The tiny courtyard behind the Jim Thompson boutique on Surawong connects to Soi Thaniya’s darker, filthier bowels, where you’ll find fewer girls in cocktail dresses and more menacing pimps. A plain but substantial wood door stands between this underbelly of the business district and one of the most refined tepanyaki in town. Inside, the waitresses in kimonos, the glass tower stocked with Bordeaux Grand Cru and the windowless dining room flanked by two massive tepanyaki grills create a hushed, cathedral-like atmosphere than seems to inspire whispering rather than loud bursts of laughter. We come often for lunch, when the vibe is a bit more casual and a mere B350 (net if you pay cash) gets you a solid three-course meal with such simple delights as a hamburger patty topped by an egg and dumplings in red bean paste. But in the evening, both the sets (B1,950 for Kobe beef, B1,350 for seafood or US beef) and the a la carte menu are on another plane entirely. The sets are introduced with three slices of great tuna—fairly lean but with a smooth round taste, not that slightly metallic kind of the bright pink tuna you’ll find at buffets. Then comes a clear broth in a teapot which, once you’ve squeezed in the provided lime, becomes a wonderful palate cleanser. There’s also a great, crispy salad in a light mayonnaise dressing, grilled vegetables, and a very generous bowl of garlic fried rice; so you need not worry about going hungry. The protein—either seafood or beef—is of superior quality and cooked perfectly. Even the relatively cheaper US beef is tender and juicy, some pieces almost being too fat. The seafood set has a plump, perfectly cooked scallop, a squid, and some salmon. A word of caution: the a la carte menu transliterates, but does not translate, dishes into English, so you better know your takenoko from your konnyaku. With a little help from your waitress you may find such exciting dishes as the nasu to kurobuta cheese toratoroyaki, a wonderful layering of grilled eggplants, cream-like cheese, an incredibly light soy sauce and perfectly grilled pork belly. But it’s the superb food’s supporting cast—from the beautiful crockery to the stern, emotionless waitresses that never miss a beat—that makes Serina not just a great meal, but a great experience.
