A challenge with City of Grudges was explaining Bangkok Garden to my editors. My description was too unbelievable from them. Once again, photos won them over.
The restaurant was in an old Western Sizzlin’ location on the edge of Town and Country Plaza, a once thriving shopping center in midtown where nail salons, wig shops, and a bingo hall remained.
Bangkok Garden was a popular lunch spot for sheriff deputies and bus drivers since it was within walking distance of the Escambia County Area Transit depot, the sheriff’s administration building and “Castle Grayskull,” the county jail.
The lunch menu only had about dozen items, each served with a thin, crispy spring roll and a cup of tom yum kai soup with a tofu cube and slice of mushroom floating in it – for $5.95. The AC hardly ever worked so customers jockeyed to sit close to the oscillating fans.
Bangkok Gardens had on its walls photos of royal families and Buddhist monks. Wooden cabinets lined one wall and were filled with Hummel figurines, Franklin Mint plates, and Furbies. Hence, the need to send a photo to my editors.
Somebody may have lived in the front part of the building. We weren’t quite sure what went on in there.
In his “My Pensacola” column for Inweekly, Chris “CB” Brown gave the little restaurant a shout out: “Beer (to calm the pepper), nam sod, and a sick Furby collection keep me happy at Bangkok Garden.”
Rebekah Griffith wrote for her “My Pensacola” feature: “My mouth is watering just thinking about their tofu red curry. It’s a bit out of the way—Fairfield—but the owners are really friendly and their portion sizes are enormous. I’m usually eating on my curry for days.”
Inweekly writer Sarah McCartan in her 2012 tour of local vegan eateries wrote: “What was once Eddie’s Thai House is now Bangkok Garden in a new location, yet still possessing the same mom and pop feel and serving up some of the freshest ingredients in town. To me, curry is synonymous with comfort. While I also fancy the red, nothing beats the overflowing fullness of the flavors that Eddie’s green curry with tofu brings to the table. It is soupy and sweet, and spiced with a kick. How much of a kick is left entirely up to you. The best part? It’s a big bang for your buck—such a generous serving that it feels like a crime to not have any left over.”
Sadly Bangkok Garden closed last year, but it will remain a part of Walker Holmes’ Pensacola forever.
