Smiling BKK

My tongue is burning as I type this.

Mind you, I am not complaining. In fact, this is very good indeed.

My friend and I had been intending to check out Smiling BKK for ages and ages, and today we finally got round to doing it. We are both huge lovers of Thai food. And it was a good thing we did.

I had read previously that the place was a bit hard to find. Well, I was adamant that I would not get lost. And so armed with a map and directions, I made my way triumphantly and waited for my friend who wasn't too far off.

5 minutes after getting in, I get a call.

Him: "Hey! Where are you?"

Me: "I'm here! You?"

Him: "Me too! I'm inside."

Me: "I'm inside too..."

At this point I should point out that the restaurant is tiny. Trust me, if he had walked in, I would've noticed him.

Me: "Um......"

Him: "Are you in Al Wasl?"

Me: "Ye-es...."

Him: "Near Safa Park?"

Me: "Ye-ees"

Him: ........ *pause*

Him: "In the Al Wasl Square?"

Me: ".... there's a branch in Wasl Square?"

Him: "There's a branch OTHER than Wasl Square?!"

And so Smiling BKK managed to thwart me despite my best preparations...

Anyhow, we managed to meet up, at the Wasl Square branch in the end, which is much newer and bigger than the one I had initially gone to. The concept was the same though; the walls dark, the decorations colourful, the Mona Lisa moustachioed. It's quite different from anything I had seen in Dubai before, but it would be right at home somewhere like London.

The menu is quite extensive, and its known for its funny dish names, but I will let you enjoy them. There is page after page of noodles, seafood, curries, starters, the works. We decided to go for our usual favourites: prawn crackers, tom yum soup, green chicken curry with rice, Pad-See Eiw (flat rice noodle stir fry with beef) and I got myself some cold Japanese green tea.

Prawn Crackers

Now I must give you a warning:

THAI FOOD IS SPICY. IT IS VERY, VERY SPICY. IF YOU CANNOT HANDLE SPICE, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO EAT HERE. WHATEVER YOU ARE IMAGINING, IT IS MUCH, MUCH SPICIER THAN THAT. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! 

Tom Yum Soup (chicken)

                  

Now that you have read that warning, let me tell you about the Tom Yum soup. You be thinking, "oh, that's not so bad, it looks quite mild". IT IS NOT MILD. We were asked about how spicy we would like our dishes, and everything was put at medium. We were fooled by this soup, thinking it looks relatively harmless, but oh boy were we wrong. It BURST with flavour. It was DELICIOUS. But 5 minutes in, we were starting to sweat like pigs and it was just the beginning.

Thai Green Chicken Curry

Pad See Eiw Beef

I very much enjoyed the mains too. They were not as spicy (I could handle more than one try), and they too were full of lovely Thai flavour. The curry was creamy and well made, and the noodles too were just asking for attention. My only criticism would be the amount of noodles in the dish, as it seemed to have more cabbage than noodle. But still, it was really good.

Smiling BKK is definitely the place to go for Thai. It has a great atmosphere and you will be assaulted with flavours. When you go for Thai, you know that the word "bland" does not exist. This place certainly proves that.