KHAO SAN SEK
Tucked into a narrow shophouse on Chinatown's Songwat Road, this latest venture from Chef Pichaya ''Pam'' Soontornyanakijr – better known for her boundary-bending fine dining venue Potong, only five minutes' walk from here – glows with the burnished charm of a bygone era and a reverence for tradition.
The 70-year-old structure sets the tone with faded window shutters, creaking wooden stairs, and exposed-brick interior walls. In a nod to the neighbourhood's youthful grit, a vibrant three-storey graffiti mural by street artist JecksBKK displays a girl in space buns, Chinese tunic, jeans and sneakers, slyly promoting Takabb, a classic Thai-Chinese herbal lozenge.
Inside, industrial light fixtures dangle over rough-hewn tables and padded banquettes arranged in small clusters divided among the three floors, an arrangement that promotes a casual sense of exclusivity. There's an ambience of cheeky nostalgia without kitsch – a delicate balance that mirrors Chef Pam's approach to food.
The concept behind Khao San Sek – Thai for 'sacred milled rice', the stray grains that fall to the floor during milling and are blessed by monks for use in warding off evil spirits – is the celebration of five holy-grail ingredients representing Thai cuisine's primary flavour spectrum. These culinary building blocks – rice, chili, coconut, fish sauce, and palm sugar – divide dishes on the menu into sections accordingly. Lest this sound a bit academic, in practice Khao San Sek feels looser, funkier, and more down-to-earth than the more Thai-Chinese, Michelin-starred Potong. The dishes pay homage to Bangkok's street food roots while still bearing Pam's unmistakable flair for precision and colour.
But don't mistake comfort for complacency. This is Pam we're talking about – the first Thai (and first Asian) woman to be crowned The World's Best Female Chef 2025 in The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025 competition sponsored by S. Pellegrino & Acqua Panna – and everything you'll taste here reflects intense focus on flavour, colour and texture.
At the front of the clipboard, a house menu offers a set of nine courses for B1,800 (plus B500 for an optional two-glass sato pairing). For us the standouts are the crispy coconut taco with Suratthani oyster and chili sauce, the Thai eggplant relish chili, the six-hour smoked beef tongue satay with house pickles, and the southern Thai-style rice salad with young jasmine rice, mackerel, chilli paste, kaffir lime leaves, and sour mango. The rice extravaganza— khao khayam in the Thai translation – makes a strong impression, with crunchy textures alternating with mini-explosions of chilli and tart fruit, alongside smoky seafood umami.
Sato – Thai artisan rice wines, hand-selected by Khao San Sek – make an exceptional coupling with dishes at the restaurant. We particularly enjoy Chiang Mai's Sun Pa Tong Sticky Rice Sato, available by the glass or by the bottle.
Chef Grace-Worakan Kritsirikul, former sous chef at Potong, breezes by the tables, greeting guests and answering queries with disarming warmth. Her philosophy here is clear: make food that feels like home, while slyly nudging diners to reconsider what ''home'' tastes like. Khao San Sek isn't Potong's cerebral tasting menu, but that's the point. It's a love letter to Bangkok – loud, chaotic, heartfelt.
In a city forever chasing the next culinary trend, Khao San Sek slows the tempo and reminds us of the simple joy of eating well, together. It's a place where memory meets innovation, and where Chef Pam proves, yet again, that she's one of Thailand's most compelling culinary storytellers.
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