Soi 56 Bangkok

Soi (Thai: ซอย) is the term used in Thailand for a side-street branching off a major street (Thanon, Thai: ถนน). An alley is called a Trok (Thai: ตรอก). Soi 56 Bangkok named for this market street where the best of these foods are made and sold  by vendors on this street in Bangkok. The innovation of “going old school” and specializing in Thai street food is a brilliant concept. 

The menu was designed for patrons with a very picky palette for authentic Thai food.   At Soi 56 you will not find dishes were the heat is tempered and the sweetness amplified to benefit the American palates. Soi 56 creates a balance of sweet, sour, salty and hot this combination is often a praise of Thai cooking, which focuses on bold flavors working in harmony.  The spices are not muted, the herbs fresh and the lemon grass permitted to run wild. The varieties and combinations of fresh vegetables, herbs, spices and accents in the salads are refreshing. Scallions, red onions, cucumbers, tomato, cilantro, lime juice, fish sauce, dried chili peppers and ground peanuts were all present in perfect proportion and perfect counterpoint, pungent yielding to sweetness, an explosion of cool extinguishing the Thai flame. A perfect example of this is the Spicy Raw Papaya salad, hand shredded with long bean papaya, tomato, grilled shrimp and peanut smothered in a tangy in lime juice and fish sauce, this salad had to be one of the best I ever tasted.  The Crying tiger beef was grilled medium rare and tossed in chili pepper sauce.  The dish is more tender and flavorful than meat at many Asian restaurants. The dish I found that was most symbolic to the restaurant theme was the Side Walk Pad Thai, only $13 for the spicy rice thin noodles woked with Jumbo shrimp, dried prawns, baked tofu, green chives, egg, peanut and bean sprouts. Accompanied by a trilogy of craft beers served on tap, that included “palatable lighter beers for spicy food, like St. Bernardus ABT 12 and Schneider wheat beer.

Over all Soi 56 Bangkok is a restaurant with an extensive menu of exceptional Thai food with unusual, authentic taste at very affordable prices. Not only is their choice of cuisine innovative but, their Caheunga corridor location makes them another spot that is helping to contribute to the improvement of the overall area and transforming this part of Hollywood into one that should be economically sustainable for years into the future.