So last Sunday I checked out @Bangkok Restaurant. I haven’t been to this restaurant before as Kingsland is not my local area but I was given an opportunity to try their food. I am a big foodie and love Thai food so it was an offer I couldn’t resist. We tried a lot of dishes and overall had a great experience. If you’re after a new Thai place in Auckland to try, check out the post below.
So just to start off and to be completely transparent, I was offered a voucher to try this restaurant. However, from what you can see above, we ordered way too much food for two people and it actually exceeded what the voucher covered. We got a bit carried away as we wanted to try the best dishes they had to offer.
We ended up getting two entrèes, four mains, sticky rice and plain rice all to share.
I found the menu pretty interesting as it features different areas of Bangkok. The menu is split into 6 parts: entrèes, curries, stir fry, authentic Bangkok street salads, rice and noodles and then a whole section on fish.
The back of the menu also has a tourist guide of places to visit in Bangkok. I haven’t really seen that on a menu before but it’s handy if you want to book a trip to Thailand.
Moving on to the food, here are our entrèes / starters:
Money Bags (4 pieces) – $9
I love money bags. I can’t go to a Thai restaurant without ordering one so I’ve tried a lot of money bags from various places. @Bangkok’s money bags are slightly different as they use marinated chicken mince whereas I’ve mostly tried pork mince. These were delicious. The wrapper is light and crispy and the filling is dense and moist. We were told that they were going to take them off the menu and I told the owner that it was a terrible idea. These money bags were awesome and should always be in the menu.
Tuk Tuk Chicken Wings – $14
You can’t go wrong with fried chicken and this was recommended to us. These chicken wings were crispy and also delicious. The Thai spicy and sour sauce was great. Slightly tangy but not too spicy.
Moving on to the mains:
Massamun Curry – $19
We decided to go with the beef massamun curry rather than chicken as it was recommended to be the better option. The beef has been slow cooked for 4 hours and it was so nice and tender. This was rich and sweet with giant lumps of beef and potatoes. This was my favourite out of the four mains we tried. It wasn’t spicy at all so it was a welcome respite from the heat of the other dishes. I highly recommend this one.
Basil Pad Kra Pow – $18
We got this in pork mince and it’s their signature stir fry. This had great flavour and loaded with vegetables.
Spicy Noodle / Kuay Tiew Pad Keemao – $18
This was also a recommendation from the owner. The egg noodles are fresh every single day and it has basil, chilli, egg and your choice of meat. We decided to go with seafood and I was impressed by how much was in it. For the price, there were a lot of prawns, squid and scallops in there. Sadly for me this dish was way too spicy. I should’ve known from the name but I thought I could handle it. If you like your spicy food, this is a great choice. If you’re like me whose tastebuds can’t handle anything more than a mild-medium spice level, stay away from this one.
Beef Namtok – $18
I don’t typically order salads but I was assured that Thai salads are more meaty than green so we decided to order the beef Namtok from the Authentic Thai Street salad menu. This has thinly sliced beef with coriander, chilli, red onions and zingy lemon dressing. We were also recommended that this is paired well with sticky rice. The dressing on this dish was good as it has the fresh flavours from the lemon and coriander. The beef was slightly on the chewy side but we liked the taste of it as it was different to the other dishes.
I don’t know how we thought we were going to eat all of this food but we had the leftovers for lunch / dinner the so they were not wasted. I had the money bags and beef curry for lunch the next day and they were still good.
In terms of interior, the restaurant is pretty small but it’s nice and cosy. I like the exposed brick walls and the decor is quite simple. There is a neon sign on the wall and neon lighting up on the ceiling, some prints and graffiti-style artwork. The TV plays Muay Thai / Thai Boxing.
You can order the food for takeaway and they have 10% off for pick up takeaway orders. Also, for every Pad Thai order they donate $1 to Cure Kids which is pretty awesome.
Overall, the food we tried was good and fairly affordable. For the price, I think the serving size of the mains are great and they don’t scrimp on the meat, especially the seafood.
If you want to check it out, @Bangkok is at 438 New North Rd, Kingsland. They’re open every day except for Mondays from 5pm – 10:30pm.
A Style Collector 