A dining room made for two

WIPAPORN Osathanugrah – the lady behind the now-defunct clothing boutique Duet at Siam Square – has turned her talents to cuisine spurred on, no doubt, by married life with Thatcharin, whose mother runs the popular Thai restaurant Bua. 

Today rather than searching for the finest fabrics and designs, she’s sourcing the best ingredients and creating menus for her own Duet Cafe.

Located at HaHa mall on Srinakarin Road, the compact 40-seat eatery has a cosy ambience that’s enhanced by an all-wood decor and comfortable beige-upholstered banquettes. Colourful cushions add a playful touch and shelves of knickknacks bring a feeling of intimacy. Each table has a socket to enable diners to stay connected and the wi-fi signal is not only strong but free. And while the cafe is tucked away inside the mall and not overlooking the street, Wipaporn hopes her tempting home-made cuisine will draw customers.

“My husband’s family has a lot of recipes for home cooking that don’t appear on Bua’s menu. My friends sampled them and agreed that the tastes are unique. That give me the idea of sharing them more widely,” says Wipaporn.

After studying the family’s culinary repertoire, she set to work calculating the exact quantities and weights of each ingredient, a rarity in Thai cuisine where the taste tends to be adjusted by sampling what’s in the pot.

“My mother-in-law also introduced me to the former Thai chef at her friend’s restaurant who excels in European cooking and he accepted my offer to man the kitchen at Duet Cafe,” she adds.

Rice cooked in coconut cream served with papaya salad, chicken green curry and sweetened shredded pork (Bt150) offers just the right combination of flavours. The papaya salad is slightly spicy, the curry cooked to perfection and the rice is not too oily.

Another home-cooked delicacy is khai palow, braised egg and pork belly with Chinese five spices (Bt120) which is slowly cooked for six hours. The brown sauce is not too dark as it uses plum sugar rather than black soy sauce.

For those who like it hot, there’s spaghetti nam prik ong (Bt160) cooked with Northern-style chilli dip and tomato relish. It’s served with grilled tender pork slices, crisply crackling and long beans. 

Another Northern-style dish is khao soi gai (Bt120), yellow curry noodle soup with chicken. The flat egg noodles and tender chicken morsels come in a mildly spiced broth made creamy with coconut cream. The accompanying pickled cabbage, shallots and lime slices cut through the creamy texture and the deep-fried egg noodles topping the dish add an addictive crunch.

The European dishes include duck confit (Bt320) served with cranberry sauce and salad with balsamic dressing and the chef’s take on the Thanksgiving Turkey but made with roasted tender chicken (Bt295) and served with cranberry and gravy sauces, mashed potato, grilled vegetables.

Lovers looking for a Valentine’s Day meal that won’t break the bank will find it at Duet. Priced at a very reasonable Bt350 per person, the three-course set menu offers a choice of spinach-and-eggplant soup or mushroom soup, a main course of salmon steak, roasted chicken or pork chop and a choice of three desserts – apple bake, apple crumble and apple cake.

 

 

MADE FOR SHARING

>>Duet Cafe is on the ground floor of HaHa mall on Srinakarin Soi 55 (next to Paradise Park). It’s open daily from 10am to 9pm. 

>>Call (02) 022 0033.