The Beer Bridge

Beer Bridge sure doesn’t look original with its requisite Brooklyn bistro bare bricks and dangling light bulbs. Its menu is just as lazy and devoid of personality: it ranges from pizza and burgers to Thai gab glaem, tapas and fusion comfort food. Add an accoustic pop cover band and you’ve got many a Bangkokian’s idea of a great pub.

 

We do like the restaurant’s stellar beer list (pushing 100 labels, including the likes of Deschutes Chainbreaker and Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar on tap, B300 for 500ml). But the pub grub, courtesy of chef Chalee Kader of Surface, is both expensive and ham-fisted. With the fried pork knuckle (B690), that’s rather expected (hur hur), but even the braised pork orecchiette (B340) is overly salty despite its tangy, sour sauce. Make sure to order plenty of beer to go with it.

 

The burgers come in hefty portions with well-seasoned, thick-cut fries. On our last visit, they had run out of beef and chicken burgers, though. We opted for the foie gras and lamb burger (B750), which did not live up to its lofty price tag. And it’s not like the B550 wagyu beef burger is much cheaper. In a town now awash with burgers, they need to work on the bun for one.

 

The Thai dishes are just as unimaginative. The laab moo tod (deepfried minced pork with chilies and mints, B90) is a little underdone with a slightly powdery aftertaste. The other options include usual suspects like tom yam, green curry and pad Thai—it’s almost like being in a Thai restaurant abroad.

 

Desserts are more creative, but mostly you’re getting a sweet hit without much flavor, such as in the apple tart tartin with Thai tea caramel and vanilla ice cream (B210).

 

If you’re still of the school that likes to share a pizza, a plate of pasta, a meat dish and some fusion-y thing (think deep-fried oysters with wasabi tartare) in the middle of the table, then you’ll probably enjoy both the food and the very loud music here. For the rest of us, who know where to get a good pizza or a good burger (and that you have to go to two different places to make that happen), stick to Beer Bridge’s brews.