Monsoon (Soi 8) — Restaurant in Khlong Toei Subdistrict

While visiting Bangkok for a few days I went with friends to this restaurant. I am sure the owners are quite prosperous with this place and deservedly so. The atmosphere is great, service is prompt and fairly efficient, the beer is cold.

I ordered blackened snapper which was on the Mexican portion of the menu. The fish was well cooked and not over cooked, it was tender and juicy, not dry. But I have to call out the blackened seasoning mixture: "Blackening seasoning is a mixture of chili powders, herbs and spices. It is spicy and piquant, very much a cross between Cajun and Creole seasoning blends." Its' supposed to taste like New Orleans.

This was none of that. There is supposed to be paprika and hopefully cayenne pepper in the seasoning mix as well as basil, oregano and thyme. Your mouth is supposed to tingle with the various flavor explosions that this dish provides. I just had a blackened steak down at Bourbon Street (Soi 63) and there they know how to mix a seasoning blend. The fish is supposed to be "blackened" and not golden brown like fish and chips. I would never order it again, it was bland, tasteless and boring. It makes me think their Thai food would be equally bland and boring.

All too bad because the prices are good, the atmosphere is nice and lively and again, the draught beer is cold. I would go back but just order dishes with no flavor like...

The Monsoon burger was good. Mojito is not the greatest. Staff has been serving foreigners customer every single night should had have a courtesy to ask whether we would like the split bills or all together. We have to wait for them to enter all the charges again.

The cooling temperatue was very poor and unbareable for me. We were seated by the cashier where the staff not continuously closing the door. The heat from outside plus the location of the ceiling ac were in the middle and temperature was not cool enough. I was sweating the whole time. In which? I usually always getting cold in the ac room. That's showing how bad the temperature was. Even the big thunder and storm hitting hard that seems like the sunblind could blowing out from the metal rods. It does not make the room any cooler.

I had advised to the staff to set the fan up. They had done that and then for awhile someone had turned it off. I had to go over and asked to turn it back on. We are living in BKK and paying high price to get good food, good drink and nice cool room.

We ended up sitting in your restaurant that less cooling than an air bus. Not including the next table with 4 guests who accelerating their voice till 4 of us cannot hear each other talking. Staff had done nothing till I had to walked over and asked them to lower their voice. Yes, I am not impressed at...

Monsoon has first rate food and some of the best desserts in Thailand. My glamorous Lao friend always dresses up when we go to Monsoon but most of the falangs come in expat casual attire (see photo). I could recommend every one of their dishes -- the seafood is always excellent (try the tuna, and my friend swears by the raw oysters), but my #1 recommendation is their duck two ways. Good French entrées are relatively rare on the ground in Thailand, and Monsoon's duck would bring grateful tears to a Parisienne's eyes. The Thai dishes can be quite spicy-hot. My friend loves Isaan dishes, one time the air was circulating her fresh Thai red pepper's fragrance across the table toward me, and for a moment I suspected I was in a trench at Verdun and the Boche had just released gas. But she loves those peppers! To each according to their tastes! One last tip if you go to Monsoon during Monsoon season. Half the tables are indoors, and half are outdoors. If you come between June and September avoid the outermost tables on the outdoor deck: they have an awning system, but the combination of monsoon wind and rain can make those outermost tables very wet very fast. If you're inside when the storm breaks, just order some more wine and linger longer. Monsoon is easily the best restaurant on soi 8, and one of the...