reader Posted February 18, 2018 Posted February 18, 2018 From Coconuts Bangkok Near the top of Soi 7, which has been dubbed “Soi Public Toilet,” there’s a vacant lot behind a scary corrugated tin wall. In front of it is a bougie, white people wedding-style chalkboard sign proclaiming that, if you walk through a break in the wall, you can experience the “Vacant Lot Restaurant — Bangkok’s Most Unique Dining Experience.” Never being a news team to walk away from a challenge, we headed into the lot on Wednesday afternoon. The setting was as promised — a vacant lot dotted with rubble and a weird patchwork of tiled floors left behind by the businesses that occupied the space before being demolished two years ago, according to Vacant Lot Restaurant owner Suda Chumpang, 55, who said it was formerly a complex housing bars, karaoke rooms, snooker halls, and massage parlors. Red steel tables sit in one corner of the large lot, near an outdoor kitchen, big blue ice cooler, and somtam stand. The mostly empty space provides a view of random debris and the JW Marriott Hotel in the distance. A few Thai women in short dresses were eating while one older white guy nursed a warm Chang while giving off forgotten farang husband vibes. The humble al fresco dining option seems to be popular among all types of people from tourists, to local Nana girls, to Thai laborers. Nampeung, the restaurant’s waitress, quickly greeted Coconuts staff with a smile. She spoke English fairly well and got us started with a couple of small local beers for THB100 each and waters for THB30 each. Compared to the cost of eating elsewhere in the tourist area, Suda’s restaurant offered a tempting deal. We got a shrimp pad thai for THB50 and stir-fried morning glory for THB40. No dual pricing here. Suda had much to say about foreigners and Thai food. As someone who has been in the F&B trade for many years — she used to have a restaurant in Ayutthaya — she said that farangs know much more about Thai food than they did just a few years ago. They used to stick to pad thai and fried rice, but now they can handle spice, eating larb with aplomb and ordering krapow like a local. “They even eat somtam with plara (super-stinky fermented fish)!” she said with delight. Continues with pics https://coconuts.co/bangkok/news/vacant-lot-restaurant-bangkoks-unique-dining-experience/ ChristianPFC and vinapu 2 Quote
