A friend loves to tease me about my passion for Mexican and Japanese cuisine, and how I seem to circumvent local cuisine in my tireless pursuit of bean burritos, fish tacos, spicy tuna rolls, and teppanyaki fried salmon. He’s not entirely wrong, especially in countries where the food scene consists mostly of boring or fatty, meaty dishes.

In Thailand, great-tasting, lean food of all kinds is omnipresent and Charlotte and I eat a wide range of local specialties at least five days a week. Street food is still ridiculously affordable and we rarely spend more than SEK 120/USD 12 for both of us, including a tall, cold beer each.

Last night, after a 3-year hiatus, we returned again to ISAO on Soi 31, arguably one of Bangkok’s most well-known Japanese restaurants with consistently high quality. When we rented an apartment at the Oakwood on Soi 24 back in 2014, we probably visited ISAO twice monthly. Often, but not always, we’d order the above dish, ISAO’s signature Sushi Sandwich with fried rice and pouched salmon captured with available light with the iPhone 14 Pro Max.

On the way back to the Skytrain to get home to Silom and Saladaeng, we stopped by the iconic Villa Market for breakfast fruit and nuts. So glad to see that some of our old favorites are still around.