- Hey, everyone.
I hope you're having an amazing day.
It's Mark Wiens. I'm in Bangkok, Thailand.
And today for lunch we're going to a restaurant.
It's called Panya Seafood and Beer Hima.
And it is one of, for sure, the best restaurants
in Bangkok for southern Thai food and for seafood.
They also have what is for sure one
of Bangkok's spiciest single curries,
which they have on their menu here just as a normal dish.
It is unbelievably delicious.
I'm gonna share all the food with you in this video.
And by the way, they also have
what is the largest bronze crab sculpture in Thailand.
Okay, let's go eat.
(funky music)
The size of the eyeball is like the size of my face.
P'Tan, talk.
- Hello, it's me again. (laughs)
- It's always good to hang out and eat with P'Tan.
And you're the one who brought me here.
- Yes. - To this restaurant
for the first time.
This place is the best.
It's so good.
- So, you're gonna do, like, filming
in the kitchen today.
- It's okay, yeah, yeah.
The restaurant is called Panya Seafood and Beer Hima.
And Panya Seafood, that's the seafood restaurant.
But Beer Hima means, uh, snow beer.
And so okay, I'll just show you later.
But they have live tanks of seafood.
You can choose your seafood.
They have fish, they have lobsters,
they have all sorts of shrimp and mantis shrimp.
There he is, P'Tan.
Whoa.
(speaking in foreign language)
(Mark chuckling)
(speaking in foreign language)
- Such young green mangoes, and then she has a sauce,
a sweet sauce, sweet chili shallot sauce,
or almost like a syrup that's gonna go with it.
(speaking in foreign language)
(mellow music)
(spoon clanging)
(speaking in foreign language)
So, it's actually (speaks in foreign language)
(speaking in foreign language) It's sweet chili paste.
Oh, and she actually took out the seeds.
Wow.
(speaking foreign language)
(woman laughing)
(Mark laughing)
(speaking foreign language)
The green mango is so sour.
That (speaks foreign language).
It's like syrupy shrimp paste
with shallots, with chilies, with dried shrimp on top.
That combination, that contrast will just
blow your tongue out of your mouth.
(all laughing)
(speaking in foreign language)
Getting fed by Auntie for the first bite.
Oh, that's a beautiful,
that's what I love about this restaurant.
They're so awesome.
They're so cool.
And the food they serve,
literally, I kid you not when I say
this is one of my favorite restaurants in the entire world.
(upbeat music)
(speaking in foreign language)
(laughing)
(speaking in foreign language)
(laughing)
(speaking in foreign language)
(all laughing)
(speaking in foreign language)
- They put smart-- - Oh yeah.
We cannot come here without eating that.
(speaking in foreign language)
You cannot make a bad decision here.
Everything is good.
It's just a matter of narrowing it down
so you don't order the entire menu.
(speaking in foreign language)
Yes.
Full access to the kitchen.
But right now, she just caught the
(speaks foreign language), which are the mantis shrimp,
which they're gonna cook up.
We're comin' in the back side.
(speaking in foreign language)
Coming in the back side to the kitchen.
Okay, mantis shrimp.
As fresh as possible.
(knife thuds on board)
(speaking in foreign language)
One of the dishes that you absolutely have to order
when you come here, because you almost,
it's almost, like, impossible to find it in Bangkok, right?
- Yeah.
It's only people in the-- - I've eaten it
in the south, but I've never seen it in Bangkok.
This is one of the few restaurants.
It's called (speaks in foreign language).
(speaks in foreign language)
- [P'Tan] Yes.
- Okay. (speaks in foreign language)
It's a type of herb leaf,
which is then mixed with a batter and shrimp
and then deep fried.
And it's-- - And they put
in curry paste.
And then they fry it. - That's what
makes it yellow, with the curry paste.
And it's so good. (upbeat music)
And they're getting ready to make it right now.
He makes a whole foundation of the leaves.
Then they put a whole handful of shrimp onto it,
on top of the leaves.
And then he kinda just, like, dabs it,
almost, like, paints it with the curry paste.
You can smell the turmeric.
You can smell the garlic.
And then that drops straight into the oil,
kind of in patty form.
That's gonna deep fry.
It's so unbelievably delicious.
(oil sizzling)
(upbeat music)
But they move so fast because there's so many,
actually, by the way, I need to maybe explain.
