restaurant review: soul food in bangkok

Soul Food.

Eating while traveling is an amazing thing. But, it's even more special when one meets new friends.

Through our travels, Mr. Sazy Rock and I have met so many people that we've kept in touch with through the years. One of those friends is Lex, who the hubs met on his own travels around the world but I've since met in our travels. Lex is a lovely young lady from Malaysia who has recently moved to Thailand. She's also really into food. I've met her twice before in other places she's lived in - Kuala Lumpur and London - and each meeting involved a lot of eating. I actually really love that about her because she's introduced me to many tasty and memorable haunts.

When I told her that Mr. SR - who she lovingly refers to as "Uncle" - and I were visiting Bangkok, she made sure that we had to visit her favorite restaurant called, Soul Food, in Thong Lo in the Sukumvit area of Bangkok. I was more than happy to be led around.

The Scene

I found Soul Food to be a nice and cozy looking restaurant with a small bar. The area actually has a lot of expats so it was no surprise to see a few of them in the restaurant. In fact, the owners are expats themselves. I met one of them, Candice, who was very friendly and welcoming. She definitely treated her customers like old friends, who in turn, kept returning. That was exactly what happened to Lex. She found the place, loved it, and kept on returning. Since then, Lex and Candice have become friends. Because Candice knew Lex, she kindly sent out a couple of complimentary dishes (noted in brackets).

The Bar.

The Food

Lamb samosas - Served hot and crunchy. The ground lamb had a hint of cumin and was full of  flavor. 

Lamb Samosas.

Smoky eggplant salad with duck eggs (complimentary) - I'm so grateful Candice sent this dish out because it was so tasty. It was smoky and sour and spicy and sharp. The eggs were also perfectly cooked and had that bright orange yolk color. Looking back on my trip, this was definitely one of my top tasted in Thailand.

Smoky Eggplant.

Banana flower fritters (complimentary) - These were perfectly crisp.

Banana Flower Fritters.

Pork belly curry - This lovely dish was smoky and rich, and the curry was thick.

Pork Belly Curry.

Thai fried chicken - The chicken was served hot and crunchy.

Fried chicken.

Flank steak - This was a good dish but probably my least favorite only because the steak itself was a bit unremarkable. But, the salad was beautifully sharp and bright. 

Flank Steak.

The Price

For a nice sit-down restaurant, the prices were reasonable. With booze and tip, our bill came just under $40 for three people. A good deal, I think.

The Soul Food Menu.

The Verdict

As always, it was great to see Lex again. And for the purposes of this post, I'm glad she did not lead us astray. Candice and the kitchen staff have shown us why Lex kept on coming back. I enjoyed my meal at Soul Food and I can only wish Soul Food and Candice were near me so I could visit it again. The fact that expats dine here should NOT dissuade you from eating at Soul Food. If you avoid it because of the expats issue, you will be missing out on a tasty meal, created and served by lovely people.