Patpong’s sizzling 60-year-old

As Bangkok’s oldest independent non-Thai restaurant, Mizu’s remains a great place for good value meals – if you don’t mind the exotic aromas

THE only person who really knows when Mizu’s Kitchen first opened in Patpong is its Japanese owner Mr Masakai, but since he’s now in his eighties and rarely around these days, you have to rely on the staff for the answer. And they’re not sure.
   
“Sixty years ago,” says Miss See, who’s worked for the restaurant for 35 years. “I think so anyway,” looking for confirmation from a colleague who may have been with Mizu’s even longer. Her friend nods vaguely in agreement, not really knowing either.
   
What is certainly true is that Mizu’s is Bangkok’s oldest independent non-Thai restaurant, a stalwart of the city’s naughtiest road and for a couple of decades the choice of advertising types, foreign correspondents and go-go bar owners.

It’s had its heydays but then, so has Patpong. A cubby hole of a place, Mizu’s is now quieter by far but it still serves some of the best value western and Japanese dishes in town. Where else can you get a five-course steak (“New York cut or Black Pepper”) dinner for B370? Or “Queue de boeuf braisee au vin rouge” for only B180?
   
And there aren’t many Bangkok restaurants that still stock Mateus Rose for B650 a bottle. Not available any longer, though, is Dubonnet at B160 a glass. At least Miss See couldn’t find it.
   
Probably Mizu’s most famous dish is the Special Sarika Steak, served sizzling on a hot plate with vegetables on the side. Just 220 baht. None of the Japanese dishes cost more than 160 baht, while international favorites like the tasty Chicken Cordon Bleu are all priced 140-160 baht. And there’s not a soup over 80 baht. Corkage is a steal at a mere 100 baht a bottle.
   
Apart from being the city’s oldest non-hotel restaurant, Mizu’s is also famed for the “exotic” smells and aromas that hover over the place. But after 60 years of daily cooking and dining, you wouldn’t expect anything less.
Mizu’s Kitchen. 32 Patpong Road

Oldies but goodies

BANGKOK old-timers talk lovingly of restaurants they used to frequent – Nick’s No.1, The Two Vikings, Madame Suzanne, The Metropolitan, Mitch and Nam’s, and many others from the distant past.