Koko, Siam Square Bangkok – Lovely Flavours in Siam Square

Rating:

By Veron Ang

Siam Square is an area that appeals to tourists and locals alike with its eclectic mix of shops and boutiques that sell local designer-label apparel. When it comes to chow time, aside from the big players like the Bangkok Hard Rock Café, you can also choose from small café-restaurants like Koko.

Koko is a Thai eatery that caters to vegan palates, with a sprinkling of meat dishes.

Most importantly, they have Thai curries. Well, once you have set your mind to slurping down a bowl of curry with the lovely flavours of sweet basil and lemongrass and lime leaves, it’s hard to put that thought away.

Sweet curry pork
95baht
Rating:

Many Thai restaurants offer you a choice of meat for the curries. Over here, however, it seems that only pork curry is available on the limited English menu. But that alone is enough to curb the curry craving. It goes wonderfully with steamed white rice (15baht).

The bowl of piping hot flavourful curry arrives with chunky pieces of tender pork flesh. Rather than being chilli hot, Thai curries are more about a harmonious blending of sweet and slightly sour flavours, tamed with coconut milk and sugar. The whole dish is sinfully satisfying, even if not very good for the heart.

Deep fried fish with sweet and sour sauce
170baht
Rating:

Another Thai delight is any deep-fried item with “sweet and sour sauce”. This, in the local context, simply refers to the famous Thai sweet chilli sauce.

The fish, in this case, is totally bland. I mean lacking in any flavour, the kind that my Mom has promised to cook for our kitten Snowy many times. They must be very confident about their sauce, I thought.

And well, the sauce does help a lot. What was originally flavourless turns out to be palatable after all.

Chili fried shrimp
190baht
Rating:

The fried shrimp with chilli certainly offers more of a kick. The crunchy pieces of shrimp with the combination of sweet, spicy and garlicky flavours make for a wonderful sensation on the palate.

Siam Square

The prices here are steeper than that of most other Thai restaurants. Take for example the fish and shrimp. Similar dishes cost the same at Lerk Thai in Singapore.

Koko
262/2 Siam Square Soi 3, Rama 1 Road
Bangkok, Thailand

Nearest BTS/MRT: BTS Siam
Tel: +66 02 658 4094

11am-9pm daily

Tags: Bangkok, curry, Thai

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About the Editor

Veron Ang is the Founder and Chief Editor of Sparklette, a Singapore restaurants guide, lifestyle and travel blog. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in computer science from the National University of Singapore and runs a web design firm at Sparklette Studio. To get in touch, head on over to the contact page or follow @Sparklette and @VeronSG on Twitter.

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Responses Leave a comment

kidtalentz
10 comments

So you ‘re comin here to hunt for Thai curry again :)
I Think the sweet curry pork might be Thai curry which call “Panang” in Thai. This kind of curry usually a little bit more sweet than other Thai curries.
Reply
Posted November 18, 2009 at 4:28 pm
- Veron
  3439 comments
  
  I LOVE the sweet curries in Thai cuisine! I found this Thai name “Gaeng Kiew Whan Gai” for a red curry dish on a Thai restaurant menu. I know Gai is chicken. But what are the first three words?
  Reply
  Posted November 18, 2009 at 5:02 pm
  - kidtalentz
    10 comments
    
    Gaeng = curry
    Kiew = green
    Whan = sweet
    Gai = chickcen
    It’s what you call chicken “green curry” you’ve already known vey well ,not a red curry one.
    Reply
    Posted November 18, 2009 at 5:27 pm
    - Veron
      3439 comments
      
      Thanks for the translation! That definitely clears things up. My mistake. Red curry chicken should be Gaeng Ped Whan Gai then?
      Reply
      Posted November 18, 2009 at 5:36 pm
      - kidtalentz
        10 comments
        
        Nop, just only “Gaeng Ped Gai” or “Gaeng Gai” .
        It’s because whan = sweet which I ‘d told you once that normally Thai curry should not sweeten with sugar except from coconut milk itself. But Panang …the one you got at KoKo is a kind of a little bit sweet curry.
        Reply
        Posted November 18, 2009 at 8:21 pm
  - Nueng
    9 comments
    
    I thought That one is ” Mas-sa-maan” Coz Panang not sweet taste, if this curry have sweet and sour thought it is Mas sa mann, so about Sour from tamarind juice
    I’m not sure coz in the picture is not look like normal Mas Sa Maan, that sold in the market, maybe it’s adjust for look better
    if in the picture is Mas Sa Man, i will be have potato inside,
    Reply
    Posted October 4, 2010 at 10:46 pm
    - Veron
      3439 comments
      
      If I recall correctly, there was no potato in the curry. So far for all the Thai curries I have had, they had only the chicken, some vegetables, but no potato.
      Reply
      Posted October 13, 2010 at 12:52 am
      - kidtalentz
        10 comments
        
        If there is no potato or sweet potato ,I think ,from your photo,it might be “Panaeng”. This is another kind of Thai curry. Panaeng is a curry with no vegetable (only topping with Kaffirlime Leaf slide but some restaurant don’t use it or at least don’t let customer see it). and more sweet than other Thai curries.
        Reply
        Posted October 13, 2010 at 8:29 am
Nicholas
51 comments

doh… now I’m thinking of having curry again for dinner…
Reply
Posted November 18, 2009 at 5:09 pm
J2Kfm
13 comments

pork curry will do just fine. or maybe to us, Malaysians who can’t find pork cooked in curry, for obvious reasons. other than the occasional Chinese eateries.
for instance, there’s a small town named Gerik in the northern part of Perak state, which houses a good number of restaurants serving wild boar curry. imagine the delightfully-wild-and-gamey combination.
http://www.j2kfm.com/gerik-food-curry-wild-boar-anyone/
Reply
Posted November 18, 2009 at 7:42 pm
- Veron
  3439 comments
  
  Wild boar curry? It makes pork curry sound infantile! I have never in my life eaten wild boar meat and have no idea what it tastes like. Have yet to spot it on a Singapore restaurant menu so far, though I have seen it in the form of bak kwa in Macau once. The people in Perak seem like a real adventurous bunch!
  Well if anyone knows where in Singapore to eat wild boar meat, do drop me a note :)
  Reply
  Posted November 18, 2009 at 8:08 pm
Melissa
133 comments

Siam Square may be a trendy zone, but personally I prefer places like Chatuchak or Suan Lum. More variety and the prices are much, much lower!
Reply
Posted December 16, 2009 at 2:02 am
- Veron
  3439 comments
  
  While we’re on the subject of shopping, I would recommend the Platinum Mall in Pratunam as the first stop. Many vendors from Chatuchak and Suan Lum actually purchase their supplies here! The variety of clothing, shoes, accessories etc is huge and cheap.
  Reply
  Posted December 16, 2009 at 12:52 pm