Although Benjarong does not have a liquor license, proper glasses and a corkscrew are available to customers who bring their own wine. The menu is long, listing more than 70 dishes under categories such as appetizers, salads, noodles, Thai curries and spicy dishes. This is family fare. Boonpitak learned as a girl, helping her mother prepare meals for their large, extended family. Her arrangement and presentation of various dishes is most attractive.
Service is family-style, too, willingly provided by young family members who lack formal training.
The best dishes come from all parts of the menu. Here it comes with shrimp, scallops and straw mushrooms in a tasty broth with a refreshing hit of lime juice. The squid, scored in diamond patterns and stir-fried, comes with green beans, green bell pepper and a red curry gravy. The boneless fish, cut in bite-size chunks for easy eating, is firm and crusty and comes with similar vegetables. Only shu mai, appetizer dumplings borrowed from the Chinese, and bambe, a dry mixture of egg noodles, bean sprouts and barbecued pork, are mundane.