Somboon Seafood @ Bantadthong Road, Pathumwan, Bangkok

This place was actually recommended by my IDM, Alex. He mentioned that the food is good, price is reasonable and they have good and comfortable ambiance. I’ve read good reviews about this place too, for their famous fried curry crabs.

But beware, I’ve also read about some tuk tuk drivers that will bring your to another restaurant with slight similar name (eg: Somboondee) and they get paid a certain commission for doing so. So just make sure you see it correctly, It’s SOMBOON SEAFOOD with this crab logo.  This place is actually more famous among tourist, Japanese and Chinese majority, and not local Thais. That’s what my counterpart told me.

They have only 5 outlets across Bangkok and all are pretty much easy accessible from BTS Sky train, subway and a short walk. The outlet I went was the one at Bantadthong Road, also the biggest outlet among the 5. And it’s also I went directly after shopping in MBK. You can opt for a cab from MBK, which will probably cost around THB35 to 40 (MYR3.50 to 4.00).  I, on the other hand thought it was very near, walked all the way there passing by the National Stadium and so. It was at least 10 to 15 minutes walk. Upon arrival, Mr. Friend requested that we take a cab back after dinner to MBK (BTS Sky Train, National Stadium Station) which I immediately agree to. Haha… don’t bother walking la… it’s tiring after whole day on your feet shopping and walking around…

Being very dehydrated, drinking water was the best choice! Of course, some may prefer to go for chilled beer! And yes, as what Alex (my IDM) told me, once you open up the menu, you pretty much get undecided of what to order. And the downside this round is, because there were only two of us for dinner, we could not order much! And to ease everything up, I ordered the dishes from the recommended dish page, except for the famous curry crab! I’ll leave that for next round when we have more pax in. Ordering chu char for 2 is not an easy task :P

The reviews I’ve read, most actually ordered the morning glory vege (more of like kangkung) @ THB100 (MYR10) but I decided to go for stir fried scallops with asparagus @ THB150 (MYR15.00) small portion for 2. Big portion is at THB250.

Alex actually recommended the deep fried sea bass with fish sauce but since this on is on the recommended page, I ordered this instead.  Deep Fried Grouper with Crispy Basil @ THB 240 (MYR24.00). The fish is fresh and it’s yummy! Gravy goes well with the rice and it’s quite a big fish for 2. Oh yea.. steamed rice is at THB15 (MYR1.50) per bowl, if I remembered it correctly.

And it’s spicy too! After eating, the mouth kenot close, just like the fish!

Also at the recommended page is the Roasted Fresh Water Prawns with Glass Noodles in Hot Pot @ THB240 (MYR24.00) Big portion is @ THB480 (MYR48.00). In the menu, got 3 prawns lo… but dish arrived with only 2 prawns…  but got disclaimer la, photo is for illustration only.. :P

This one just okay, perhaps fresh water prawns are not very sweet, and I prefer crab with glass noodles better.  Or maybe because we were already full trying to finish the fish and the asparagus, so by the time we proceed with the glass noodles, tummy already kinda full.

The prawns were fresh nonetheless. Another dish on the recommended page was the fried curry crabs that we didn’t try. Not very sure about the price though. It states there THB260 (MYR26), and then another set of price by kg. Maybe it’s a small portion for the ones costing at THB260. half crab maybe :P.

I was actually looking for desserts like Tub Tim Krob, but they don’t have any. The waitress recommended the mango with glutinous rice, sounds tempting but my tummy could not take anything heavy anymore… haha.. if I ordered it, I might just eat the mango and return the glutinous rice. So I ordered this Melon Frappe with Sago @ THB60 (MYR6.00). I liked it although it’s a little sweeter than I thought, well, desserts are supposed to be sweet mah.. :D

The place is pretty packed during dinner time, both floors. They have square table seating and also round table seating. Service wise was pretty good, waiters/waitresses are pretty attentive, and the dishes was served up pretty fast too! And there’s an old lady who helps in serving the dishes that speaks good mandarin as well.

Total bill came up to around THB800 (MYR80.00)plus, which is okay considering we had fish, prawns and scallops with asparagus. And the place is clean and comfortable to dine in.

It’s a big outlet as you can see and business seems good, near to full house on the day I went, and it’s a weekday.

You will see Somboon Chinese from the main road and will only see Somboon Seafood when you turn into the lane. Will definitely go back to try more of the dishes I did not managed to this round.

Somboon Seafood (Bantadthong Branch)
895/6-21 Soi Chula 8, Bantadthong Rd.,
Wangmai, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330
Contact ☎ 02-216-4203-5
Fax ☎02-216-7999