Taking up the space of the old Polka Dot Café, The Upper Glass has won over Ari crowds with the same casual coziness they perfected at their other venue, Exhibit Café, in Sukhumvit Soi 31. The industrial décor’s long bay window offers views of Aree Garden’s small yard, while the requisite combo of retro chairs and colorful pillows delivers on both the cozy and cool factors. They have a pretty long list of dishes given there are only 20 seats to fill up, but can pull most of them off competently, at least if you’re into Thai-style fusion. For example, the salmon Saab Ver (raw salmon with Thai style spicy sauce, B250) is both tangy and spicy thanks to its’ Thai-style seafood dipping sauce. That being said, favorites like the spaghetti with squid in black ink sauce (B220) usually end up drowned in sauce and overcooked. Not here. The spaghetti had a nice spring to it and the sauce was pretty dense and dry, with both salty and slightly spicy notes. Mains, like the BBQ pork ribs (B540) and pork chop with pepper sauce (B380) are equally enjoyable. The moist, tender BBQ ribs are well supported by the aromatic sweet and sour BBQ sauce. Although if you’re going to cater to the local palate, we’d have like more kick to that pepper sauce. Come dessert, the homemade tiramisu (B120) isn’t overly sweet, but its watery texture is a tad off-putting. The two-page wine list, drawing mostly from California, Italy and Chile, further proves they’re trying harder than the average fusion joint: sparkling is from B2,700 (Champagne B5,700-B6,000), while wine by the glass starts from B200 and bottles range from B990-B2,500. If you can get a seat, this is an intimate and tasty alternative to Ari’s constantly overcrowded and overpriced restaurants.
