SOMA

Soma calls itself a modern Thai social kitchen, and ‘social’ is more than a tagline. Designed with regulars in mind, the menu changes with the seasons and with the dishes guests ask to see again. Its  three chefs – Chalee Kader of Wana Yook, Num Weerawat of Samuay & Sons and head chef Pak Yamoo – create a conversation between generations. Pak’s sour orange curry began with his grandmother’s recipe; here, barramundi is oil-poached rather than simmered in broth, then paired with salmon roe and a crown of crisp vegetables. Beef brisket spends 48 hours being brined, cooked sous vide and smoked over coconut husks before it reaches the fryer. A quieter dish of crisp lotus root, wok-fired with crispy pork belly in fermented bean curd sauce, proves that restraint can be a technique in itself. This isn’t fusion for fusion’s sake, but a kitchen quietly rewriting its family tree one plate at a time.

Soma, Siam Pathumwan House, 414 Soi Kasem San 1, Wang Mai, Pathum Wan, Bangkok.