durianseed city guide

This place is an intimate type lounge-restaurant. Anything more than 30 people inside for dinner and it's going to be crowded. Although I liked the interior from a layout and decor perspective, I didn't enjoy it from a dining perspective because I was expecting formal dining chairs and tables (there are only a couple of those downstairs). The appetizers were very good, a nice wine list and the dinners were well prepared with the exception of my meal which was listed in the menu as having a cucumber sauce taste had absolutely no resemblance to a cucumber sauce. The fish served with it was nice and moist, so it was a letdown that the sauce was not as advertised. The service needs to be polished up a bit as the food seemed to take a long time before it was served and all the main meals were not served at the same time (approximately 10 minutes between the first party being served to the last party being served) The lighting is good and the music the evening we had dinner was ambient jazz played at a level that didn't require you to raise your voice to be heard at the table. If you're looking for more of an informal type dinner environment, a place to meet friends after work or before heading out for a late evening, this is a good place to start.

Overall I liked this restaurant and would return again. The restaurant/lounge/bar is on the rooftop of the Le Fenix Hotel and has some nice views of the Bangkok Skyline. Seating is more on the lounge side than restaurant as you can sit on a bed or a couch with a coffee table. There were 3 of us and the only spot open was on one of the beds. One of the ladies would felt that views are better where the couches were placed. I would agree but the views from where the beds are placed are nice as well. The crowd the night we were there consisted mostly of foreigners and a few Thais. For Dinner the three of us had 3 Thai dishes, an appeitizer, 1 coke and a 5 Mango and Watermelon juice smoothies. I don't remember the exact amount but the bill was about 2,000 baht and change. We sat on the bed in a circle, drank our smoothies, talked, listen to the ambient music and had a nice relaxing time. We were not hurried at all and the service from the staff was good. I would recommend this restaurant to friends visiting Bangkok for sure.

Overall I liked this restaurant. There was a good selection of decent locally made beer. The venue had a show band, singers, and dancers. The music was a bit Thai-style loud so we sat at a table outside next to the glass window looking into the venue. From outside We could see the show and still easily hear the music. The beer was good, reasonably priced and available in many sizes from: 1-glass, .5 liter, 1.0 liter, 2.0 liter, and 5.0 liter iced container. The 5-liter container looks pretty cool sitting at the end of the tables that had ordered them. The food was quite tasty and reasonably priced, but spicy. When I say spicy I mean 5-alarm, next day Thai-Spicy-Exit Spicy. There were four of us (3 Westerners, 1 Thai). The Thai member of our party thought the food was quite good with no problem with the spicy. One member was a westerner that has been in Thailand for at least 3 years. Able to eat the food, but said it was hot and sweated a bit during the meal. Another one of the Westerners has been to Thailand many times, has lived here off and on over the past 3 years could not eat the spicy stuff. I have in the past experienced spicy Thai food. A good friend of mine and world traveler ordered a 10 on the 1 to 10 scale in the States and it was difficult for me to finish because it was so spicy. This restaurant beat that. This is the food that made me coin the term TSE Spicy (Thai-Spicy-Exit Spicy). I was able to eat the food, but spent a good amount of time afterwards soaking my mouth with plain rice and ice. I kept eating, because the food tasted quite good. Next day, however, I wish I had either eaten some ice cream the night before or had a Pop-Cicle right then. ;-) Overall the price was quite good. For 4 of us, including 2 1-liter jugs of beer, 4 mains of food and some appetizer came out to about 800-baht and small change. Quite reasonably priced for quite tasty (if spicy) food. I could rank this place a 5 for what it is supposed to be. A thai restaurant with Micro-brew and a show with a live band. However I also could rank it a 3 based on what a westerner may want from a beer house (beer, bar food, not too loud). So I will split the difference and give it a 4 star. If I were to go out to Future Park again, I wouldn't hesitate to go here again, I would just ask the staff to make it Farang Spicy please.

This is the restaurant from Bangkok Dangerous where Nicholas Cage takes the deaf girl to dinner. You will notice right when you walk in where they were sitting - next to the water. I have eaten here a few times. The food is not amazing but the it is reasonably priced, they have a good menu and the service is good. They have live music and the outdoor setting is a nice place to take newcomers or maybe a date. Since the big outdoor seafood place closed on Ratchada this is where I take people instead.

