A Review of Phuthon Bar, a Traditional Grilled Bread Shop with Delicate Processes in the Old Town @Sao Chingcha
When we arrived at Phuthorn Bar, the shop just opened. Normally, the shop is ‘open in the evening and close at midnight.’ Then, we can gradually hear the melody ‘Oh yeah Oh yeah Oh Oh yeah’ of a song from the movie ‘Fan Chan’ and the beautiful old song of ‘Suraphol Sombatcharoen’ who was a famous Thai country singer in the past, which reminds us of the atmosphere in the movie ‘Born Blood.’
Phuthon Bar which is located in Phraeng Phuthon Alley or near the Giant Swing doesn’t provide us only a vintage atmosphere but also allows us to feel like we are eating good-smelling grilled bread at our friend’s house. Moreover, there are many beverages that we can choose to drink in cool weather out there.
They told us that during the period of the fourth and fifth monarch eras, the field there was a popular commercial district, and the shop was the house where their grandparents lived.
‘Grilled Bread of Uncle Chuey (with Slow Making Processes)’ is the shop’s alias that customers named because ‘9 Flavors of Grilled Bread (15 Baht per Piece)’ are usually made meticulously and calmly. Uncle Chuey insists that he will not grill the mellow bread quickly as every bread needs low heat to be soft and have a good smell.
Furthermore, the shop still has appetizers or snacks and Thai-style refreshing beverages to choose from: soft-boiled eggs, French fries, and chicken nuggets. It would be more delicious if you eat them together with grilled bread.
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Wandering around the Old Part of the Town ‘Phraeng Phuthon’
Capture the Giant Swing when We Are Trapped in a Traffic Jam
Arrive at the Mouth of the Alley
Go Straight through the Alley
Then Turn Left and See the Shop
Read the History of Phraeng Phuthon at the Sign opposite the Shop
Ways to Go
For those who come from Thonburi, you should head to Pinklao, turn right at Khok Wua Intersection, drive past the Tiger God Shrine (San Chao Pho Suea), find the alley where ‘Orn Samai’ is located at the corner, turn right to the alley, and turn left and then you will find Phuthon Bar next to the Ministry of Interior.
On the other hand, if you come from Ratchadapisek Road or Sukhumvit Road, you should head to Ratchadamnoen Road, turn right at Khok Wua Intersection, drive past the Tiger God Shrine (San Chao Pho Suea), and park the car in Phraeng Phuthon Alley. When you arrive at the shop, there will be someone who will tell you about your parking spot.
For those who go by BTS Skytrain, you have to go off at BTS National Stadium or BTS Siam and then go by taxi to Phraeng Phuthon Alley next to the Ministry of Interior.
9 Flavors of Grilled Bread and their Prices
All flavors of ‘Traditional Grilled Bread’ (cost 15 Baht per Piece). We ordered grilled bread with 9 flavors (135 Baht), 2 ‘Soft-boiled Eggs’ (15 Baht per Glass), ‘Caramel Fresh Milk Frappe’ (35 Baht) coming from ‘Fresh Milk Frappe’ (30 Baht) + Caramel (5 Baht), and ‘Peach Tea’ (25 Baht). Unfortunately, they said that from January 7, 2018, the prices of every beverage will increase by 5 baht.
Each flavor of grilled bread is so cheap so we recommend you order your favorite flavor in the quantities you want at once as it can waste much time waiting in the queue if you change your mind after ordering. Interestingly, the shop has Caramel Fresh Milk Frappe and Peach Tea which are popular beverages and other drinks you can try. Moreover, there are still many toppings to top the beverage (5 Baht per each): caramel, oreo, jelly, Pipo, chocolate, and bubble.
The Environment inside the Restaurant
As the shop wants to provide a vintage atmosphere to customers, they decorate the shop with old things. The shop puts wooden seats only outside so customers can closely look Uncle Chuey grilling bread. However, if there are many customers, they can divide the seats into 2 sides outside the shop. Furthermore, customers can take a photo with a vintage bicycle near the seats to get an authentic picture as a souvenir.
The Front of the Shop where the Beverage Zone Is on the left, and Uncle Chuey’s Zone Is on the Right
Let’s Go Back to Good Old Days with the Movie ‘Fan Chan’ on the Shop’s TV
Wooden Tables in the Old Town Allowing You to Flash Back to 30-40 years ago
A Vintage Bicycle that May Be too High for Women
An Old Chest of Ancestors, the Owner of the Shop
Old Medical Supplies and Equipment
Products in an Old Grocery Store
Classic Posters that not Everyone Will Own
When we go inside the shop where there is no seat, we can see many cool vintage elements, whether it be collected classic posters, old groceries, or old medical supplies and equipment.
