The Dining Room
In what used to be the Russian Embassy, this standalone outpost of the neighboring W Hotel in Sathorn has one of the most stunning dining rooms in town, artfully blending the building’s period details with considerate modern touches. Half of the restaurant’s 40 seats are at a long, wooden counter facing the kitchen, where the team turn out “new Asian cuisine.” Expect dishes with names like Hunting (duck breast lying on splashes of red pomegranate sauce and burnt onion powder as gunpowder), and The Red Parfait (foie gras torchon wrapped with beetroot jelly, served with brioche and aged balsamic vinegar).
Broccoli Revolution
The old building on the corner of Sukhumvit Soi 49 has been renovated and turned into a lively addition to Bangkok’s vegetarian scene. Founded by the health-conscious Naya Ehrlich-Adam (of Monsoon Restaurant in Yangon and Ho Chi Minh), Broccoli Revolution draws on her well-traveled background aiming to make vegetarian food fun and easily accessible. Highlight dishes include the Lebanese mezza platter (hummus, baba ganoush, tabbouleh, tzatziki, fresh radish and marinated olives with pita bread, $11), Myanmar vegetables tempura with tamarind sauce (okram gourd, pennywort, $7) and the broccoli quinoa charcoal burger (broccoli quinoa patty, mango tomato salsa, dill spread, cranberry charcoal bun, $9). Cold-pressed juices are on offer at $4-7, both dine-in and takeaway, as well as Farm to Table Cafe’s specially made vegetarian ice cream ($2/scoop), including the signature broccoli flavor.
Galleria Milano
Milan-born Antonio Marelli (formerly of the defunct La Villa on Thonglor Soi 9) has opened an Italian restaurant themed after his home town’s iconic 19th century arcade, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. In addition to a big picture from inside the mall, Galleria Milano’s decor also contains familiar markers like an arched ceiling and mosaic floor tiles depicting the Flag of Milan and Turin’s famous bull. Chef Armando Bonadonna’s food includes ossobuco con risotto alla Milanese (Milan-style veal shank with saffron risotto, $24), fresh lobster and burrata salad with Sicilian orange and beetroot ($27), and rack of lamb crusted with pistachio, mustard, sichuan pepper and red wine glaze ($33). The restaurant also carries more than 50 Italian wines, starting at $8 by the glass.
Teddy’s Bigger Burgers
Seems there can never be too many burgers in Bangkok. Launched in Hawaii 17 years ago, Teddy’s Bigger Burgers has just opened its first branch in Thailand at Gateway Ekkamai. Here, it’s all about customized burgers. You can opt for a beef, pork, chicken or fish patty, charbroiled to order, with six choices of sauce, including spicy, barbecue, teriyaki, wasabi and black pepper. Other customizable features include toppings and the size of your burger. Teddy’s original burger is priced at $7 (pork) or $9 (beef), while the signature Monster Double burger is $10 for pork and $14 for beef.
D’Ark
Sukhumvit Soi 49’s D’Ark aims to be more than a coffee shop. The small but stylish black and white space is already drawing in Thonglor’s pretty people, while the kitchen is helmed by two young French chefs who claim experience at some Michelin-starred restaurants. Executive chef Jeriko Van Der Wolf rolls out an all-day menu that spans pancakes ($6) as well as soups, burgers (starting at $9) and other more fancy dishes inspired by local ingredients, like the Jeriko’s Burger ($12), made with duck patty, and the smoked beef and burrata ($11). He also incorporates coffee in some of the dishes, like Georgette’s soup ($6), in which an espresso shot is added to balance out the sweetness of the onion cream soup and rich whipped cream. The dessert kitchen is helmed by French pastry chef Joffrey Jacob, who rolls out not only muffins ($2) and croissants ($2) ready for takeaway, but also more substantial treats like D’Ark opera, a deconstructed opera cake, and D’Ark espresso tiramisu (both $6). Coffee is sourced from Australian roaster Di Bella. Single origin beans from Peru, Kenya, Costa Rica and India are available at $6/pot. They also do some pretty impressive latte art.
Pot Ministry
Pot Ministry goes beyond suki, shabu and jimjoom. Here, they offer four different types of soup, taken from the favorites of each region in Thailand. The Northern soup is derived from tom naem, the Southern soup from gaeng lueang (yellow turmeric soup), Northeastern from jaew hon and central Thailand from gao lao (brown beef or pork clear soup with herbs). Sets of meat and vegetables are paired accordingly with each soup, including the likes of the Australian beef set ($37) with the gao lao soup, and the seafood set ($98) go with the gaeng lueang soup. On top of the hot pot items, there are other regional dishes like sai oua (Northern-style sausage, $5) and Southern dried shrimp chili paste ($10). After the meal, they serve a choice of complimentary desserts from taosuan (sweet mung beans porridge) with coconut milk ice cream, toast with Thai icy condiments and ruam mit (syrupy treats on ice).
