Inexpensive Japanese Food In Lower Sukhumvit?

[jfchandler]

If you are a fan of Gyoza (and I am), I found what could possibly be the best in the city at Siam Paragon of all places.

Basement level, KCa Ramen (opposite Burger King). Not cheap (80 baht for 5) but 10x better than anything served up at Oeeshi or Fuji.

The Daikoku gyoza is 50 baht per order. I saw the cook fixing an order while I was there, but didn't try it as yet...

Meanwhile, thanks James for the word about KCa at Siam Paragon... Haven't tried or seen it yet, but I did find a very appetizing photo of their fare out on the Net... Looks yummy...

[polecat]

Oh come on, if you're going to go to Asoke, why not go to Phrom Phong? Don't fear the Skytrain!

Anyway, there's a new joint opened near the Sukhumvit end of Lang Suan (Phloen Chit BTS) that looks very reasonable. Can't think what it is exactly right now, but I think it's a teppanyaki place. Shoddy details I know, but I will pay more attention when I walk back from work tonight.

[onethailand]

K-ca Ramen also has a location in the Emporium Food Hall, and its original location is near the beginning of Thonglor.

Their gyoza is not bad. I happen to love dumplings too but haven't really found anything that I'd go back for, unless you count the fried wonton at Boon Tong Kiat Singapore Chicken Rice.

[cloudbusting]

If you are a fan of Gyoza (and I am), I found what could possibly be the best in the city at Siam Paragon of all places.

Basement level, KCa Ramen (opposite Burger King). Not cheap (80 baht for 5) but 10x better than anything served up at Oeeshi or Fuji.

Not lower sukhumvit technically but easy to get too. Ramen and other dishes were also very good.

might try the Gyoza there tomorrow

[jfchandler]

Although it's not exactly "lower" Sukhumvit, gave a try last night to the Fumi (by Sumo) restaurant on the 5th floor food court area of the Emporium Shopping Center, located right at the Phrom Phong BTS station. They also appear to have a Fumi outlet on the ground floor of Siam Paragon.

Had a perfectly fine meal at a reasonable price, although I didn't see any prior review of this place on Thai Visa and not much on them on the Internet. They have a very broad menu covering everything from sushi and sashimi to cooked dishes. But I was more surprised by some of the bargains I found there.

Try a good bowl of gyu don (wafer thin sliced marinated beef over rice) with a small salad and cup of miso soup for 150 baht, a meal-sized bowl of vegetable curry over steamed rice (with good chunks of "real" vegetables including eggplant) for 90 baht, and a meal-sized plate of zaru soba (cold buckwheat) noodles with dipping sauce for 65 baht.

Add to that, much to my surprise, glasses of decent-strength iced green tea priced at 20 baht, with the tea poured out of a well-iced pitcher and refilled constantly throughout our dinner, even more that we could have asked. It's not gourmet, but it seems similar to Fuji and there are some definite bargains to be had on the menu.

The manager gave me a card indicating "Fumi by Sumo" is part of something called Fine Food Holding Co. located on Suk Soi 16. And they seem, according to the card, to also be the operators of Xie-Xie Chinese restaurant, Cocco Pazzo Italian Restaurant, Plai-Ngam Thai Restaurant, and Tip-Top Oriental Dining and Grill.

[bkkjames]

"JFC - Food Critic at Large" and "Conniseur (sp) of certain short Thai delicacies".

[jfchandler]

You mean Thai women???

[polecat]

Oh come on, if you're going to go to Asoke, why not go to Phrom Phong? Don't fear the Skytrain!

Anyway, there's a new joint opened near the Sukhumvit end of Lang Suan (Phloen Chit BTS) that looks very reasonable. Can't think what it is exactly right now, but I think it's a teppanyaki place. Shoddy details I know, but I will pay more attention when I walk back from work tonight.

By the way, it's called King Kong and it's yaki niku, not teppan yaki. All you can eat in 2 hours for B450

[bkkjames]

You mean Thai women???

no, but now you mention it, they could referred to this way as well.

