It is a few weeks since I had a look at what
is new in Bangkok. Inevitably there was the customary rush of new businesses
that opened just prior to the festive bit. And as usual some are good and
some not so.
Soi 33 is getting away from its expensive hostess bar image with a collection
of good pubs and eateries making their way to this location. I was in the
Office a month or so ago when I first saw the Mojo’s signage opposite
and realised exactly where it would be. Mojo’s (Sukhumvit Soi 33/2, Tel: 02 260 8429) seems
to be setting its stall out as a live music/Blues pub, however it is also
bragging about its food. Now I must own up to the fact that I am a man who
is normally anti ribs (why take the meat off a pork chop and then serve it?)
and suspicious of bastardised French colonial cooking. So it was with certain
trepidation that I decided to eat in a place calling itself a Rib Joint. The
menu is primarily Creole/New Orleans style cooking, with no concessions to
other cuisine except Thai, I am sure that is to keep the consorts happy, and
burgers (oh dear!).
I had Spicy chicken wings and crab cakes to start and I really enjoyed them.
The sauce was tasty and spicy, but not too much so, and the crab cakes were
moist. As a main I settled on “Big Bertha’s Pulled & Smoked
Pork Butt Platter,” not knowing what to expect. But hey, it was very
tasty and was served with good mashed potatoes. The food was really excellent
and I have eaten (reluctantly) in the other so-called specialist New Orleans/Rib
joints in Bangkok and frankly I have no desire to go back. But at Mojo’s
I actually liked the food and will go back for that alone.
The only hiccup was with the wine. I think the term is ‘confusion reigns’,
in that department. In the end I had a reasonable bottle of house red from
California. But why is the list so limited? Only offers Californian wine,
and the stocks are so low, is a mystery. In general the service could also
do with a polish.
However this is a Blues Music place and I had gone for that. Greg is the music
boss and I know him of old from the Blues Factory in Pattaya. The band the
night I went was Mojo Hand with Mekong Dr Blues. Nice bluesy music, which
went up in tempo when Greg got on the stage with his harps (mouth organs)
and vocals. He has lost none of the panache that helped make the Blues Factory
the success it is today. The place was full and the joint was hopping when
I had to move on.
The Rajah hotel car park (Sukhumvit Soi 4) has proved to be a tricky spot
to do business. Many have tried but only a few have succeeded. The places
that have worked seem to be specialist operations such as Annie’s massage
and more recently Megabreak Pool Hall. Places requiring volume business such
as the late Paradise Disco have failed miserably. So it is a brave man who
tries to get a volume business going in this area. Smoking Eddy’s decision
to once again tackle the viper-strewn pitfalls of the RHCP are probably more
to do with owning the premises than bravery. However he has assembled the
money and re-built what was once the Paradise Pub into the Paradise
City Roadhouse; the name owing much to the difficulty of legally
renaming operations in Thailand as well as to the Gun’s n’ Roses
‘Paradise City’ (Take me down to the paradise city, Where the
grass is green, And the girls are pretty).
PCR has been a month in opening properly, however I was assured it was now
indeed properly open when I caterpillared in the other evening. The reason
for the delay is that this is supposed to be a Coyote Ugly style operation
(servers/dancing on the bar top etc.) and it was taking time to train the
girls in what to do. The décor is pretty good with a long bar, brick
walls, suitable signage (Hell No: H2O),
a mezzanine floor for the music machine, an American shuffle board and a corralled
bucking bull. What I hoped for was an all-partying fun bar; unfortunately
customers were sparse when I arrived. Graham (ex Living Room) is the manager
and he greeted me with the suggestion that I was a little late for the party.
It had been busier earlier, he assured me. Anyway what the hell, if you are
not late you are early, so there was nothing left to do but see if I could
not have a party. A couple of friendly girls joined me at the bar and we did
indeed party.
I had a very good night, mainly because I was in the party mood and the two
girls were fun girls. I fear that the PCR will need to somehow attract a good
crowd if the atmosphere is going to be anything like the one sought. Exactly
where they will come from is another matter. I think Smoking Eddy and Graham
are going to have to work hard on promotions and parties to earn enough to
pay for the H2O to make the grass green
in this Paradise City.
The Crown Group management ability must be a matter of conjecture when you
look at their collection of miserable bars in Nana Plaza. They may make a
profit, and I am assured they do, but they do not deserve to make one! So
it is with some surprise that I can write about a successful Crown Group operation,
needless to say they do not provide the management.
Chevaliers (Soi 3) was a French restaurant that never quite got it right,
the food may have been okay but the service was appalling. For once the Crown
Group did not persevere with a failing operation, they actually allowed somebody
else to take over. That somebody was the Mehmaan Restaurant that was being
displaced by the development on the corner of Soi 3 and Sukhumvit Road. Mehmaan ( 68 Sukhumvit Soi 3, Tel: 02 253 4689) is an upmarket
Indian restaurant. There is a good selection of starters and mains as well
as tandoori meals. This is not an English style dyno-rod: a place for a quick
vindaloo after a dozen pints of old and filthy. I have eaten here a few times
and I always enjoyed my meals, and I am not a great fan of Indian cooking.
The service is courteous and swift, and the prices seemed very fair to me.
And whilst I may prefer a more genteel Rogan Josh, for aspiring lager louts
there is the odd vindaloo and other curries badged as very hot..
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