Anyone looking for Tom Kha Gai and mango sticky rice will search in vain. But there’ll be no disappointment, because what they will find is far better: Thai home cooking. Rram is the result of extensive research in Thailand, spanning three-Michelin-star restaurants to street stalls, drawing on generational recipes and testing and refining authentic Thai cuisine.
You can taste and feel the nostalgia this restaurant concept is built on. If you do it right (order several dishes), the small table will overflow with delicacies: from minced pork with Thai basil to grilled corn with datterini tomatoes.
Rram doesn’t think of its cuisine as a collection of individual dishes, but as an interplay. To me, they also work brilliantly on their own, but the more, the merrier! That principle of interplay runs through the restaurant: tables are set with vintage-look plates in floral, ornamental patterns, Deutschrap plays in the background, and Thai posters hang on the walls.
Meat-eaters shouldn’t leave without ordering Panaeng Moo (smoked panaeng curry with pork cheek, chili and Thai basil). Plant-based eaters are far from forgotten. 33.3 percent of the menu is vegan — even the fish sauce has been “veganized.”
Rram is a triumph thanks to the creativity of chef Don Santanaviboon, who, at just 31, has now opened his third restaurant with this one. As a fan of his previous restaurants, Tossakan and Maiyarap, I’d venture to say, with Rram, he’s outdone himself. Word is getting around, and anyone wanting to go should book straight away. And those still missing those supposed Thai classics, try mango sticky rice and tom kha gai in cocktail form: Cream & Mamuang and Tom Kha Sour.
Text: Greta Buschhaus / Photos: Rram
Six years ago, Greta Buschhaus moved from London to Berlin and has lived in Mitte ever since. She works as a journalist, mostly covering political topics. In her private life, she’s drawn to restaurants across the city.
Rram, Torstr.173, 10115 Berlin–Mitte; map
@rram.berlin
