Journey of a Dinner at LangBaan

What is it like to attend a dinner at LangBaan, which is hidden behind PaaDee (give your name at the front of PaaDee to be escorted to “The Back Of The House”. It’s an experience you have been looking forward to probably for a while, as you have to purchase your tickets online months ahead of time for a spot at one of their 8 seatings available a week, two seatings a night each Thursday-Sunday? Here’s a peek behind the bookcase door, with my Journey of a Dinner at LangBaan with their May 2017 Tour of Thailand menu.

For this May 2017 Tour of Thailand menu, the dinner will take a tour of multiple regions of Thailand rather than focusing on a certain region – so we’ll go to the North, Central, South, and Eastern provinces.

Snacks

เมี่ยงส้มโอ:
Miang som-O
Grapefruit, shrimp, shallot, chili, lime, ginger in roasted coconut sauce, betel leaf

This was a one bite salad of intense flavors with the burst from the grapefruit, the crunch of the shallot, a bit of chewiness from the leaf, sweetness from the shrimp and roasted coconut with a hint of spice of chili and bite of ginger, complexity that is gone too soon.

ขนมครก:
Kanom krok
Crispy rice cup, scallop, coconut cream with galangal

I was fortunate enough to be seated at the counter, so I could watch the assembly of each course for the dining room, and all the different components that had to come together.

จิ้นส้ม:
Jin somm
Northern Thai style fermented lamb and sticky rice sausage, quail egg, ginger, peanut, cabbage

Soup

ต้มแจ่วปลา:
Dtom jaw plaa
Halibut, cauliflower, leeks, tomatoes, fried garlic, pak ka yang, E-san style broth

Salad

หางวัวตุ๋นยาจีน:
Hang wua thoon ya jeen
Chinese style braised oxtail, radish, mustard greens, black vinegar, peanuts, beef tendon

พล่าปลาแซลมอน:
Pra plaa salmon
Central style cured salmon, rhubarb, ramps, garden cress, ikura, toasted rice

Main Course

The main course came as multiple dishes all at once to eat family style that included wraps, dish to eat with rice, soup.

หมูผัดปลาเค็ม:
Moo pad plaa kem
Lower Southern Thai style relish of ground pork with salted threadfin, lime leaf, crispy omelette, greens

This was my favorite dish of the main courses with its spiciness.

เป็ดย่างเกลือ:
Ped yang klaur
Upper Southern Thai style roasted pekin duck, chili jam

The meat of this duck had a delicate smoky flavor, but I was loving that chili jam too which provided an extra depth of smoke with bit of chili and sweetness

แกงอ่อมไก่:
Gang aom gai
E-san style curry of braised chicken, thai eggplant, morels, dill

This was a surprisingly thin broth to this curry and very dill-forward.

ข้าวหอมมะลิ:
Khao hom mali
Jasmine rice

Dessert

ข้าวเหนียวมูล:
Khao niaw moon
Pandan sticky rice, rhubarb, turmeric coconut, lemon balm

ทับทิมกรอบ:
Tub tim grob
Carrot boba, water chestnuts, turmeric coconut, orange ice

LangBaan Check – delivered in an equivalent of a Thai Mad or Cracked Magazine

It was a dinner that was not too spicy since it traveled around all over Thailand and not just the North or South (which tend to be the spiciest), and brought out bold flavors in combinations of bitter and sour, simple and spicy, creamy, herbaceous, warm and cold, crunchy, all layered in different ways with various dishes. It was totally different then the normal food cart or restaurant Thai food you find which tend to be more homey fast food style because it takes to much prep of different ingredients and cooking in different methods that are combined onto the plate.

Have you heard of LangBaan before, or visited the front of the house restaurant (open to everybody and a pretty good Thai restaurant of its own) PaaDee? Which of the dishes I mentioned intrigues you? Have you ever been to a restaurant that had a hidden door like this?