Steak and Sushi for Business Bites

In a dining city as diverse as Bangkok getting exactly what you want is not a problem, if you know where to look of course. Take Japanese food for example. There are many restaurants serving up spectacular sushi and sensational sashimi, but what if you want something a little different?

Published on 08/11/2011

By Nadia Willan

If you want a business lunch with Japanese style tapas, or an after work chow down of comfort food that is not traditional Japanese fare, then Asoke’s office towers are home to simple, casual dining. Frienz looks like a straightforward Japanese café come restaurant, with low ceilings, a no-nonsense décor and a wooden interior. Set in the ground floor below businesses galore, it manages to provide a dark cubbyhole, which is cozy rather than drab, and a nice bolthole from the strain of the sun and the stress of city exec life.

The fact that Frienz does not try and assault your senses with the menu, the restaurant layout, or the look of the place is what makes it a trusty restaurant companion when you want food to nourish and a place to relax, rather than a rip-roaring celebratory feast. With the manager wearing a glamorous sky blue kimono and a hideaway bar for snacks and locals, Frienz has a sense of self which you warm to.

The maki sushi comes in huge rolls of red tuna, seabass, as well as crabmeat and salmon. For 380 thb the eight big pieces are satisfyingly good value. Inside, the asparagus, omelet, mushroom and carrot and cucumber add a little variation that is enough to notice but not too different to leave sushi fans feeling that they have not tasted the fresh, fishy delicacy they love so much.

The octopus salad for 280 thb is more Mediterranean than Asian but tastes good and fits well with the overall Japanese theme, so somehow it does not seem to really matter. With enough old-style Japanese appetizers on the menu, many at less than 100 thb, the salad fits in well. Good bitesize pieces of octopus come with green olives, tomatoes, rustic chunks of cucumber and lashings of olive oil.

The ribeye steak comes sizzling on a hot plate with the aroma of sake, a good mound of vegetables and a generous sprinkling of browned garlic chips for 380 thb. This dish, which veers away from traditional Japanese cuisine, has a robust taste and texture to it, and you imagine busy city slickers coming here for post-work stamina after a long day at the office.

Frienz is not the place to come for the most special meal you will ever taste. It is not particularly a romantic dining place and does not have a sense of a big night out. What it is though, which is perhaps even better, is a day-to-day, good value Japanese restaurant that offers respite from the city streets, great food and an atmosphere and menu you could visit and enjoy every night of the week with friends and colleagues alike.

Visit Frienz's Profile | Map | Gallery