one of the only thai restaurants in downtown bkk to be listed in the lonely planet guide book is one of suda's claims to fame, and a well deserved done. considered to be thai/chinese to a degree, and not strictly that, this ope-air restaurant is packed with local office people for lunch and tourists, expats and locals at night. the fact that the locals swarm this place in the day time is the real testament to the food they prepare.
the kitchen is helmed by a chef that i have always seen through the kitchen door in all my 19 years of going there, he is family. he produces 5 or 6 plates of each dish at a time in a huge over-sized wok that never stops giving. when the place is full to capacity you may wait a bit for a dish to arrive, but you will never regret having waited. the classic thai dishes such as tom kaa gai, tom yum kung, phad krapow moo sop and gaeng keowan, to name just 4, are top shelf and suda's "secret" recipe for cashew chicken is unlike any you will find anywhere in the world, let alone thailand. i think it has red curry past in it and there is nothing but succulent white meat, cashews and this sticky sauce. no veggies to confuse or adulterate this dish.
they do another classic thai chicken dish that you will not find most everywhere. morsels of marinated chicken wrapped in toei leaves and then deep fried. the aroma of the toei leaves is infused into the caramelized chicken to create a unique flavor unobtainable in other dishes. be careful, its hot! (not spicy hot, temp hot.)
it really doesn't matter what you order here, whether you're a party of 1 or 2 or a tour group of 18+, suda restaurant always delivers. the turn over is so great that everything is fresh and depleted and restocked each day. you can see the staff endlessly prepping veggies off to the side.
the owners are always present and khun suda greets and take orders from everyone personally 99% of the time. there is only 1 suda, no branches, no need to be confused, just satisfied.
image borrowed from here.
image borrowed from here.
image borrowed from here.
image borrowed from here.
follow the link to a good article about suda and some more food photos.
the person in the green blouse is khun suda the restaurant's namesake.
image borrowed from here.
image borrowed from here.
click on the image above to enlarge the map.
ps - i believe if you have a very large group they will reserve a table for you: +66 2 229 4518
if you follow this link you will go to a website that has a google map with suda on it. you will see that of the 18 reviews shown on that site only 2 people say its not what it is cracked up to be and did not meet their expectations. the average rating is 4.5 out of 5. not bad by any standard.
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2 comments:
Hello! Thank you so much for visiting my blog and the comments, great to hear from you. It's so exciting to know that somewhere halfway around the world, someone is actually reading and enjoying my ramblings. You are such an accomplished chef that I am flattered you found my site and humble home kitchen creations!
This restaurant sounds amazing, 19 years and never a bad meal is quite impressive.
Can't wait to check out your writings and mosey around your 'flog' :) -- take care.
andrea: i would not have become a chef if it weren't for my mom's "home creations". so much of what i do is influenced by home cooking, probably more so than by what professionals do. i think non-pro chef's, who have a true affinity for food, are as creative as anyone. the fact that they are not constrained by what is considered right or wrong or conventional helps them come up with some amazing creations.
the other thing i find amazing about so many home chefs is that they can also raise a family at the same time. not a lot of pros can say that.
i encourage you to check out my friend terri's flog at http://hungerhunger.blogspot.com another mom who has raised a family and the level of cuisine all at the same time.
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