But this is a huge restaurant.
They probably have, like, 50 tables.
Maybe even more.
But it can seat a lot of people.
So, they can cook the food and the dishes really fast.
And we gotta move.
Ying is over here in the other kitchen
with another camera, trying to get some other dishes.
But they're workin' so, so fast.
There's Ying.
(woman speaking in foreign language)
Yeah, what are they making now?
(speaking in foreign language)
Oh, we gotta make,
oh, they're doing the, the mantis shrimp.
Okay.
(speaking in foreign language)
(oil sizzling)
He cut them up.
Then he fried them for about just probably a couple minutes,
and then until crispy.
Then he kind of put them back in formation on the plate,
and topped them with a heap,
an entire bowlful of fried crispy garlic.
Wow.
I'm sweating in this kitchen.
And he is mixing up the,
this is the (speaking in foreign language).
(oil sizzling)
Now, that's the (speaking in foreign language),
which is fish fried with turmeric and garlic.
That goes in the oil.
But in the meantime, I'm moving over
to one of their signature dishes.
And I think this is the best version of this dish
in Bangkok and probably the spiciest curry,
single curry, in Bangkok.
(speaking in foreign language)
So, this is their (speaking in foreign language),
which is the fish fermented, fermented fish guts curry.
But it is, it's one of my favorite dishes in Thailand.
He just first--
(woman speaking in foreign language)
boiled the (speaking in foreign language).
And then he added in some (speaking in foreign language),
which is mackerel.
And I'm just looking at the size of this kitchen.
There has to be, like, 20 burners
going down.
It's an amazing, an amazing kitchen.
And it's fast-paced.
Yeah, as I said, they can cook for a lot of people at once.
It's a beautiful kitchen.
They use some seriously powerful, high pressure flames.
And the aromas in this kitchen,
the fumes that will go up your nostrils
will clear them for days.
I almost cannot contain my excitement or
how excited I am for the food that we're gonna eat.
(speaking in foreign language)
Okay.
He's making one more dish, which is
(speaking in foreign language), which is the coconut shell,
actually the shell.
The young shell of the coconut, which you can eat,
which is almost, like, has a crispness like a bamboo shoot,
made into a curry with chicken.
(spoon scraping bowl)
Southern Thai food is all about the curry paste.
That's where the flavor resides.
That is what makes southern Thai food so good,
because of that curry paste with all the spices
ground up, pounded, all the oils released.
But, yeah, so.
I mean, one of their secrets here
as to why the food is so good is because of the,
their curry paste is just so, so good.
And that's probably a secret recipe.
(speaking in foreign language)
Okay, I think we better rush back to the table
because I think all the dishes are done.
And wow, I am just in, like, 15 minutes
of being in the kitchen, (upbeat music)
my shirt is just completely drenched.
(laughing)
(speaking in foreign language)
(all laughing)
- It's very hot inside.
- [Mike] Yes. (laughs)
(speaking in foreign language)
(woman laughing)
(Mike laughing) (speaking in foreign language)
Okay, all the food is here,
but the rice.
We forgot about the rice!
(woman laughing)
Okay, it's coming. (laughs)
But anyways, okay.
The spread of food is here.
It's just, your mouth.
The saliva juices are just flowing.
It's (mutters excitedly).
The curries, we got curries.
We got some stir-fry dishes.
We got some seafood.
But really, like, my favorite things
about this restaurant are the curries.
The curries are just, like, they're on a level
of their own, in a class of their own,
above almost everything that I've ever tasted.
It's just, like, one of these restaurants where
the flavors are so over the top...
Oh! - [P'Tan] Mark,
this is very special. - Wow!
(speaking in foreign language)
Yeah, I, um.
- [P'Tape] Oh!
- Wow, (speaks in foreign language).
(speaking in foreign language)
(all laughing)
(upbeat music)
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Mark] The fried fish, this fried salted fish
real fast right now because it's hot and fresh.
(speaks in foreign language) (man laughing)
So, it's a salted fish, and then deep fried,
and then covered in chilies and shallots.
(cutlery scraping)
We're gonna just all
take a spoon and-- - It's quite salty.
So, you-- - Okay.
You have to eat it with the rice, yeah?
- [P'Tan] We eat the salted fish with the curry.
- [Mike] Ah, okay.
(speaking in foreign language)
We haven't even started the food yet.
