SoCal — Restaurant in Lumphini Subdistrict

Quality food and good service.

Tuna Tartare Very unique and absolutely delicious. The combination of the tuna, mango, avocado, and sesame is unique and very well executed. One of the best dishes I've had in recent memory.

Ranger's Valley Flat Iron Steak This is my favorite dish - had it twice. I don't know how they get it so juicy and tender. Horseradish sauce is not too strong and the onion tempura is nice and crispy. Both great accompaniments to the steak.

Tiger Prawn & Chorizo Linguine Pasta Nicely creamy. Little chunks of sausage add a pleasant texture and flavor. Prawns are perfectly cooked - tender and juicy.

Coriander & Cashew Pesto Pasta Taste is great, and the pasta was cooked perfectly. My preference would be that the cashew is chopped instead of whole.

SoCal Double Burger It's a well made burger and fries but not my favorite. This dish will fill you up - it's hefty.

The pizzas are excellent. Crust is crispy and chewy. Both pizzas I tried are delicious. The black truffle and prosciutto has wonderful truffle flavor, but it's a bit too salty for me.

Duck Fat Potatoes are tasty and you can taste the rosemary. Would be perfect if they were a bit crispier on the outside. Also one of them was slightly undercooked.

California Dream Chocolate Cake is really good after it warms up a bit to room temp. It's served cold so I'd recommend waiting a few minutes to eat it. A bit too sweet for me, but well done.

No Bake Avocado Cheesecake is quite weird, but good. Recommend it for avocado lovers. Not too sweet.

Boulvairdere is strong and aromatic.

Iced latte is a hard pass - the coffee is not good.

Fresh coconut is extremely pricey compared to the average you can get in Thailand, but, it...

Review:

On our last night in BKK, we decided to mix it up by heading down to SoCal for a Southern Californian dinner.

Restaurant was newly renovated with a retro design combined with bright colours.

Service was excellent as staff were attentive and courteous.

The food was innovative and delicious, the flavours of California really came across in every bite. We will definitely be back on our next trip to Bangkok!

We ate:

Chunky Green Avocado Salad - fresh and colourful, the creaminess of the avocado brought the herbs and greens together to make a great starter.

Baja Fish Tacos & Pork Carnitas Tacos - these little bites were great to start the meal with the acidity of the pickled cabbage and salsa nicely complimenting the tuna and pork respectively.

Rigatoni & Sausags Mascarpone Pasta - rich and luxurious pasta with a hint of freshness from the lemon and brocollini.

Seafood Marinara Pizza - the highlight of the meal for us, the pizza was filled with the freshest seafood, especially with sweet sweet blue swimmer crab meat. Pizza dough was done just right.

Lumina's Farma BBQ Lamb Rump - excellent quality meat which was grilled just right. The meat was accompanied by what looked like black mash potatoes but turned out to be charcoal infused grilled eggplant!

We drank:

Tropical Spritz Mocktail - so so good, kids loved it.

Premium Wine Flight - the restaurant has a very good selection of wine and spirits. As I wasnt familiar with Californian wines, we were recommended to try the Premium Red Wine flight to get a taste.

Highlight was the Bakestone Cellar Canernet Sauvignon 2016, a Northern Californian red which was dark, rich and abundant with...

I recently visited SoCal, a Californian restaurant in Bangkok, but the experience didn’t quite live up to expectations.

While the restaurant manager was polite and apologized for the inconveniences, the service overall requires more training. My glass was dirty, plates were cleared very slowly, and water wasn’t refilled without prompting—all of which fell short of what you’d expect from a restaurant in a 5-star hotel like the InterContinental.

The food was a mixed bag. The beetroot salad was passable, but the pizza was a letdown—it took a long time to arrive, was oily, and lacked any real flavor.

Additionally, the atmosphere felt confusing. There was a live DJ in the restaurant area while a piano player performed in the lobby, creating a disjointed experience.

While the manager’s politeness was appreciated, the restaurant overall didn’t feel aligned with the standards of a luxury hotel. There’s definitely room for improvement in both service and food quality to meet...