Long Gun Posted February 18, 2002 Report Share Posted February 18, 2002 During what turned out to be quite a cultural weekend, I paid my first vist to what seems to have become a fairly well established institution among wealthy Thais. 'German Tawan Daeng' seems to have no connection with the similarly named Issan venues in Klong Tan. It is a massive German brewhouse/restaurant which apparently seats 1200 people. We had booked a table at 6.00 pm on Saturday and it was quiet then, by 7.00 pm it was pretty much full!! They do 3 of their own beers, a lager, a dark beer (dunken) and a wheat beer (I did try this but was very disappointed - seemed way too fizzy and tasted a bit medicinal really. On the other hand the dunken was very drinkable and not badly priced at B100 for 0.5 litres. They also do 0.3, 1.0 and a strange 2.0 litre contraption with a tap. I wasn't really thrilled with the food, mainly Thai with a few German dishes, but the pork knuckle was tasty along with the mashed potato and the Thai contiingent managed to wade through half the menu quite happily, almost as fast as the dishes arrived - the service in this place was unbelievably efficient and I found myself yearning for the traditional Thai sluggish inefficiency with random dishes arriving at unpredictable intervals. The main attraction for me was being able to hear the house band, lead by Bruce Gaston who I think is one of the owners. The band is called Fong Naam and has been going for over 20 years. Bruce seems to be an old hippie (no offence, Old Hippie!) who has lived in Thailand since the post Vietnam era. I think he lectured in music at Chula, maybe he still does - anyone know much about him? Anyway, he is a very established composer and conductor in Thailand and has obviously done alright for himself. He plays piano, the only farang in a band of mainly middle-aged Thai guys playing an array of traditional instruments, gongs, big drums and those wonderful curved wooden xylophone things - hopefully we have people here who can tell us what they are called. There is also an electric bass player. The sound they make was one of the most interesting noises I have heard for ages and I am off in search of CDs tomorrow. They also did a 'humorous' slapstick number with the band running around playing angalung into a shared microphone and personally I would like to have heard them do some more serious stuff with this instrument as it is one of my favourite sounds in Thailand (it's a kind of shaker which is tuned to a particular note, so that everyone in the band is responsible for 2 notes, like bellringing I suppose, though they make a great noise when played together). There are other bands and singers sharing the stage, mainly light jazz stuff, but I thought it was worth the visit just to hear Fong Naam. They play around 8.00 or 8.30 and I would like to know if they do a later set too. The sound is good but there is an inevitable hubbub with that many people eating and drinking so if you there for the music it would be worth reserving a table front of stage. Worth a look! LG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phiketpete Posted February 18, 2002 Report Share Posted February 18, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Long Gone: and those wonderful curved wooden xylophone things - hopefully we have people here who can tell us what they are called. LG I beleive that the name you are seeking is Ranad. When played by abeautiful young thai girl in traditional costume it is quite entrancing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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