Hidden away on the basement level of the United Center Building, Bangkok Shokudo serves lunch-friendly Thai food with Japanese twists, both on the plates and in its handsome décor which mixes handmade-looking crockery and blonde wood.
Food giant S&P is behind the whole thing, for better or worse. The clean, fresh produce is executed with industrial precision, but it does taste a bit bland and mass-produced. Perhaps more offensive are the actual recipes. Is a layering of seafood green curry on an omelet and rice (B135), served in a (very pretty) bowl, such a hot idea? At first, the perfectly cooked (which means bordering on undercooked in our book) seafood and the soft blend of textures is pleasant enough. But after a few bites, even the spicy kick fails to shake off the feeling you’re eating something that’s been run through a blender—some kind of fusion baby food.
Not everything on the menu is Thai-meets-Japanese, though. You can have your khao soy noodles, for example, with traditional options like beef or chicken (B125)—or you can go nuts and have it with a tonkatsu (pork cutlet, B135). Again, the khao soy itself is pretty good, but the fun of a deep-fried pork cutlet basking in rich coconut sauce wears off fast. You can also opt for the straight-up Japanese dishes, but if the incredibly oily shrimp tempura (B145) we had on our last visit is any indication, it might be best to stick to the Thai side of the menu. There, you’ll find some rather nice old-school treats, like the yam makue yao (eggplant in spicy salad, B125), which for some reason disappeared from S&P menus some time ago. We also like the sukiyaki (pork B135, beef B145), whose mix of veggies makes for a tasty broth.
As an affordable and handsome canteen for office workers, Bangkok Shokudo is a very solid option—they even have a menu of Thai desserts (B55-65) and classic drinks like o-liang (iced coffee in Thai style, B50), cha yen (tea with milk, B70) and nam matoom (bael juice, B50). But if your desk is not in one of the surrounding buildings, it’s hard to imagine why you’d ever visit. No outside alcohol.