PAII – Love at First Bite

Since April 2019, when you type ‘the best Thai restaurant in Sathorn’ in any search engines, I am sure ‘Paii at The House on Sathorn’ will surely pop up on the top list. Yes, The House on Sathorn is now the home of Paii, a modern Thai seafood restaurant under the stewardship of Executive Chef Joe Weeraket.

Every landmark has a story, The House on Sathorn is no exception. This 130-year-old yellow building is the former Russian Embassy. Now Paii beautifully adds another story to this historic landmark. The name ‘Paii’, which means ‘to paddle’ in Thai, is to honour the legacy of the founder of The House on Sathorn, Luang Sathorn Rajayutka, who created Sathorn Canal.

The food

Executive Chef Joe Weeraket brings to diners all classic Thai dishes with the use of the best quality produces and harvests sourced both locally and overseas. The portion is perfect enough for sharing. Thai food tastes the best when it is sharing among friends and family.

When we settled at our dining table, a server immediately prepared the crispy crackers and freshly made the dipping sauce. The sauce tasted sour and mildly spicy and sweet. It’s a kind of unstoppable snack.

French razor clams – Mekhong flambeed, homemade XO sauce (Hoy Lord Pad Sauce XO)

The first dish was served, sparking excitement to the senses of smell and sight. Chef Joe’s magic hands cast a coat of Thai Mekhong liquor with fire.

Banana Blossom – Mud crab, Paii chilli jam, lemongrass (Yum Hua Plee Nuea Poo)

Every bite was a mouthful of mud crab meat with a well-balanced of Paii’s unique sauce. It’s a plate-licking dish!

Spanish Octopus – Charcoaled, larb salad, mint (Larb Nhuad Pla Mkuel Yak Yang)

This dish came like a storm strike on my palate. The texture and juice of Spanish octopus perfectly blended with the larb sauce! The aroma of octopus and larb sauce was enhanced by the enticing smell of charcoal. This dish is highly recommended for every visit to Paii.

Crying tiger steak – Charcoaled, Thai herbs (Nuea Yang Suea Rong Hai)

When the best cut of steak is perfectly charcoal-grilled, it is just like the ‘manna’ from heaven. This grilled steak was coated with a thin layer of sweetness. With the spicy dipping sauce, this dish was even more charming on the palate.

2 Giant river prawns – Grilled “choo-Chee’ Curry sauce (Choo-Chee Goong Mae Nam)

The best dish of the meal was served! How will you feel when a giant river prawn is served in front of you? My heart beats fast. The excitement was like ‘love at first sight’.  The Choo-Chee sauce was a perfect match with the prawn. This dish is best for savouring with a bowl of hot Jasmine rice.

Hokkaido scallops – Stir-fried, chilli, sweet basil (Hoy Shell Pad Phong Kari)

The Hokkaido scallops were the star. First, pan-sear the scallops to get a satisfactory brown then fry them in the curry sauce with sweet basil and chilli. It’s another dish that should be ordered for every visit to Paii.

If you think Paii serves only Thai seafood dishes, then you are wrong. Their dessert menu is also very luring. We tried two desserts.

Lemongrass Panna Cotta served with sago and mango

This dessert exemplifies an ideal marriage between East and West. It’s refreshing with an adorable sweetness that I was totally unable to resist. (You know, I do not like dessert.)

The second dessert we had was Thai Tea-ramisu.

Let Paii’s Thai Tea-ramisu change your perception about the traditional tiramisu. Thai tea rocks in this dessert. It was no second to any tiramisu found in any Italian restaurants in Thailand! It’s highly recommended! I especially like the ‘paii’ in dark chocolate!

Where is Paii?