Tasting Traditional Grilled Bread in the Old Town
We ordered 9 flavors of grilled bread: pandan coconut custard, pork floss with chili paste, sugar and sweet condensed milk, orange jam, strawberry jam, pineapple jam, chocolate, Ovaltine, and peanut butter. They will put a shortening on the other side of every grilled bread in every flavor.
Traditional Grilled Bread of Uncle Chuey
We don’t spend much time to wait the grilled bread because we can walk and see old things in the shop and take pictures around there. Then, the shop serves it with 9 flavors not long after that as they can grill bread with 9 flavors at once on a Thai charcoal stove.
No Need to Worry about Adulteration as the Pots are Completely Closed and the Stove Is Always Ready to Do its Duty
Prepare Shortening to Put on Bread
Which flavor would you like?
Uncle Chuey Is Still Young so Can I Call Him ‘Brother’ instead?
The Front of the Bread Is Perfectly Grilled.
Flip It Back and Forth for 5 Minutes to Let Melted Shortening and Flavors Seep into the Bread
Though You Want to Eat It So Bad, We cannot Hurry Him up as They Need to Use Low Heat to Grill.
The Shop Will Put Paper into each Plate before Putting a Bread
Due to the fact that bread in some flavors looks the same, they put its paste on the bread's sides to make it easier to notice. Additionally, there are 3 sizes of plate: the plate for 1 piece, for 2 pieces, and for 3-5 pieces. Interestingly, if you bite 2 sides of the bread at one time, you will taste a great combination of shortening and plate flavors. However, if you bite just one side, it will be too sweet.
The Plate for 1 Piece of Bread
The Plate for 2 Pieces of Bread that They Put the Paste on Bread’s Sides to Make It Easier to Separate
The Plate for 3-5 Pieces of Bread.
Actually, There Are 3 Pieces but We Snitched 1 Piece so It’s only 2 left.
Shortening, Sugar, and Sweet Condensed Milk Flavor, a Combination of Sweetness
Peanut Butter Flavor Will not Lead to Weight Gain
Strawberry Jam Flavor Will not Mess up the Seat as There Is a Paper Under the Bread
We Are Born to Eat Traditional Sweetness!
Feelings about Traditional Grilled Bread of Uncle Chuey:
Shortening: If you like to eat something sweet, you will scent their good and sweet smell. On the other hand, if you don’t like it, you will feel it’s a bit too sweet because another side of the bread is full of paste.
Shortening-Pork Floss with Chili Paste Flavor: Chili paste from the shop’s spices is spicy and salty and can keep you away from greasiness.
Shortening-Pandan Coconut Custard: As a lot of good-smelling pandan coconut custard is put on the bread, you will feel the juiciness and sweetness of the paste at the first bite. Therefore, it hugely suits those who love the sweet flavor.
Shortening-Pineapple Jam: This is less sweet than the custard one.
Shortening-Strawberry Jam: Medium-sweet strawberry jam has a tasty look and a good smell of strawberry so many girls will like it for sure.
Shortening-Orange Jam: Its color is like pineapple jam’s so it’s hard to identify which one is orange jam or pineapple jam. Anyway, its smell is uniquely good.
Shortening-Chocolate: Chocolate is sweet and rich but not bitter.
Shortening-Ovaltine: Its color is like the color of chocolate so you need to bite it to know which piece is chocolate or Ovaltine. Fortunately, the Ovaltine flavor is easy to be identified because it contains Ovaltine power and has a better smell of malt.
Shortening-Peanut Butter: This flavor has a good smell of peanut butter as if it’s just brought immediately from the oven after being baked. This suits those who like the smell of peanuts or beans.
Shortening-Sugar and Sweet Condensed Milk: This flavor is so sweet that it suits people who really like sweetness as the shop provides you with a lot of sugar on the bread.
Let’s Eat ‘Soft-boiled Eggs’
The shop will boil eggs (1 set or glass containing 2 eggs) for about 4 minutes. Surprisingly, just 1 glass of soft-boiled egg with peppers and sauce can make you full.
We ordered 2 glasses so we need to boil 4 eggs.
It’s served in a small glass with a small spoon for scooping the egg. Personally, we prefer to bottoms up!
The shop also has condiments for seasoning.
