The second branch of Coffee Beans By Dao in Soi Ruam Rudee was an instant hit. The food is OK, but clearly the masses are coming here for Dao’s secret weapon: dessert. The Ruam Rudee branch is huge—three stories tall in luxurious modern style. The menu is similarly thick, with dishes that sound Thai, Italian, French and Chinese. We usually order Dao’s excellent beef, so this time we decided to break from our routine and try some new (to us) things. Unfortunately, apparently, we did not choose wisely, from a pedestrian mushroom soup to yam saam krawp (sour and spicy fried squid, fish bladders and cashew nuts), which was more chewy than crispy—and we can do without chewy fish bladders—to two tiny bowls of overly seasoned (with pepper) baked clams with cheese. The menu is extensive, but often the items are just a theme and variations. The “soft crab salad” and “Soft Crab Salad Coffee Beans”, for example, are the same dish, only the signature item is topped with slices of rat-shit chilies. (We recommend the one with the chilies, which was actually quite good.) Another downer was the sad state of the staff. The unenthusiastic and unhappy faces on these young men and women nearly made us lose our appetite. So we did the only thing we could do: ignore them and order our favorite, the sirloin beefsteak. Up to Dao’s usual high standards, this large chunk of meat was juicy and tender and served with a beautiful side of smooth mashed potatoes that made us smile. Finally, it was time for dessert. On this day we opted for blueberry cheesecake and chocolate fudge cake, but really you can’t go wrong with any of Dao’s cakes and pastries, which are rich when they should be rich, creamy in the right places and sweet but not syrupy. That’s the great thing about Coffee Beans: No matter what happens earlier on, you always end on a high note.
