BangkokFoody

The Ottoman

2015-06-22T05:30:00.000-07:00

The Ottoman

When you walk along the Ramkhamhaeng Road you will find, on the first glance it looks like everywhere in Bangkok but when you turn into the side sois (alleys) you will find a very different picture, different sois are influenced by different cultures, like Soi 26. You will find a few Chinese restaurants there as well as two Korean. There are also many Students form these countries living in that soi. Then in another soi people from the south of Thailand and Malaysia are predominating, they bring a Muslim influence to Ramkhamhaneg. Especially because of the two international universities , IIS-RU and ABAC, there are many students from different countries and cultures to find here. And everybody has to find some food for his taste. They are the ones to ask where the hidden delicious secrets are to find.

My Iranian friends introduced be to the Bkk style kebab wraps. There used to be a shop right next to ABAC University where they brought me. Quite tasty stuff…. So just you can imagine what I am talking about. It is a flat bread, nan bread style, stuffed with different salads, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers and meat. Usually chicken or beef. You can distinguish a good kebab shop from a bad one according to the sauce. If they put just ketchup or mayo on, it is not the real deal. You want some garlic, yoghurt, maybe spicy mixed sauce, trust me.

The Ottoman has exactly that, the name says it already, it is a Turkish restaurant with traditional food and amazingly cheap prices. The location allows it to go there from university during lunch break, which makes this restaurant very convenient for me.

Infront of Ottoman restaurant Soi 53

The Restaurant itself is quite small and open to the street (soi 53). Non the less it is quite neat and clean. The interior looks like someone had a little taste, solid furniture and some nice pictures. The Restaurant belongs to a Turkish guy who is running it since 1977 already. Usually he is not there but the Thai manager is very friendly and service orientated, his English is pretty decent for a Thai and you won’t have problems communicating with him. He will send you to a table and serve you free water which I though is nice.

At the open side, the entry to the restaurant, you will pass the tall always smiling chef at his grill and the kebab pike. You can also order directly from him.

inside the restaurant

I copied the menu for you, so you can see the very good prices by yourself. I mean the portions are not huge but very reasonable for that price. I can recommend the chicken kebab for 45 Baht. You also can up great to a 50 or 60 Bhat kebab wrap, just tell them. In the kebab I prefer just the yoghurt garlic sauce. They have another brown sauce, not exactly sure what it was, which they usually put in as well. It was okay, very different taste, something traditional Turkish but couldn’t really identify it…. You can just give it a try by yourself.

The menu

The Location

The Ottoman restaurant is located very close to the Ramkhamhaeng University and the IIS building. It is on the opposite side of the university area in Soi 53. From the IIS building it will take you 5-10 minutes to walk. Just walk over the flyover when you are at the corner University and where you enter the stadium area, basically right outside the orange IIS building. Then walk into BigC direction. Turn right into Soi 53 and follow. Around 50 meters, still before the bridge which leads over the klong, on the right hand side you can’t miss the Ottoman.

The Ottoman is a good choice when you are looking for some variety to Thai food and the campus canteen. Or if you are looking for place for dinner with your Muslim friends, of course the food served there is Halal. If you are too lazy to get out of your apartment, the Ottoman has a delivery service for a fee of 30 baht as well.

Enjoy another hidden Ramkhamhaeng food special and let me know what you think about it.

Thai

2015-06-22T02:45:00.004-07:00

Isaan, Northern food ,curries or Thai bbq. Here you will find my favorite Thai restaurants, located mainly in Ramkhamhaeng.

Useful Phrases

2015-06-22T02:39:00.000-07:00

On this page I am going to introduce you to some of the most important words and phrases you can use in a restaurant or in any relation to food.

Food Facts

2015-06-22T02:32:00.002-07:00

On the Food facts page you will find useful information about food and health in Bangkok/Thailand.

