Gai Tord Jae Kee

You’d be hard-pressed to find a restaurant less atmospheric than Gai Tord Jae Kee (more commonly referred to as Soi Polo Fried Chicken), a stone’s throw west of central Bangkok’s Lumpini Park. With walls bedecked in glossy granite, stainless steel furniture, and fluorescent lighting that makes a suburban tax office look cozy in comparison, this is hardly the place for a date-night dinner.

But take one bite of its eponymous signature, the fried chicken, and you’ll understand why hungry Bangkokians have flocked here for generations. Jae Kee’s birds are marinated and deep-fried whole in a slow, time-honored process that renders out nearly all the fat. Once the skin turns shatteringly crisp and the meat moist and fall-apart tender, the chicken is cleaved into rough-hewn pieces and buried under an avalanche of crispy fried garlic.

Order it with a side of sticky rice as a quick hit, or build it into an Isan-style lunch or dinner with some of Jae Kee’s other signatures: kor moo yang (sweet, charcoal-grilled pork neck with a fiery dipping sauce); zingy som tum papaya salad, which can be tricked out with salted egg, pickled mussels, or sweet blue crab; and larb made with minced chicken, catfish, or oyster mushrooms.