Cream is the kind of gloomy, old Thai restaurant that somehow manages to channel Europe circa 1960 with its doilies, starched tablecloths, plastic flowers, landscape paintings and windows that seem forever shuttered.

Even though the majority of the customers are tourists (probably from the Peninsula Hotel nearby), Cream’s taste miraculously remains fairly authentic, with the correct ingredients and decent spiciness. The result is a menu where dishes tend to fall near the average line: most are OK, with a few letdowns and some nice surprises thrown in.

The nam pad kratiem tone (stir-fried fermented sausage with marinated garlic, B95) is very pleasant thanks to the sweet crisp onions, fragrant prik haeng (dried chili) and garlic that is both light and aromatic. The khao pad mun gung ped (stir-fried rice with duck meat and holy basil, B70), too, is very comforting. The rice is stir-fried with shrimps’ head fat and chili to balance the greasiness of the duck—tasty! While we thought that the recommended pla muek ob noey (baked squid with butter, B110) would be your typical fusion dish dripping in grease, the squid is actually fresh and baked with a tiny amount of butter. The seafood dipping sauce really brings the dish home, making it a joy for local palates.

As for the failures, you’ve got the yam kai pla duk (spicy salad with catfish roe, B110)—fresh fish roe let down by a flat seasoning. The pla krapong pad prik gluea (fried seabass with chili, B100), too, is very blah. The overly thick flour coating tastes really pedestrian, something out of a street fishballs stall.

Still, the staff are friendly and the prices are unbeatable when you consider the quality of ingredients used. We just wish there was more here to get excited about.