Bkk Specials

2015-06-20T06:27:00.001-07:00

On this page I am going totell you about my favorit restaurants in Bangkok

BurgerBro

2015-06-20T05:37:00.000-07:00

When you come here to Ramkhamhaeng, a district of Eastern Bangkok and drive along the mainly digested road, you can see crowds of pedestrians squeezing in between the market stalls alongside the road. The food vendors have all kinds of interesting food piled up. All sorts of tropical fruits, boiling soups, piles of cooked or grilled meet and lots of fried and sweet stuff.
Don't miss understand me I really like Thai food and I also eat street food from time to time. But after a while I was craving for some typical western food or just something else than rice or noodle soup. I also wanted to sit in a proper restaurant, with windows maybe and not just a stool right next to the fumy road.
Off course I could have went to one of the at least three McDonalds alongside Ramkhamhaeng Road, or some other franchise in the Mall. But I wanted the real thing and one important criteria was the price, as a student I often was quite broke.
One day my friend Ben brought me to a really nice BBQ/ Burger restaurant it is a bit off the beaten track but the food is worth to find your way there.

BurgerBro is the name of the restaurant. It has a lot to offer, beside the very reasonable food prices they have a view special promotions. The location is a bit hidden but the restaurant is nice not only to eat but to chill out.

The front of the restaurant , you can't miss it.

Burger Bro is a typical American restaurant, run by a Thai guy who lived in the states. On the menu you can find different homemade burgers with the regular cheese burgers, either with chicken, pork or beef starting from 80 baht and believe me they are big. They also have special Wagyu and lamb burgers which are super tasty. I took a picture of the menu so you can see the prices by yourself.
What I really appreciated was the dressing bar where you can find a diversity of different sauces, free flow, you can pimp up your burger with. Like tartar, salsa, garlic sauce and so on.
I came there last Thursday and ordered a beefburger and the guy at the counter said: " On Thursdays we have special promotion, you can get one extra paddy on your burger, same price..." Same price no extras, off course, thank a lot! :)
I always thought the prices are really reasonable especially for the quality you get there but the promotion convinced me completely that ths restaurant is worth mentioning on my blog.

BurgerBro's menu

How to get there

Okay, how to get there is a bit tricky. When you come from BigC Ramkhamhaeng or the Airport link, you turn at the BigC interesection right into Soi 24. follow that soi until you see the Shell gasoline station. There you turn left and follow Soi 24 towards Abac University.
So when you are coming fromthe Ramkahmhaeng Road side of Ramkhamhaeng University or the Rajamangal Stadium you just cross through the area to the other side and you will find yourself on Soi 24. Pass Abac and on the same side of Soi24 as Abac university, you have to go into the alley (jaek) 26 that is about 300 meters passed Abac. Follow into the 26 until you come to an Y -junction, there you have to go right and walk around 500meters until you arrive at Burger Bro.
If you are walking from Abac University to Burger Bro it will take you around 15 to 20 min.
I Suggest you take a motorbike taxi from there, it will cost you around 20-30 Baht or when you are two or more person go for a taxi, it will be around 45 Baht.
But a little walk toloss some kalories, if it is not right during noon when the sun is burning down, might be not a bad idea so your conscience will be a bit at ease when you are indulging yourself with those big burgers.

The Location

The restaurant is not only good to eat there but a nice place to hang out as well. It is located in an alley with many nice single villas and a lot of trees. It is a two stories building with a garden and a terrace. Due to the nice surrounding with a lot of trees in a not very busy alley it can be also nice to sit outside. The grill and the kitchen where they prepare everything fresh, is also located outside of the main restaurant next to the restaurant garden. It is open and you can observe every step of the chefs in there.
When you enter the restaurant you get right away to the self service counter where you order your food. The staff is very friendly and because the owner is usually there, you won't have problems communicating in English .

The Chef next to the restaurant garden.

The atmosphere inside the air conditioned restaurant is typical American, atleast the Marylin Monrow picture and other typical American designs are indicating this feeling. There is also a upper floor with more tables and a balcony which can fit birthday parties and other events. Just have a talk to the owner if you are interested in renting out the place.

Air conditioned and American design, nice place.

What ever you are coming for, a quick burger some gourmet specialties, hang out with friends over some delicious finger food and a few drinks or for a party. BurgerBro is definitely a good choice for people who want to get very good food for a good price in a nice environment.