Family affair

For astute gastronomes in Bangkok, the name Khua Kling Pak Sod has over the past several years been a trustworthy term when it comes to Thai cuisine.

The eatery humbly opened in 2007 to lend financial and emotional support to its household of four which had just lost the breadwinner father by showcasing homestyle southern Thai cuisine that's been passed down and long enjoyed in the family.

Thanks to the full-flavour fare it offered, the small establishment quickly became a citywide favourite and much-treasured especially by chilli-loving Thai food connoisseurs. So much so that the brand has expanded to four outlets throughout Bangkok.

I -- in this case, as an ordinary diner and not restaurant critic -- am quite familiar with Khua Kling Pak Sod since I was first introduced to its Thong Lor outlet in 2012.

But it wasn't until my recent visit to the brand's newest Soonvijai branch, which is only two-minute walk from my house, that I got to chat with Khun Bic the owner and impressively learned how she has single-handedly ushered several restaurants to success.

"People think we are making a huge amount of money. Well, we're not," she casually said.

"Khua Kling Pak Sod was built to show to other people what our family is good at. We don't mind losing some money [in order to ensure we get the best quality ingredients] but we cannot afford to lose our customers' trust."

Recipes are attentively controlled by her aunt, the family's cook whose culinary dexterity is said to be second to none. Produce is manually sourced on a daily basis to ensure it meets the family's high standard. Sometimes it means paying exorbitant prices to nail the best in the market.

Short mackerel in sour and spicy lime-seethed consommé.

The restaurant uses, for example, only hefty crabmeat pieces from exclusive sources, fish from artisan fishing boats and not large-scale commercial ships, shrimp paste from a producer who's also the family's close friend and vegetables from trusted growers, some from the family's own garden.

The Soonvijai branch, unlike its stand-alone sister eateries, occupies a large front space of Holiday Inn Express hotel. The 55-seater with cheery contemporary Thai decor is flocked mainly by families and medical professionals in the old residential neighbourhood lately known as the location of the Bangkok Hospital empire.

The menu is the same here as what you'd find at the three other outlets. With mouthwatering photographs of dishes to match, it lists more than 80 home-cooked delicacies from the South and Central regions.

Unless you have a chilli-sensitive tongue (if you do, then skip to the sixth following paragraph where I write about chilli-free dishes), having the restaurant's speciality khua kling, or stir-fried minced meat with southern spices, is no regret.

I recommend that you have the dish prepared with prawn (380 baht). It featured sizeable, supple morsels of neatly chopped prawn meat that I found better balanced out the blazing pungency of the spices than the classic pork version.

Another dish that promises to delight keen seafood fans as it does spice aficionados is phad cha styled stir-fried crabmeat (580 baht). Although the dish came smothered with various herbs and spices (namely fingerroot, basil, kaffir lime leaves, lesser eggplant, garlic and red chillies), plenty of chubby cottony-white crabmeat pieces stood out to confirm the kitchen's generosity.

If you like green curry, I guarantee moo phad phrik gaeng khiew, or stir-fried pork with southern-style green curry (180 baht) will satisfy your keen palate. Prepared with organic pork loin slices, the dish tasted just like a good green curry found at an authentic Thai restaurant but in a thicker, richer and more original with fresh bird's eye chillies to add to each bite an extra stimulating mouthfeel.

For dishes that are not too fiery but still providing a little pungent kick, I recommend sour and spicy soup with short mackerel (aka tom yum pla thu, 180 baht) and deep-fried giant silver pomfret with fresh bird's eye chillies (190 baht per 100g).

The first presented meaty fillets of the flavoursome fatty local mackerel in a soothingly complementing consommé seethed with chilli, lime and corianders. While the latter features a large pomfret, deep-fried until the outside turned crispy while the centre still retained its natural succulence, under a scrumptiously flaky golden blanket of garlic and chillies.

Should spicy food not be your preference, simply settle on the restaurant's best-selling kai phalo, or as listed on the menu braised pork leg and eggs with tofu in sweet brown sauce (280 baht).

Expect to indulge in whole chicken eggs slow-cooked until they thoroughly absorb the salty sweet flavour of the gravy and the egg white become gummy and tightly encasing the yolk. The price might seem high. But the dish, which also comprises large chunks of braised pork and tofu, comes in a big serving that's designed to feed up to four diners.

Bai liang phad kai, or stir-fried paddy oat leaves with egg (180 baht) is another praiseworthy dish that you shouldn't miss. The restaurant's rendition proved to possess a pleasing wok-burned aroma and not at all mushy with overwhelming sauce. It was the best bai liang phad kai I've had in my life.

The restaurant has eight options of dessert to give its clients a luscious end to the meal. All sound decent. But should you have to pick just one or two, go for candied mini mango in chilled syrup (80 baht) and young coconut pudding (80 baht).