Soft-boiled Eggs: It’s so mellow when we put Golden Mountain Seasoning Sauce into it. For those who want to gain a better smell, you should sprinkle peppers more and more.
Beverages
‘Caramel Fresh Milk Frappe’ and ‘Peach Tea’ represents creamy sweetness and refreshing sweetness, respectively.
‘Caramel Fresh Milk Frappe,’ a Representation of Creamy Sweetness (35 Baht)
‘Peach Tea’ (on the top left), a Representation of Refreshing Sweetness (25 Baht)
They must store many ingredients for peach tea, a popular drink in the shop.
There are various kinds of tea.
Free Drinking Water
Feelings about Beverages:
Caramel Fresh Milk Frappe: For those who love caramel, don’t forget to add caramel as a topping. As the shop always adds it a lot, you will scent a strong smell of caramel, and the glass will be completely closed with its lid. Therefore, you need to be careful not to touch the lid otherwise the caramel will spill on the seat.
Peach Tea: It’s like a lemon tea at first sip but peach tea has a better smell and is more refreshing than that.
Assessment and Rating
|
Type of Assessment |
Point |
|
Taste |
4.2 |
|
Environment |
4 |
|
Service |
4.6 |
|
Worthiness |
4.7 |
|
Average Point |
4.4 |
4 Characteristics of People who Extremely ‘Suit’ this Shop
1. Like Sweets because every grilled bread contains sweetness.
2. Like a Vintage Atmosphere because the shop always plays old songs and is decorated with old things.
3. Be Down-to-earth because the shop is not in the supermarket, has only wooden seats outside, and doesn’t have any air conditioner and Wi-Fi networks.
4. Be Calm Enough because someday there will be many customers who order desserts in advance. Hence, you need to wait until it’s done as they cannot jump the queue for someone.
Tips for Ordering: you should order grilled bread in the quantities you want at once as it can waste much time waiting in the queue if you change your mind after ordering.
Tips for Eating: you should eat it within 30 minutes to 1 hour because it will be the most delicious when it’s hot.
Shortening-Pork Floss with Chili Paste Flavor: We think that it’s too salty and should be sweeter. Anyway, this may suit people who like the salty flavor.
In the future, if there are more shapes, flavors, and sizes of grilled bread, it will be more interesting for sure.
Personally, we like this vintage atmosphere and furniture and love to observe Uncle Chuey when he grills the bread. Normally, we will see only ready-to-eat grilled bread but it’s not like this shop as they will show us from lighting a Thai charcoal stove, flipping the bread back and forth, to serving it.
Fortunately, we don’t wait in a queue for a long time because we arrive there when it’s just open on a weekday. Moreover, around the place, it looks like a cozy old town but it will be a messy town if it rains. The shop will open in the evening or later than 06.00 p.m. and close at midnight. If you will go to the shop with many people, you should tell them in advance so the shop can prepare the car park and seats to accommodate your group on time.
The total price RyoiiReview members need to pay is (225 Baht) as we ordered grilled bread with 9 flavors (135 Baht), 2 Soft-boiled Eggs (30 Baht), Caramel Fresh Milk Frappe (30 Baht), and Peach Tea (25 Baht).
Outstanding Points of Phuthon Bar
1. Its traditional grilled bread looks tasty and consists of a lot of paste so it’s worth 15 baht per piece.
2. Besides the bread, the shop still has traditional and modern beverages to choose from.
3. There is free drinking water for customers.
4. The shop provides us with old songs that can remind us of the good old days.
5. The car park is located near the shop so customers don’t have to waste much time going to the shop.
Recommendations
1. We want them to add more Thai charcoal stoves because it can extremely help speed up grilling time.
2. Grilled bread in either (‘chocolate’ and ‘Ovaltine’ flavors) or (‘orange jam’ and ‘pineapple jam’ flavors) looks similar so we want them to mark the symbol for these 4 flavors to make it easier to be noticed.
3. It will be more comfortable for those who want to hold the bread if they skewer the gilled bread.
4. Although the shop is not wide, we want them to provide customers with seats inside the shop to allow them to see and experience the old things inside.
5. As the seats are outside the shop, it will be messed up if it rains.
Even though it’s the first time when we go there, it can be said that our stomachs will be full of bread for a long time since we devour up to 9 flavors of 9 pieces of grilled bread. We recommend those who like to eat hot bread with a lot of paste inside and want to get a vintage atmosphere to try this shop for once. Moreover, besides getting rare tastes of traditional grilled bread, you may make new friends with a group of motorcycle lovers who always go to the shop.
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