From the Chitlom BTS Skytrain Station, the Thang Long Vietnamese Restaurant is only about a 10 minute walk down Soi Langsuan. As you walk into the courtyard, the contemporary atmosphere is very apparent as it is when you enter the restaurant to view the modern decor of glass top wooden tables with low-back rattan chairs and back cushions. There is subdued recessed lighting and upbeat music that brings back memories of a visit to a French cafe in a room that seats about 50 persons with an upstairs that has seating for about 35 additional people offering a great place for business meetings or parties. The upstairs also has 3 lovely Bolero style paintings that add vibrant color and a French ambiance to the room. (illustrated in the photo at right).

The selection of drinks is uniquely large and offers two dozen wines from France, Italy, Chile and Australia starting at only 550 baht per bottle. There is an extensive list of dry and medium sweet cocktails plus whiskey and a very nice Italian house wine available by the glass for 120 baht. There are also five choices of beer and champagne.

My companion and I began our evening with a bottle of Barton & Goustier, Saint Louis, Boujalais Tradition 1998. It was served chilled with an enchanting aroma of banana, raspberry and peach. The items on the menu that we chose were Chao Tom …fried minced shrimp skewered on sugar canes and the Golden Fried Crab Rolls served with a spicey red sauce. Our main dishes included Cha Chien Xa …Fried whole fish (trout) with sliced lemongrass and the Soft Shelled Crab served with mixed green salad. We also selected the Ho Chi Minh style fried squids stuffed with minced pork, glass noodles, mushrooms and carrots. I ordered the Banana Fritters w/Ice Cream while my companion relaxed after dinner with some vietnamese Tea.

Service was found to be friendly, yet not over-ambitious.

The cost for two persons was very reasonable for both the food and drinks.