Tessa, a little eatery on Soi Thong Lor

Tessa, a little eatery on Soi Thong Lor brings the best of Paris to Bangkok
Soi Thong Lor is getting livelier with new shops and restaurants springing up almost every day. Among these new places is an eight-month-old French restaurant called Tessa.
The eatery is in a comfortable house and seats about 30 hungry souls both inside and outside. It’s not a very large space inside but big enough not to feel claustrophobic and there’s a huge window looking out into the garden. The garden is also not very extensive but there are a satisfactory number of trees to give the place a look of the great outdoors.
Jatuporn Tejapaibul, who’s in her late 30s, is Tessa’s owner and comes from a culinary family. She studied kitchen skills at La Varanne in France’s Villecien and the menu reflects this. Many of the dishes, Jatuporn claims, cannot be found elsewhere in Bangkok. Even the regular French stuff is presented with a difference, she says.
If you’re on the look out for a quick bite, have a go at the rocket soup (Bt160), a cream soup made of rockets and sauteed river shrimps, crab cake (Bt295), fried chunks of crab with salad and sweet red chillies. For fish-loving gastronomes, the restaurant offers pan-fried trout (Bt460) in white-wine sauce. And those looking for a heavy meal can’t go wrong with the grilled imported rib-eye steak (Bt580), served with parsley mousse, duck confit and cranberry sauce.
Everything on the menu is traditional French, and all the vegetables used are organic. The owner tries her best to procure ingredients of the best quality. Regulars are in the habit of strolling in and enquiring, “What’s today’s special?” because Jatuporn finds special ingredients when buying grocery and usually concocts the day’s special using them.
You could end a hearty meal with desserts like warm chocolate cake (Bt220), served with ice cream or perhaps the light panna cotta (Bt180). The restaurant also offers home-made sorbet made of fresh fruits, available in 11 flavours. There’s also tea, coffee, fruit juices and smoothies. If you crave alcohol, there are a variety of cocktails and wines, the latter mostly imported from France, Australia, and Chile.
The kitchen closes at 9pm. Before stopping by, it might be a good idea to make a reservation because the place is not too big.
There’s space to park your car on the left of the road before you reach the restaurant.
Tessa 20 Thong Lor Soi 23
BTS: Thong Lor
11.30am-2pm, 6pm-10pm, Monday-Saturday
(02) 712 6844