Despite
having spent some time here I'm still surprised, on
a regular basis, by the amount of venues there are
to explore in this city. Whilst for the most part
my search is confined to live music venues, I can
only begin to guess at the actual number of places
that exist. Surprised, because the other night while
taking a shortcut down Charoen Rat Road, I never actually
made it to my intended destination due to the discovery
of several new music venues, well, new to me anyway.
Charoen Rat Road is located under the second stage
expressway and follows it from beyond Surawong Road
to near the Rama IX Bridge. Taxi drivers might find
it easier to identify as "Chan Dat Mai",
or New Chan Road.
If you head past Chan Road in the direction of the
Rama IX Bridge the Lighthouse Terrace Bar & Restaurant
is located on the right hand side and this is a venue
that takes its live entertainment seriously. With
three different bands appearing six nights a week
and two on Sunday the list of well-known artists who
appear is extensive, in fact too extensive to start
listing here.
When you first walk in there is a sushi bar immediately
to the left on the open terrace where solid wooden
furniture is arranged in an orderly fashion, although
you can also have your order brought inside. On the
right is an enclosed games room, large enough to accommodate
two pool tables, two fussball tables, half a dozen
game machines and two dart boards. Several wooden
tables with benches are set to one side for players
and friends. The pool tables are of the type that
requires a coin to release the balls and cost twenty
baht a game, so far so good.
Inside the main room the Lighthouse is quite large,
the stage is in the right hand corner of the room
with four large, name brand speakers suspended from
the ceiling. The ceiling itself is very high with
black painted cross bars and large bolts of white
cloth hung in a decorative fashion, while there is
more seating on the second floor balcony. A big screen
dominates the back wall with a projector also suspended
from the ceiling and on this night was showing some
of the latest music videos. The stage lighting was
also well set up with no bright spotlights trained
on the audience. High up near the ceiling is a group
of several dozen lights that look like the stars in
a screen saver, but not coming at you. What am I talking
about, everybody has a Matrix screen saver now.
Anyway, I have to say whoever set up the sound here
did an excellent job. The second band of the night
was going strong when we sat down and had a look at
the menu, which incidentally is all in Thai. There
are many interesting things on the menu but one that
really sticks out is "lightly fried crocodile
meat". And it really is crocodile, not some cheap
imitation. On the drinks menu you can order a tube
of beer; no ordinary tube, it arrives looking like
a huge glass test tube attached to the lower part
of a keg. Taking a closer look at what was happening
on stage there were several singers in action at the
same time who, when not doing the lead vocals they
were doing backup. Each singer had a distinctive voice
and all of them sang very well. They did a collection
of numbers in Thai and English with the band doing
a good job as well. All instruments came through clearly
and the volume was such that a conversation could
be had, albeit with raised voices, or maybe it's my
hearing. The selection of songs was also a pleasant
surprise; with a clear slant towards rock, they did
a number by Blondie, some Dylan, as well as some newer
stuff like "Zombie" whilst at the same time
keeping the local customers happy with some favourite
Thai tunes to which I confess not knowing the titles.
The band also takes requests and did a couple of well
known Clapton numbers for a group of guys who were
definitely enjoying a couple of those tubes of beer.
Turning back to the menu, it was time to sample some
of the offerings. Crispy Shrimp Salad was first and
was quickly followed by Squid with Salty Eggs and
Phad Thai. The salad consisted of a fruit salad, including
papaya, apple, guava and honey melon topped by the
shrimp, fried in a tempura style batter. Delicious.
The squid was done just right, not too chewy and was
well complemented by the salty eggs. Phad Thai is
a dish that has gained enormous popularity with visitors
to the kingdom and is now available in many countries
around the world. It arrived a little on the sweet
side but that was quickly remedied with the addition
of some nampla and red chili. With a generous helping
of bean sprouts on the side this was definitely a
happening meal. The menu itself is extensive with
many interesting items that will require further investigation.
The service was efficient and there was very little
waiting time from order, to the food arriving. The
portions are quite large, so take a good appetite.
On the opposite side of the room from the stage is
a bar area and from there the room extends all the
way to the terrace, separated by country style windows.
There is room to have a quiet chat at the tables there,
which are well away from the stage. Cocktails are
available at the bar although most of the customers
that night seemed to be ordering the tubes.
The third band had been on for a while and judging
by the reception were well known by everyone at Lighthouse.
The two male singers took turns and one of them even
did a song in Japanese. Again the sound was good,
this time with a four-piece group supporting the two
vocalists. Unfortunately I didn't catch the whole
set as it was time to leave. Suffice to say, Lighthouse
is a place to take your favourite someone if you want
to impress them with your knowledge of venues in Bangkok,
the unusual dishes available and the quality of the
entertainment. Oh yeah, and the beer in the tubes?
It's cold. |