[jfchandler]

What else would "certain short Thai delicacies" be, James???

[bkkjames]

What else would "certain short Thai delicacies" be, James???

mango sticky rice? skirts? a dog in sakon? 3 foot bar maid with no teeth?

[MKAsok]

I'm pretty sure there's a Japanese restaurant on Soi 19, near the 7-11. I can't tell you what it's like since I've never been there, but I definitely recall some friends mentioning it a few times. I can make some more enquires if you're really interested, or you could go and have a scout down there yourself, since it seems to be on your manor...

[t.s]

I went looking the other day for this elusive katsu restaurant, and couldn't find it...

Your "katsu" is nothing different to viena deep fried pork snitzel. Then, just cut into 7-8 pieces.

That is what your "katsu " is : cut. Katakana in Japanese says: ka-tsu. Cut.

Most likely, if you could read it, the restaurant was advertising "Ton Katsu". Pork cutlets.

yes, we know, but that really doesn't help us find the restaurant on soi 11.

jfc, i always thought it was the one with the big yellow kanji on black banner behind the tmb

[jfchandler]

MKAsok, thanks very much... I live near Soi 19... I'll go have a look someday soon...

Same to you T.S.... likewise, I'll go have another look on Soi 11 next week... Last time there, I had a heat stroked GF and so we weren't in the mood for meandering about...

[bkkjames]

MKAsok, thanks very much... I live near Soi 19... I'll go have a look someday soon...

Same to you T.S.... likewise, I'll go have another look on Soi 11 next week... Last time there, I had a heat stroked GF and so we weren't in the mood for meandering about...

heat stroked gf - she is thai? you really should spend less on food John and more on air con.

[think_too_mut]

Well, happily, I finally found one pretty good answer to the question I posed in creating this thread... inexpensive (emphasis on that word) Japanese food in lower Sukhumvit.... How does 50, 60 or 80 baht per dish sound???

There is a food court in the basement of the Robinson department store (between Suk Sois 15 and 19) where the Tops supermarket is located. The shopping center is about halfway between the Nana and Asoke BTS stations. And in that food court is a small counter restaurant called Daikoku that serves pretty simple, decent, inexpensive cooked-to-order Japanese fare.

.....

For simple, common man's Japanese fare at a bargain price, Daikoku fits the bill...

It's not Japanese food, although available everywhere in Japan. Tasty and filling.

The sign (in hiragana) reads: Ra-me-n.

Chineese noodles.

[jfchandler]

TTM, sorry, but ramen is very much Japanese food....

All of the dishes on the menu at Daikoku are Japanese style and taste....not Chinese...nothing like Chinese style noodles.

[jfchandler]

Continuing my periodic exploration of Japanese places around The Emporium neighborhood, I chanced across another relatively low-cost, decent quality Japanese curry house yesterday...

J-Curry is located directly across from the Emporium and directly under the Phrom Phong BTS station, in the same lot as the Office Depot store there. It's a small cafe with eat-in tables and delivery service (except Mondays) to the Sukhumvit area. Open from 11 am to 9 pm daily.

The nice thing about this place is they do pretty much Japanese curries and only Japanese curries, offering almost any ingredients you could want or imagine. Prices for vegetable curries with steamed rice start around 100 baht, and go up to around 160-180 baht for some of the meat choices like pork tonkatsu and cheese curry, though their hamburger curry is only 115 baht and their pork curry is only 120 baht.

You also can order your own style from a long list of a la carte toppings, or choose one of four "set" menus that include curry, salad and soft drink for 180 to 205 baht. Drink offerings include a variety of teas and Heineken and Asahi canned beers, the latter offered for 70 baht.

The restaurant bills itself as "healthy Japanese curry and rice cafe," and explain on their menu that their curry sauce is homemade with fresh ingredients instead of the salt and fat-laden roux preparations. Their menu says, "plenty of vegetables and fruits are pureed and melted into the curry sauce, making our curry nutritious and healthy."

