Hot Lunch @ Baan Ice

Baan Ice, located on the ground floor and at the front of Somerset Thonglor, offers Southern Thai cuisine with authentic recipes from Nakorn Sri Tamarat. The restaurant is quite spacious with double-floor dining spaces and an small outdoor chill area. Driving to the restaurant is not a problem because there are plenty parking spaces (but the traffic is another story). It is quite convenient to commute to Baan Ice using BTS. Simply get off at BTS Thonglor station and catch a taxi or motorbike to Somerset Thonglor.

As people who enjoy Southern Thai cuisine, my boyfriend and I decided to have my lunch at Baan Ice the last Tuesday. Actually, I made the decision based mainly on two reasons. Firstly, during PMS, girls usually experience this craving for certain dishes. My cravings evolve around Thai fermented fish (ปลาร้า) and spicy food. Secondly, our good friend recommended this place to us a month or so ago when we talked about Southern Thai food.

A word of warning... what you see below may not look spicy, but trust me, my mouth was burning quite badly at the end of the meal. It is one of those painful and joyful moments in life. You know what I mean. The first dish we ordered was, of course, the popular Gaeng Tai Pla (แกงไตปลา) or spicy yellow curry with mackerel and fish gut. Here at Baan Ice, this soup was very very spicy, but it was worth the pain.

Goong Phad Sataw Kapi (กุ้งผัดสตอกะปิ) was good. It was the combination of kapi (shrimp paste) and chili paste. I prefer with just kapi. The right dish is called Gaeng Khe Lek (แกงขี้เหล็ก). It is one of the hard-to-find spicy Thai coconut soup with cassia leaves. I grew up with this soup and I still love having it. Cassia leaves have many great health benefits, so this soup is considered very nutritious.

To give spicy a break, we ordered stuffed omelette (ไข่ยัดไส้). I love this dish here so much! It was delicious. Give it a try if you are an egg lover like me. You get sourness, sweetness and a little bit of saltiness in one dish.

Towards the end of the meal, you are probably burning all over from the heat of chili in all the dishes. I suggest Pink Snow (หิมะสีชมพู) to cool you down. Personally, I think this is a very suitable and delicious dessert for a spicy meal.

So how would I rate Baan Ice? I would give 8.6 out of 10 for overall.

• 8.5 for Food... 3 out of 5 dishes we ordered were insanely good! ... but I like the recipe for Goong Phad Sataw Kapi at Khua Kling + Pak Sod better, and I expected more cassia leaves in Gaeng Khe Lek.
• 9.0 for Ambiance... Clean decoration with green and white theme. A little touch of leather chairs makes Baan Ice a little more edgy. The brown wooden book shelves make it more homey. Also it is located in a modern building with an easy and clean parkings. Good job for that.
• 8.0 for Services... Most waiters and waitresses need a little bit more training on how to provide proper restaurant services. However, there was one particular waitress who was very informative, helpful and responsive.
• 9.0 for Prices... 5 dishes and many bottles of water checked out to be less than 800 Thai Baht. I was super impressed. If compared to other Thai restaurants, the prices might be a little higher... but considering it is located in the hi-so Thonglor, I would say the prices are pretty cheap.

Until next time, stay full and stay happy.