Have you ever seen a tree growing inside a building?

If you visit Siam Wisdom Restaurant in Bangkok then this is what awaits you, and both children and adults find it fascinating.

I’m not sure which came first. The tree, or the restaurant?

But nestled inside this traditional wooden two-story building, is a massive tree bursting forth toward the sun by day, and the moon by night.

We picked a rainy night to visit, and Explorason managed to accidentally leave the Dusit Thani hotel umbrella in the taxi when we arrived, but none of this damped out spirits.

As we ascended the outer staircase and entered through the traditional Thai doorway, we emerged into a room filled with the soft and light hammering sounds – not of raindrops falling, but of a khim (hammered dulcimer).

I think we had the ‘best seat in the house’ with a table right by one of Siam Wisdom Cuisine‘s awards, and looking on to the talented musician.

We settled in and enjoyed a welcome drink, and I bravely asked them to recommend some of their best dishes, and just sat back with expectation, allowing them to choose for us.

A bit of a brave thing to do with a child, but I’ve found Explorason is no longer such a fussy eater after his broad travel experience.

And so when the food was served, I was really thrilled to receive a big smile and ‘thumbs up’ from him.

He started with ‘Dried Shrimp leaf wrapped bite and a crispy rice cake with minced chicken.’

Next up was a popular South Thailand appetizer of ‘Grilled marinated-free-range-chicken skewers, served with peanut sauce and cucumber relish’.

‘Crispy Thai pancakes with savory crab meat, and kaffir lime leaves’ …. yum!

This was followed by Chicken Masaman curry with onion and potato and cashew nuts.

Then there was a side dish of Young-Water-Spinach (I love this local river-grown vegetable that we’d seen when we took our long-tail boat ride) that was stir-fried with shrimp paste and shallots.

Then it was time for deep-fried pork with side serves of brown and white rice.

By now I was getting pretty full, so we had a bit of a rest, and made friends with some fellow Australians at the next table.

I was looking forward to trying a traditional Thai dessert. I’m not much of a sweet tooth these days, but it sounded really interesting, and it looked really strange.

‘Coconut dumplings in candle-smoked jasmine-scented coconut milk’.

I really loved them, and the texture was rather unusual.

Explorason decided to try the in-house-made coconut-shredded ice-cream, which he was quite delighted with.

Siam Wisdom Restaurant is quite famous, so it is best to book in advance.

If you are visiting Bangkok, you don’t want to miss the experience of dining here.