Copper wired

With numerous private offices, many condos and apartments as well as night-spots like Bed Supperclub and Q Bar, Sukhumvit Soi 11 welcomes professionals, residents and clubbers. Midway up the lane is The Copper Bar and Restaurant, which offers quality Thai food to the soi's visitors from all walks of life.

"We want to offer food with reasonable prices to the people living or working in the soi," says Nat Veerapong, one of the three owners of the Copper. "Comparing to other eateries in the neighbourhood, our prices are low. And since this is also a nightlife spot, we turned the place into a lounge at night too."

The name Copper was inspired by the finishing technique used on the body of Harley Davidson motorcycles - a vehicle dear to a riders like Nat. "It doesn't sound too feminine or masculine, and it could be either a diner or a bar's name. I also like the colour of copper," says Nat, a graphic designer and a father of one. "I spend half my time here and half my time at my design company out of town. My wife takes care of all the cooking here."

Nat's wife supervises the skilful chef who is capable of cooking many kinds of food. Catering to both local and foreign patrons, Copper has a huge menu of Thai and Western dishes. Simple rice dishes with meat and vegetables such as minced chicken with basil leaves, fried rice with crabmeat or crispy pork and kale, as well as noodle dishes like pad Thai that cost between Bt65 and Bt85. Set meals for lunch including a drink cost between Bt109 and Bt139.

Recommended is deep-fried battered chicken on a crispy kale bed with lemon sauce (Bt90). The crispy, juicy chicken is chopped into perfect bite-sized cubes, deep-fried and lathered with a mayonnaise-based sauce and garnished with fresh lime. The sauce itself is a little too sweet but could become pleasantly sweet and sour with the fresh lime. The special part of this dish is the kale bed that you can eat with the chicken, unlike most restaurants that use bergamot leaves just to garnish.

For more savoury dishes, try stir-fried prawns with turmeric curry powder (Bt120) - a little sweet but it goes well with steamed rice. Another must-try dish is khao soi (Bt65), Northern-style egg noodles with drumsticks in spicy curry soup.

 Other yummy Thai dishes are stir-fried prawns and black pepper (Bt120), prawns with tamarind sauce (Bt120), omelette with crabmeat (Bt50), sets of different chilli paste with fresh vegetables (Bt70-Bt90), curries and tom yam soup (Bt75 to Bt120) and an array of mouth-watering plates such as seafood and vermicelli salad and laab (Bt70 to Bt80).

Though Copper offers mainly Thai food, you can also get some Western flavours at this joint. Recommended is beef steak with mushroom sauce (Bt130), along with a string of pasta dishes with Thai-inspired sauce like green curry and ki mao seafood (Bt70 to Bt85). Anyway, you might want to stick to Thai food here, as the chef seems to be keener on the local cuisine.

The bar is open until 1am, and offers cocktails and spirits (Bt120-Bt190). A highlight is the Copper Shot (Bt180), which is made of layers of syrup, vodka and Kahlua - topped with fire.

Black Label costs Bt1,600 while small beers are priced from Bt75. Non-alcoholic drinks and soft drinks are served from Bt20 to Bt100. The kitchen closes at 10.30pm, so only snacks and some appetisers can be ordered after this time.

Delivery service is available in lower Sukhumvit from 11am to 10.30pm with an extra charge of Bt20 and no minimum order.

The Copper Bar and Restaurant

39 Sukhumvit Soi 11

Opposite Q Bar, no parking

BTS: Nana

11am to 1am daily

(02) 651 0000

Manta Klangboonkrong