Lunch like grandma used to make

Beyond the bustle of Khao San Road and the hustle of Bang Lamphu market is a charming old-world hotel that not only offers the warm hospitality Thailand was so famed for half a century ago but a kitchen that still serves the wonderfully tasty recipes of yesteryear.

The Viengtai Hotel, now a stately 50 years old, has remained in the same family and many of the staff have been there for years. Their welcome is genuine and warm, a reminder of what “service minded” really means.

Viengtai Hotel used to be the only hotel in the quiet Bang Lamphu area, which was once lined with the homes of aristocrats. But Bangkok has changed fast and today this grand old lady surrounded by backpackers’ haunts and busy markets. The two-storey hotel with 20 rooms has been revamped and is now a nine-storey building with 200 rooms. But the second-generation owner 70-year-old Oranuj Osatananda insists on maintaining the slow, though efficient, pace.

No matter how much the world outside has changed, the hotel’s restaurant Rosirin says locked in its own time capsule, offering the same rare and authentic Thai dishes on its menu that it has for 50 years. The best time to visit is around midday, when you can sample the buffet lunch – a steal at just Bt400 net . A live band plays the timeless songs of Suntaraporn and hits from the 70’s and guests can go up on stage to join in too – but only if they’re confident that their voices won’t hurt anyone. 

“We serve many old-fashioned dishes that are rarely found in restaurants and we cook them in the same way we’ve always done,” says Oranuj. “The chefs have been trained through the generations to maintain the old recipes. Thai food should come with the right concoctions of flavours – neither too sweet nor sour. However, most of regular guests are seniors so our spicy dishes are not too strong. The signature dishes since the restaurant’s beginnings include mee krob (sweet-and-sour crisp-fried rice noodle) and kaoman somtam (spicy papaya salad served with coconut-steamed rice and shredded sweetened pork).”

The buffet line offers a wide selection of choices from spicy Thai salads, soups, appetisers, rice and Thai dishes and khanom jeen or rice noodles with your choice of sauce. These range from Northern-style spicy pork sauce, sweet curry to fish curry and Southern-style fish dip with an assortment of vegetables. Some Western and Japanese offerings such as pork lasagna, fish fillet with spinach and cheese and an assortment of sushi are also available. 

With the exception of true customer favourites, the dishes change everyday so diners don’t get bored. If buffet is not your thing, you can order your preferred dish a la carte.

The all-time favourite mee krob - sweet-and-sour crisp-fried rice noodles with shrimps- is delectable. The red sauce is obtained from the dried red chillies that are boiled until soft and then spun and simmered with sugar, vinaigrette and salt to get sweet-and-sour taste. The sauce is then stir-fried with the puff-fried rice noodles and garnished with pickled garlic, bean sprouts, shredded Thai-style omelette and Chinese chives. Som saa (bigarade, aka Seville orange), an increasingly rare and expensive citrus fruit, is added to give a piquant bitterness and pleasant odour.

Another titbit that shouldn’t be missed is pan klib pla. This Thai-style fish dumpling is served with fresh vegetables. The filling is made of snakehead fish mash stir-fried with garlic, shallot, coriander root and crushed peanut until sticky and seasoned with salt and sugar. It is then stuffed in a wheat flour and arrowroot dough before steaming. 

A kaoman somtam moo foi set offers a bite of paradise. The rice is steamed with coconut milk and coloured blue with extract of dok anchan (butterfly pea) and served with shredded sweetened pork. The somtam might look fiery but it’s actually not too strong. Its redness comes from spinning the dried seedless red chillies, which are then mixed with shredded green papaya, palm sugar, lemon juice and ground dried shrimp. The somtam is best enjoyed with chaplu leaves and long beans.

Next up is yum kamin khao, a spicy salad of young white turmeric with shrimp that’s s not easy to find in a restaurant. The shredded white turmeric is cooked with lemon juice, palm sugar, fish sauce and is garnished with minced pork, dried shrimp, golden fried shallots, shredded chaplu leaves and cabbage and topped with shrimps. 

There is a cooking station where you can order then observe the cook preparing the traditional kanom buang yuan – a crispy crepe filled with stir-fried dried minced shrimp, bean sprouts and tofu, and khao kriab pak mor or steamed rice-skin dumplings. 

 

THE TRUE TASTE OF THAI

Rosirin is at Viengtai Hotel on Rambuttri Road in Bang Lamphu. The buffet lunch costs Bt400 net and is available daily from noon to 2pm. Call (02) 280 5434-45 or visit www.Viengtai.co.th.