Charm (previously Charme de L’asie) may be among many fancy family restaurants inside EmQuartier’s Helix building, but the restaurant has a legitimate excuse to demand your attention. Although Bangkok is pretty much smack-dab in the middle of Southeast Asia, we seem so infatuated with cuisines from afar that there are barely any restaurants celebrating the culinary cultures close to us. Charm is one of the few places in town to bring Southeast Asian flare to the table in a comprehensive and authentic manner.
Considering the restaurant’s location, you might find the storefront a tad under-dressed. Being too critical about this, however, will shield you from the luscious reality of Charm’s seating arrangements. Based on mood and tone, the restaurant’s seating can be divided into four zones. You can sit across the restaurant, along the centre cavity of the Helix, if you prefer open and bright spaces, but appreciate being indoors. The decor here is varied, each table unique from the next, with an overall Chinese vibe that will have your Thai-Chinese parents reminiscing about the houses they grew up in. Alternatively, the restaurant’s interior offers quite a different dining experience, with a rustic blend of Chinese and European influences. Deeper inside are two exclusive tables that can be reserved for large groups. Beyond that are lounge-like balcony seats overlooking Sukhumvit.
The menu
The culinary concept of Charm is to serve local Southeast Asian cuisines to the same standards as their places of origin, but this doesn’t mean its dishes aren’t inventive. Before you get serious about studying the food menu, you should pamper yourself with one of Charm’s mocktails. Each of the speciality drinks are named after an iconic location in Southeast Asia, and are like nothing you’ll find in other restaurants. Halong Bay (B120), featuring cilantro and Japanese cucumber, for instance, is at the same time savoury and refreshing. Mandalay (B150), in contrast, is a fruity number, recommended for passion fruit fans. My personal favourite was the Panom Pen (B150), which consists of a mangosteen juice base, garnishes of granola and a wedge of Brie cheese — symbolic of Cambodia’s French imperial history.
It’s not unusual to want to order rice when you come to a restaurant like this. A few of Charm’s most interesting rice selections are the Nasi Goreng (B220), from Indonesia, the Nasi Lemak (B290), from Malaysia, and the Chicken Biryani (B220), from Brunei. We tried the lamb nasi lemak, with rice cooked in coconut milk, which comes with original nasi lemak toppings, such as roasted peanuts, fried anchovies and sambal chilli paste. The rice was good enough to eat by itself, but the lamb satay and toppings gave us no reason to ignore them, either.
The Ba-Kuh-Teh (B320), a Chinese soup popularised in Singapore, was definitely the table favourite. The peppery, medicinal broth, which is actually a tea, comes in a teapot for you to pour over an assortment of mushrooms, vegetables and pork ribs. True to the dish’s history, the rib meat easily comes off the bones.
As expected, Charm doesn’t leave Thailand out. One of the Thai highlights is the Som Tum Platter (B490-980), based on Northern traditions. To save you the effort of figuring out how this dish works, everything on the platter or tray is set, except for the som tum and main meat, which you get to customise. There is an impressively wide variety of meat options, including Australian beef, Ayutthaya river prawns and Hokkaido scallops. Although our choice of the gigantic prawns was a win, we felt the platter is overall more gimmick than memorable.
The Khao Soy Toast (B320), a savoury spin-off of the kaya toast dessert, gave us a similar impression. The curry was exceptional, but pairing it with a thick Danish-type bread felt a bit contrived. The actual Kaya Toast (B240), on the other hand, is a sensible pairing of bread with vanilla ice cream and pandan custard.
Insider’s tip
Remember, there are more seating options besides those in the main dining room, so take a good look around the premises and pick the type of seating that best suits you. The kaya toast and its four sweet and savoury variations may not yet appear on the menu, but they’re still up for ordering. Some of the waiters don’t speak Thai, but they’re polite, so if you meet them just take it as an opportunity to practise your English. We’re AEC, remember?
Value and verdict
The only way you’ll dislike Charm is if you don’t really have a taste for Southeast Asian food. The chefs have done a splendid job recreating local dishes, ensuring they don’t disappoint or stray too far from their homeland legends. Although a one-of-a-kind, quality restaurant with good English-speaking service, Charm shares the same level of pricing with a few commercial restaurants where you can expect much less. Considering the portion sizes at Charm, you’re likely to have more money than room in your stomach for dessert.
Ba-kuh-teh.
Som tum platter with Ayudhaya river prawns.
Lamb nasi lemak.
Mocktails.
