Bangkok Tokyo, Greenville, SC

After hearing from more than one person that this was their favorite Greenville area Thai place, Fat Kat and I were happy to finally get to try it ourselves. We love Thai food, although I will qualify that with the comment that we are certainly not experts! We went on a rainy Saturday night and did not find it to be crowded. It's in an odd location off the beaten path, in a small office "strip mall", but that provided ample, easy parking. There are two areas to eat (that I saw). The regular table area and a raised area with low tables and pillows to sit on. Since we had heard about the interesting raised area, we had our friends make reservations for that. I loved it! You have to take your shoes off, a common asian custom. The low tables are comfortable as there is a dropped area underneath the table for your legs. So, no worries if you are not a yoga master, you don't have to sit with your legs curled up!

The menu was extensive, but did not include any sushi (for anyone expecting it). I thought the prices were reasonable. Fat Kat ordered an appetizer of crab rolls which were fantastic. They were basically small spring rolls, with a mixture of crab, cream cheese, and assorted spices inside, served with a yummy sauce. Delicious! I then ordered one of the specials, snapper with a ginger sauce. It was small pieces of snapper, lightly fried, served with a bed of napa cabbage and a fantastic ginger sauce. It was not a huge portion, but enough for me to take some home (had to leave room for dessert!). Fat Kat ordered a lobster entree and was not overly impressed. Coming from New England, we'll admit, we are lobster snobs of a sort. We like Maine lobster and this appeared to be rock lobster (should've asked before ordering). It was a bit tough and not sweet like a Maine lobster. Fat Kat felt he should've ordered Pad Thai instead, one of his favorites. Our dinner companions also ordered the snapper special and a side of one of the chicken curries, which was fantastic.

The service was also excellent - attentive, but not overbearing. We were incredibly slow at going through the menu and making up our minds (we were too busy talking!), and he never once seemed annoyed or made us feel rushed. He was also still a bit all atwitter because the week prior, Renee Zellweger had been in there at one of his tables, and he is the self-proclaimed #1 fan of Ms. Zellweger! She is filming in Greer and had stopped by for dinner. They had come in early and were discretely seated out of the direct public eye so they could enjoy their meal without interruption. But, I digress!

I opted to try some dessert. As "Sweet Tooth", I must live up to my name! Plus, I like to try desserts at new place to see if they live up to my ridiculous standards. They had a decent assortment, but I decided to try their fried ice cream, only because it was a twist on the famliar favorite. Instead of crumbled cereal type coating, it was coated in pound cake and fried. It was a large portion with two scoops of fried ice cream and some whipped cream. I thought it was pretty good, but nothing amazing. I found I missed the crunchiness of the traditional cereal coating. Next time, I would try the fried bananas pieces, which also caught my eye.

Since there are plenty of great Thai places in the Asheville area, I wouldn't travel to Greenville just to go to Bangkok Tokyo, but if you're in the area, it is definitely worth a visit. We have also eaten at Thaicoon's and Irashai. While we really enjoyed Irashai, we would not go back to Thaicoon's which had so-so food and terrible service.

So, overall, Bangkok Tokyo was a very pleasant experience with a fun atmosphere at the upstairs tables. The only reason I gave it 3.5 forks instead of more is because of Fat Kat's so-so entree. I would definitely recommend the restaurant though. I would just try some other entrees on our next visit.