LEK SEAFOOD RESTAURANT
At The outset let me say that if this eatery had not garnered the deserved reputation that it now has I for one wouldn’t have ever bothered with making a visitation. Its location, which is directly underneath the Chong Nonsi BTS station is hardly salubrious and its outwards appearance I would describe as “crappy”, replete with an old Coca Cola signage and some very faded awnings covering the alfresco diners.

I went to this restaurant with a chef, Paul, who is a young Swiss national of Italian heritage and who is now a sous chef at a Bangkok 5* hotel. Paul has dined here on many occasions and he told me that it is his and several of his work’s colleagues favourite dining place in the Silom area.

We arrived via the BTS on your average hot and humid Bangkok evening and this being a Tuesday I surmised that it would not be particularly crowded. How wrong was I! The place was thronged with Thai families and singles but somehow the waitress found us a small table on the verandah.

Sweating profusely we ordered two super cold Tiger ales which were downed in record time so we ordered two more which were delivered swiftly to our table. Paul mentioned that it was only recently that the place had stocked Tiger beer as previously it was Singha or nothing. He and his work colleagues had repeatedly asked for Tigers over some months, but as it is in Thailand, it took about four months before the operators got around to stocking the lovely brew. With them came the menu and as Paul had been here so many times I left the ordering to him.

Looking around the place I discerned only two other tables of “farang”, so I concluded that (a) the place was popular with Thais therefore it must be on the cheap side and (b) that the food had to be superior for a restaurant such as this to be full on a Tuesday evening.

Sitting outside on the alfresco part of the eatery is hardly enthralling with the traffic noise and concomitant fumes, but as Paul patiently explained, it is not posh but it is the “nosh”.

Paul placed the order which sounded as if he was ordering for whole verandah. I didn’t know the Thai names of the dishes so I was clueless to what he had decided upon but he also ordered another round of Tigers to slake our thirsts.

The restaurant decor, if it could indeed be described in such grand terminology is dowdy at best. It had what appeared to be faded bluish walls, fold up metal tables with a thin and stained tablecloth on it, somewhat grubby plastic chairs (at least where we were – inside seemed to have a different sort of furniture) and with the noise from the street it hardly constituted relaxed dining, at least not in my opinion.

The food is cooked almost alfresco and with a lot of hissing, steaming, banging and clouds of smoke ascending into the air, the busy kitchen sent out a production line of dishes with the wait staff running in all directions with oval plates and round plates big and small.

The service here is swift, something that could be copied by other more upmarket establishments. I got the distinct impression of a restaurant trying to get as many bums on seats as possible with a quick turnover of clientele.

Phew, it was hot and another two Tiger Ales arrived with what I would call Hoi Tod but Paul told me was called “Ors Suan” at this establishment. Anyway, it is one of my favourite dishes. It was an oyster omelette served on a hissing hot iron plate and accompanied with a copious serving of crunchy bean sprouts and a very light brown sauce (heated oyster sauce). I’ve never had a bad version of this dish wherever I have eaten it in Thailand and the Lek version was as good as anywhere else. From me top marks for this ubiquitous Thai dish.

Next up was a lovely whole Garoupa which had been steamed to perfection and finished off with some searing oil so that the skin was tight and crispy. Some finely chopped coriander leaves were scattered over the fish’s spine and the accompanying dish was pineapple rice which I had not had before, but it was obvious it was a favourite with Paul.

The Garoupa was texturally perfect, it didn’t fall apart at the first touch, it was translucent and succulent and the light soy sauce swimming at the bottom of the big round plate was the perfect accompaniment to such an elegant fish. A lime had been sliced into four pieces and the acid from the juice heightened the taste of the glorious meat. I made a mental note that if I was going to this “crappy” restaurant again I would make a point of re-ordering this magnificent dish.

The pineapple rice I was not so sold on, but then again, it was just my opinion as I could see my dining companion loved it. I’ve had better rice dishes elsewhere, but I have to temper my remarks as it was not really my kind of dish and if the ordering had been left to me I would never have considered it.

Next was a lovely Thai salad which consisted of small prawns, cellophane noodles, holy basil, cold sliced hard boiled egg, shredded iceberg lettuce leaves, coriander, red onion and a dressing which constituted in part from the taste of palm sugar, fish sauce, soy, ginger and several other ingredients. It was cool, soothing and nourishing and the dressing was superb. Another dish mentally noted for re-ordering if a further visitation eventuated.

The next dish to arrive was some stir fried river prawns (with shell on) and a serving of Morning Glory or winter spinach as it is more commonly known elsewhere.

