NVM Review

By Warren Rojas

Food: 7 Ambiance: 7 Service: 7

When it comes to preparedness, few places can compare to Bangkok 54.

The Thai favorite leaves nothing to chance in terms of hospitality.

An army of servers keeps close tabs on the multiple dining rooms, swooping in as needed (refreshing drinks, providing guidance, snapping pictures) but mostly just blending into the colorful background. Tandem drinks and appetizer specials are helping to cultivate a happy hour crowd at the sleek bar. And a blossoming wine carte (now boasting over a dozen name brand sakes) suggests management knows its food deserves better than the stereotypical gewürztraminer and riesling plonk unloaded on every Asian restaurant.

Deep-frying sapped some of the natural juiciness from sliced pork belly, but its savory quotient stayed solid.

A chicken-cashew stir-fry was almost as intriguing as it was dulcet (honey-like finish stuck with me for a while).

Fried tuna is pulverized into fishy breadcrumbs (unreal) and rolled with shredded mango, raw red onions, peanuts, lime juice and chili flakes (sublime after burn).

By Warren Rojas

Food: 6.5 Ambiance: 6.9 Service: 6.6

Stylish seats and pulse-racing eats are hallmarks at Bangkok 54, a hipster noodle house specializing in tongue-teasing Thai cooking.

Staff looks sharp from season to season (sporting pastel golf shirts in warmer weather, stark black button-ups and vibrant ties during colder months) in an effort to match the trendy decor within (fashionable cushions, overhead spotlights).

Monthly jazz sessions and a sleek bar setup help ensure that even the most timid of diners can enjoy a lengthy visit.

Meanwhile, the tantalizing cooking keeps spice-seeking locals from having to wander too far from home to get their fiery fix.

Breaded catfish tossed with fresh basil, baby corn, hot peppers and eggplant arrives steeped in blistering curry (phenomenally spicy). Batter-fried duck receives the four-alarm treatment courtesy of fresh chili peppers and ample garlic. Slow-roasted pork shows its sweet side beneath a layer of Chinese five-spice, delivering fragrant nuggets of clove, cinnamon and pepper-streaked meat (well-structured dish).

By Warren Rojas

Parked right at the crossroads of authentic cooking and urban splendor, Bangkok 54 ingratiates itself to gourmet purists and casual diners alike by presenting unmistakably Thai delicacies devoid of commercial pandering.

This neighborhood looker is as stylish as they come, comforting tired backsides with padded benches and triangular pillows while teasing eyeballs with a hot rod-red bar setup illuminated by blazing yellow spotlights. Recessed shelves house an army of metallic icons and colorful statuary, all bathed in the warm glow of carefully trained track lighting. The adjoining lounge now plays host to live jazz at least once a month, adding a soothing, adult-friendly soundtrack to the restaurant’s evolving sophistication.

Meanwhile, the rear reception area is almost entirely papered over with a lifetime of framed awards and media clippings—ensuring that any passersby who even glance through the door will get a taste of management’s marketing savvy.

The easily navigable menu features a host of intriguing appetizers, customized curry dishes and assorted seafood specialties. Most dishes share the roots of Thai spicing (chili-lime sauce, minced peppers, fiery curries), with the hottest of the bunch tagged as “spicy hot” for added protection.

Staffers, however, do their best to steer guests to a mutually agreeable spice level—“You like spicy food?” was all the fight I got while requesting four-alarm entrees—rather than prodding customers toward unnecessarily tepid alternatives.

An order of tod mun summons burnt umber-fish patties served with a tasty soy-garlic dipping sauce (“safe” snack for just about anyone). The much more aggressive larb reveals minced chicken spiked with an intoxicating blend of ground chili powder and lime juice (after a while, my mind tapped out, even as my tongue kept begging for another shot of lethally limey bird).

A house special of pan-fried roti wrapped around mammoth strips of crispy duck (juiciness incarnate) dressed with sliced cucumber, scallions, spicy mustard and Thai-style duck sauce is big enough to share, but tough to let go of (spoiled spring rolls for me forever).

Homemade pad Thai is packed with bits of bronzed tofu, tantalizing noodles, savory bean sprouts and a smattering of crushed peanuts (splash of fish sauce lets the individual flavors shine through). Curried beef and potatoes bring the spicy while coconut milk bolstered by freshly shredded coconut covers the sweet in a doubly nice massamun beef creation.

Pad prik khing is as spicy as advertised, yielding tender morsels of fiery fowl accompanied by some equally incendiary green beans (crunch of the pods offset the tenderness of the bird well). The signature pork-belly platter delivers ruddy strips of chili-basil-soaked swine (crunchy strips call to mind barbecue jerky) stir-fried with onions and scallions (another shareable plate that somehow was never out of arm’s reach).