But another thing that you have to have,
because the food is so spicy, is beer Hima,
which is snowy beer.
And so, they've figured out the exact temperature
to put the beers into a fridge or, like, a freezer.
It's at that exact temperature.
So, then, when they pop open the
lid and then pour it into your cup,
it foams up.
And eventually, it's, like, so cold,
that eventually there's, like, an ice ball foam.
- Cheers, Tape.
- Cheers!
(birds chirping)
- It's so refreshing.
It's so... (laughs).
You can feel the snow comin' outta your mouth.
(laughing)
Ah!
Okay, we gotta get started on that food.
(speaking in foreign language)
We're gonna begin with the (speaking in foreign language),
which is also called (speaking in foreign language),
which is a, it's a sour curry.
But it's orange because of turmeric.
It's one of my favorite dishes in Thailand.
It really is one of my favorite dishes in Thailand.
I can eat it every single day.
It's so good.
It's so rich.
But their version, it's so thick.
In Thai, it's, they use so much curry paste in there.
Made with fish, and also we got it
with (speaking in foreign language)--
- [P'Tan] The young coconut. - Ah, the coconut shoots.
Coconut shoots, like bamboo shoots, but coconut.
Oh, you can just see how that literally is,
like, thick from straight chilies, turmeric, and garlic.
And you gotta back, you gotta maximize your first--
- [All] Oh.
(all laughing)
You gotta max, (speaking in foreign language)
maximize your first bite.
Oh!
(upbeat music)
(speaking in foreign language) (laughing)
- This is so good.
- Oh wow.
(speaking in foreign language)
It's so good. - So good.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Mark] But it has a type of spiciness that grows.
Like, it builds, yeah?
- Yeah.
- Like, your first bite.
Oh, P'Tan is sweating already.
(all laughing)
(speaking in foreign language)
And, like, the thing to note about
(speaks in foreign language) is there is no
coconut milk in it.
Oftentimes the curry is thick from coconut milk.
This is, literally, just thick from the curry paste,
from the herbs and the spices.
(speaking in foreign language)
Next up, are the (speaking in foreign language).
And this is the fermented fish,
like, insides. - Insides.
- Guts, guts. - Yeah.
- And it's one of my favorite dishes in Thailand.
It's one of my favorite southern Thai dishes.
It's known to be a spicy dish, but here they take it
to another level.
This really is, like--
- So, this is the most spicy (speaking in foreign language)
in Thailand.
- Okay, I think so.
I think it's one of the most spicy curries
I've ever had in Thailand
that's, like, just served at a normal restaurant.
It's not a food challenge.
(laughing) This is just a normal,
normal dish. (all laughing)
But it's, like, cool.
It just blow your tongue away.
(cutlery scraping)
Oh wow.
(speaking in foreign language)
- It's very, very spicy. - There's such a,
such a proper depth of flavor.
It's so complex.
The fermented fish gives it, like, that,
but honestly, it's not even that fishy.
Again, that's the chili that starts to,
it starts to build.
You can feel it, like, start to burn down your throat.
It's so good.
It's so flavorful. (speaking in foreign language)
Again, it's just, like, unbelievable.
Thick.
And you can see the beer now.
Once you leave it settled, that,
there actually forms a beer ice cube.
(ice cube rattles against glass)
And it's a type of curry that, like, okay.
It's a little bit spicy from your first bite.
But it's really the type of curries that just
build as you keep on eating.
So, you'll just be, like, loving every single bite.
And all of a sudden you'll realize, wow.
My mouth and my entire face is on fire.
(man yelling) (woman laughing)
(food crunching)
- [P'Tan] It's very crispy.
(speaking in foreign language)
(food crunching)
This one is so good.
- [Mike] It's so good, yeah.
(speaking in foreign language)
And it's, yeah, it's very popular in the south of Thailand.
But, again, I haven't even really seen it.
You'll very rarely see it in Bangkok.
(food crunching)
Oh, that was a big bite.
Oh wow.
This is one of the things we never miss
eating here because it's so good.
Like, the curry paste just, like, bursts with flavor.
It's crispy and crunchy.
And then the leaves, they just,
they have this, like, mild, nutty, herbaceous
taste to them.
- [P'Tan] It's, like, actually called a chili curry.
- It's a chili curry.
Again, this is one of the staples of southern Thai food.
