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.
