Gold Curry
58, 14 Thaniya Rd, Suriya Wong, Bang Rak, Bangkok 10500
Order the standard katsu curry first. The 2kg and 10kg challenges are spectacle, but the B130 to B170 everyday plates are the reason this room fills with Japanese office workers at lunch. Come for the curry, stay because the self-service miso soup refills are free.
You walk into a bright orange storefront on Soi Thaniya and the room smells of fried tonkatsu and curry roux. Gold Curry is a Kanazawa transplant that runs a straightforward menu: Japanese curry rice with your choice of protein, served in stainless steel oval bowls, with a side of self-service miso soup that you can refill as many times as you want.
The standard curry plates cost between B130 and B170, depending on whether you add tonkatsu, fried chicken, hamburger patty, or hot dog. The curry itself is thick, golden, mildly spiced in the Japanese katsu-kare tradition, and the rice comes in portion sizes that range from normal to absurd. A TV in the corner loops footage of previous challengers attempting the 2kg katsu curry plate for B699 or the 10kg monstrosity priced at B2,899. Most people are not here for that.
The Thaniya location sits surrounded by Japanese hostess bars and opens at 10:30 in the morning, staying lit until 1:30AM. That makes it one of the few places on this soi where you can eat a full meal after midnight without booking a table or ordering bottle service. Gyoza costs B60 for five pieces. Vegetable salad and mashed potato are B40 each. The menu does not stretch much beyond curry, fried sides, and omelets, but the kitchen holds its lane.
The restaurant operates with a take-away counter vibe. Promotions are taped to the walls. There is a second branch on Sukhumvit Soi 39 if you are based east.