Some of you won’t take me seriously if I don’t make this obligatory post. So here it is:
Raan Jay Fai is the restaurant made famous on Netflix and Youtube and maybe one of the most popular restaurants in Bangkok. Reservations are made 6-8 weeks in advance. The walls are covered with magazine and newspaper clippings of celebrities who have dined there from Martha Stewart to Thai stars.
The story of Jay Fai, the celeb chef, is a great “picked-myself-up-by-the-bootstraps” story of how she worked her way from the bottom up to the pinnacle of the cooking world with a Michelin star.
Her most famous item is one she cooks and labors over by herself, as a true artist does. The dish worth going for is the Kai Jiaw Bu, deep-fried crab omelette, which resembles a chimichanga. However, all chimichangas would bow down humbly to Jay Fai’s $30 loaded crab omelette. That’s right, $30 for one plate. Supporters of the restaurant will say that the quality of the ingredients are superior, while its detractors will argue that fried eggs are never worth paying that much.
And yes the food is great. If money is not a thing for you, (congratulations), then you should order to your heart’s content and you will leave full and extremely satisfied. But the second-biggest knock on this spot is actually getting a table and getting your food.
For a reservation, you have to call or email two months in advance. If you can’t reserve that early, she designates seats everyday for walk-in/standby customers, but you’ll have to get there early to write your name down. When I went, I arrived at 10am (the shop was still closed) but an uncle was out cleaning and brought the sign-sheet for me. Scored the first name on the list! But I still had to kill 4 hours until its 2pm opening. And I had to return back at an ambiguously defined time sometime around noon to confirm my reservation still held. (Luckily at that time, the Dusit Zoo was still open nearby for some low-cost family-friendly entertainment. There are some nice temples and a neighborhood that is fairly walkable if you want to kill time Nearby there is an equally famous Pad Thai shop and a lot of local shops that flourished as a result from the pour over crowds.).
Once you get seated, as Jay Fai makes the dishes herself and you will have to wait for each one. She is thorough so you’ll have to tolerate waiting longer even after you have your table. Bottom line is be prepared to smell the aroma of the delicious food while you sit at your empty table like a patient dog wondering if the next plate is yours. Unlike your typical Bangkok street food shop, speedy service here is not its strong point.
With the crowds of people, it kind of feels like a circus, with customers and passersby gawking and taking photos of the famous corner restaurant. In the social media age, some tourists claim their trips are not complete until they eat there, or at least until they have taken a picture. With high prices and long waits, you will not see large number of locals there. But if you are a person who absolutely needs to eat at Jay Fai, then you will not be disappointed. There are a number of other dishes worth trying, but you go there for the crab omelette. And you better go before she throws in the towel.
