Review

At this point, what new is there to say about POTONG? The story is told in media across the world: Pichaya ‘Pam’ Soontornyanakij, the humble young chef who took her family’s home, a Chinese pharmacy in Yaowarat, and turned it into an internationally acclaimed restaurant, bringing the sense-memories of Chinese herbal remedies and the steaming food stalls of the neighbourhood to fine dining. Diners are welcomed with a glass of kombucha on the ground floor, before heading to the roof for a glass of local wine and a few bites, and then down to the third floor for the meal proper. High-quality local ingredients make the dishes, with particular focus on seafood and duck. Don’t come imagining high-flying molecular technique – come expecting serious quality and a mind-blowing experience. Chef Pam’s latest menu is ‘Revolution,’ but dishes are not so much revolutionary as exceptionally crafted homages to Bangkok’s Thai-Chinese classics. The peppery broth of guay jub, with pork tongue and caviar, the sweetness and infusion of tamarind in pad thai, served as a Thai flag-patterned noodle roll wrapped around a tiger prawn, the healing warmth of black chicken broth, duck with ethereally sweet and crispy skin, the lightly salted coconut cream on the coconut dessert... the flavours are all here, but in a context that you may never have imagined.