Indy Kitchen
The buzz: Anyone who has attempted to navigate the insanity of CentralWorld’s food floor on the seventh floor can appreciate the idea of a mall eatery with four walls of its own and a stylized, cute décor. Located on the ground floor, by the ice skating rink outside B2S, Indy Kitchen offers a peaceful artsy vibe and affordable Thai and inter dishes, all without leaving the all-inclusive premises of this bustling supermall. The décor: A big selling point, the décor is at once bright and playful and elegant and Scandinavian. Black and white diamond floor tiles and olive green wicker chairs are placed side by side with IKEA-esque benches and floral-printed, minimalist armchairs. Best of all, despite being indoors, the sun manages to blast through a couple of glass panes, bathing the place in natural light. The food: Thai and international dishes coexist under all-inclusive headings like Appetizers and Pasta and Noodles, without there actually being any mix, which is good—why risk fusion shenanigans when diners will be appreciative just to have a quiet spot to each a comforting meal. They do sandwiches like your basic club or something more elevated like smoked salmon. Basic pasta preparations are also available, like fettucine marinara and spaghetti with meatballs, along with Thai noodle dishes like lad na. The one small instance of fusion (if you can call it that) is the inclusion of both garlic aioli and the Thai shallot and cucumber nam jim with the crabcakes. The drinks: Keeping in line with its lunchtime appeal, Indy Kitchen doesn’t go crazy with the booze, though Singha and Stella and the like are on offer. They do lots of soft drinks including a brief list of fruit smoothies and ice slushies, including the generously gooey lime-honey. The crowd: The peaceful corner in an otherwise central location makes the crowd at Indy Kitchen a bit of a mix. You can find lone diners, office workers, extended family lunches and B2S stationery shoppers. Mrigaa Sethi No corkage charge.
Indy Kitchen’s prices are relatively affordable (by mall standards), while its vibe and decor are almost those of a standalone. As for the food, they use pretty good produce, in generous amounts, and the result is Thai dishes that, while not outstanding in any way, get passing marks. But it is also catering to every tired food trend in Bangkok: the creamy pastas, the boring ready mix-style cakes, the bizarre pizzas—with no success. The spaghetti with squid and squid roe (B170) is a soup of milky cream; three slurps and you’ll be gagging. The pizza Napoletana (B220), despite heaps of tasty anchovies, replaces capers with black olives (we can live with that) but is also slathered with a pasta-like amount of sauce heavy on the sweet onions. The whole thing tastes like a kind of tomato and onion pie, in part due to the dough, which is crispy enough but has no elasticity, so that it snaps like a cracker. Desserts (B120-150) are similarly sad: big cakes you could pull off just as well with store-bought mix, crepes, the ubiquitous lava cake; and all of it dowsed in canned whipped cream, streaks of chocolate sauce and sides of vanilla ice-cream. Still, the place is cute, with its checkered floors, natural light during the day, colorful art and wicker chairs. So we suggest you just stick to the Thai food. (It also matches their service style, with dishes arriving one at a time.) The somtam Thai (B120) is predictably sweet, not particularly spicy, and with strong garlic notes. It comes with nice, big, fresh shrimps, and although the flavors distinctly lack the character of more inspired street-side versions, we’d order it again. The laarb het (a laarb salad with mushrooms, B110) isn’t that spicy either, and the seasoning can’t juice up the fairly bland mushrooms, but it’s nicely balanced in a low-key way. Another tasty dish is the fried rice with chili paste (B130): the same perfectly cooked shrimps, a fragrant chili paste and fresh veggies on the side. If you’re not in the mood for a food court (or not willing to make the trek up to the 7/F), you could do worse than Indy for a quick, affordable somtam and khao pad, but the sad reality is that everyone is there for pasta and crepes.No corkage charge.
| Address: | Indy Kitchen, Room Forum Zone, 1/F, CentralWorld, Rama 1 Rd., Bangkok, Thailand |
| Phone: | 02-613-1039 |
| Area: | Ratchadamri |
| Cuisine: | European, Thai |
| Price Range: | B - BB |
| Opening hours: | daily 10am-8pm |
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