Much fine dining in Bangkok is relegated to hotel-based restaurants. This is fine for some people, and several of Bangkok's hotel kitchens are putting out some great food, but for most of us, hotel dining often lacks character and rarely feels like a good value.
Luckily, some clever folks have swooped in to provide us with an intriguing alternative.
Opposite, run by the people who started WTF, is a multi-purpose event space that has embarked on a series of pop-up dining events. Their most recent dinner (pictured above) was my first time experience with the concept, and took the form of a night of Roman cuisine as prepared by Italian chef Paolo Vitaletti. Dishes included Roman-style tripe, borlotti beans with prosciutto skin, deep-fried artichoke, and la porchetta, suckling pig stuffed with pork offal and fennel pollen that was easily the most delicious pork dish I've encountered in a while. There was tasty prosecco and wine, and real bread, flown in from Italy. In addition to enjoying dishes one won't find elsewhere in Bangkok, we were pouring our own wine, scooping second helpings from communal bowls and making friends. It was all a lot like eating at the home of a very talented home cook, and my take-home impression of the meal was that this is how dining should be: informal, communal and tasty. At 2500B (about US$80), it wasn't exactly cheap, but with good food, generous serves and virtually free-flow booze, I can't imagine that anybody would feel that that he didn't get his money's worth.
If this sounds like your thing, stay tuned to opposite's website or Twitter feed (@oppositebangkok) for their next pop-up.
opposite 27/1 Soi 51, Th Sukhumvit, Bangkok 02 662 6330
View Thai Eats in a larger map