And oftentimes they have it with,
well, today, we got lucky because they have with--
- [P'Tan] The traditional, they have with
pork ribs. - Pork ribs, right?
Good point. - But today,
the day's special, they have the
beef ribs. - Beef ribs.
Oh ho ho. - This one is the
second spicy level.
The second spiciest in the--
- [Mike] After the (speaks foreign language).
- [P'Tan] After the (speaks in foreign language).
(speaking in foreign language)
- I'm gonna have to pick this up like a drumstick.
It's just too good to be true.
(upbeat music)
Look at this.
I should, maybe, rehydrate.
(laughing)
(speaking in foreign language)
Can I rehydrate?
I gotta rehydrate this.
(men moaning) (laughing)
(speaking in foreign language)
(all laughing)
- Oh!
- Cheers, Tape. - Cheers.
(men humming happily)
- Oh wow.
Oh. (laughs)
- Right.
(speaking in foreign language)
- It's, like, so tender.
It's bursting with flavor.
You taste the chili.
It's salty.
- Yeah. - It's, like,
that literally is just like a chili curry.
- Yeah.
- That's exactly what it is.
And then green peppercorns.
- Yeah, good.
(speaking in foreign language)
Open up.
(all laughing)
(speaks in foreign language)
(laughing) - Yeah, P'Tan ran away.
He ran away from the (speaks in foreign language).
You'll notice that there's vegetables,
raw vegetables, all over the table.
One thing that you have to eat in the south
is raw vegetables, southern Thai food.
Because it kind of cleanses the palate.
Also, when your mouth is on fire,
you grab an eggplant.
(crunching)
And you kind of...
And it's just, like, the full contract.
Because even though curries are salty.
But then you take a bite of the refreshing vegetable.
Yeah, it's just good.
(laughs) Okay.
We can't decide,
we can't decide if the-- - Which one is more spicy.
- [Mark] The (speaking in foreign language)
or the (speaking in foreign language) is spicier.
They're both, like, almost on the same level.
So, we're just gonna taste the (speaks in foreign language),
the sauce.
- [Woman] The (speaks in foreign language).
- Of them both, back to back, to see.
(upbeat music) All right.
- Yeah.
- But the flavor!
(laughing)
It's, like, (laughs).
(speaking in foreign language)
(all laughing)
That's just, that has to be medicinal.
(speaking in foreign language)
That is medicinal.
(speaking in foreign language)
Oh!
(speaking in foreign language)
(laughing)
(speaking in foreign language)
- It's stronger because it's salty, right?
It's more salty.
(speaking in foreign language)
- I don't know.
They're just both spicy and just out-of-controllably,
next level delicious.
Moving onto the fried, the fried foods.
This one is the (speaks in foreign language),
which is the mantis prawns,
which are deep fried, and then he added on,
literally, an entire little bowlful of fried garlic on top.
(speaking in foreign language)
(all laughing)
This one is a non, non-spicy but lots of garlic.
And you can do is kinda,
you break off these legs from the bottom here.
Oh, and it just reveals the,
oh, look at that meat on the inside.
It's purple.
It's actually purple in color down there.
(shell cracking)
With this really hard outer shell,
it almost feels like crab.
(speaking in foreign language)
Okay.
(speaking in foreign language)
Mine got a little messy, but that's okay.
(laughing) (upbeat music)
- [P'Tan] And dip in the (speaks in foreign language).
- [P'Tape] Yeah.
- [Mike] This is garlic and chilies.
- [P'Tan] Yup.
- Mm.
Oh wow.
It's so good. - So sweet.
- Yeah.
The mantis shrimp, it's so sweet.
It's so soft.
And with the garlic and their (speaks in foreign language),
their seafood sauce is also really good.
The green chilies.
You can really taste the vibrancy of the green chilies,
the garlic, and the lime juice.
And the other fried dish that we got
is the (speaking in foreign language),
which is the little,
little fish.
I'm not totally sure what they are in English.
But I will look it up.
Fried with garlic and turmeric.
And so, you can pick these up.
They are, like, yeah.
They're kinda like french fries, like chips.
And you also dip in the (speaks in foreign language).
(speaking in foreign language) (laughing)
Scoop.
(speaking in foreign language) (all laughing)
- [P'Tan] Come on!
(laughing)
(food crunching)
- Oh. - Mm.
