RESTAURANT REVIEWS
Bangkok: Pub / Western

Disclaimer: The restaurants reviewed in this section are simply places where we at Naked Farang have eaten. It is by no means an exhaustive list of the best or worst eateries. No payment is accepted for a good review and the restaurants are never made aware that a review is taking place. The Naked Farang can not be bribed and there is truly no such thing as a free lunch. If you want to recommend any places for us to visit and review, contact us on the link below. You can even recommend your own restaurant, but you won’t be warned that we are coming until after the visit. Equally, if you have visited a restaurant and want to share your review, fill in the form on the link at the bottom of the page and return it for our consideration.

Sukhumvit Zone
JOOLS
Cuisine:	British
Location:	Sukhumvit Soi 4 (Nana North), Bangkok
BTS/MRT:	Nana BTS
Price:	600 to 1,000 Baht for two people with drinks
Open:	10:30am to 10:30pm every day
Vegetarian:	Erm, well. Better try somewhere else.
Highlight:	The size of the portions
Low Point:	They can’t make proper Yorkshire Puddings
Reservation:	Not needed
Contact:	02-252-6413
NAKED EYE RATING
Food:	9/10	Monster-sized portions of quality food
Service:	8/10	The girls have mastered the spiral staircase
Ambiance:	6/10	Usually pretty quiet upstairs and cliquey downstairs
Décor:	8/10	Lots of old 70’s rock memorabilia

Jools Bar and Restaurant has been around since 1988. From the outside it looks quite unremarkable and even upon entering the downstairs bar there is nothing to suggest the gut busting potential of the portions on offer. I would recommend taking the spiral staircase to the upstairs restaurant to avoid the cliquey expat drivel downstairs. The food is a little expensive but then the portions are huge. The fare is British pub food – from the all-day breakfast to roast beef and Yorkshire puddings. There is also a decent selection of desserts, although I have no idea what they taste like as I am so stuffed after the main course that it takes me 20 minutes before I can move, never mind eat something else. The food is all of a very high standard and most of the meat is imported. My only gripe is that the Yorkshire puddings are so thick that they are more like cakes than the great old British delicacy that I learned to love as a child. To get to Jools, head about 200 metres down Sukhumvit Soi 4 and it’s on the left.

Sukhumvit Zone
OFFSHORE FISH AND CHIP SHOP
Cuisine:	British Greasy Cafe / Chip Shop
Location:	Sukhumvit Soi 23, Bangkok
BTS/MRT:	Asoke BTS, Sukhumvit MRT
Price:	500 – 700 Baht for two people with drinks. It’s cheap as chips
Open:	Daily for lunch and dinner
Vegetarian:	Yes, if you include fish or chip butties
Highlight:	Bangkok’s most British chippy
Low Point:	Your doctor wouldn’t like it
Reservation:	You’re having a laugh
Contact:	02-661-7830
NAKED EYE RATING
Food:	9/10	If you like that sort of thing, and I do
Service:	7/10	They don’t have far to go or much to remember, bless ‘em.
Ambiance:	6/10	That’s not what you come here for now is it?
Décor:	5/10	I seem to remember a picture

 

The Offshore Fish and Chip Shop is a greasy oasis in a desert of rice. If you come from the northern half of the UK, you will probably love this gastronomic sanctuary of chips (not crisps), fish, meat pies, baked beans and that much maligned and sadly misunderstood epicurean masterpiece - mushy peas. If you come from anywhere else in the world, you have my sympathies. The menu is as extensive as a Monty Python spam skit and just as rewarding. Ambiance and décor are French words and, therefore, have no place in such a quintessentially British establishment. The tables, chairs and walls are functional – nothing more. You are not going to spend a few hours with a bottle or two of Chardonnay over a meal here. Nibbling is for puffs and there are no such fancies here. As much as I love Thai food, my trips to The Offshore Fish and Chip Shop are rare but much anticipated and never disappointing. You can find culinary enlightenment on the left side of Sukhumvit Soi 23, about 100 metres in from the main road.

