The Look-in Restaurant, just off Bangkok’s busy Sukhumvit Road, is not on most visitors’ tourist map – not yet. Set in a quiet residential side street one would not necessarily suspect what an extraordinary culinary adventure awaits inside. A glass wall at the end of the fairly narrow ground floor dining room provides a full view of the busy activity of the six cooks in the spotless compact kitchen. A staircase to the left of the entrance takes guests to a peaceful second floor room with polished wood floors, subdued green-brown tones and brick walls highlighted by the beautiful watercolors of Mrs. Charatsri Suwannatap, co-owner of the Look-in.
Look-in Restaurant’s Toy and Noi
Mr. Ukos Imaromna (Toy) and Mrs. Charatsri Suwannatap (Noi) are the husband and wife creators of Look-in Restaurant. Toy, an engineer by education, spent thirty years in California before moving back to Thailand a decade ago, yet has spent most of his career in the restaurant business. Settling in Sherman Oaks, outside of Los Angeles, Toy, a chef at heart, missed the cuisine of his homeland. First working as a part-time cook, he eventually purchased and operated the Thai ‘n I Restaurant for over twenty years, one of the first fine dining Thai establishments in the area.
After selling the Thai ‘n I and returning to Bangkok he had no interest continuing the often grueling hours the restaurant business requires, but his wife, Noi, had another idea. Noi had already established a very successful business, the CS Spa & Salon, a training school for practitioners in Thailand’s therapeutic spa industry. A variety of practical reasons coalesced into the decision to open the Look-in in a building next door to the training facility. Not the least of these reasons was befriending Chef Wan.
Look-in’s Executive Chef Wan
Chef Wan was enjoying a successful career at Bangkok’s Westin Hotel, one of Toy and Noi’s favorite dining venues. Yet a couple years ago personal circumstances dovetailed with the decision of his friends. He accepted the invitation to become the Executive Chef of the Look-in. It was not only Chef Wan’s skill in the culinary arts but his flexibility in fusion cooking honed during his years at the Westin that attracted Toy and Noi. Toy has a passion for Italian cuisine and Chef Wan makes a mean pizza.
As I entered the Look-in for my first dinner I spied, through the glass wall, Chef Wan tossing a round of pizza dough high in the air, not an ordinary occurrence in a Bangkok restaurant. The round of freshly made dough was as thin as any pizza in Rome or Manhattan. Yet next he spread the round with pastry cream flavored with Madagascar Vanilla bean and swiftly but artfully arranged overlapping rows of thinly sliced bananas. Baked in a gas fired brick pizza oven, the Banana Pizza is Look-in’s most requested dessert.
The Look-in’s Two Menus
Diners are presented with two separate menus, an Italian and a Thai. Having sampled both, on three occasions, the execution of the dishes are equally praiseworthy. The kitchen staff moves with precision and ease between steaming pots of fragrant broths that form the base for Thai cuisine’s many soups and sauces and the pasta/pizza stations where they create the 14 different pizzas and seven pasta dishes. Plump Thai clams transformed Penne with Clam Sauce. The pairing of the two cuisines is not an odd combination. Both make abundant use of fresh herbs, greens, onions, garlic and a large variety of vegetables. Chicken, pork, fish and seafood are regular staples in dishes from both cultures. The simple Margarita Pizza, with its crisp thin crust, was rich in fresh tomato sauce, basil and imported Mozzarella Cheese.
From the Thai menu, Sea Mussels Baked with Herbs was a visual work of art with large plump mussels in their shell nestled on a bed of basil, leaf lettuce, red onions and Asian morning glory greens in a complex fish broth redolent of lemongrass. The classic Larb Moo Jee with minced pork was bursting with herbs and its chili spiciness tempered with lime juice. The Thai Basil Soup took full advantage of this herbs deep flavor. A standout on the menu is a personal favorite of Toy’s, fresh pan seared Foie Gras napped with a red wine/cherry/balsamic reduction. The rich duck liver and its sauce paired perfectly with the accompanying garnish of citrus fruit slices and astringent rocket greens.
A Look-in Personal Favorite from the Thai Menu
Tom Kha Gai, Thailand’s incomparable coconut soup with chicken and flavored with galangal was a Look-in knockout. Available in most restaurants and Bangkok’s legion of street food vendors, this soup is as good as the skill of the cook in preparing the broth. I’ve had the soup dozens of times during my Southeast Asian travels but Chef Wan’s preparation of Tom Kha Gai was outstanding.
Many Bangkok restaurants advertise Thai Royal Cuisine and charge accordingly. In reality, most of Thai cuisine fits that description, and it’s certainly an apt moniker for the Look-in. Yet a patron will not need to obtain a loan to afford dining at the Look-in. The price range on both menus, especially given the necessity to import certain menu ingredients, is modest leading me to inquire and Toy’s response: “We want people to return; we don’t want to cheat customers.” Given the superb cuisine, a good selection of wines and beer, attractive surroundings, creative and friendly staff, Toy, Noi and Chef Wan have no worries that the Lord Buddha would ever look upon them as cheats.
Look-in Restaurant
1 Soi Sukhumvit 58, Sukhumvit Road
Bangchak, Prakonong, Bangkok 10260
Telephone: 0 2741 5246 or 0 2741 5242, ext. 101
Note: Two block walk from the Ban Chak Skytrain Station
Marc d'Entremont - Years of experience as a chef, historian and teacher guides my travel and food writing. I explore all things that shape a culture.
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