From my first time visit, it appears they are using the same curry sauce for all of their dishes, and then just adding the curry ingredients of your choice...meat... vegetables, egg, cheese and such. I thought the curry sauce was OK when ordered stock, though next time I'd ask them to add some spice. And indeed, it didn't leave any oily coating on my plate.

Other than rice curries, they offer fried curry udon (165 baht) and regular curry udon (150 baht), plus New York cheesecake and green tea panna cotta for desert.

Free wi-fi is available inside (presumably with a password from the shop) and Japanese pop music was playing over the stereo system. Seating was simple metal tables and metal mesh chairs.

I'll go back again, just to explore some of the other curry offerings, which offer a lot of choices if you're trying to eat more vegetables and less meat, including curries of carrot and potato curry, eggplant and tomato, mixed mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, and edamame and corn.

Full menu is shown below:

[think_too_mut]

TTM, sorry, but ramen is very much Japanese food....

All of the dishes on the menu at Daikoku are Japanese style and taste....not Chinese...nothing like Chinese style noodles.

That's how it is known and called in Japan. Heard "Chinese noodles" thousand times. It's the rock bottom level of quick and cheap eat, together with curry rice.

The only thing lower than that is instant noodles from 7-11.

The circled set of ramen and 5-piece vegetable tempura is 1000Y (about 280B) in a restaurant at Sanage onsen, just last Sunday. Will have it tonight again.

Had curry and rice only once, at CoCo restaurant (a Macdonalds version of curry&rice shops), gave me heartburn from hel_l. No picture.

[jfchandler]

MKA....I'm assuming you're referring to this place:

Shin Daikoku

Address: 32/8 Sukhumvit 19 32/8 Sukhumvit 19 Bangkok

Interestingly, this appears to be the parent restaurant of the Daikoku curry counter I reviewed above that is located in the food court basement of the Robinsons shopping center on Suk Road near Soi 19...

The counter basically only has curries and noodles. The restaurant supposedly is a full-service, full menu place, but I haven't been able to try it yet.

I'm pretty sure there's a Japanese restaurant on Soi 19, near the 7-11. I can't tell you what it's like since I've never been there, but I definitely recall some friends mentioning it a few times. I can make some more enquires if you're really interested, or you could go and have a scout down there yourself, since it seems to be on your manor...

[polecat]

The circled set of ramen ...

Looks more like udon to me.

[think_too_mut]

The circled set of ramen ...

Looks more like udon to me.

You are right...wrong picture. It is udon. Can't upload correct pic now (corp restriction on accessing such sites), will do later from home.

[polecat]

An okay new kid on the block is Toaya in the little lane that runs between Villa & Bull's Head on Suk 33/1. Thai chefs & owners and the sashimi prep is a little on the crude side, but the prices are great. Huge platter of sashimi for about B300 (order the small) and lunchtime set lunches about B200. Super sweet people and decent, well-priced food.

[think_too_mut]

The circled set of ramen ...

Looks more like udon to me.

You are right...wrong picture. It is udon. Can't upload correct pic now (corp restriction on accessing such sites), will do later from home.

2 hours ago, dinner at that same place, Sanage onsen (hot spring). Two ramens, right hand side one is "Kimchi ramen" another one I can't remember. Pork in both kind of shows it's of Chinese origin:

Price: 920JPY, about 350THB. The left one was cheaper, 290THB.

[jfchandler]

If you are a fan of Gyoza (and I am), I found what could possibly be the best in the city at Siam Paragon of all places. Basement level, KCa Ramen (opposite Burger King). Not cheap (80 baht for 5) but 10x better than anything served up at Oeeshi or Fuji.

James... OHHH.... James... I've never ordered gyoza from Fuji or Oishi in Bangkok....

But I did recently return from an evening meal at the Siam Paragon branch of KCa Ramen. On your recommendation, with great anticipation, I tried their gyoza, as well as (on my own initiative) their char shu pork-over-rice bowl and an order of supposedly wasabi flavored shu mai.

