Chapter 8. THE REAL DEAL

Somboon Seafood

This time around, we grabbed a cab straight from our hotel to Somboon Seafood Restaurant. We held a printed map in our hands, to prevent the "conning" incident from turning into an annual affair.

Located along Surawong Road

There are 4 branches of Somboon Seafood in Bangkok. The nearest one to our hotel is at Surawong Road.

Previously I mentioned that we were in the dark about being conned even after last year's trip. In fact we only found out right before this year's trip, when the GF surfed the net again and came across the official website.

I don't think we had the official website last year. You may download the map to the individual branches here. It even warns customers about the "Fake Somboon Scam".

1st Floor

3rd Floor

The branch at Surawong is seated in a 3 storey building bearing the red logo. We arrived there roughly about 6.30pm.

The place was about 70% filled and we had to sit up on Level 3.

Attentive Staff

The restaurant is decked mainly in gold, with the waiters/waitress wearing yellow. The entire building is air-conditioned, tables were lined up accordingly and the chairs were cushioned to provide ample support.

The service provided by the staff here were top notch. One floor had about 5-6 waiters/waitress serving the customers and you rarely had to raise your arm to get their attention.

I had my beer frequently filled to the brim of my mug without requesting. They sure know how to make a man happy. ;p

Japanese customers

Strangely there were plenty of Japanese customers. They don't seem to belong to any travelling group and appeared to be individual customers.

Signature Dish - Curry Crab - 250Baht (5/5)

The Curry Crab had the crudentials to be ranked the 2nd best tasting crab, just behind Singapore's AMK - "Golden Sand Crab".

The mild spice tingled with the curry flavour, creating a sensational taste. It was a little bit oily for my liking but overall it was really good.

We ordered a small plate which was served with a small crab approximately 300-400gms.

Fried Oyster - 100Baht (4/5)

The oysters here were huge and juicy and succulent and thick and so big that once you bite into them, all the fresh juices inside squirt out onto your mouth palettes.

The method of frying the oysters with eggs were a tad bland in terms of taste, but it could be the way to further enhance the freshness of the oysters in the best possible manner.

Stir Fried Yod Mara in Oyster Sauce - 90Baht (3/5)

We enquired about this "Yod Mara" which turns out to be the leaves of the bittergourd plant. Too much stick portions and too little leavy parts.

Stir Fried Prawns with Garlic & Chilli - 325Baht (4/5)

Now this was actually a letdown. The waitress had insisted we tried the fresh steam prawns but we went for the stir fried version instead.

We had a lot of fresh seafood in Australia and were yearning for some prawns that had at least some condiments and taste, adding more flavour to it.

The moment we placed some prawns into our mouth, we regretted it. haha. The garlic was too bitter and there wasn't much taste of the chilli.

The overall flavour was just a mixture of salty and bitterness. The prawns itself were medium sized but fresh, just too bad the method of cooking paled in comparison with it's main ingredient.

Tom Yum Goong - 180Baht (4/5)

We had to order the Tom Yum wherever we dined. We are in Thailand - Kingdom of Spice and this is the only dish that best defines and describes the Thailand cuisine.

Do we get tired of it? Hell no. It's so good that as long as you're holding a Thailand passport, there's no way you can prepare a bad tasting Tom Yum.

The Tom Yum came in a steel steamboat pot which appears to have seen better days. It's battered form could be the result of years of usage and heat abuse.

It could be due to optical illusions, but having the Tom Yum served in a old, chipped and battered pot seems to make the soup seem tastier. Because we chinese have a saying that ....

"The longer you use the kuali/claypot/soup pot/etc for cooking, the more 入味 the dish is going to turn out."

Yummy

I heard from somewhere that the owner of Somboon is a Chinese Thai who opened the 1st branch in 1969.

Leftovers

For the 1st time in the longest of time, I had to decline another helping of seafood. Did I pick up a chronic disease that disabled my love for seafood?

There were some leftovers not because the food was bad, just the contrary .... the food was sooooo good that had we finished it, everything else we eat in the future would taste bland and tasteless. ;p

Somboon - So "Som" and So "Boon"

The final bill came to 1200Baht including drinks, a far cry from the 1800Baht we were charged at the fake Somboon. Definitely value for money. We will definitely be back.

When I was back in Kuching, my friend recommended another restaurant offering "Curry Crab" in the Chinatown area called "TK" or "T&K". All the workers wear blue so it shouldn't be hard to find.

They ordered a whole bunch of seafood for 4 pax and the final bill only came up to 800Baht. He came across this restaurant through forums. Maybe we'll try that next year. ;p



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