Just because Siam Tea Room has never been on any best Thai restaurants list doesn't mean it ain’t any good. The dining room at the Marriott Marquis Queen's Park Hotel in Soi Sukhumvit 22 is known for churning out comfort Thai dishes as they should be—hot and sweet enough to tickle your taste buds. And a new mini-menu launched this month, called Baan Ratchaburi, may just train the spotlight where it should have long ago.
Taking inspiration from her childhood in Ratchaburi, during which she would help out her mother in the kitchen, Chef Phukvarun Watchmon has created six dishes that reflect the distinct characteristics and flavors of the province’s cuisine. The list includes starters like spicy and sour glass noodle salad with prawns, squid, minced pork, dried shrimps and roasted peanuts; and fluffy omelet stuffed with minced pork, tomato and onion.
Heavier fare includes deep-fried sea bass with bird’s eye chili, garlic, spring onion and coriander; and red curry beef soup with yellow eggplant, turkey berries and hot basil. Stir-fried eggplant with minced pork and salted fish; and fried stuffed squid with minced pork, crispy garlic and coriander round up the menu.
Ratchaburi is blessed with a vast selection of fresh produce and, most importantly, some of the best-quality sugar you can get in Thailand, so it’s not a surprise that this Ratchaburi-inspired offering is set on the mildly sweet side—natural sugar cane is used just enough to make you want to eat more.
This is probably the best mini-menu Siam Tea Room has ever launched. As an added bonus, dishes are priced for as low as B235, and a visit to the place allows you to gaze upon a beautiful Thai-style wooden gable crafted by celebrated artist Tawan Duchanee.