As a great lover of Japanese food and someone who's eaten tons of homemade Japanese gyoza (made by Japanese restaurateur-friends) and all varieties of restaurant-served Japanese and Chinese gyoza/potstickers, all I can say is.... the gyozas and other food I had at KCa Ramen was mediocre at best... and I'm hesitating to be more judgmental only because, I didn't try any of their ramen, and this supposedly is mainly a ramen shop.

Nonetheless, the KCa gyoza arrived barely filled. The skin was thick and a bit tough, and covered in more than a patina of cooking oil. Popped them in the mouth, and hard to find any flavor at all other than the dough and oil. See accompanying photos...

The barbecued pork rice bowl at 90 baht was OK, but everything tasted a bit stale, like the meat and other non-rice ingredients had been sitting around all day... (maybe they had....). Not much to this dish -- steamed rice, diced red pork, some crumbles of hard boiled egg, and a bit of vegetable. The only advantage is by ordering a donburi bowl off the menu, you can add the gyoza as a side order for only 60 baht (vs. the regular 80 baht menu price). I wouldn't pay 60 baht for their gyoza again, much less 80 baht.

Likewise, the wasabi shu mai for 75 baht were pretty unremarkable. If there was any wasabi flavor to be found in these steamed dumplings, I couldn't find or taste it. The dumplings were on the largish side compared to normal ones, but not much happening in the taste department.

Their menu says they've got a main location on Suk Soi 55 (Thong Lo) and another branch at the Emporium. Since I'm not a big fan of hot soup noodles in BKK weather, and the cooked dishes I tried were mediocre at best, I doubt KCa will be getting my business again...

For better gyoza, I'd buy the microwaved varieties at Tesco or Carefour....

[onethailand]

The gyoza at K-ca Ramen is very average, perhaps very slightly better than Fuji. I think the gyoza at Hachiban Ramen (the noodle shop with the 8) is actually better than the stuff at K-ca.

Having said that, their ramen is decent, so are the fried rice variations, and the eggplant is also good. I wouldn't go out of my way for K-ca, but it's pretty good when they're having a promotion (the K-ca Ramen is currently 100 baht - usually 150 baht).

BTW, I never liked the one in Paragon, don't ask me why. Try the one in the Emporium Food Hall.

[jfchandler]

Ot... remember Imoya??? I've never made it back there...after our aborted try... I want to try again....

[jfchandler]

Under the general heading of inexpensive Japanese in the Sukhumvit area....

Stumbled across a single-location outlet the other day in the basement of the Fortune Town IT Mall (MRT Rama 9 exit) called Kurobuta... Not much to look at or in the way of ambiance, but it's a quiet little place tucked away in the corner of the basement serving a variety of curry, rice and noodle dishes -- many of them priced at under 100 baht per.

The other day, I tried their kareage (fried) chicken curry (89 baht) and their tonkatsu don (breaded pork cutlet over rice) (79 baht). The tonkatsu bowl was relatively tasteless and unremarkable, but the curry sauce in the chicken dish was passable.

Never going to make anyone's best Japanese list, but the staff is friendly, the prices are reasonable, and if you're ever hungry for Japanese in FortuneTown (apart from the Kobune outlet located on the main floor)....

But for quick and cheap Japanese (50 to 80 baht per), the Daikoku Ramen counter in the basement of Tops (Suk Road at Soi 17) is still much better, albeit a more limited menu.

PS - I was surprised by the range and number of small restaurants buried in the basement of FortuneTown... There's a bunch of small Thai places down there, a branch of Bua, a branch of MK, a couple of cheap Thai "steak" places, and on and on, in addition to Kurobuta.

[GMoney]

There is a good place in the alley off of Soi 5...just past the Amari. Next door to a place called the "Gobangai Club" which appears to be a Japaneese hostess club.

[jfchandler]

GMoney, could you be a bit more specific... Does your restaurant place have a known name??

And, even if not, what kind of Japanese food does this place serve, and at what prices??

There is a good place in the alley off of Soi 5...just past the Amari. Next door to a place called the "Gobangai Club" which appears to be a Japaneese hostess club.