In Bangkok, the ambitious chefs reinventing Thai food for eager diners

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In Bangkok, the ambitious chefs reinventing Thai food for eager diners

A new wave of culinary talent is fusing respect for Thai gastronomic traditions with a willingness to experiment, and foodies are lapping it upward.

07 Jul 2022 06:30AM (Updated: 11 Aug 2022 12:01PM)

Bangkok has long been a culinary destination, only it's only recently that Thai chefs have cemented their status at the very superlative of the metropolis's food scene.

Pioneers like Nahm, Bo.Lan (now sadly defunct: A victim of the global pandemic), Paste, Le Du and Issaya Siamese Club were influential in applying significant tweaks to the Thai dining feel.

They're now vying with a growing collection of exciting upstarts, ranging from the omakase-style Samrub For Thai to the Chinese-retro curry powerhouse Charmgang Curry Store.

These relative newcomers all showcase the distinctive visions of their chef-proprietors. What they share is an ability to guide diners on a journey while springing delicious surprises along the style.

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DYLAN EITHARONG, HAAWM

To call Dylan Eitharong's transcendent take on Thai food as "homespun" would be damning information technology with faint praise. But the Thai-American chef is the first to admit to taking cues from time-honoured traditions in his journey to the top of Bangkok's culinary tree.

"I'm not sure that I have an interest in cooking so much as I have an interest in cooking Thai nutrient, which is an obsession for me," said Dylan Eitharong. (Photo: Dylan Eitharong)

Judging by the kudos he is getting for Haawm, the private dining venture he runs from his family'south townhouse in the On Nut neighbourhood, Eitharong has channelled his compulsion well.

The past twelvemonth has been a hard fourth dimension for the city's dining scene. Eitharong, though, has been a pandemic success story.

Haawm has evolved from word-of-mouth cult status to one of the city's hottest tables. Sittings are booked upwardly months in accelerate every bit a mixed crowd of foodies – both Thai and international – line upwardly to sample Eitharong's epic multi-class meals.

The chef's tattoos, an air of mischief, and plainly-speaking persona all hint at rebelliousness. Eitharong has strong views on the evolution of Thai cuisine and is not averse to adding creative twists to dishes as and when they are required. Haawm, for instance, has get known for its employ of smoked meats.

But he is far from an enfant terrible obsessed by beingness wilfully dissimilar. Indeed, much of Haawm's success lies in Eitharong's reverence for Thai cuisine and his passion for uncovering obscure recipes from the by that serve as inspiration for his nowadays.

Diners lucky plenty to go a spot at Haawm can look a seven-class dinner of family-style Thai dishes. Recent highlights include a smoked fish salad with budu (southern fermented fish sauce) dressing and kaffir lime, and gaeng tomae, a Malay curry combining Indian spices similar mustard and fenugreek and braised chicken.

Both dishes encapsulate Eitharong'due south questing arroyo to cooking Thai food: I that avoids the established main highways to explore the intriguing backroads of the cuisine.

"Thai cooks are starting to get artistic and alter the old ways into new ones while looking to the past (and to other chefs) equally inspiration, not gospel," he said.

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GERAVICH 'MEW' MESAENGNILVERAKUL, ARUSS 'JAI' LERLERSTKULL AND ATCHARAPORN 'AEW' KIATTHANAWAT, CHARMGANG Curry SHOP

The maxim "3'due south a oversupply" clearly doesn't mean much to the team behind Charmgang Curry Shop.

Geravich Mesaengnilverakul (Mew), Atcharapon Kiatthanawat (Aew) and Aruss Lerlerstkull (Jai). (Photo: Charmgang Curry Shop)

"We've worked together for several years with passion and madness," said Mew. "So, it was a natural progression for usa to open our small back-scratch shop."

Primal to this sense of group harmony is the dissimilar skill sets that each possesses. Mew, for instance, is a chief of cooking with fire and charcoal. Jai has a passion for Thailand's array of curries. Aew, meanwhile, has a penchant for spicy salads and relishes. The combination of all three has fabricated Charmgang Curry Shop an instant hit with discerning diners.

Working studiously in an open up kitchen inside a stylishly converted shophouse a stone's throw from Bangkok's iconic Hualamphong Railway Station, the trio applies their chops to concise, compelling ready menus. These change every three-to-four weeks with new dishes rotated alongside established signatures.

While the young chefs are not afraid to utilize innovation, they are mindful of the need to remainder sugariness, salty, sour and spicy tastes: The four cardinal elements of Thai cuisine. They do so successfully in a curry with smoked kingfish and pennywort and a smoked duck salad with Marian plum. Desserts are also on the coin with sapodilla in fresh coconut milk providing a perfect palate-cleansing finale to a memorable meal.

"Information technology has never been our intention to reinvent the wheel," said Mew. "We don't want to make things complicated or as well difficult to empathise. Our goal is to melt with love and to attain balance in the dishes we serve to our guests."

While the overriding philosophy is prosaic, the Charmgang gang's knack for forging alchemy from simplicity holds rich hope for the future.

"We did non set out aiming for awards," added Mew. "But if we are open, respect, and learn from one another, at that place are a lot of opportunities which will cross our paths."

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PRIN POLSUK, SAMRUB FOR THAI

A hunger for knowledge has characterised Prin Polsuk's journey as a chef.

"I studied engineering," said Prin Polsuk. "Merely I was always more intrigued by art and literature. An appreciation for art and literature helped me to see the beauty of cooking in Thai civilisation." (Photo: Prin Polsuk)

Indeed, he classes as a "happy accident" a career trajectory encompassing stints at Sala Rim Naam, the flagship Thai restaurant at Bangkok'due south Mandarin Oriental Hotel, and Nahm, first at its London iteration and and so as successor to David Thompson every bit head chef of the famed Bangkok flagship.

"I studied technology," he said. "But I was always more than intrigued by art and literature. I think information technology was this interest that inspired me to go down the route that I accept taken. An appreciation for fine art and literature helped me to run into the beauty of cooking in Thai culture."

Chef Polsuk showcases his passion for Thailand's gastronomic heritage to spellbinding effect at Samrub For Thai. His open-air kitchen at the tiny eight-seat venue is anchored in Bangkok. But through his multi-grade menus, which typically involve three canapes, 5 sharing-style main dishes and a dessert, he takes diners on a thrilling gastronomic ride effectually the Kingdom.

With Polsuk'south restless thirst for cognition ensuring he rarely stands all the same as a chef, singling out dishes that define the Samrub by Thai experience is an impossible chore.

An evening with Polsuk might involve a due south-meets-north collision involving a spicy, salty gaeng tai pla (dry fish innards curry) served alongside smoked and smashed wagyu beef before veering back to Bangkok for Chinese-Thai fish dumplings made with snakehead fish and topped with crispy garlic and mustard leaf.

"The restaurant is an education platform for Thai food and culture," said Polsuk. Information technology passes on our cognition of Thai regional food. We cook Thai food to reflect our personality equally Thais."

According to Polsuk, the liberty that he enjoys at Samrub For Thai is indicative of wider emancipation amid Thai chefs.

"Thai people, I call back, are very adjustable," he said. "There have been new means of approaching Thai culinary traditions and local ingredients that have led to a existent upsurge in creativity in the Thai dining scene. It'due south exciting."

In Bangkok, the ambitious chefs reinventing Thai food for eager diners

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