When things that we like disappear it is normal to miss them for a while, but with time the feeling fades and eventually we may forget them. But when the thing that disappears has to do with food that we love, it can be hard to forget.
GONE ... BUT NOT FORGOTTEN: Top and above, after more than 80 years in business, On Lok Yun, a traditional coffee shop near Chalermkrung Royal Theatre, has finally closed.
This is especially true of treasured restaurants, because it isn't only the taste of the food there that makes us into regular customers. It is also the atmosphere, which can embody and preserve the mood of a certain time and place.
This doesn't mean that the restaurant must be elegant and hi-so, or that the service has to be impeccable. It can just as easily be ordinary-looking, old and dark, with make-do chairs and a seeming indifference to customers, like some of the classic noodle shops that did business in Bang Rak in the past, where customers used to complain about having to wait for a long time after travelling long distances to get there.
The noodle sellers would sometimes shoot back a sarcastic offer to pay the taxi fare to another shop so the customer could have his noodles there. There were some places where the owner would fight with the staff right in front of customer, and still others where customers were forbidden to place orders. They were expected to sit and wait their turn, and when the time came the cook would go himself and ask them what they wanted.
There are many such examples of things that gave the shops their distinct personalities. The combined attractions of the excellence of the noodles and the sheer fun of their eccentricities made these places unforgettable. People would laugh and shake their heads when they talked about these shops, but they loved to eat there and always remembered them.
There are several reasons why so many of these fondly remembered old restaurants have disappeared or gone out of business. The first is that the original owners, the ones who established the restaurants or knew the recipes, became too old to continue running them and wanted to retire.
Their children, who may have completed advanced degrees and had good jobs elsewhere, were not interested in taking over the businesses and wearing themselves out with the work, dealing with customers' demands or complaints the way earlier generations did. Then there were the problems associated with supervising staff, maintaining the ageing premises, handling parking problems for patrons and paying taxes.
Then there was the fact that many places that once thrived declined as their patrons aged or died, while younger generations stayed away because they preferred new kinds of food to the older dishes, which they considered old-fashioned and boring. They also disliked the old-time style and atmosphere, with its lack of air-conditioning and parking. It's true that there are still a number of these old places left, but their time may be limited.
These are some of the reasons why so many restaurants of the past are no longer with us. There are many examples. One much missed place is Bamee Ratchawong, which was located on Ratchawong Road near the intersection with Yaowarat. It had been in business for many years.
The bamee, or wheat noodles there were always tender and fresh, and the home-made balls of pounded fish meat or shrimp and kui kung (shrimp-stuffed noodle dumplings) were richly flavoured with fried garlic, tang chai (preserved vegetables) and lettuce.
The "dry" bamee, without broth, was especially famous. The restaurant also offered hoy thawt _ mussels fried in batter. Bemee Ratchawong was one of the first places in Thailand to make it. And everyone finished the meal there with a scoop of durian ice-cream, the best in town. It was available all year round.
Dining at Bamee Ratchawong was once one of Bangkok's luxury experiences. That was in an era when the city's high society crowd liked to eat in their cars. The restaurant staff would bring the food out on a tray that would attach to the car's window. The most elegant car then was the Austin Martin.
Although people now think of up-market noodle shops in terms of fancy shopping centres, bamee of the kind served at the Ratchawong restaurant can no longer be found anywhere.
Also among the missing are most of the roadside coffee shops that served Western-style breakfasts of fried eggs, ham and sausages. There used to be a place of that kind where Robinson Bang Rak stands now, but it is long gone. The one that was once located across from the Old Siam on Phra Sumen Road at Bang Lamphu is gone too, as is the old restaurant once located across from the Old Siam Plaza on the Tri Phet Road side. One is still in business. It is called On Lok Yoon, near the Chalermkrung Royal Theatre on Chalermkrung Road.
In the morning, the old restaurant, now gone, on Phra Sumen Road and On Lok Yoon would fill up with people from the surrounding neighbourhood and elsewhere who stopped in for breakfast, but during the day they became hangouts for extras and character actors who played gangsters in Thai movies. The ones performing in whatever movie was showing at the cinema would be there, preferably sitting out front where passers-by could see them.
The two oldest and most famous Muslim restaurants in Bangkok were Wahit, across from the Old Siam Plaza on Tri Phet Road next to a photography shop, and the Muslim Restaurant on Charoen Krung Road roughly across from the Silom intersection. Wahit is gone now, leaving only the Muslim Restaurant still in business. The offerings at both restaurants were roughly the same _ chicken and mutton biryani, fried mutton, kaeng karee kai haeng (a mild chicken curry), kaeng karee pla (a similar curry made with fish) and oxtail soup.
The atmosphere in both places was similar, too, spacious with high ceilings and glass showcases displaying food at the front. The tables and chairs were of the old-fashioned kind, and plates were all made of stainless steel, not ceramic. Forks and spoons were brought in stainless cups filled with hot water to ensure cleanliness.
So, for those who knew these restaurants, the memories persist. The Bangkok of the past is also brought to mind with recollections of the dishes and atmosphere that made them special.
It is interesting to speculate on which places will be remembered in a way that unlocks memories of today's Bangkok in a few decades.
