Street food is a huge draw for tourists who visit Bangkok. However, many may feel a little hesitant trying out the delicious smelling food from street vendors because of hygiene issues, or because the environment does not allow for a comfortable meal.
The creators of Cafe Chilli faced the same issues and decided to elevate North-Eastern Thai (Isaan) cuisine to a crowd that preferred comfort and some luxury. They also wanted to showcase the amazing north-eastern cuisine appreciated by locals to everyone, including those who may not be able to stomach street food. The food hygiene and authenticity are ensured. Only premium ingredients are used here and you can actually taste the difference.
There are two branches and the one we visited was at the ultra-luxe Emquartier. This cafe is a popular choice with well-heeled locals. In fact, it was easily the most packed cafe within the Helix Quartier at lunchtime!
Beautifully presented, the dishes were truly satisfying. The serving size is not huge, so it’d be best to order a few dishes to sample the Isaan cuisine, famed for its use of herbs and spices.
Before the lunch crowd poured in! On a side note, it is always a pleasure dining at the Helix Quartier of the Emquartier mall. Take a stroll from the top of the quartier down to the ground floor. Other than spotting beautiful cafes and restaurants, you will get to walk through a beautiful garden and waterfall!
Basket of greens, complimentary with any order of mains.
Sweetcorn fritters were so good.
Always a favourite, chicken wings, done to perfection.
The deep-fried pork is a must-order. It was equal parts crispy and melty. The chef uses a special marinade for the batter and it really is out of this world!
Som-Tum station!
Salted Egg Som Tum was great as an appetiser.
Another must-order: grilled squid! It was served with a really delicious herb salad and dressing.
This dish was perfection. The squid was not rubbery and went so well with the herb salad.
We also ordered a larb omelette. It went very well with the sticky rice!
Sticky rice served in a basket.
For dessert, we tried something very interesting. This is coffee served with youtiao! Most of the time, we have these two items separately. In the case of this dessert, it was a very cool marriage of both.
Mung bean pudding was served with coconut cream and youtiao, making it absolutely decadent.
Really love to try this during my trip this week from 7 to 11 July. Amazing seafood in a restaurant as I seldom visit restaurants in Bangkok as was not sure where are the good food are and affordable . Thanks. Hope to have a chance to try it. ?
Wow how timely to chance upon this delicious post just before I head to BKK tomorrow! The menu at cafe Chilli sounds right up my alley, with Isaan favourites…yum!
Crossing my fingers that I’ll be the lucky one! :)
Email: thebubblingpot@gmail.com
I love shopping and having street food in Bangkok and am in fact heading there from 13 to 17 July. It would be great to have delights like Moo Todd and Som Tum in a restaurant setting, especially with the drool-worthy photos!
OMGOMG. i hope i can win this giveaway – perfect for my upcoming birthday trip for my man. and the salted egg somtam is omgggggggg… and de deep fried pork…..
Bangkok is a paradise of street food and the pictures you posted make me drool anytime and everytime. Exploring something other than usual street food is something we would like to try. Winning this 1000 baht voucher to try the unique salted egg Som Tum and delicious looking coffee youtiao is something me and my girlfriend will be looking for when we travel coming August. May the luck be with me to win this!
Bangkok is all about great street food, but finding a good restaurant and in a comfortable setting like Cafe Chilli is even rarer. Me and my girlfriend are going to Thailand on Aug 4th, would love to surprise her with creative food like Salted Egg Som Tum(she is a hardcore salted egg fan) and coffee youtiao dessert for our trip. Winning this voucher will be a godsend.
Prayprays!
After reading the food recommendations on North-Eastern Thai (Isaan) cuisine in Café Chilli, my curiosity and craving for this cuisine has been very much aroused. I am particular about food hygiene and do not dare to eat street food whenever I visit Bangkok. Since Café Chilli places high emphasis on food hygiene and comfort, it has gone straight into the top of my MUST-EAT itinerary list for my visit in mid October. Thank you for the great food review.
After reading the food recommendations on North-Eastern Thai (Isaan) cuisine in Café Chilli, my curiosity and craving for this cuisine has been aroused. As I am very particular about food hygiene, I do not dare to eat street food whenever I visit Bangkok. Since Café Chilli places high emphasis on food hygiene as well as comfort, it has gone straight to top of my MUST EAT list for my next visit to Bangkok in mid October this year.
Jo, thank you for writing such a great review highlighting the delicious food that I must order. Look forward to more reviews on food in Bangkok (I am also a frequent visitor to Bangkok, just like you).
first visit to Bangkok in coming July 2016!
Reasons why I should win the vouchers.
1) Simply because I am new. I am relatively new to the Bangkok scene. I just had my first trip to Bangkok just 2 weeks ago and I am returning in 4 weeks this coming August. So I will personally get to use the voucher. Should I win, of course.
2) I am a foodie. I love ethnic food. The Cafe Chilli food pics you posted looks so good, I am super looking forward to go there!
3) I have been a fan of your blog. Your guides to the purchase of SIM card, Itinerary Planning, Grab and Chatuchak market were life saver.
4) Who doesn’t want to win (food voucher)?
will be visiting bkk for the first time ever in my life this upcoming august. after reading so many blog reviews/guides with regards to bkk, i found out your blog entries are the ones thats so detailed and makes everything so nice and “i wanna try”.
have heard about bkk’s roadstall’s hygiene level. now with this entry, i am super looking forward going there and try. i hope to win this vouchers to enjoy clean, legit thaifood. everything looks good! hope this first visit to bkk will b a good and wonderful one!
I hope to win this giveaway because I will be staying at Sleepbox Sukhumvit 22 as recommended by you guys, and Emquartier is near the hotel, even better!! :) Besides, the only place I know to get Northern Thai cruisine in Bangkok is Som Tam Nua, and I would love to try out Cafe Chilli because the food looks SO GOOD!! Sweetcorn fritters, chicken wing, grilled squid…I can’t wait to try it! Hope to win this voucher so I can bring my boyfriend to try this restaurant in September :) Thanks for sharing this restaurant with us, looking forward to more food reviews!
Congratulations Ci Xian!
Thank you to everyone who took part in this giveaway! As much as we would love to let everybody who participated win, we only have 1 voucher available. If you didn’t win this time, don’t be sad as we will have more contests coming up in the near future. Cheers!