BKK — Restaurant in Melbourne

(TLDR: Overhyped, loud, crowded, impersonal, not a date night venue, not appropriate for 2 people looking to have a "nice" dinner. Alternative Thai Food venue recommendation - Bangpop) The best way to describe it is, a paradox. It felt like the kitchen and the front of house were two separate worlds. Let me elaborate. The food is delicious, not mind-blowing, but very good, well presented, the menu is easy to follow and the portions were appropriate. Now let's talk front of house and ambiance. This is not the place you want to go to for a date, or an intimate dinner. It's obnoxiously loud, service is friendly, but everyone seemed distracted and rushed, though I don't blame the staff at all for that, they seemed under the pump. The venue is overcrowded, the space between tables is probably 12 inches, so don't expect to share any secrets with whoever you're dining with. To add to that, if you're on a 2 -seater table, it's size is akin to that of a standing cocktail table with enough space to comfortably rest your phone, napkin and 2 glasses of water and maybe another drink. Dining on that size of table is not comfortable, feels very awkward and just not a nice experience. The above is an objective review of what you may expect. Beyond the above facts that everyone attending can expect to experience, my partner and I had the unfortunate experience of having to be seated next to two immature diners, one of whom felt it would be appropriate to prop up his leg on the chair meant for him to be seated in, so I had a front row seat to the view of the dirty soles of his shoes as I ate. I politely asked him to place his foot down, which he respected for 10 secs before putting them right back up, albeit a bit to the side as opposed to facing right at me (still not pleasant when you're trying to enjoy date night). I then asked one of the staff if we could be offered a different table as we were visibly not enjoying ourselves. To no fault of their own, the staff could not offer us another table as the venue was fully reserved, however what I was upset by is that in spite of making it pretty obvious what the reason for our request was, there was no attempt made by the staff to request the other diner to behave a little more appropriately. This resulted in myself having to sit diagonally so that I could finish my meal without having a foot 12 inches from my face as I ate. My partner was also visibly upset to anyone who cared to notice as the other diner kept leaning against her and had no sense of personal space. Now my review may have been a lot more different if the price point of BKK was akin to that of a Chinatown venue, but the unfortunate fact is that I've enjoyed roadside meals in Sri Lanka with more comfort than at BKK. It's a lot of hype, and naturally I was a victim of that hype. Avoid unless you're looking for an Asian Beer Cafe type of experience just with food that you can't enjoy due to the ambiance. If not, check out Bangpop for some awesome Thai food, real tables, great ambiance and awesome...

ORDERED: 🍪  Thai Fish cake, red curry & cucumber ajat ($16.00) 🥟 Chicken curry puffs & cucumber ajat ($14.00)

🥘 Beef cheek, massaman curry, potato & pickled shallots ($36.00) 🍚 Jasmine Rice ($6.00)

🍰 Papaya & carrot cake, spiced coconut caramel and taro ice cream ($15.00)

🍹 Mocktail lychee spritz: lychee liqueur, coconut tequila, prosecco & lemonade ($15.00)

I spent $63.90 here, where my partner kindly paid for half my drink too haha. including card surcharge.

REVIEW: Similar to other reviews, I found the food at BKK nice, but not something incredibly memorable. It's a cool modern take on Thai food.

➖ To me, the fish cake and Beef Cheek Massman curry were lacking the sharp contrast that you usually get. E.g. A predominantly salty/savoury dish may have a mild sweetness, a sliver of tanginess or a low hitting spiciness that enriches the overall flavour. They were nice in their own respects, but were missing that additional 'oomph'.

❤️ In saying that, I found the dish that does this the best (and my favourite of the night) was the chicken curry puffs. You've got some strong, really intense curry flavours coming through and it's paired really nicely with a the simple and refreshing cucumber ajat that's usually used for grilled meats. The pastry was buttery, and it was a pleasant surprise to see the filling go up all the way into the corner! 🤩

❌ I wasn't a fan of the papaya and carrot cake, or the lychee mocktail. Unlike the earlier dishes, I felt like the dessert had too much going on, although I did appreciate the original taro flavour. Even though there was an absence of lychee liqueur, I would've appreciated if my lychee mocktail still retained a strong lychee flavour. 😥 😥

✔️ Service was very friendly, and they kept a close eye on the water. Located on Level 3 of the HER bar, the interior gives very dystopian, cyberpunk vibes with the exposed brick and neon lights. The loud electronic advert facing into the restaurant really adds to the grunginess.  📺 I adoreee BKK's website and how it gives a sneak peak into the kitchen's...

Oops I did it again walked straight past this place and had to come back up the hill! The stairs to 3rd lvl BKK was a great heart starter chosen over the funky industrial lift.

The 3 of us opted for the bbq banquet lunch option $65/ea. (with a dietary request of 1 guest not a noodle lover)

A HER house selection dirty Gin Martini & 2 Sawadee Khai cocktails quickly ordered. Impressive purple colour to the Four Pillars Tea cocktail only very underwhelming.

The double olive Martini on the other hand was reordered and yours truly was somewhat jealous as I was driving and could not order. * Shout out to the gorgeous Mikaela in the rooftop bar making our cocktails.

Lunch was shared and we thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon with the blue skies and fresh simplicity lunch banquet. One guest of our table is Thai and complimented the authentic Thai dishes rather than fusion.

Tom Yum Fried Peanuts

Spicy Ocean Trout Salad & Green Nam Jim

Crispy Chilli Chicken wings

Vegan Laab, Tofu, Pomelo & Sawtooth Coriander

Som Tum of Green Papaya Bangkok Chinatown

Chiang Mai Sausage with Cabbage, full of regional Thai flavours only this was instead of the Pork Rib which was a tad disappointing as definitely up for the advertised pork rib

Surprisingly not a lot of BBQ meat which was offered in this banquet menu…

Jasmine Rice

A last minute Thai green chicken curry took us to full and content.

But wait there’s more… we forgot the Salted Caramel Sticky Tamarind Pudding and flashback memories of both a pecan pie and sticky date pudding combo.

The bar stool decor kept lunch relaxed and canteen like. I could not see any open kitchen bbq action having my back to everything but my guests and a window. I had no idea of the big group booking sitting directly behind us, which made for a mild surprise & joke when we left for the rooftop cityscape viewing & downward departure within the funky lift.

A great simple city midweek lunch escape. And our waitress made it seamless, thanks Stef (hoping I...