Hi foodie friends! Today Aaron and I grabbed lunch at our favorite Thai spot in downtown Indy, Bangkok Restaurant and Jazz Bar.  I wasn’t planning on doing a blog post on this, but I snapped some photos on my phone and seemed to get a lot of feedback on my posts, so here I am! Aaron and I have been coming here since they opened downtown a few years ago. The owner, Kenny Farry and his wife Pookie (who is Thai) own several locations around town, although with different names.

Aaron and I both used to work with Kenny for years (he’s the pianist at Ruth’s Chris downtown) and when he and Pookie opened their first location at Allisonville and 109th, Thai Kitchen, he invited us in to try it out. This has been years ago, but we’ve been fans of Pookie’s cooking and authentic recipes ever since. I’ve never had anything at any of their locations that I didn’t like!

My personal favorite items:

• Silver Noodle Salad
• crab rangoons (BEST in the city, served with peanut sauce)
• Pad Thai
• Pad See Ew
• Papaya salad (spicy green papaya)
• Pad Kee Mao (drunken noodles)
• Tom Kah (coconut lemon grass soup)
• Chrysanthemum tea (served hot, slightly floral and sweet)
• ROTI ROLL ( or “loti-loh”) You guys I don’t even know what she’s (Pookie) saying but it’s not on the menu and its basically like Baklava

 

Aaron’s fave items:

• Pad Ped (bamboo shoots) *hot
• Tom Yum (lemon grass soup)
• Larb Salad
• Pad Kratiem (Tiger garlic and pepper, choose your protein)

 

I’ve had the curries and the pineapple fried rice too, and those are also both great! (Right now the special is pumpkin curry, and while I didn’t try it I have been dreaming about it all day!) ALSO- I can’t go without saying they have a full wine list, which is AMAZEballs considering many Asian restaurants  in Indy don’t usually have a great wine selection. I would say this is definitely a hot spot for a date night if you are looking for good, Authentic Thai.

Don’t let me go without saying they have an awesome lunch buffet M-F which if I remember is like $11 and you can add your own spice to your liking.

AND- the last bonus is-Bangkok and it’s sister properties give off a high-end, fine-dining feel. It’s got a little bit of that “extra” vibe that most Asian spots around town seem to lack. They even play live Jazz on the weekend evenings in the bar (F and S, 7-11pm), with old-school Jazz music playing through the rest of the regular business hours. Hello, Frank Sinatra, a glass of red and spicy nooders hunnay.

 

1. Bangkok Restaurant and Jazz Kitchen, 225 E Ohio St. Indianapolis (This is the location I am posting about today)
   
2. Bangkok Kitchen, 9269 E US Hwy 36, Avon, IN 4612
3. Thai Kitchen, 11021 Allisonville Rd, Fishers, IN 46038
4. Thai Select, 6579 Whitestown Pkwy, Zionsville, IN 46077
5. Siam House, 430 E 4th St, Bloomington, IN 47408
6. Zapp Thai, 2049 N State St, Greenfield, IN 46140

 

Pictured above: Crab rangoons, steamed pork dumplings and Chrysanthemum tea.

Pictured above: the BEST crab rangoons ever, in Thai peanut sauce (and yes, I told Aaron he needs a mani sesh).

Pictured above: Thai Salad Rolls with shrimp and TWO kinds of peanut sauce. Seriously, I dream about peanut sauce and this just pushed me over the edge.

Mug shot of the Thai Salad Rolls (which, I might add, would be a good low-cal item if you’re trying to curb those cals, sans peanut sauce, duh.)

Pictured above: Pad See Ew, Tom Yum, Tom Kha (Which is literally my FAVORITE SOUP EVER).

And last but not least, here’s my foodie accomplice/hunka hunka burning love who despises when I take his photo, but let’s me do it anyway b/c he loves me. (If you like booze, bourbons and grilling, follow him on insta @aequitas_veritas)

 

Ok, can I just tell y’all one more thing, and probably the reason why I love this local chain the most? (You’ll probably think this is weird, but I felt like it’s crucial to the level of dedication I have to this place). Ready?

They have straw mushrooms.

When I order the Tom Kha, I don’t add a protein, I just ask for extra, extra, extra mushrooms. These are cultivated in East and South East Asia and are prominent in Asian cuisine. Except I have yet to find them at any other Asian restaurants here in Indiana. It seems that Chef Pookie is the only one that uses them (I am always disappointed when we eat Asian and I get the typical white American button mushrooms in whatever I order). I am so obsessed that I tried every Asian mart in town looking for them in the produce section.  Only to find that they come in a can! DUN NUH NUHHHHH. However, they are still great and are an awesome addition to an Asian cuisine addition, so I wanted to include this incase you like to cook Asian style at home!  These are what they look like for reference:

And yes, I’ve been to Thai Spice (which is good) in Greenwood, and Siam Square in Fountain Square (which Aaron and I both think sucks, for the record) and Bangkok/Thai Kitchen are still my fave. Try it.  You’re welcome. 

*This is not a sponsored post, and our food was not free. I just wanted to share of my fave spots with you Indy!