As Seen Abroad: House of Smooth Curry in Bangkok

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Bangkok is famous for being a city of street food. Even if you’re not eating at one of the city’s famous night markets or non-night markets, food in Bangkok is generally pretty cheap. With so much amazing affordable food around, it doesn’t really make sense to go to a fancy restaurant.

However.

We love red curry. We love it. It is delicious. It is delicious. Did I say that twice? Yes, I did, because we love red curry. We loved it at the Thai place in Kobe, and we wanted to eat it in Thailand. And even though we hadn’t planned on visiting any nice restaurants, we found one online (with the help of our mobile Wi-Fi) that was a five-minute walk from our hotel and looked so good we just had to treat ourselves to a swank date night in Bangkok. We’re glad we did.

House of Smooth Curry at the Athenee Hotel

Located within the Athenee Hotel on Wireless Road in central Bangkok, not far from Central Embassy and Lumphini Park, House of Smooth Curry is one of several restaurants within the hotel. We found it to be not very crowded, and we were given a nice big table on the terrace, perfect for a warm but not terribly hot night in March.

The menu isn’t massive - instead of offering a million varieties of curry, the restaurant specializes in just a few and focuses on doing those really well. The prices are definitely higher than most Bangkok restaurants - to give you an idea, the yellow curry costs 520 Baht, which is around $14.35. That’s more than our entire meal at Soi Polo Fried Chicken. That said, it’s still less than your average hotel restaurant.

Appetizers and dip at House of Smooth Curry

They brought out some complimentary dip with wonton… things. They were really crunchy and the dip was super tasty, with more of a kick than I was expecting. We also ordered some Pra Tad Lom, deep-fried prawn spring rolls with plum sauce. This sauce was pretty standard, and the spring rolls, while good, weren’t overly memorable. They were a really good version of a thing that in my view can’t ever be elevated that much. This appetizer course was less about flavor and more about excitedly stuffing our faces and trying not to get dip on our shirts as we waited for the curries.

Red curry with roasted duck breast

Gaeng Phed Ped Yang

THB - ฿ 550

Red curry with roasted duck breast, lychee, pineapple and cherry tomatoes

I am often disappointed by duck. I always see it on a Chinese menu, think, “ooh, duck,” and then when I get it, taste it and go, “oh, yeah, duck.” It rarely does much for me. I was skeptical of this curry. I shouldn’t have been.

This was without a doubt one of the best curries I have eaten in my life. Not just one of the best red curries, or one of the best Thai curries - it can go up against any Indian or Japanese or Nepalese curry as well. Not only was there an insane depth of flavor, but each individual element came through. The duck, the lychees, the tomatoes - they all stood out, tasted great on their own, and worked together to create something truly magical.

We were astonished by how much we loved this curry. If you visit House of Smooth Curry, you have to get this. It’s worth five times what it costs. Put it in my IV when I’m on my death bed.

And what’s more, we weren’t even done!

Chef Ton’s Mother’s Curry

Chef Ton's Mother's Curry

฿ 570

Home style curry with free-range chicken, tamarind juice, roasted herbs, banana blossom and coconut milk

This chicken curry was good. It really was. Good chicken, nice coconut flavor, interesting herbs… but the duck curry was just too tough of an act to follow. We couldn’t be moved by this. Our hearts had already been promised to the Gaeng Phed Ped Yang. I guess what I’m saying is that it’s possible this curry was really good, but we wouldn’t have noticed. We spent the entire walk home talking about the duck curry. The rest of the food was up to par, but there was a clear winner this night.

Conclusion: is House of Smooth Curry worth the price?

As I said, House of Smooth Curry is more expensive than most restaurants in Bangkok, though not particularly expensive for a restaurant in a nice hotel. If you’re not staying in this area and want to spend your time at night markets or gobbling street food, you likely won’t even consider coming to this neighborhood at night, let alone stopping into a restaurant that’s not visible from the street. But if you’re staying nearby, this ranks up there with Soi Polo as a must-try. It made for a nice night out and one of the parts of Bangkok we still talk about the most. Curry good.

Location and info

House of Smooth Curry

Address: 61 Wireless Rd, Lumphini, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand

Phone: +66 2650 8800

Website: thehouseofsmoothcurry.com

Hours: Lunch 11:30 A.M. - 2:30 P.M. Dinner 6 P.M. - 10 P.M.

House of Smooth Curry is part of the Athenee Hotel, near the US Embassy and the Conrad Bangkok. It’s a bit far from some of the other touristy neighborhoods, making this a better choice for older travelers staying at a nice hotel or maybe those stuck on the east side of town after a day of shopping who don’t want to sit in traffic during rush hour. We highly recommend paying this place a visit.