Here’s a useful tip if you’re planning to eat at Soei: be prepared. Do not go famished and expect to be served a hot meal right away. The wait for a table or for food could take up to 2 hours.
It has an extensive 10-page Thai menu and a limited English menu, so you better bring a Thai-speaking guide. The open-air restaurant can get noisy, with throngs of customers, the ins and outs of passengers, and the rumbling of the train every now and then.
Be prepared to have the highlight meal of your trip – or even your life. Delight in rare Thai dishes such as fried mackerel faces, Thai shrimp ceviche, and mackerel curry.
The reason behind the slow service at Soei is that it has been a hit with both locals and foreigners through all these years: it has only one chef. The owner-chef cooks each of the orders himself to ensure that every dish that goes out of the kitchen is of highest quality. He prepares extremely flavorful Thai recipes that would make every minute of waiting well worth it. Finish your meal with a dessert of Ow-tung – seriously.
What to order: Chu chee pla to (Mackerel curry), Pla goong pao (Thai shrimp salad), Kaem pla too tod (Fried mackerel faces), Tom yum pla too (Mackerel tom yum soup)
Price range: 90 to 450 baht ($2.60 to $12.99)
When: 11:30 – 22:00 (Sunday to Friday)
Where: Kamphaeng Phet 5, Samsen Nai, Phaya Thai, Bangkok
How to get there: Take BTS Sukhumvit Line to Victory Monument station and then take a taxi to Samsen railway station.
