POTONG, a progressive Thai-Chinese cuisine restaurant in the heart of Yaowaraj (Chinatown) by Chef Pam and focused on 5 Elements, 5 Senses, 20 Inspiring dishes: 

OVERVIEW
Taste Chef Pam’s journal memories of Progressive Thai-Chinese cuisine. Inspired by old school 4th generation Potong Traditional Medicine House situated in the heart of Yaowaraj and the spirit of late-night Chinatown Hangouts in 1960's New York. Roughly Potong translated as "Simplicity" and is the key to "Brilliance". Chef Pam takes an inventive approach to Thai-Chinese flavors with a modern interpretation of classic dishes. Through the tasting course, you will go through occasions, and recollections, and portray the excursion of her culinary.

AMBIENCE
"Juxaposition" design concept

MUST TRY
- POTONG's Pad Thai
- Dry-aged Duck
- Evolution of Crabs

FOOD
Chef Pam was the first to elevate and elaborate on “Thai-Chinese” cuisine. It’s not simple to relay this Thai historical information through food but she loves to challenge. Her cuisine or “Progressive Thai-Chinese” respects the traditional “Thai-Chinese“ cuisine, embraces it and gives it a spin off and will keep progressively innovate and improve every time. That’s progressive Thai-Chinese cuisine.

Traditional cuisine will always still be traditional and authentic. There are usually good reasons for the origination and authenticity of the method of traditional cooking. Chef Pam always respect these methods while at the same time using her culinary knowledge to adapt and make best to sometime even creating a new method that is a mixture between the two. Traditional food / cooking method plays a great important role and is the key to making the best dish. To recreate the dish using other modern methods will require understanding of these traditional methods. She learns the traditional ways before applying any modernity to them. Her passion allows to come up with new ideas, something that has never been done before. For her, through the experiences set out at POTONG, the taste notes, the ingredients, and the philosophy have helped to make it happen.

If I were to pick a dish to be our signature that represents Thai and Chinese food it would be our “pad thai” and “duck”. Pad-thai: I believe that pad-thai is a really good representation of "Thai-Chinese" cuisine. I personally love its history and what it represented behind it (you have to come to POTONG to truly experience this dish!) I chose Rayong shrimp because of its texture and natural sweetness that will give a very unique flavour to my version of Pad Thai served together with its head jus and Thai national flag.

Our signature duck is definitely showcasing the combination of “traditional” and “modern” methods of cooking. Our signature duck is served during the main course “All About Duck”. I took almost a year perfecting this dish even before the restaurant was opened. Trying all the traditional methods and finding the best way using some modern techniques to get the best out of this duck.

The duck - we select a very specific size of duck so that it doesn’t have so much fat in the skin then we marinate the inside with 5 spices and then partially cook the skin with vinegar mix then we hang it for 14 days so that the skin is dry and the meat is tender then we roast in the oven at a very high temperature for exact 13 minutes. This gives the meat a very tender texture and a very crispy skin. I have been looking for a very long time for the best duck, and end up finding the best of them by exact weight and marble percentage to give us the best possible duck from the local farm in Cha Choeng Sao that we have been working with for a long time. Some of my guests say it’s the best duck they ever had – that made my day.

SERVICE
Excellent service, delivering expertly exquisitely sized dishes of superb quality food amid stunning presentation.

PRICING
THB 5500++

SUMMARY
Though there’s plenty of interestingly delicious culinary flair on display across her 20-course dinner menu and the desserts can be overwhelming, each dish feels deeply personal to Chef Pam’s heritage and the Chinatown neighborhood. Beyond just the amazing food and its presentation, the history and the architecture of the building and the interior ambience throughout the different floors make the whole dining experience even more special. Set aside about three hours to complete all the delicious 20 courses.