high and the decoration were good. Would I go back? If you're buying I will accompany you!
Pictures(taken with my phone): http://khun-pook.smugmug.com/
Location: You will need a taxi to get there and for those that knows Bangkok it's located in Soi 24 near the Emporium.
The restaurant: A converted house with outside dining option. The main restaurant is not that big but cozy. Modern decoration but the tables were a bit "rocky" and were not stable enough.
The food: Very authentic and they did not hold back on the spice or chili! Their recipes are from the old Siam period and their inspiration came from Khun Ying Pleon Bunnag who during the reign of King Rama 5 was credited with collecting all the recipes and published them in her books. We were surprised to see a copy of the book on every table and to learn of the chef's inspiration and doubly so because the friend who accompanied us is the great grandson of the Khun Ying!
The food most closely relate to the royal cooking style of the Thai royal court so it is not the most spicy or the hot style of Thai food. However the chefs, Bo and Dylan hence the naem Bo Lan which coincidently mean "old" or "ancient" in Thai, were very faithful to the recipe and did not tone anything down. Out of all the dishes, a lot of them were generously complemented by the chefs, I would give 1 dish 10 out 10 and the rest around 7 to 8 out 10 points. Very good for 2 farang(Dylan and Adam) and 1 Thai(Bo) chefs!
The menu changes every month or every few months, the service was a bit flawed but overall good, the food did not take too long and the owners/chefs were very friendly and took the time greet us and see as of. Prices for the food were high and the decoration were good. Would I go back? If you're buying I will accompany you!
Pictures(taken with my phone): http://khun-pook.smugmug.com/
Oct 29th, 2009, 07:50 AM
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Wow! Thanks for the review. I think we have to put it on our list (of course our list would take months to get through!). I notice they have a menu of sharing plates for weekend afternoons. Perhaps we can fit that in even if we can't manage a dinner there.
By the way, which dish was a 10?
By the way, which dish was a 10?
Oct 29th, 2009, 07:56 AM
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I'm glad you both like my review!
Kathie it's this dish: http://khun-pook.smugmug.com/Food/Bo-Lan/10131459_iGY56
English spelling is "roughly" - Lorn with salted duck egg in the sauce or dip.
Kathie it's this dish: http://khun-pook.smugmug.com/Food/Bo-Lan/10131459_iGY56
English spelling is "roughly" - Lorn with salted duck egg in the sauce or dip.
Oct 29th, 2009, 09:43 AM
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Thanks for your review, Pook. I'm quite sure Brad will be going there, but most probably it will be after I've headed back home.
Thought you might find it interesting that Brad has met the chef (not sure which one...) as the guy goes after hours to the Pickled Liver for Maeng's cooking. There were actually four chefs from various BKK restaurants sitting together at the PL on Wednesday night after hours. Brad said he talked to them for about 2 hours.
When we went to Chiang Mai, you may recall that I said Maeng goes to a special food market to get sausage. The BoLan chef ordered the sausage, so Maeng had to hold some back to cook for him, and the rest of it went to the "regulars" at P.L. Now that Brad knows which ever chef it was that came to P.L. from BoLan, he is more determined than ever to go there for dinner sometime soon. He would like to take Maeng with him, since she knows the guy quite well.
Anyway, sounds like a nice place. Hope I can find time to go there.
Carol
Thought you might find it interesting that Brad has met the chef (not sure which one...) as the guy goes after hours to the Pickled Liver for Maeng's cooking. There were actually four chefs from various BKK restaurants sitting together at the PL on Wednesday night after hours. Brad said he talked to them for about 2 hours.
When we went to Chiang Mai, you may recall that I said Maeng goes to a special food market to get sausage. The BoLan chef ordered the sausage, so Maeng had to hold some back to cook for him, and the rest of it went to the "regulars" at P.L. Now that Brad knows which ever chef it was that came to P.L. from BoLan, he is more determined than ever to go there for dinner sometime soon. He would like to take Maeng with him, since she knows the guy quite well.
Anyway, sounds like a nice place. Hope I can find time to go there.
Carol
Oct 29th, 2009, 02:28 PM
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Hanuman- Did you leave hungry?- There's almost nothing on those plates!!
