December 19, 2024, 6:46 am | Read time: 5 minutes
Nowhere else in Bangkok is it harder to reserve one of the 35 seats than at Potong. The tables are booked out weeks in advance. TRAVELBOOK author Michael Quandt was there and sampled the menu of Asia’s official best female chef.
Bangkok greets Travelers with a myriad of magnificent temples. If you’re on the hunt for a temple of culinary indulgence in the City of Angels, venture into the labyrinthine alleys of Chinatown. Nestled in the narrow, winding alleyways, the Potong restaurant made its debut at the height of the coronavirus pandemic in 2021.
Since then, Potong and its young chef Pichaya Soontornyanakij (35), better known as “Chef Pam”, have won one award after another. Best restaurant opening, a Michelin star two years in a row, 35th place in the list of Asia’s 50 best restaurants, as well as 57th place worldwide. And this year, Chef Pam was even named the best female chef in Asia.
Potong nestles within a historic five-story building at the pulsing heart of Bangkok’s Chinatown. This 120-year-old gem, once a Chinese pharmacy, was the abode of Pam’s grandfather until he wed in the late 1950s. Initially rented out as a shoe store, the building stood vacant in 2019, prompting Chef Pam to take the reins herself.
Together with her husband, Chef Pam dedicated two and a half years to transforming the old pharmacy into a culinary haven. Today, jungle and tiger murals coexist with exposed bricks and floors as dark as molasses, creating a tapestry of history and modernity. The walls, adorned with ancient murals, paintings, and engravings, whisper tales of yore, as Chef Pam weaves a new narrative with her culinary artistry.
A Visit to Potong in Bangkok
The culinary journey begins on the first floor in the former pharmacy salesroom. There, guests are greeted with homemade kombucha as well as information about the history of the establishment.
Ascend one floor, and the adventure continues. At the entrance to the tiny kitchen of eight or ten square meters, where Chef Pam guides the team in cooking their interpretation of Thai and Chinese classics, there are palm heart rolls with cashew nut pate. Further we go, to the roof. You can climb up to the second, third, or fourth floor via narrow, breakneck steep stairs that would never be approved in Germany. Or you take the mini elevator. Yet, it’s so snug that you’ll need to tuck in your stomach before the feast to sidestep the light barrier.
20 Courses – And No Vegetarian Option
There, on the fifth floor, they serve the next bite with a view over the rooftops of Chinatown. After, you experience a 20-course menu on the second or third floor, which revolves around Pam’s family stories. The menu is crafted from Chef Pam’s five-element philosophy of salt, acid, spice, texture, and roasted flavors (Maillard reaction). Special dishes for allergy sufferers or vegetarians are not on the menu. To dine here, you must embrace the full 20-course journey as it unfolds.
Transformation is at the heart of Chef Pam’s cooking style. Ingredients that seem familiar at first she deconstructs, reinterprets, and brings to the plate in surprising forms. The small oranges hanging from a silver tree melt in the mouth as an explosion of flavor on the palate. The Surat Thani oyster, served as a liquid, is more intense than I have ever experienced before.
The crab arrives at the table in its full glory, presented whole on the plate. But when you lift the shell, you find a mousse of blue crab and emulsion on crab roe. This you eat on Thai-Chinese bread. The Palm Sugar Lollipop, with its crispy exterior and chewy heart, is one of the appetizers accompanied by a whimsical comic book narrating Chef Pam’s team’s quest for the palm ingredient.
The yin yang noodles are a specialty dish inspired by the classic Chinese-Thai dish rad nah. The black and white noodles soaked in squid ink are coated with a layer of white vinegar jelly, drizzled with creamy pork bone broth, and topped off with freshly grated egg yolk at the table. Incredibly good. Each course is meticulously crafted. Every detail—from the choice of china to the precise temperature of the dishes—is harmoniously coordinated.
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The Highlight: The Duck
The evening’s crescendo arrives with Chef Pam’s signature dish: a tribute to the duck. Masterfully grilled to a golden crisp yet tenderly pink within. Accompanied by pickles, eggplants, and other vegetables typical of Southeast Asia, as well as expertly seasoned fried rice.
For this dish, the duck is blanched in hot water and hung up to dry in the traditional way. It is then blanched again. With vinegar, glucose, soy sauce, and five-spice powder, and hung in the fridge for 14 days. This makes the skin extra dry so that it becomes extra crispy when roasted. Before serving, it is cooked over a very high heat for just 10 minutes. This technique results in a sweet-smelling, crispy lacquered skin with tender meat inside. It’s no wonder that social media aficionados hail Chef Pam’s duck as the finest Peking duck beyond China’s borders.
At approximately 175 euros per person for the tasting menu, Potong is an indulgence that comes with a price tag to match. Yet, what you’re investing in is artistry, rich history, and sheer passion infused in each of Chef Pam’s creations. A unique experience for all the senses. An evening whose flavors will linger on my palate for a lifetime. In my eyes, it’s merely a matter of time until a second star twinkles above Potong in Bangkok’s night sky.