Personally, I don’t like prawns with the shell on as it is so messy and frustrating trying to de-shell the molluscs and the flavour of the stir and the accompaning sauce doesn’t seem to penetrate through the shells to the meat inside the prawn. The morning glory was lovely and velvety and the prawns were tasty enough, but somewhat on the small side and the sauce seemed to consist of a combination of light soy, oyster sauce and a dash of sesame oil.

Boy can the Swiss drink! Another two Tigers arrived at the same time as a dessert which was a plate of fruit consisting of Star Fruit, water melon, orange and mango. It was another cool and soothing dish to allay the sweatiness that I was enduring on the verandah on this particularly warm and humid Bangkok evening.

Cripes! Another two Tigers arrived and by now I could detect that the early stages of inebriation were starting to kick in but I was comforted in the knowledge that if I could navigate the 97 steps up to the Siam side of the Chong Nonsi BTS I would be alright. At this stage Paul asked for the tab and invited me to join him and several of his Bangkok chefs’ mates at O’Reilly’s pub in the Patpong area of Silom. OK, I told him, so I was going to wake up next day feeling grotty, a feeling that I usually try to avoid.

Paul insisted on paying the whole tab, but I did ask him for a breakdown of the costs for my research which he provided later that evening (over more beers), so I hope that his recollection of the breakdown was not unduly affected by the copious intake of the Tiger beers on his memory cells.

COST: 14 Tiger ales at 90 baht each, total 1260 baht. 1 x Ors Suan (Hod Toi) 55 baht; 1 x large Garoupa 275 baht; 1 x pineapple rice 45 baht; 1 x Thai salad 50 baht; 1 x River Prawns and morning glory, 170 baht, 1 x serve of fresh fruit, 35 baht. TOTAL: Food 650 baht, beers 1260 baht, grand total 1910 baht ($AUD68.20 at the time).

VERDICT: Lek Seafood restaurant is deserving of its reputation as a good seafood restaurant with very reasonable prices. As can be seen from the “cost” paragraph above, its food is very cheap when compared with other Bangkok seafood eateries. It was only the copious ordering of Tiger beers which bumped the bill up above what most other diners would pay at this restaurant.

SCORE: Food 8/10; service 9/10; value for money, 10/10; ambience 3/10 total: 30/40.

CONCLUSION: Would I recommend this restaurant? You bet I would. It is mostly patronised by Thais which is a good advertisement it itself. It is within staggering distance of the Chong Nonsi BTS and its food is good, beautifully fresh and very modestly priced. If you can forget about the clanging noises emanating from Soi Phiphat and Narathiwatrachanakharin Road and the accompanying vehicle fumes and keep the grog bill down to something inside the refined boundaries of heavy drinking, then you will have a very nice night out in what from outwards appearances appears to be a dingy third rate eatery but if you were judge it as that you would be – like me – dead wrong.

LOCATION: Just take the BTS to Chong Nonsi, and Lek Seafood can be found on the Saphan Taksin side of the BTS line directly under the station.

BOOKINGS: For a place as popular as this one would think that bookings would be advisable, but Paul told me it is on a first come, first seated basis. No cards, cash only. Open seven days a week from 5 pm onwards

Although I haven't been for a few years, I still often recommend Lek. Good to hear that it's still up-to-snuff.

Lek Seafood

Curt, in fact it was from your web site some years that I notated Lek Seafood restaurant. However, even with the best of intentions, I never made there until a few weeks ago, when Paul mentioned that it was his favourite restaurant in the Silom area. It is kind of off-putting viewing it from the bottom of the Chong Nonsi steps, but once inside and with the food on the table it is very enjoyable.

I love the sound of this place Emdee. Certainly sounds like my style, hussle/bustle, great food, swift service and bargain prices.

Great review but I do wonder if it would have scored the same had you not consumed the 7 Tiger beers. How did the rest of the night end up?

__________________
I love Thailand this much

Shanek,

I think I scored it fairly even though I left the place half sozzled. Ah the rest of the night! Just let me say that I'm too old for these extended "drinkathons". I woke up the next morning with a terrible head. I had to cancel two morning appointments and put them off until the late afternoon and even then I still wasn't feeling 100%.

Paul later told me that they finished up at O'Reilly's at kicking out time at 1 am and he still made it to the kitchen for the early shift at 5.30 am. I know I certainly couldn't have done that.

This restaurant was on my list of places to visit but due to paucity of time we could not. Thanks Emdee for the review, we will certainly eat here next time. Another plus point is that it is very easy to reach.