Not to be a cynic, but I am hesitant patronizing a Thai restaurant with a farang involved. This is disappointing to me and ruins the experience. Call me crazy, but this kills it for me. I won't be visiting Bo Lan I'm afraid.
Not to be a cynic, but I am hesitant patronizing a Thai restaurant with a farang involved. This is disappointing to me and ruins the experience. Call me crazy, but this kills it for me. I won't be visiting Bo Lan I'm afraid.
Oct 29th, 2009, 03:45 PM
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Yes definitely a shame. It's actually 2 chefs: 1 *is* Thai (Bo Songvisava) and 1 Australian (Dylan Jones.) Both worked as executive chefs under the tutelage of arguably one of the best non-Thai Thai chefs in the world, David Thompson--who coincidentally wrote one the definitive Thai cookbook for the Western world. Not that any of that matters to you, per se, but some folks who are fascinated with the culinary world might be.
Also it's a 20 course or something tasting menu, so I wouldn't worry about our good friend Pook not having eaten.
I usually judge chefs on their merit and not their ethnicity--but hey I guess that's just me. To each their own. I've had some pretty phenomenal Latin American food made by Caucasians and some pretty terrible Japanese food made by Japanese people.
As a tried and true foodie, personally I can't wait to try this place out.
Also it's a 20 course or something tasting menu, so I wouldn't worry about our good friend Pook not having eaten.
I usually judge chefs on their merit and not their ethnicity--but hey I guess that's just me. To each their own. I've had some pretty phenomenal Latin American food made by Caucasians and some pretty terrible Japanese food made by Japanese people.
As a tried and true foodie, personally I can't wait to try this place out.
Oct 29th, 2009, 03:56 PM
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Nah, not crazy. No farang in Thailand is cooking MY food. Its purely illogical.. and just wrong. Who in their right mind would fly to exotic Thailand to have some white guy cook an "authentic" form of Thai food for them(or ANY Thai food?).
Oct 29th, 2009, 04:39 PM
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FilmWill,
I realize one chef is Thai, but I don't care. I don't care how many F'in Michelin stars the guy has received or which culinary femme fatale genius he's trained under. I'm in Thailand. My food will be prepared by real Thai people.
The wife as well flatly rejects the idea of eating Anglo-prepared Thai food in Thailand. It is the antithesis of authenticity and is wrong from the root of its inception.
I realize one chef is Thai, but I don't care. I don't care how many F'in Michelin stars the guy has received or which culinary femme fatale genius he's trained under. I'm in Thailand. My food will be prepared by real Thai people.
The wife as well flatly rejects the idea of eating Anglo-prepared Thai food in Thailand. It is the antithesis of authenticity and is wrong from the root of its inception.
Oct 29th, 2009, 06:32 PM
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Kurt, relax. We're not attacking you.
Everyone has their own opinion about what constitutes 'real' experiences. It would be nice if you didn't violently jam yours down the throat with a bathroom plunger.
Can't you just be friggin nice for 5 minutes? If someone disagrees with you, why be such a prat? The majority of people on here are all nice folks--we all have the same passion about traveling to the same area. Enough with the rudeness. It flipping stinks.
Everyone has their own opinion about what constitutes 'real' experiences. It would be nice if you didn't violently jam yours down the throat with a bathroom plunger.
Can't you just be friggin nice for 5 minutes? If someone disagrees with you, why be such a prat? The majority of people on here are all nice folks--we all have the same passion about traveling to the same area. Enough with the rudeness. It flipping stinks.
Oct 29th, 2009, 06:48 PM
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Mango,
You have your opinion and I have mine! The chef nationality is of no significant in this case but I must admit that before I ate there I thought that it could be an issue. After all, I do enjoy eating Italian, French, Chinese, Japanese, Indian.. food in Thailand and they are not all cooked by the citizen of country where the cuisine came from.
Relax mate this is just a restaurant review and not meant to be a debate on authenticity, race or nationality.
You have your opinion and I have mine! The chef nationality is of no significant in this case but I must admit that before I ate there I thought that it could be an issue. After all, I do enjoy eating Italian, French, Chinese, Japanese, Indian.. food in Thailand and they are not all cooked by the citizen of country where the cuisine came from.
Relax mate this is just a restaurant review and not meant to be a debate on authenticity, race or nationality.
