There’s something about Thai food in Germany that sounds unappealing. For some reason, Germany seems like the last place on earth that would serve up a good plate of pad thai. True or not, I always have to try at least one Thai restaurant in whatever city I’m visiting, so my friend and I headed over to Bangkok, located in Prenzlauer Berg.
We ducked in just as they were getting ready to turn down new patrons, and although I hate being "that guy", they decided we’d have the honor of being the night’s last guests. The staff here hardly speak any English, so try to master a few basic phrases relevant to restaurants (Gibt’s fleisch drin? = Has it got any meat in it?) before coming in. More on that later. A few random locals occupied three of the candle lit tables that were complemented by wicker chairs. Cheeseball American pop from the likes of Huey Lewis and the News and Cyndi Lauper smoothly played from overhead speakers. I suppose you could say there was a little beach-like theme going on, but the shrine to Buddha next to our table kind of negated that effect. I would have liked the whole restaurant to be one big shrine to Buddha - now that’d be authentic.
The menu is still listed in Deutschmark, so the bill was going to be a mystery tonight. We ordered the mini-"vegetarian" egg rolls for an appetizer, and I got the Bami-Phad-Thua-Gok (fried egg noodles with soybean sprouts). In addition to a few meat-free meals, they offer dishes centered on duck, beef, pork, chicken, and lake + seafood.
Our egg rolls soon came, served with what looked like a sweet sauce. After one bite my friend pointed out these "vegetarian" egg rolls were full of pork. In broken German, I tried to ask the waiter if there was meat in the rolls, and attempted to point out that we ordered egg rolls without meat, all to no avail. It’s cool though, it’s not his fault I can’t speak German. My friend described the rolls as "good, porky, and spicy." Spoken like a true meat eater.
My main dish came, and the waiter kind of smiled and tried to say ‘no meat’, and I appreciated his effort. My noodle dish was ok, but as we say over in Queens, "eh". There was a good assortment of mixed veggies, and it was a huge portion, but I had to add a lot of the provided red sauce to give it some kick, and it was a bit greasy. I’d say it was good, not great. Actually, it really wasn’t all that good either.
The best thing about Bangkok though was the price. For two beers, one appetizer, and two entrees, the bill came out to only 12,45 Euro – that’s this restaurant’s saving grace. So if you’re in the neighborhood, and want fill up on some decent thai food, give Bangkok a whirl.