Thai, Chinese and European food at Somsak Restaurant

It is difficult to find Thai restaurants with good Thai food and not encounter a sardine-can like atmosphere in which getting your spoon to your mouth entails sticking your elbow into a total stranger’s nose.

At Somsak restaurant this is not the case. The restaurant is in an old Thai fort-style building with ample room and two spacious floors. There are two views from which to choose on the second floor. There is the ‘lotus-land’ side which overlooks a tropical night filled with mango trees, the gentle blinking of fireflies and equatorial perfumes turning on the evening air. The other side is the ‘high-tech’ side with a view of a high rise condominium and fluorescent lights. My companion and I, being former flower children and sceptical romantics, opted for the first side.
Not wanting to destroy my palate, I opted to begin the meal with a good glass of cold water. Those in-the-know about Thai food will realise that water and name-brand scotch are the only preludes to a real Thai dinner. My companion, being in some ways less adventurous than me and in some ways more, went wild with a watermelon frappe. She told me it was very refreshing.
As this restaurant has Thai, Chinese and European food, we decided to confine ourselves to one cuisine each. My companion, being born in Europe, volunteered to tackle the Thai food. Having been born in Asia of American parents, I went for the European. The first thing my friend ordered was the clams sautéed in butter and garlic with 4 jumbo pieces of garlic bread. She said the clams were excellent and those who are escargot aficionados would enjoy these little dumplings of the sea. She also allowed me one piece of her garlic bread, which was true to its name. I managed to cop another piece by stealth and lack of shame.
My meal began with French onion soup. After a while, it came and I ate it. Only a bit of salt was needed. Not wanting to spoil my appetite, I didn’t eat it all.
My self denying friend, fired up by culinary zeal, ordered Mee Krob, chicken cooked in coconut cream and Hor Mok, a most ingenious Thai concoction of fish, coconut cream and curry spices, steamed in a real crock. We also received a well-known Thai dish called Yam-Thua-Phlu, or Wing Bean Salad. This is a combination of Wing Beans, which live up to their names by having large wing-like flanges on the side. In this version, made with cashews, chicken-skin and small dried shrimps, the beans had been shorn of their aviatory appendages, but the whole was not a bad effort. This and the chicken cooked in coconut cream might be considered a wee bit spicy for tender-tongues new to Thailand. But if you’ve been here longer than a week, they’re fine.
My dinner turned out to be fillet steak with mashed potatoes and spinach. Everything was as it should have been. The potatoes were properly mashed, the beef well-cooked and Popeye would have recognized the spinach. Too full for dessert, we went on to coffee. It was served in individual drip cups so it brewed at the table. Served with fresh whipped cream, it was delicious.
The prices at Somsak are average; not high, not low. The average price of Thai dishes is 90 baht, with European food about 140 baht.
Somsak Restaurant is located on Soi 1.

Recipe: STIR FRIED BEAN SPROUTS WITH BEAN CURD AND OYSTER SAUCE

One of the easiest ways to prepare a tasty dish with bean curd and bean sprouts is:

Take a cake of bean curd with a pleasant smell. Some curd smells very strongly of what is probably the coagulating agent used. Cube it and set aside. Clean a heaped plate of bean sprouts by removing the brown ends of the roots and the green remains of the bean shell at the top. Wash and drain. Finely chop two cloves of garlic and cut three to four onion grass leaves or spring onions into small pieces. Also slice one large red chilli without the seeds in thin strips (optional).
In a wok, heat two tablespoons of pork fat or vegetable oil and add the garlic as well as the cubed “Tahu”. Stir for two or three minutes over a high fire and add the sprouts. Stir again - keep the fire high otherwise the sprouts will shed a lot of liquid which is not what you want. Add a dash of good oyster sauce, the chilli, the onion grass and a teaspoon or two of sesame oil. Serve immediately with rice.
This recipe is ideal for people who live alone and have not much time to cook. It is very tasty and healthy while you may add a little shredded ham or fried dried shrimps for variations in flavour. Ground pork is also often used.