Soi Phraeng Phuton off Thanon Tanao

Chote Chitr has been written about in nearly every restaurant guide to Bangkok, from the lofty Wall Street Journal to the local city mag BK. We had to try it.

After getting off the sky train at National Stadium we encountered terrible traffic, so decided to walk the three miles (5km) to the restaurant instead of cabbing it. After also doing a gym workout earlier in the day, we were starving when we arrived... and, of course, ordered way, way, way too much. Here's what we ate:

This dish was called Mee Krob, or Crispy Noodles with Chicken and Shrimp. The deep fried noodles were very thin, so although crunchy it didn't take too much jaw work. It had a sweet orange flavor and even had a couple of slices of caramelized rind added to the noodles. The shrimp were plump, while the chicken was reminiscent of a Chinese-American stir fry.

Verdict: T = Far too sweet/ J = Tasted like it looks, fried thin noodles. Meh!

The broth of this dish (Tom Yum soup with crisp fish) was strongly sour with a hint of sweetness, and a fragrance of lemongrass and bird's eye chilies, which were liberally sprinkled in the soup. The crisp fish, which tasted almost like a chewy pork rind, stayed very crispy throughout the whole meal, despite being soaked in the broth and the long mushrooms were especially tender.

Verdict: T = Perfection in bowl! /J = Awesomely sour (I love sour). Crisp Fish perfect ingredient for it.

The Chinese Broccoli with Salted Fish was very much like similar dishes J's had in Hong Kong, Singapore, and even Flushing in New York. The slightly crisp broccoli was tossed in a light oyster sauce and the salted fish was only mildly salty and much more tender than other versions. 

Verdict: T = Fresh, crunchy vegetables, but fish not salty enough/ J = Well prepared, but pedestrian. 

This stir fry of squid with heart of palm and green peppercorns was not what T ordered (squid with curry and chilli), oh well! The squid was not chewy, but not especially succulent either. The sauce was a mild goopy sauce that did not sufficiently hold the spice of the peppercorns. We also detected a hint of anise. 

Verdict: T= Overpowered by licorice flavor/J = Good ingredients, but boring flavor

This was Thai bacon with long beans in a dry red curry. The bacon was very chewy and difficult to eat and lacked a strong flavor on its own. The long beans were just slightly blanched and soaked up the curry paste very well. The curry paste was deeply flavorful (garlicky, spicy from bitter dried red chilies, salty, and fragrant, possibly from ginger or galangal).

Verdict: T= Would've been better with less chewy bacon/ J= The beans were too waxy (not cooked long enough), but the curry paste was rich and complex.

The Spicy Banana Flower salad also had chicken and was sprinkled with fried shallots. Served warm, the extremely creamy sauce was a unique combination of sweet and rich coconut and spicy red chili. The banana flowers soaked up the sauce exceptionally well. When we constructed bites consisting of chicken, banana flower and fried shallot together the result was an explosion of flavor and texture.

Verdict: T= The perfect combination of creamy, sweet and spicy/ J= Flavor party in my mouth. Woohoo!

As if we didn't eat enough... dessert. A simple concoction of simple syrup with grass jelly and ice. Well, it tasted like sugar water and aspic. T drank the syrup straight from the bowl... bad girl!

Verdict: T= I love syrup!/ J= I prefer ice cream

As you can imagine, after the meal we resembled this dog on the table next to us: