Another of Emdee's reviews from the old forum - anyone have an updated review they would like to share?

This venerable Bangkok institution continues to roll along year after year, packing in visitors regularly every night of the week. I say visitors, because locals are notable by their absence, possibly because the prices are more than they can reasonably afford, but also I suspect, the food is not spiced to the extreme levels that they are used to.

It might be my imagination, but every time I dine at this restaurant, there seems to be more fairy lights than the time before.

On the night we dined there, the place was 60% full, which for a Bangkok restaurant, with so much stiff competition in the immediate vicinity, is a testament to its name and fame.

We sat upstairs on the verandah and had a lovely view of the proceedings and of the diners below, and watching the misty spray illuminated in the fairy lights, keeping the ambient humidity bearable.
The young man who served our table spoke excellent English, and soon we had the menus in our hands while quenching our thirsts on a large bottle of Singha and a Singapore Sling.

We ordered a serve of deep fried spring rolls which cost 150 baht, which came to the table on a little oval dish, with a dipping sauce consisting of chilli sauce, fish sauce, and light soy.

They were lovely and crunchy, and had been well made, with a nice tasty filling.

The spring rolls were followed by a tureen of Tom Yoong Goong which produced four serves from its steaming vessel, and was a particularly good example of one of the national dishes of Thailand. The cost of the soup was 180 baht, which worked out at 45 baht per serve, representing very good value indeed.

For our main courses we ordered deep fried pork with deep fried garlic and black pepper, which was priced at 180 baht. The pork, cut into ribbons was succulent and the vegetables in the mix complemented the richness of the pork beautifully. The sauce was piquant and spicy and overall we gave this dish high marks for its composition and presentation.

Next on the table were the prawns with sweet basil, stir fried in garlic and fish sauce, priced at 250 baht, accompanied by one serve of jasmine rice, and one serve of red rice.

The prawns were of medium quality, however, once again they had not been shelled, making for a rather messy eating experience, but a finger bowl and cloths had been provided for the repaste.

This dish was not as enjoyable as the earlier pork dish, and neither of us were fans of the red rice, much preferring the jasmine variety instead. It was the first time we had encountered red rice, and it will probably be the last as well.

The beer was cold and was accompanied by a frosted glass, but sadly, the Singapore Sling was only a pale imitation of the real thing, and at 130 baht was not good value for money. Instead of the expensive ingredient of cherry brandy being used, pink colouring had been substituted. That was very naughty!

Overall we enjoyed a relaxing meal in a terrific ambience, with good service, nice food if slightly overpriced and as always, we were presented with two condoms when we paid the bill (Thai sized ones!!!!!!)

SUMMARY: Food, 6/10; ambience 10/10; hygiene 10/10; service 8/10; value for money 5/10. Score: 39/50.

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I am not a food critic or anything like that, but my opinion on the place: overpriced, and the food is not excellent either. Have been there twice but do not go anymore whenever I'm in Bangkok, not worth it IMO.

is it worth it for the atmosphere though?

IMO: no, also in that respect nothing special.

Disagree entirely with Stevenl's summation re the atmosphere. C&C is renowned for its atmospheric ambience. I agree that its food is not listed as A1, but that probably emanates from the fact that the majority of its customers are tourists. On the times that I have been there I cannot recall any local residents dining.

However, getting back to the atmosphere. It is one of Bangkok's "prettier" restaurants. It is festooned in fairy lights, and a mist from strategically located sprays envelops the whole place giving it an incredible ambience as the mist rises highlighted by the fairy lights.

Additionally, English is not a problem here with all of the staff conversant in the language.

So to summarise, yes I agree that C&C's Thai food is not A1, that it caters mainly for "farang" clientele, that is on the expensive side as regards prices, but that it definitely has ambience and a most enjoyable dining atmosphere.

Finally, as a chef I can say this. Any restaurant that has been around for 23 years has to be doing something right, particularly in a city like Bangkok, where there are an estimated 19,000 places to dine and where restaurants come and go at the drop of a proverbial hat.

Yes, they made it look nice, but that alone does not create a good, let alone special, atmosphere.
There must be a reason there are no residents there? Maybe they thing the place offers no good value for money (and atmosphere would be part of the value a place offers, a restaurant offers more than food).

I don't think you understand. This place is directly aimed at tourists - not the locals. As such, it is set up as a Westerner would perceive a good restaurant to be set up.

For the best part of a quarter of century it has maintained its reputation as a good restaurant "for visitors". You are making the mistake I believe of trying to compare C&C's with "authentic" local Thai restaurants.

It must be remembered that the majority of visitors from Western countries to Thailand cannot take Thai food at the incendiary heat that is accompanied by most dishes, therefore they are "fired down" to meet the expectations of the majority. They can also be "fired up" (phet, phet) by request.

The locals don't dine there as has already be delineated. That is, it too expensive, they like hotter food and they tend to dine in the neighbourhood nearest to their place of residence.

If you are of the opinion that C&C's does not have a good ambience and concomitant atmosphere would you please nominate some Bangkok restaurants that surpass that of C&C's FOR ATMOSPHERE as I would be most interested.

Don't go into the food - it is agreed that C&C's food is not A1. Here we are discussing atmosphere/ambience and nothing more.

I fully understand. But a place may aim at tourists, if it offers good value for money also locals (expats) will come. But they don't.

In the same area are many restaurants catering to Bangkok expats, so this argument makes no sense at all.

We've agreed that it is expensive - therefore the locals don't go for it. As I have been at pains to explain it IS AIMED DIRECTLY AT TOURISTS AT TOURIST PRICES! I want you to nominate restaurants that in your opinion offer better atmospheres than C&C. To date you avoided nominating any!

I'm sorry, but why the aggression?

No, we have not agreed it is expensive. What I have said is it does not offer good value for money IMO, so is overpriced for what it is offering. But you're saying here that it is aimed at tourists, so that is no problem. Sorry, but I have a completely different view on that, value for money should not have anything to do with aimed at tourists or locals. Plus: I don't buy your argument that it is aimed at tourists only and not at expats, I simply think that is not true.