Silom Zone
BARBICAN
Cuisine:	International
Location:	Soi Thaniya, Silom, Bangkok
BTS/MRT:	Sala Daeng BTS, Silom MRT
Price:	600 to 1,200 for 2 people with drinks
Open:	11:30am to 10:30pm every day
Vegetarian:	Good choice available
Highlight:	Excellent food
Low Point:	It’s compact but not exactly bijou
Reservation:	Not needed
Contact:	02-234-3590
NAKED EYE RATING
Food:	9/10	A very good selection of high quality food
Service:	9/10	Very attentive staff
Ambiance:	8/10	Can get loud and lively on weekends
Décor:	7/10	It’s so subtle that I can’t remember

The Barbican is both a bar and a restaurant and brands itself as a modern music cafe. There is a separate restaurant upstairs, but it seems to be used sparingly. Most people, myself included, prefer to dine in the raised seated area of the bar. The Barbican has an almost wine bar feel to it and it seems to attract mostly well off expats and Thais. It’s a popular post work watering hole and gets very busy in the evenings and weekends. A DJ rocks the house in peak hours, so don’t expect a cosy candlelit dinner for two. Do expect a buzzing atmosphere and quality food. The chicken ricotta a personal favourite, but the bill of fare is extensive and includes a broad range of vegetarian dishes. The Barbican is to be found on Soi Thaniya, just off Silom. It is close to the Surawong end of the street, but if you are walking from Silom or Sala Daeng BTS, you will find it about 150 metres into the soi on the right hand side.

Silom Zone
O’REILLY’S
Cuisine:	Irish / British / Thai / International
Location:	Silom
BTS/MRT:	Sala Daeng BTS (practically connected). Silom MRT
Price:	600 to 1,200 for 2 people with drinks
Open:	Breakfast, lunch and dinner every day
Vegetarian:	Available
Highlight:	Beer, food, sport and music
Low Point:	Can be confusing when the sport is competing with live music
Reservation:	Not needed
Contact:	02 235 1272
NAKED EYE RATING
Food:	8/10	A very good selection of high quality food
Service:	8/10	Friendly and they try to keep everyone served
Ambiance:	7/10	Can get loud with various live music nights – cosy otherwise
Décor:	7/10	Irish pub kind of stuff – green

O’Reilly’s is a bit of a Bangkok institution and is very popular with both expats and Thais. It can get crowded and lively downstairs in the evenings and on the weekend, but the upstairs provides extra space and seating for the overflow, and refuge from the noise for those wanting a quieter meal. I sometimes feel that O’Reilly’s tries to be too many things to too many people and fails on too many fronts as a result. As a pub, downstairs is great. For dining options, downstairs caters to those prioritising beer over food while upstairs has more of a restaurant-that-sells-beer feel to it. Both do their jobs pretty well. The problem I have with O’Reilly’s is their identity crisis. Is it a music bar or a sports bar? It’s fine to be both but they just don’t pull either one off entirely for me. I have tried to watch major sporting events in there along with many others, only to have some mediocre live music drown out the commentary. Still, I digress. The food is good the portions are big. They have a wide choice of the usual pub fare plus a few surprises. When I eat there with my wife, I often choose a collection of appetizers to eat farang food Thai-style (i.e. everyone picking from shared plates) and it’s a damn fine option. O’Reilly’s is right next to Sala Daeng BTS. You can’t miss it – It’s very green.

Silom Zone
MOLLY MALONE’S
Cuisine:	Western
Location:	Soi Convent, Silom
BTS/MRT:	Sala Daeng BTS
Price:	600 to 1,200 for 2 people with drinks
Open:	Breakfast, lunch and dinner every day
Vegetarian:	Available
Highlight:	Good quality food and drinks
Low Point:	It’s more of a pub so not ideal dining facilities
Reservation:	Not necessary
Contact:	02 266 7160-1
NAKED EYE RATING
Food:	8/10	A concise selection of good quality food
Service:	8/10	Friendly and they try to keep everyone served
Ambiance:	7/10	Pub atmosphere; quieter upstairs
Décor:	7/10	Mildly Irish

Molly Malone’s is a new name for an old pub. Previously incarnated as Delaney’s, Shenanigans and Irish Xchange, this conveniently located pub/restaurant has taken a pleasant step backward and is now, thankfully, more functional and less pretentious once again. The menu is more concise and reasonably priced than it had become before the recent takeover and makeover. There’s still everything you would expect and hope for, with Irish staples plus some British, American, Thai and international fare to choose from. It’s still more of a pub that sells food rather than an out-and-out restaurant, but at least it has got its soul back.

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