I know I say this a lot (both San Diego Foodies and Carlsbad Foodies on Meetup have great members) but tonight’s event for six (which turned into 7) at Bangkok Bay, Solana Beach was overwhelmingly one of the most enjoyable experiences that I’ve had with this group.
We have so many amazing people in this group with amazing backgrounds and experiences. I am grateful to know each and every member!
Restaurant Review for Bangkok Bay
We order three different kinds of Curries and one shrimp and vegetable dish along with a big pot of soup. We start with
Tom Yum Soup with shrimp. Get the big pot and share it!
Wei says: “It’s the right amount of acidity. It’s good.” Lisa comments: “It’s less fattening than some of the other soups with coconut milk.” She comments: “This is my favorite restaurant. I adore it.”
Carolyn says: The soup and the springs rolls are fabulous. Ten stars!”.
We get curried away!
We move on to Penang Curry Chicken, Roast Duck Curry, Red Curry with Seafood, Green Curry with Chicken and red peppers, and asparagus and Shrimp. I’m not sure if we got all
the proteins right, but we had pork, chicken and shrimp and seafood.
Suzy, Carolyn and Theresa are enjoying every mouthful. Lisa just loves the food. Talking about the difference between Tom Yum and Tom Kai, Theresa chimes in: “Worth the calories”.
Wei says: “This is roasted duck done in fresh red curry. Very rich. You can feel the difference between that and the Penang Curry with Chicken, which is good but everyone is sweating from the level of spice”.
If you want to compare curries, Yellow is mild, creamy with warm spices. Red has medium heat, it’s creamy, savory and balanced. Panang Red is medium heat, thick, rich and nutty. And Green is hot, lighter with fresh herbs.
We actually did level 3, which is the heat level this restaurant starts at, figuring if anyone wants it hotter, they can always add more chili flakes or hot sauce. We nab a squeeze bottle of liquid heat off the shelf, and everyone is happy.
Making your own curry at home?
Wei mentions that if you make a large quantity of curry, and let it sit overnight, the spices get more blended so it’s always better next day. We agree that you can make a big batch and freeze most of it. Wei adds: “Just make sure it is air tight”.
I provide a cheat sheet about fixing Curry’s that don’t seem to work out at home. And I give an Instant Pot Sheet to teach you about that too. All of our members get that, no charge. If you would like one too, email your name, email and phone number to: mm@chefmarian.com.
It is a beautiful evening, with wonderful food and great company. By the way, our choice for wine is a Russian River Valley Pinot Noir. Nicely priced. And you just can’t go wrong with a wine from Russian River Valley!
I have been coming here for decades and I will say the one thing you can count on is consistency. Their food is consistently tasty, and always surprisingly good when you try something new.
With garlic, gusto and gratitude,
Chef Marian🥂
📧 ChefMarianKitchenConfident@gmail.com
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