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haam sup
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Although soi 3 has always had a Middle Eastern flavor, I really only began eating there in about 1996. The shwarma stand that is now on the first corner north of Sukhumvit, east side, was not yet there, and that alley was dark and emanated furtive whispers of dangerous freelance eros.
Further, toward the Grace, there was a semi-enclosed stand, where an old Arab guy and his Thai wife made the only shwarma sandwich I saw on the street. After plumbing the depths of the Grace coffee shop, and coming up empty handed, the walk back to Nana Hotel was interrupted by the sight of lamb and chicken, cooking in his stand. And stopping was inevitable.
Forward about five years, to 2001, and the place was literally swimming in hummous. There was a shwarma stand on almost every corner, and the soi 3/1 corner joints had begun to open.
At that time, I had been traveling back and forth from California, and had 'discovered' real Mediterranean food, as well as the variants from Armenia, and the region as a whole. For me, it was all about white garlic sauce, which was surely what I wanted to be anointed in when I reached any life-milestone. I would cover my first-born child in it, in lieu of Baptism, and would hope to be drenched in it at my funeral pyre.
I love the stuff.
One day, while returning from a SoL mission, I saw a sign on Silom, advertising Beirut, a Lebanese restaurant in the then-new J-City mall. The place was tucked away, behing the conveyor-belt sushi bar, next to the escalator-to-emptiness, the route to the second floor of J-City.
The place was immaculate, and food was spectacular, with fresh-made pita, and hummous, and, although not cheap, the quality was definitely evident. And the sauce, the fluffy, can't-get-next-to-anyone-for-a-whole-day white garlic sauce! A whole dish of it, and tahini, and green chili sauce, along with pickles, cucumbers, onions and tomatoes! This is how to eat shwarma.
At about the same time, a board exile, whose name evokes visions of a similar-appearing, equally smelly 'sauce', not usually found in cuisine, was my eating partner, and he took me to another similar venue, off Sukhumvit soi 5 (first alley past Foodland, on the right) called, strangely, Moody's.
Although the food was good, it became apparent that the name referred to the owner, who made Seinfeld's Soup Nazi look like Captain Kangaroo. The final straw came when, after ordering my favorite hommous with chicken shwarma, I noted that the ambrosial white garlic sauce was missing. Upon asking the owner to remedy the grievous error, he said, "No garlic." WTF? "No garlic?" says I. "No garlic. Not ready" says he.
I suffered through what would be my last meal at Moody's.
Now, fast forward to last Sunday night: after rediscovering the joys of diddling at Cowboy (see another thread), I was hungry. I wanted to head for my favorite 50 baht shwarma stand, first subsoi north of Suk on soi 3, but there was a flood at soi 5, and I knew that meant soi 3/1 would be impassable on foot, so I walked back toward soi 11.
I remembered that a new Lebanese place had opened right on Sukhumvit between soi 11 and 11/1, and decided to give it a try.
To be honest, I felt a bit disloyal to Beirut, which was my favorite, and I assumed the prices and service would be more, well, touristy, than a venue in a nondescript mall in Silom. And the flat-screen outside, tuned to Al-Jazeera was a bit of a knee-jerk negative, although they are a fine news organization, truth be told.
The place, Lebanon House, is smallish inside, at least by Beirut standards, but spotlessly clean, and seemingly well organized. There were a lot of Arab and North African-types there, all eating from delicious-looking collections of food.
I ordered my test-suite: chicken shwarma with hommous, and three pita breads.
The menu looked strangely familiar, like a copy of Beirut's, but in warm earth tones, rather than blue. The pictures of the food were almost certainly the same, so I began to wonder if they were of the same owners, or if there was a Middle-Eastern menu service shared in common.
Lo and behold, the pickles/tomatoes/onions cam, along with the sauces - identical to the spread at Beirut - and fresh pita bread. But the shwarma! A LOT more than I was accustomed to at the other place, and it was somehow MUCH juicier!
The garlic sauce was slightly different; if anything, it was stronger, but with a hint of mayonnaise's vinegar. Quite delicious, but not quite what my palate was expecting. It definitely grew on me, though, although I was afraid I could never face my GF, literally, again.
At the end of the meal, I was happy to see that the price was exactly the same as at Beirut, although apportioned slightly differently. Water was 25 baht; I'll defer to tourism. The main course was slightly less expensive here than at Beirut, 150 baht for the shwarma/hummous plate, and pitas were an unconscionable 10 baht. 210 baht, all in, for some great food.
As I was leaving, I caught the manager (maybe owner), and introduced myself. He was really quite gracious, and represents his establishment well. I didn't have a chance to ask about the possible connection between Lebanon House and Beirut, but I'm sure it will come up, when I most assuredly will return.
hs
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Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 8:11 pm on Aug. 28, 2007
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kenneth
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Yep, I live across the road in soi 10 so I was pleased when I saw this place open. Food is great I agree, every bit as good as Fatima's on Cleveland street, Surry Hills. Unfortunately I am moving to Bangkapi. I wonder if he delivers?
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Bangkok Women : Meet Sensual Bangkok Women
Posted on: 8:46 pm on Aug. 28, 2007
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haam sup
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Funny, but I've hardly ever seen a Middle Easterner more than a few blocks from Soi 3...so, I would guess that the Bangkapi demographics portend failure...
hs
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Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 8:52 pm on Aug. 28, 2007
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jumpinjack
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ALL THREE lebanese places are the same owners:
Silom Rd. in same complex as Subway and KFC
Soi 11. Suk.
ground floor Ploenchit Center..downstairs from Macdonalds
same food, same owners, all good
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Sexy Bangkok Girls
Posted on: 12:37 am on Aug. 29, 2007
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haam sup
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Ah, good work, JinJ.
Everything DID look identical, except for the color of the menus. The little dishes for the tahini, garlic, and chili sauces were the same, too, but I thought they might just be trying to copy a good thing.
Really, though, the chicken was a lot more juicy at Lebanon House. Must be the cook.
hs
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Thai Women : Meet Matured Thai Women
Posted on: 4:35 am on Aug. 29, 2007
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