1. For great information on Thailand, see www.ugothai.com Koi Restaurant, on Sukhumvit Soi 20, has been in Bangkok for only a couple of years now but it has firmly established itself as a landmark of fine dining. Basically, it's Japanese food with a twist, the twist usually coming from a California perspective. That's not surprising since the original chef of the first Koi in Los Angeles is a native Californian, Nickolas Bovine, and he was the chef during the formative time when Koi Bangkok was finding its legs. I dined at Koi with Chef Bovine one night and was very impressed with the food, the presentation and the overall philosophy of food preparation that the chef possesses. He's a relatively young guy (he was only about 26 when the original Koi opened in 2000) so he's not drawing on a wealth of experience gained from decades of cooking. He's, rather, one of those young chefs with a clear vision, lots of creativity and a license to explore his ideas and develop his talent as he sees fit. That he's been able to do that has been our gain here in Bangkok because I tasted some dishes that night that combined ingredients in ways that I had never seen before. And some of the abovementioned twists don't just alter the taste slightly from the Japanese heart of the dish, they take it all the way around the bend into new territory all together. Take the spicy tuna on top of crispy rice with jalapenos. This dish embodies the chef's overall take on food by taking an ingredient from the American southwest -- jalapenos -- and combining them with seafood, certainly not a common way to spice up tuna. It works wonderfully, however, as did all of the dishes we tried that evening. Try the grilled duck breast on top of wasabi scented sweet potato cake and ginger plum sauce for another cross cultural mix with the sweet potato and wasabi combining for a delightful flavor to complement the duck breast. There are also several ways to eat both rib eye steaks and Wagyu tenderloin, definitely one of the more flavorful types of beef you will ever eat. There are many other dishes here that fulfill this talented chef's visions of food but you'll have to find out for yourself. Also check with Koi for some of their other specials. The bar side of the business hosts Model Nights, for example, and there are other things happening here as well that are keeping Koi at the forefront of the dining scene in Bangkok.