Traditional Thai Houses now House Museums or Restaurants in Bangkok
 

We love visiting house museums and have visited many in Bangkok (Jim Thompson, Suan Pakkard Palace, Kurkit House, Prasart Museum). Are there others anyone would recommend?

We also enjoy restaurants in traditional Thai houses, and annually eat at Lemongrass and Face. What other restaurants would any of you recommend in Bangkok that are in traditional Thai houses (and, of course, have very good to excellent food)?

harmonique for true thai food....haha

jok kitchen in chinatown...not in a house per se....

make sure to try coconut palm for lunch or up till 7PM....next to wat pho...

new spirit house at ROS...

Bob, Coconut Palm is on our list - of course, we always have way too many on our list.

Can you tell me about Jok Kitchen?

Kathie how do you rate Lemongrass v's Face for your own personal taste? If you could only go to one which one would it be??!
J
PS you will leave on your trip while we are on ours so have a great trip. It has been a long time since we were in KTM but do love it.

jok kit is the place hanuman took us to....its very small, down an alley in chinatown....almost all seafood, but some duck....no menu...about 6-8 tables.... fresh, fresh, fresh...

we had crab, duck, shrimp, whole fish steamed, rice and a few more....

it was delicious...BYOB....no atmosphere, but unique and real thai...

jules, I'd say that Face is more aesthetically pleasing, has a wide menu which you can see online at www.facebars.com. Someone once complained that it has "US prices," which is true, but the food is excellent.

Lemongrass has been there much longer and has wonderful Thai curries. The menu is ever-changing, and last time we had an eggplant dish in a yellow bean sauce that was outstanding. When you come in the front door, there is a room with tables, and beyond that you can see huge tubs of water (maybe for fish?) that look rather odd. You turn the corner and there is an attractive room with tables where most people choose to be seated. I think the front room turns some people off (I suspect that's what Bob reacted to as he didn't like it the one time he ate there). But the food is excellent and certainly cheaper than Face.

I'd have a hard time choosing just one, as evidenced by the fact that we eat at both places each time we're in Bangkok. They are both wonderful in their own way, but very different experiences.

Have a wonderful time on your trip, Jules. I was last in Kathmandu in 1994, so am eager to see how it has changed.

Hi Kathie-

Have you eaten at Ban Chiang (14 Srivieng Road)? I haven't been there in a long time, so you might want to look for recent reviews. It's in an old teak house filled with Thai antiques. I remember the food as pretty good.

How about Baan Khanitha, on Soi 23? Very good food. Also in a converted house.
http://www.baan-khanitha.com/

Lastly, what about Le Lys? It's in a house, though not necessarily "traditionally Thai". It's owned by a French expat and his Thai wife.

BTW, it's been since 1998 when we were in KTM, so I'm looking forward to hearing how you find it. We are, however, still in contact with the trekking guide we used then. You're not in need of a guide are you? :-)

Are these recomendations "faux-Thai tourist-targeted Chinese food restaurants" as per Mango7's warning?

just remembered the house restaurant on soi 8, sumhumvit---kineree...very good and a nice indoor/outdoor atmosphere----across and down a bit from carol's adelphi suites....

brad swears by long table---give it a try---forget the address....

soi 16, 25th floor....may be more western than what you want....look at it on line

owned by the 'bed' people

Thanks for some great suggestions, Kristina. As I remeber it, Baan Khanitha is where Kuranosuke had the fascinatingly bizarre experience with the psychic owner. It's been on my list for a while. And Le Lys is on my list - I think Hanuman recommended it. I'll look for reviews of Ban Chiang.

Bob, I do have Kinarree on my list (of course, my list is 3-4x as long as our stay).

Brad's favorite restaurants are always Italian, so not what I'm looking for.

Any house musuems I've missed? Hanuman?

Hi Kathie-

This is not in Bangkok, but in Bali...but if you are a fan of old/traditional houses that have been repurposed, take a look at this hotel in Bali. www.desaseni.com
I'm considering it for a trip next year.

Kathie...try the restaurant that I wrote about in my trip report. The one on top of the beat up serviced apartment building way east out Sukhumvit. It has the gorgeous rose garden and the food was delicious.

I was on my flight from L.A. to BK, reading the Bangkok Post, when I saw a whole page write up about it. I ripped the page out of the paper and soon after I got into BK, went to try it out. I took the skytrain to On Nut and then a taxi to the place.

The Thai friend that I dragged along said that the dish she ordered was very authentic and she liked the food a lot. There were only two other people in the huge dining room.
I don't have time right now to try to pull it up from one of my trip reports. I'll have to look later. It was probably either Aug 2007/Sept 2007 or Dec 2006/Jan 2007. I can't remember since I'm usually there twice a year. It's all becoming one big blur. Smiles. Happy Travels!

You've been to more of them then I have! However I'm not sure if you've been to this one - "Kamthieng House". I haven't been myself but it looks interesting.

http://www.siam-society.org/sub_sections/51

Hanuman, that does look like a place we'd be interested in visiting. I remember Gloria mentioned this as well. I'll certainly report back if we are able to visit this trip.

kathie...we have been to that siam society house....its on asoke, just up from sukhumvit....we found it to be a huge disappoint... usually karen likes these things and i do not, but neither of us liked it...if you are in the area stop and look at it, but honestly we did not find it worth the special taxi trip we made there----nothing at all like the kurkik house which is fantastic....

kathie, my psychic experience was at le dalat indochine(madame hoally, such a sweet lady). very good food too. i've been there three times, and always want to go back, but i always seem to get off the track when i return to bangkok. :-)

Thanks, Ken, I had misremembered where your psychic was!

Kathie...I found the name of the restaurant. It's under, "Guenmai's Trip Report Dec 2007/Jan 2008". It was posted at 01:09AM and on 12/23/2007.

The name of the restaurant is, "The Garden" and it's on the top floor of the, "Executive Residence Apartment" building...on Sukhumvit soi 103, sub soi 18 (soi Udomsuk 18). The telephone number is 02.361.7881 and it's open daily from 11AM-11PM. It's in the Bang Na area...near BITEC. It's a really good place to have lunch on a day that you're going to the Jim Thompson outlet store.

It's easy to find...when you get to soi 103,off of Sukhumvit, you turn left into soi 103 and then about a block away is soi Udomsuk 18. Then you turn right into that soi Udomsuk 18. It's about half way into the soi, right side, as there's a field to the left. If you look UP as you're going down the soi, you'll see the huge sign of the Executive Residence Apartment building. I plan to eat there again this December/January. Happy Travels!