Apinara Thai Cuisine & Bar (Bangkok) – Swanky Thai Restaurant With Excellent Ambience And Service

The wife and I sat in our comfy seats at Apinara Thai Cuisine & Bar in Bangkok, looking at the menu. The prices were quite expensive, and we were unsure if the food would be worth the premium. We wondered if we should just leave discreetly and dine at a usual Thai street restaurant instead.

Apinara Thai Cuisine & Bar

Apinara Thai Cuisine & Bar is a classy restaurant and bar concept in Central World (Bangkok) that offers a variety of fancy Thai dishes and Thai-inspired drinks.

It is run by the same people behind Nara Thai, a popular Thai restaurant chain with many branches across Bangkok.

I came across Apinara Thai while looking online for places to eat at Central World. Upon reaching the restaurant and seeing the menu, I realised it was a little more expensive than I had expected.

However, the wife and I decided to give the restaurant a try anyways, because it had a very nice ambience.

Swanky Restaurant With Great Ambience and Service

Stepping into Apinara Thai Cuisine & Bar, I was immediately impressed by its classy and chilled out ambience.

The swanky Thai style restaurant boasts bronze and mirror plated walls, elegant wooden furnishings, hanging horticulture, and whimsical chandeliers.

The wife and I dined in an opulent pavilion-style dining space, which had plush sofa seats and a quaint wooden table.

We sat at the side of the restaurant and there were some loud music coming from the neighbouring shops. This may be distracting for some people but we thought it added to the atmosphere.

If you wish to dine at a quieter and more private area inside the restaurant, you will need to make reservations in advance.

Apinara Thai opens till late so it’s a nice place to enjoy some drinks at night too.

The staff were generally quite friendly and polite. Our food arrived really fast, but I suspect it was because there were not many other customers.

I noticed that the food arrived slower for other tables as the restaurant started filling up. Therefore, I suggest going earlier to beat the crowd. We went at about 6pm on a Monday.

Menu

The menu offers a wide variety of classic Thai dishes. These include appetisers, seafood, curry, soup, meat dishes, noodles, rice dishes, side dishes and salads.

Some of the popular items include Shrimp Cakes, Papaya Salad, Omelet with Crab Meat, Tom Yum Goong, Stir-Fried Pork with Basil, and Green Curry Chicken.

The extensive drinks menu offers a variety of tea, fruit juices, mocktails, wine, champagne, craft beer, and hard liquor.

There are also Thai-inspired cocktails such as Siam Myth, Siam Rose Mojito, Tuk Tuk, etc.

I didn’t have any problem reading the menu because it has English translations.

The prices were relatively expensive compared to other Thai food restaurants in Bangkok, but I guess we were paying a premium for the ambience, service and fancy food presentation.

Omelet with Crab Meat

The wife and I are both fans of egg omelettes so we decided to order the Omelet with Crab Meat (THB230).

The omelette was cooked perfectly, with a wonderful savoury flavour. The crab meat chunks were juicy and tender, though I wished they had been more generous with the serving.

Grilled Pork Neck Served With Papaya Salad and Sticky Rice

The Grilled Pork Neck served with Papaya Salad and Sticky Rice (THB195) was a combination of hits and misses. The salad was refreshing, but the pork neck slices did not taste great.

Tom Yum Soup with Grilled Chicken

The Tom Yum Soup with Grilled Chicken (THB250) is a spicy and sour Thai soup cooked with chicken and a variety of Thai spices and herbs (lemongrass, kaffir lime, pepper, etc).

It was served steaming hot in a metal pot, kept warm with fire burning beneath. I must say it made quite a first impression.

This clear-soup Tom Yum had a nice kick to it but was not overly spicy. I enjoyed the wonderful combination of sour, spicy, and savoury flavours.

The ingredients in the soup were all fresh and delicious. The grilled chicken was tasty and tender, though not super outstanding.

The portion was just nice for the two of us.

Conclusion

The wife and I had a very pleasant meal at Apinara Thai Cuisine & Bar. It offers decent Thai food in a chilled-out and classy atmosphere. The prices were relatively expensive, but we were willing to pay the premium for the wonderful ambience and service. It also closes later (11pm) than most Thai restaurants, making it a good place to have supper or late night drinks.

Apinara Thai Cuisine & Bar
Directions: 5-minute walk from Siam BTS Station
Address: 2nd Floor, Groove at CentralWorld, Rama 1 Rd, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
Opening Hours: Daily 11am to 11pm
Phone: +662 252 0063

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