Peeking into the kitchen at 55 Pochana (ห้าสิบห้าโภชนา)

55 Pochana (ห้าสิบห้าโภชนา), located just a short distance from Thong Lo BTS station, is a long standing Thai Chinese restaurant with a great reputation.

Similar to Yong Lee, one of the best Thai restaurants we chose for 2012, 55 Pochana serves rich and dangerously flavorful dishes – and I’m quite sure there’s a lot of pork oil in the cooking – not quite the healthiest, but wow is it tasty!

Menu

One of the signature dishes at 55 Pochana (ห้าสิบห้าโภชนา) are the little cowslip creeper flowers fried with egg and clear vermicelli noodles (dok kajon pad kai ดอกขจรนผัดไข่).

Heading back in the kitchen, I observed them using monster flames to cook, just like the high pressure cooking at many Thai Chinese restaurants such as Somsak Pu Ob; it’s like cooking over a welding torch.

dok kajon pad kai ดอกขจรนผัดไข่

The stir fried cowslip creeper flowers (dok kajon pad kai ดอกขจรนผัดไข่) were outstanding, smoky flavored and the egg was nicely charred in the hot oil.

Apparently eating a large dose of these flowers can work as a laxative, but I downed the entire plate and didn’t suffer any consequences (just to let you know) – but this dish would be worth consequences!

Price – 80 THB

pad kuey chai dtao hoo (ผัดกุยช่ายขาวเต้าหู้)

We also ordered pad kuey chai dtao hoo (ผัดกุยช่ายขาวเต้าหู้), which is stir fried garlic chives with tofu. It was delicious, and again, I could nearly taste the flame it was cooked on.

Price – 80 THB

Seafood salad

I wasn’t all that impressed with the yam talay (ยำทะเล), seafood salad. The seafood was a little on the rubbery side and the flavor wasn’t quite there.

Perhaps it’s best to stick with the stir fried hot dishes and leave the cold salads to Isaan restaurants like Rod Ded.

Price – 120 THB

bpet krob pad kra pao (เป็ดกรอบผัดกระเพรา)

One of the greatest hits to order at 55 Pochana (ห้าสิบห้าโภชนา) is the bpet krob pad kra pao (เป็ดกรอบผัดกระเพรา).

The photo doesn’t at all do justice to this spectacularly greasy signature dish, but I can assure you it was marvelous.

Bite sized pieces of crispy (likely deep fried) duck were stir fried with tons of crushed garlic, chilies, and sweet chili sauce and then topped with a heaping mound of deep fried holy basil leaves.

The duck literally melted in my mouth with a slight crunch from the skin and exploded with sweet garlicky basil flavor. It was leaking grease, but dangerously tasty!

Price – 120 THB

pla pad prik tai dam (ปลาผัดพริกไทยดำ)

Our final dish at 55 Pochana (ห้าสิบห้าโภชนา) was pla pad prik tai dam (ปลาผัดพริกไทยดำ), a sizzling skillet full of fish, green bell peppers, onions, and carrots. The fish was first fried and then sizzled into the thick peppery gravy.

The sauce was a little sweet, but still very good.

Price – 150 THB

55 Pochana (ห้าสิบห้าโภชนา)

The Bottom Line

The food at 55 Pochana (ห้าสิบห้าโภชนา) is a little on the greasy side, but it’s dangerously tasty.

Definitely try the dok kajon pad kai (ดอกขจรนผัดไข่) and the bpet krob pad kra pao (เป็ดกรอบผัดกระเพรา), and other than that, I’m sure the majority of the dishes on the menu are delicious.

Also 55 Pochana (ห้าสิบห้าโภชนา) is open until 4 am, catering particularly to the nightlife crowd, so if you happen to be awake late at night and need a salty delicious meal, they’ve got you covered.

55 Pochana (ห้าสิบห้าโภชนา)

Address: 1089 Sukhumvit Soi 55
Phone: 023912021
Open hours: 18:30 – 4 am daily
Price: Expect to pay around 200 – 300 THB per person for food

ที่อยู่ : 1089 ซอยสุขุมวิท 55 (ทองหล่อ) อาคาร ปากซอยทองหล่อ ถนนสุขุมวิท แขวงคลองตันเหนือ เขตวัฒนา กรุงเทพฯ
โทร. 023912021
เปิดทุกวัน เวลา 18.30 – 04.00 น

How to get there

The restaurant is located very near Thong Lo BTS Skytrain station. Exit # 3, and walk across Thong Lo road, and in just a few meters you’ll come to the restaurant on your left hand side.

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