- Oh wow.
- That, I like.
- Mm.
- This is so good.
- Good. - That is just,
that's just, yeah.
Classic good.
It's fragrant from the turmeric and garlic.
And, again, the seafood sauce.
But wow, it's just crispy.
And then on the inside a little bit meaty.
But mostly crispy all the way through.
So good, especially when it's hot and fresh.
That's just fully garlic and turmeric.
And I'll chase it.
- Mm.
(birds chirping) - Oh yeah.
This is something you can, like,
you could eat this entire plate
without even thinking about it.
Just one after another, in one go.
Another dish that they do so well here
is the (speaks in foreign language).
And I think it's, like, a (speaks in foreign language).
(speaking in foreign language)
With a shrimp paste,
with shrimp paste, stink beans.
There's shrimp in here.
There's kafir lime leaves.
There's chilies and garlic, lots of chilies and garlic.
The shrimp with some rice.
(all laughing)
(speaking in foreign language)
A full option bite.
(all laughing)
- Mm.
You can taste the, like, undertone of shrimp paste,
yet the shrimp paste is not overly strong.
It's balanced with a little bit of sweetness.
You taste the garlic, the chilies.
The shrimp are firm, and then, yeah.
It's just everything is better with stink beans.
Okay, I'm gonna get, actually, some new rice.
Do the curry, mix it up with chicken and coconut
- [P'Tan] Shell. - Shells.
Put this down on the rice.
(upbeat music)
And that's, you can just see.
Actually, I don't think I even got any chicken on this,
but it's sliced up young coconut shell
made into a curry.
Mm.
It's an amazing curry.
It's, like, again, it's so rich with flavor.
It's sweet from the coconut milk.
You taste the spices.
You taste the black pepper in there.
And then, yeah, the coconut shell,
it almost tastes like, it has this unique crispness to it.
Not even really woody, but more almost like bamboo shoots.
Okay, I'm gonna move back over to the
(speaks in foreign language).
Oh, and at the bottom you can just see
how rich and how thick that is.
Oh, it almost slid off the plate.
Add a bit more of the dark gravy.
(spoon scraping)
(birds chirping)
I just cannot get over their (speaking in foreign language).
It's just, like, beyond flavor.
It's beyond flavor.
It's, like, almost,
it's one of these dishes that's,
like, more than your tongue and your mouth
can almost handle.
And, so, you just don't know what to do
when you eat it.
But just, like, cry tears of joy.
That's all you can do.
This one is the (speaks in foreign language),
which is a, it's a chili shrimp relish
but made with sweet shrimp and then dried shrimp.
And then there's chilies in there.
Mm!
It's just good.
It's refreshing.
It's just a little bit spicy.
But that, like,
complexity of shrimp.
Like, shrimp paste shrimpiness.
- The chopped shrimp.
- Oh. - And they have
the crispy shrimps.
- So, there is, like, raw shrimp in there, too.
- [P'Tan] Inside.
- [Mike] Yeah, because you-- - Use the fresh shrimp.
- Because you taste, like, so many
different textures in there.
(man speaking in foreign language)
(laughing)
(chair squeaking)
Ah!
(speaking in foreign language)
(machines roaring)
Every time I walk out that door,
every time I leave Panya Seafood, Beer Hima Restaurant,
it's just, like, it just completely
revolutionizes my entire self.
It's like walking out as a new person.
It's just like your mouth has gone through
peaks and valleys and just, like,
a rollercoaster of emotional deliciousness.
Just tongue-blowing, mind-blowing delicious food.
Especially if you love spicy food,
this is a restaurant that you do not wanna miss
when you are in Bangkok.
It's a little bit out of the center of the city.
If you come here when there's traffic,
I think it can be pretty, a pretty long ride to get here.
But off-peak traffic time.
And we came at an off-peak meal time
in the middle of the afternoon.
So, that's why they have a huge dining room,
but it wasn't very full when we were eating here.
But if you come during a peak meal time,
it will be packed.
But you can probably get here in about 30 minutes
to an hour from central Bangkok.
And it's well worth coming here.
I'll have all the information about the restaurant
in the description box below, the address.
So, check that out.
I wanna say a huge thank you for watching this video.
Please remember to give it a thumbs up.
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Thanks again for watching.
Goodbye from Panya Seafood, and goodbye from Bangkok.
See you on the next video.