We settled most of our dinners for Bangkok trip once we booked our air tickets but we were left with a Monday slot empty. Cos most restaurants that we searched for/were interested in were not opened on Monday nights. Then one day the friend texted me excitedly to tell me she has secured Potong after much effort. And so we were finally trying the famous Restaurant Potong known for serving 20+ course Chef Tasting Menu (฿4500). I know, I’m already struggling with a 7-8 course most of the time. I don’t know how to survive 20+ course, but we shall see

The location was definitely an interesting one. Locating in an alleyway, you probably wouldn’t expect to fine a dine-dining place here. My first thought was, omg, I wouldn’t want to come here on rainy days given how bad flooding can be in Bangkok. lol

This building was originally a traditional Chinese medicine shop, owned by Chef Pam’s family, with a history close to 120 years. It took 2.5 years to revive this building to incorporate modern living and keep its traditional structures to become what it is today

Guests are first welcomed into the SINO bar on the first floor where it used to be a storefront for the medicine dispensary

The welcome area where guests are introduced to the building and how dinner will commence for the night

We were then brought up to the Opium rooftop bar where an introductory drink awaited, in the form of house-made kombucha

The terrace area where we would take our first bite of the evening

Garden Bite / Wing Beans / Toasted Sesame Vinaigrette / Garden Flowers

Our first bite was a good one. Love the lightly grilled taste of the wingbean with the appetising sesame honey sauce. Washing it down with the kombucha while preparing our tastebuds for the next one

We were then brought down to the 3rd floor where there was an open kitchen in view and we were stopped there for our second bite

The second bite was prepared by Chef Pam’s team and in her moment of excitement, Chef Pam started speaking to us in Thai until one of her staffs interrupted and said we were not locals. lol. Oops

Pig’s Head / Chilli Miso / Thai-Chinese Chive Kimchi

The second bite, in my opinion, was pretty average. I mean it was okay lor, nothing much exciting

Moving down to the second floor which was the main dining hall, we were ready to get our dinner started. I went with a glass of champagne to start, and I had to say, it tasted like champagne (after our disappointing experience at Baan Tepa) lol

Dear | Phang District Encapsulated Orange

The orange was really good. The juice burst in your mouth and you can taste a strong and sweet taste of orange circulating around your palate. And of course, 100 points for aesthetic too

Great | Unami Broth (left)

Great | Square The Circle (right)

The umami broth tasted like a rich and nourishing herbal soup which was boiled down for hours. There was this clear distinct taste that was so comforting for the stomach you felt like you could have another glass of this. The squares on the other hand were nothing much to shout about 

A dish made using different parts of the coconut

Memories | Coconut Apple / Lemongrass / Shallot / Cucumber Jam

Memories | Coconut Milk / Climing Wattle / Stink Bean

Memories | Coconut Meat / Smoked Mango / Fingerlime / Cilantro

Memories | Burnt Coconut Husk / Coconut Cracker

The stink bean and cilantro won my heart. I love their individual unique flavour and how different it was from each other. The coconut apple and coconut husk on the other hand, seem to pale in comparison 

Reincarnated | Blood Clam / Pomegranate / Fermented Chili / Lily Kimchi

I really enjoyed this dish. The taste of the clam with the fermented chilli was really appetising and the thought of using clam shells helped to elevate the senses

Beautiful | Hue Sae / Local-line caught King Mackerel / Fermented Chili / Rose Apple

This somewhat reminded me of chicken rice chilli sauce. It tasted a little sweet at first but the spice lingered on your tongue. I felt the fish took a backseat here cos the chilli really stole the show

Sacred | Blue Crab / Mud Crab Roe Emulsion / Black Pepper Jam / Thai-Chinese Bread

You can find the surprise underneath

To be honest, I was almost full by this stage and was just silently counting how many more dishes to go

I thought the whole combination worked. The toast with the jam and crab meat. I preferred the black pepper jam as it was stronger in terms of flavour and the crab meat was succulent and sweet

Halfway through our course, we were introduced to download this app so that we can use the app to watch a video transformed via a piece of paper. It was an experience like no other. Rather innovative I would say

When I saw the menu, I was pretty excited to try this dish cos I love fish maw

Inspiring | Fish Maw / Scallop / Chrysanthemum / White Pepper / Caviar

Served like fish maw broth, you could taste a very strong taste of white pepper in it, though I felt it a little overwhelming. I didn’t quite like the use of foam here as I felt it didn’t value add anything. The only comfort was the big and sweet scallop and even I find the caviar a little too wasteful

Forgotten | Yakult Pipo

Our first palate cleaner for the night. A combination of yakult and buttermilk icecream with 3 seasonal fruit jellies – orange, strawberry and grape 

Thai-Chinese | Fish Head Jus / Chinese Morels / Chawanmushi

I felt that the chawanmushi was a little too salty probably cos of the mushroom sauce, and so I didn’t finish it

Family | Crispy Surat Thani White Promphet Skeleton / Sea Grapes / Dehydrated Lime & Tomato

Topped with some tea mousse, the bone was fried really well. There was a nice crisp texture to it though it was a little too oily and tasted a little fishy unfortunately 

Layers of Flavours | Fish Pearl / Fish Mousse / Fish Garum

Sharing | Dry Aged Surat Thani White Promphet / Ginger Jus / Caramelized Sunchoke

The fish itself was good but I felt like it didn’t go really well with the broth. The pairing somewhat didn’t match

My Dear | Mangosteen / Elderflower Tonic

Love the mangosteen in the middle. It really brought back memories of having mangosteen

And lastly, moving on to our mains of the night which was also Chef Pam’s signature dish

Skin was nice and crisp and duck meat well cooked. The friend said the salt was totally unnecessary 

Proud | Hay Aged Duck
History | Duck Leg Mapo
Dream | Pork Rib Char Siu
Legacy | Kai Lan / Potong’s Condiment

I called this chap chye peng, atas style

Served with a bowl of white rice, if you weren’t feeling full by then, I guarantee you would be full after this

I actually thought the char siew was better than the duck and the Mapo tofu ain’t any good

And cos in every Chinese dinner at home, you would finish off with some soup. It’s like proper closure to the meal

Palate cleanser again, before moving on to our desserts

Potong | Corn Custard / Sweet Corn Butter / Toasted Brioche / Smoked Salt

Inspired by their childhood desserts, this reminded me of our street side  icecream in Orchard road. lol. I thought this dessert was pretty good. I love how the taste of corn was evident in every element and there were different layers even if it was by the same ingredient

Simple | Thasala Chocolate / Cashew Praline / Fermented Lime

With inspiration from chocolate coin snack, they came out with an elevated version of it. Though I’m not sure which part of this looked like the coin (maybe the golden ball). It did taste chocolatey though at this point, we were so full we can’t really talk anymore 

Elegant | Remake of Thai-Chinese Street Desserts

Using longan as ice

I say this caught our attention

Their version of ice kachang, but I had to say the ingredients tasted pretty different

I really enjoyed it

Thank You | Fortune

Rounding it off with a fortune cookie! Though I would have preferred a better reading to it. lol

Also, not sure if they made their own cookie, but if they did not, they should. But if they did, then they need to improve on it

Complimentary Chilli Oil for guests!

I felt like there was just too much food. It was an overkill. I understand how they want guests to try each and every different element but you know if we are too full at some point, no matter how good the food is, we won’t be able to enjoy as much. Personally I felt that Restaurant Potong is all about the experience, more than the food itself. And a visit once, is enough

Restaurant Potong

422 Vanich Rd. Samphanthawong
Bangkok, 10100