Photos: Alexander Hotz
COCONUTS HOTSPOT — Think you’ve had it all when it comes to chutney, curry tandoori? Find another taste of the subcontinent hidden among the muttons and masalas of Little Arabia.
Slide past the clusters of burka-clad women and through the plumes of hookah smoke on Sukhumvit Soi 3/1, also known as Soi Africa, to find Al Hussain and its surprisingly wonderful Bangladeshi selections.
Al Hussain is the kind of restaurant that tries to please all palates by throwing everything against the wall. Arabic, Lebanese, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and even Thai food fill out the menu. One might accuse them of spreading themselves too thin, but the key with these types of places is to identify what their specialty is and just ignore the rest of the menu.
At Al Hussain, that means Bangladeshi, despite its small menu real estate. It doesn’t hurt that its ownership is Bangladeshi.
Bangladeshi cuisine can be distinguished from neighboring Indian cuisine by its modest approach to the use of spices and, more importantly, the inclusion of beef as a staple meat.
To order a typical Bangladeshi meal, opt for the beef bhuna, chicken curry and daal. There isn’t a Bangladeshi section on the menu, so you’ll have to simply tell your waiter what you want. Naan and rice are eaten with the main dishes.
The beef bhuna is a mildly spicy curry made from a legion of south Asian spices and vegetables like onion, ginger, turmeric, tomato and garlic. The small bowls of curry may not seem like a lot of food, but the curry is both viscous and heavy, so even a small bowl will comfortably serve three people. The same can be said about the chicken curry.
FIND IT:
75/7 Soi 3/1
Near BTS Nana
