Khua kling, the fiery dry curry of southern Thailand (illustrative). Photo: Zheng Zhou, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Khua Kling Pak Sod is a family-run restaurant serving southern Thai home cooking, the hot, fragrant, turmeric-and-shrimp-paste kind 🌶️ The Surawong branch is on the second floor of the Red Planet hotel on Surawong Road, in Si Phraya, Bang Rak.
Restaurant, Bangkok
Khua Kling Pak Sod Surawong
Southern Thai cooking from a Chumphon grandmother’s recipes, upstairs on Surawong
Where2nd floor, Red Planet Surawong, Si Phraya, Bang Rak
Phone093-24-24-264
CookingSouthern Thai home recipes
SignatureKhua kling moo sab, ฿280
Pay byCash, transfer, or card
Whose recipes these are
The recipes come from the owners’ grandmother, who grew up in Tha Sae district in Chumphon. To keep her cooking alive, the grandchildren opened the restaurant with their mother and aunt as the main cooks. Eating here feels like being a guest at the family table, with the dishes they grew up on. Their motto is simple: “We serve only the food we think worthy of serving.”
Why “khua kling”? 🔥
Khua kling is a southern-style dry curry stir-fry, and it’s the restaurant’s namesake. Start with the Khua Kling Moo Sab, minced pork in a spicy, dry khua kling curry, served with fresh vegetables for ฿280. That’s the “pak sod”: fresh vegetables on the side 🥬
What else to order
The menu is a delicious tour of the south. Signatures and mains include:
- Gaeng tai pla, the spicy southern curry made with fermented fish entrails
- Gaeng leung yod maprao pla ga phong, a spicy yellow curry with young coconut shoots and sea bass
- Gaeng pu bai cha plu with sen mee, lump crab in yellow curry with betel leaves and thin rice noodles
- Sataw pad kapi goong, stink beans and prawns stir-fried with shrimp paste
- Moo hong, southern-style sweet braised pork
- Bai liang pad kai, southern bai liang greens stir-fried with egg
- Nua pu pad prik kee noo suan, lump crab with fresh chili
- Kai pa loh kha moo, braised pork leg and eggs with tofu in a sweet brown sauce
Pla tod kamin, fish deep-fried with turmeric, is sold by weight: ฿720 for 400 grams, 900 for 500, and 1,080 for 600. For starters, try the tod man pla grai fish cakes, sun-dried beef jerky, fish balls, or crabmeat rolls. Salads include a cowslip-creeper flower salad with prawns and a crispy gourami salad. Two shrimp-paste dips, nam prik goong sieb and nam prik goong sod, round out the full southern experience.
There’s plenty more: tom yum platu (hot and sour mackerel soup), moo kem tod (deep-fried salted pork belly), glass-noodle stir-fries with pork or prawns, and morning glory wok-fried with chili and minced pork 🍤 Prices are plus 7 percent VAT and 10 percent service charge.
Spice tip 🥵
Southern food is famous for bold, punchy flavor and the aroma of local spices. If you’re new to southern heat, let your server know when you order.
Takeout, delivery, and meal boxes
Pay by cash, transfer, or credit card. Delivery is charged by distance, or order through LINE MAN or Grab. For takeout, give an hour’s notice. The restaurant also makes meal boxes and caters meetings and events; book at least a day ahead through its LINE Official account, @khuaklingpaksod.
Other branches
You’ll also find Khua Kling Pak Sod in Thonglor (98/1 Sukhumvit Soi 53), on Phahonyothin Soi 5 in Phaya Thai (Rajchakru), and in Bang Na, at kilometer 7 of the Bang Na–Trat road in Samut Prakan.
The verdict
This is the place for proper southern dishes, from crab curries to turmeric fish and shrimp-paste stir-fries, without flying to Chumphon. Bring friends, order a spread, and call ahead to book a table.
Comments