Bangkok Cuisine (original ownership) ~ Haltom City, Texas ***CLOSED***

Last visit: Oct 2017

First visit: 2004

OK, so we have an important announcement here for those that don't know: Manit has retired and sold the business. We were there for his last week, and then we visited again the second week the new owners took over. At that time, they had kept the original menus, and presumably recipes. But the food did not taste the same at all to us. The new owner - pleasant as can be - had hinted that she would be bringing her own recipes forth shortly. So with that, this will be the last update for this post. We will return in a couple of months to see if anything has changed. At that point we will start a new post if we feel the food is worth trying. But for the RJG, it cannot be the same without Manit. He WAS Bangkok Cuisine.

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We've been visiting Bangkok Cuisine since 2004, and it remains one of our favorite Thai restaurants in DFW, along with Sea Siam and Sweet Basil. It's just simply exquisite. The owner, Manit (who is always there), will make it as spicy as you want (actually the chefs are usually his wife or daughter), and all the dishes we've tried here are excellent. They cook with more of a syrupy (but not sweet) texture than most Thai places, so the dishes tend to be sauce heavy. Mrs. RJG and I both don't typically go for that, but Bangkok Cuisine is an exception. It's that good. I have to say that Bangkok Cuisine tastes like no other Thai place I've experienced in the country. It's very unique, and yet another reason why we venture here often. Personally I love their basil chicken, which they custom make for me, and often times cooked with a few Thai chiles added in (super hot). Mrs. RJG likes their chicken with vegetables or their cashew chicken. In addition, their version of chicken satay makes for an excellent appetizer, though we've generally gone straight to the meal in recent years.

Good news for winos as it's BYOB, so a great way to save, and enjoy a bottle of your favorite wine (or beer). Manit (or your server) will open the wine bottle and provide chilled wine glasses for you as well! No one does that for you, except those who charge a corkage fee. They also have, of course, sodas, Thai coffees, teas, etc...

Bangkok Cuisine sits in a strip mall, next to the Hoffbrau steakhouse on US 377, not far south from I-820 and just north of Glenview (west side of 377). The setting is very simple, with about 15 tables, and recently repainted in a light blue color. It's a fairly bright place (though the new paint helps with this), with a TV near the kitchen if you're dining alone. It feels like a casual lunch cafeteria, but we almost exclusively go for dinner, and always enjoy the experience. The parking lot is always crowded, but 95% of the people are at the Hoffbrau. And that's a good place too (we've been a few times), but it's a shame more folks don't venture in to Bangkok Cuisine and give it a try. Note that they are closed on Monday.

The reviews on the wall point to a heritage that goes back to 1986, when they first occupied a place further south on Belknap (US 377), where there there are dozens of restaurants today (primarily Vietnamese). I believe Bangkok Cuisine is the oldest Thai restaurant in Tarrant County, or at least Northeast Tarrant.

7/6/08 (new entry); 10/15/17