Soei Restaurant, a Legendary Restaurant Where Most Dishes Are 120 Baht.

Soei Restaurant is one of Bangkok’s well-known restaurants that has been open for more than 30 years. Its unique recipe has resulted in an extensive range of flavorful dishes and most of them are priced at 120 baht!!

We became aware of this restaurant from Mark Wiens several years ago. I wanted to taste how delicious the fried mackerel chin would be, but procrastination took over.

Starting the car is already tiring and it’s better to stay at home and play games.

But eventually…me and my wife were finally dragged to eat at Soei Restaurant. And so, I finally have a review for you.

Overview

Pros

• Reasonably priced.
• Delicious as rumored.
• Good and fast service

Cons

• The restaurant does not have its own parking lot. Visitors would have to find their parking on the street around the area.
• The restaurant was considerably noisy due to the large number of customers.

Food at Soei Restaurant is pretty flavorful and is suitable for enjoying with rice or as an appetizer.

It is also clean and has a retro old-fashioned vibe from the photos on the wall. It’s suitable for dining with friends or family at a leisurely pace.

Ambiance

In addition to the tables in the air-conditioned room as seen in the photo, the restaurant also has seating outside the small, air-conditioned room.

On the day of our review, there was a considerable number of customers. So, we didn’t have the opportunity to take photos.

The photos were without any diners as we took them when the shop was closed ^^.

Recommended Menu Items

Recommended menu items at Soei Restaurant
• Grilled Beef
• Stir-fried Liver With Garlic
• Stir-fried Beef Shank With Basil
• Pork Crackling With Chili
• Wasabi Shrimp
• Miang Pla Too (mackerel wrapped in leaves with condiments)
• Deep-fried Mackerel Chin

The Deep-fried mackerel chin is a very difficult dish to find, and orders must be booked in advance only. Luckily, we went with a friend who knew the restaurant owner, so we managed to get a hold of this unique dish.

If you get a chance, the Deep-fried mackerel chin is worth trying, but if you don’t, it’s still fine. I actually like the Grilled beef, Stir-fried liver, and Stir-fried beef shank with basil more.

Other Menu Items

Listed below are some of the dishes that we tried out.

Pla Too Tom Yum (Spicy Mackerel Soup)
160-240 baht – Firm mackerel meat in a clear spicy soup. Flavorful, with just the right amount of spiciness.

Grilled Beef
120 baht – Soft chewy texture, a nice combination of sweet and salty flavors interspersed with the grilled aroma. Very delicious to the point that we ordered 3 dishes. An item not to be missed.

Stir-fried Liver With Garlic
150 baht – The highlight is the large piece of liver which featured a soft juicy texture, not too tough or had any unwanted smell.

It had a nice combination of sweetness and saltiness, with a nice garlic aroma. A dish not to be missed for diners who like liver.

Stir-Fried Beef Shank With Basil
120 baht – Flavorful basil. The beef was served in bite-sized portions and was soft and chewy, while not too tough. Highly recommended.

Pork Crackling With Chili
120 baht – Roasted pork rinds which were light and crispy. Not too greasy and is enjoyable when eaten with rice.

Wasabi Shrimp
120 baht – Fresh firm texture shrimp. Instead of dipping it in fish sauce as most restaurants do, the restaurant provides a seafood dipping sauce mixed with wasabi.

Therefore, the dish comes with a Thai-style spicy taste but with a slight wasabi aroma.

Miang Pla Too
120 baht – Roughly pounded mackerel meat, similar to mackerel chili paste, and eaten with lettuce, peanuts, chili, ginger, galangal and lime.

Green Curry Stir-fried Fish Balls
120 baht – Pla Krai Fish Balls (spotted knife fish) sourced from Nakhon Sawan. Smooth, firm texture, with no unwanted fishy smell, stir-fried in flavorful fragrant green curry paste. This dish is a bit salty.

Fried Mackerel Chin
120 baht – Light and crispy, and not as hard as it looks. Salty in taste with a good aroma of the mackerel. This dish must be booked in advance only, which might also prove to be a bit difficult as it is quite hard to find.

“I have to make at least 4-5 bowls of spicy mackerel spicy soup in order to get at least a plate of deep-fried mackerel chin”, the restaurant owner told me.

Location, Opening Hours, Pricing

Soei Restaurant

Location

• 35 Soi Phibun Watthana 6, Samsen Nai, Phaya Thai, Bangkok