If I have to sit for more than an hour for dinner then I’d rather eat at home. Preferably from the sofa, with the TV remote in my hand. Long dinners can be tedious. And long dinners always come with long conversations. Those can be worse. Especially if someone is talking about themselves the whole time. Or they want you to talk about yourself the whole time. There doesn’t seem to be an end to this impasse, does there?
Actually, there is. BangBang Thai Kitchen at Village Market. I went there a few moons ago. Incredible place. In writing we are advised to show, not tell, so here is why this Thai restaurant is incredible.
First, you aren’t trapped in a room. You are on a terrace. It’s airy, open, inviting. On a cold night you can always noose a scarf around your neck and pretend you are somewhere in Bangkok.
Then there is the story behind the restaurant, which is also the story of BangBang himself; a man who loved science, art and sports, studied butterflies at the University of Oxford, returned home, became an undefeated Muay Thai champion, flirted with music, then somehow ended up a celebrated restaurateur. Which already sounds like a legendary tale. It is.
Then obviously - and this is why we are gathered here today - there is the food. They say their food comes directly from Grandma Mae’s kitchen. Well, bless Grandma Mae because the food is astonishing.
I’m no foodie, but I ate char-grilled skewers, Hang Gai, crispy deep-fried chicken, Pad Gai, and Gra Pao; minced chicken tossed with garlic, bird’s-eye chili and Thai basil, served with jasmine rice and crowned with a fried egg. Then dessert arrived: sweet sticky rice with local mango. Lord.
The dishes kept coming. I kept washing them down first with wine, then whisky. It was the most incredible food experience I have had in recent memory. And I was there for two hours. A personal record. More importantly, I never felt the time.
