The Good View Restaurant - Chao Phraya Side...

[jfchandler]

There have been a few posts on TV re "The Good View" restaurant in Chiang Mai, but not so much re their BKK branch, which is Chao Phraya riverside on Charoen Krung Road near the Krung Thep Bridge/Rama III Road. Went there Sat. night for an extended family dinner, and had a very good and pleasant experience.

Here is the web site for The Good View.

And here is a 3rd party post with various information.

There were numerous nice things about this place...

They have a very broad menu at decent, but not cheap, prices... Fresh seafood, Thai food, a special separate menu (it seems you have to ask for it) for Japanese sushi and sashimi that is served either at a side sushi bar or can be had at your regular table, a fair number of western/European choices on the menu, and a range of Thai deserts on the menu and a refrigerator full of very tasty western style cheesecakes and pies out front that's not on the menu at all.

"The Good View" in this case means dining right at river side... They have a very large and nicely appointed (not rickety) covered patio with many tables looking right out onto the river. My feeling was, it's better in daytime when you can see the comings and goings on the river, whereas at night time, the surrounding area gets pretty dark and it's hard to see much of anything out of the river or on the opposite bank. But it has the makings for a very nice, romantic meal.

You have your choice for dining setting, outside on the patio, or inside in the nicely air conditioned restaurant and bar, where they also have live and often acoustic music, a mix of Thai and western songs... Nicely done, but not so loud (like many other places) to drowned out everything and everyone around. Add to that a broad and attractive menu of drinks, and it makes for a nice night out.

The restaurant's web site include descriptions and photos of their menu items, and maps to the location in both Thai and English. They had plenty of serving staff, and took good care of our table, as well as a trio of mini-skirted beverage ladies (JW, Smirnoff and Singha) adding to the scene.

One intersting addition: as we sat on the riverside patio, one of our party wanted to smoke a cigarette... I'm a non-smoker and don't like it at all... But since we were outdoors, I figured the relatively new Thai smoking regulation wouldn't apply. Nonetheless...within less than 5 seconds of the person in our party lighting up the smoke, one of the restaurant staff appeared to tell him their outdoor patio did not allow smoking, and he'd have to go to a separate area some ways away to have the cigarette... So, to my quiet delight, our outdoor table remained smoke free.

Our bill for a party of 4 adults came to about 1,800 baht, which included 5 entree dishes (whole fish, BBQ mixed seafood in sweet cause, oysters dish, mussels broiled with cheese, and roasted duck), non-alcohol drinks for everyone, and two cheesecake slices and a fresh fruit plate for desert.

On the lighter side, I'd also recommend it as good place for evening drinks and snacks....without going the full dinner route.

[lazeeboy]

didnt know they had one in bkk,always eat in the one in chang mai ,ill try it the next time im in bkk ,next week

[Zpete]

That OP post seems like a commercial.

Is there a jingle.....

[singa-traz]

That OP post seems like a commercial.

Is there a jingle.....

That's right, it sounds a bit too much ... Nevertheless, GoodView is still a nice place for a dinner on Rama III.

In the evening, I would avoid sitting too near from the band.

[jfchandler]

Guys...no commercial (or economic interest) here....

If you follow my TV posts at all, you'll know I'm regularly "reviewing" places to eat and drink here... sometimes good... sometimes bad... just as I see it.

Fact was, we had a great evening there...and nothing bad to say... except...I didn't get a phone number from any of the "drink" ladies...

[mmushr00m]

Been there afew times for dinner. The food like mentioned in OP is quite resonably priced and more importantly taste good.

Only been there for dinner and have to say that after nigth falls you dont see anything apart from the odd tug tugging those big barges going by now and then.

Only complain is that for dinner the band inside does get rather loud.

[roamer]

Have to say for river views, especially at night then Yok Yor marina opposite the River City pier takes some beating, the Thai food is truely excellent and certainly well priced, sometimes I manage to tear myself away from the views long enough to go inside and listen to the music, some of them Katoeys damm good !!

[jfchandler]

It so happened, I was out to Yok Yor Marina just a week or two earlier.... for their river dinner cruise... Nice feature of that is, they don't charge extra for the cruise... You can go for the two-hour river cruise for dinner 8 to 10 pm daily, and just pay only the regular restaurant menu price for the meal. That makes it a bargain...

That said, half of the dishes we ordered that night came out great... The other two not so good.... a dish of mussels cooked dry to the point there was no broth left in the bowl, and a pretty bland order of morning glory... That and...the servers...while pleasant, weren't always the most attentive... But that was for their dinner cruise.

The last time I was at Yok Yor for the regular restaurant meal, they did a fair bit better.... But I'd still rate the Good View as an overall better experience...just IMHO.