Overall we liked this place and would come back again. The restaurant is set up more like an ultra-lounge than a restaurant. There are some tables but there are couches and chairs with coffee tables and such to seat guests. The decor was very smart in what I would call an Asian-Euro style. We ended up sitting on the second level loft and had it all to ourselves so our group of four were able to have a nice private conversation. The music played was a nice ambient Electronic Trip-Hop along with video of supermodels on a large screen at one end of the restaurant. We really liked music and felt it set a good mood for the establishment. The staff were quite good, knew the menu well, and were able to answer questions we had about the food items without having to go to the back and ask. While it is a wine bar and restaurant, we were here for food only this evening. On the drink menu there is an assortment of juices available, something like 10-15 different types of juices. You can get smoothies as well. There was not a large assortment of beer as it is a wine bar. From glancing at the wine-list there seemed to be a selection that pretty much anyone would find something they liked. The food was quite good. There were four of us and we ordered: Starters: - Vietnamese Spring Rolls (really good) - Mozzarella and Mango Skewer (really good) Main Meals: - Mango Chicken (very tasty) Would order this again for sure. - Chicken Souvlaki Wrap (very good) would order this again for sure. - A Thai Dish, don't remember the name (pretty good) - Halibut (good) The 2 Starters, 4 Mains, and 4 non-alcoholic drinks, with VAT and Service Charge ran about 1800 baht and change. Not cheap but the good quality of the food and the atmosphere of the restaurant makes this a reasonable amount. The only small complaint for the visit was that the food came out one at a time. This was OK for the starters. The main dishes were brought out one at a time as well. The timespan between the delivery of the first and last main was somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes. Ten minutes may be a bit high, but a place as nice as this should be able to coordinate the delivery of the mains to the table. The other side of that coin is that the dishes were brought out as soon as they were ready so one could argue that would be better. And in a lounge atmosphere, sipping wine and drinks, having mains delivered at different times may not be that much of a problem. To recap this is a nice restaurant lounge that is good for socializing over a bit of drinks and nibbles. I will definitely be back. The place has the potential for 5 star Durian Seed rating. The only reason I give 4 stars was the delivery of the mains described above. If that would not be an issue for you then read this as 5 stars.

Practically an institution in Bangkok. I have never stayed at the hotel and I don't go for the bar but I go for the American breakfast or for the various special nights or buffets they have. The service and food is very consistent and if you need to feel like you are back in America for a bit this place might just do the trick.

A new place opened by a famous Thai music star named ???? - bpaang. The house is on a nice plot of land and is really cool. They have indoor and outdoor dining. A simple menu of noodles, Thai snacks, drinks and desserts. Prices are cheap. For Thais I think this place is more about going to a restaurant owned by a star and hoping you will see him or his friends. Supposedly he is there often and other stars stop by to check out the place. Good place to take some Thais to impress them or your Farang friends for something different. Not too far from JJ Market.

I love stopping in here on my way to work to pick up the breakfast bagel sandwich deal. It only took a few visits before the staff started to recognize me and greet me by name. The location is super convenient when traveling on the BTS or the MRT. The seating up front next to the sidewalk is a great place to watch the morning rush of Silom office workers heading to work between 8 and 9 AM. Otherwise they've got some great lounge chairs in the back if you just want to kick back and read the paper.

Probably my favorite place to go and lounge with a cup of coffee in all of Bangkok. Location, location, location. And it doesn't get much better than this. The J-Avenue center is smack dab in the middle of Thong Lo which is one of my favorite neighborhoods in all of BKK. I've spent countless hours relaxing here and engaging in some of the best people watching to be had outside of Khao San Road. This location is very often frequented by the 'upper crust' and if you enjoy spotting beautiful people, this is the place for you. The large outdoor seating area lends this Au Bon Pain a healthy dose of the 'sidewalk cafe' feeling that is too often absent with other coffee shops here in BKK. Free up a few hours and check it out.

Burger King being Burger King the world around, there's not much point in critiquing the food. When you order a Whopper set, you know what to expect. I enjoy this Burger King because of it's location on Thong Lo, which is always a decent place to spend some time. As well, the outdoor seating affords some decent people watching opportunities, a favorite pastime of mine.