Bueng Wapee Restaurant

[Guest]

Yesterday I decided that it was about time I took my GF back to the Bueng Wapee Restaurant for another great meal. If you aren?t familiar with this restaurant, let me describe it for you. The restaurant is located on the klong just West of the Seacon Shopping Center at 28 Sri Nakarin. About another 150 yards past the restaurant is the Seri Center. The restaurant is about a 150-200 Bt ride from Sukhumvit Soi 4, but the easiest way to get there is to first take the BTS to the Lotus store at On Nut. Go to the ground floor and then take a taxi from the Northeast ground floor door. The taxi will exit and take On Nut, i.e. Soi 77, West to Sri Nakarin, where it will turn right. Just past Seacon Center, which will be on your left, is a small road. The entrance to Bueng Wapee is on the right just past the entrance to this road. The taxi cost from the On Nut Lotus store should be less than 100 Bt. If your taxi driver needs directions have him use his cell phone and call the restaurant at 0-2393-4295, 0-2396-0319, 0-2748-1217, or 0-2396-1490.

 

Bueng Wapee is a large restaurant with outdoor seating on both the North and South sides of the klong, as well as a small inside air conditioned dinning room on the South side of the klong. The outdoor seating area is roofed over and there are ceiling fans everywhere to help keep you cool. On the North side of the klong there are a number of square seating areas for families/parties, which extend over the klong. On the West is a very large seating area set back from the klong. To the South is a long seating area with tables next to the klong. Bueng Wapee serves a variety of dishes, but specialize in seafood.

 

There were still a number of tables occupied when we arrived at 1:30 p.m., but since we arrived after the main lunch period ended we were easily able to get a nice table on the South side of the klong. I quickly ordered the items I consider most necessary on a hot afternoon in Bangkok, a cold beer with a bucket of ice for me, and a watermelon slush for my GF.

 

We have eaten here a number of times in the past and I know the food would be good and wasn?t worried about eating anything. I love their deep fried fish (plaa thawt) with cashews, served with a green mango and chopped chilies in vinegar salad to put on top the fish (I have seen several different kinds of white meat fish served this way in different restaurants.), but decided to explore new dishes so I asked my GF not to order it. I then turned the menu over to my GF.

 

The beer arrived quickly, along with a dish of peanuts and a couple of slices of lime. I like to add a little lime to my beer and my GF had thoughtfully ordered for me. They also brought a large loaf of bread my GF had ordered. The idea is that you tear the bread up into chunks, about 1? on a side, and throw these into the klong. There is a large population of huge catfish in the klong and they quickly congregate for the free meal. We had as many as 30-40 catfish, some over 2? in length, thrashing around on the surface of the klong at a time.

 

The first food to arrive was tom yom plaa (spicy seafood soup), which was in a stainless steel container set above a charcoal brazier to keep it hot. The soup was delicious and spicy, but not overpowering, containing mushrooms, fish, shrimp, and squid. Almost immediately after the tom yom arrived they brought crab fried rice, fried shrimp with asparagus, and a plate of sliced cucumbers, lime slices, and green onions. The fried rice had a very mild flavor with contrasted nicely with the tom yum. The shrimp and asparagus were tasty, but the sauce was starchy and glue like in consistency and not as good as it should have been ? this was my first disappointment of half a dozen different meals at this restaurant. About the time I was finishing my first bowl of tom yum and starting in on the fried rice and shrimp and asparagus, a catfish dish arrived.

 

This catfish dish, yum plaa duk foo, is definitely unlike any seafood I have ever had before. The catfish is finely chopped, piled on top of some of the skin, then the whole thing is deep-fried together. When it arrives it is a crumbly mound of crispy pieces of fish, roughly the size of grains of rice, on top of pieces of crisp catfish skin. It is served with the sliced green mango and peppers in vinegar salad, which really sets off the flavor. Not only do I love this dish, but apparently jing jok (geckos) do too. I noticed a couple of jing jok on the rail next to our table so I put a few crumbs of the fish on the rail and the next thing I knew we had two or three of them at a time munching away on crispy fried chopped catfish.

 

Finally the last dish arrived, raw oysters on ice with some green things to eat. I have no idea what the green things were. They looked like 8? stalks of rosemary, but weren?t. Along with the oysters were three small bowls of different sauces. One was sliced garlic and peppers in soy sauce, one was the red pepper sauce that is sold like bottled ketchup, and the last was chopped chilies in vinegar. I am leery of raw oysters, not wanting another case of diarrhea or a case of hepatitis, but I do love them. By the time we got to the oysters I was so full I didn?t think I could eat any more but finally broke down and ate one dipped in the pepper sauce? it was delicious and so far no ill effects. After my oyster I simply sat at the table, with my stomach bulging out over my belt and a glazed expression on my face, while my GF ate a few final morsels of food and I sucked on the ice left in my beer glass.

 

We had finished the tom yum but had small portions of fried rice, fried catfish, about half the oysters, and one lone shrimp left. We were stuffed and finally decided not to take any leftovers home with us. I called for the check bin, which totaled just under 500 Bt for the entire meal with drinks. I added a tip and we waddled out of the restaurant about 3:00 p.m.

 

After leaving the Bueng Wapee Restaurant we walked to the Seri Center for a little shopping before heading home by taxi. Once home I turned on the air conditioner and collapsed on the couch and into a 90-minute nap. About 8:00 p.m. the GF decided it was time for us to eat again. She had grilled pork and rice sausages, sliced and with a piece of a chili stuffed into the center of the sausage, served with chopped Chinese cabbage and pickled ginger. Don?t ask me how she could possibly eat anything because all I could get down was a can of Pepsi Max.

 

[Searcher]

Harry,

Great write-up. Bueng Wapee Restaurant is now on my list of "gotta go do".

 

By the way, I miss the great reports that you used to post on Lucky's old Cambodia site.

 

Hope all is well with you,

Searcher