172
.Bouillabaisse Come to SilomFrom Soi Langsuan to Chongnonsi, Le Pre' Grill has been in the Bangkok food scene for five years. Its pretty French name hints that what kind of cuisine Le Pre' Grill is on offer. Yes, it is about unpretentious French cuisine with a coffee shop touch. Food taste so-so as the price is modest.
Le Pre' Grill French Restaurant ***
2 Narathiswas Road
Surawong, Bangrak
Bangkok 10500
Tel.: 02.266.5899
Le Pre' Grill
Open daily: Lunch 11:30 am - 2:30 pm; Dinner 6 - 11 pm
Pay (food only for two): around THB 3,000
171
.Au Revoir to All That The name Alain Ducasse, a celebrity French chef who is behind over a dozen of award winning haute cuisine restaurants in the world, took me curiosity to (finally) visit the almost one-year-old Bonjour on Sukhumvit Road.To be precise, Alain Ducasse has nothing to do with Bonjour. It is chef Thierry Enderlin, who is responsible for Bonjour's kitchen, gave interview to local media that he used to cook alongside with the double three-star chef.
Bonjour is a fine dining French restaurant. So it is wise not to do the walk-in.
The receptionist who took my reservations, couldn't handle it in English so I switched to speak my clumsy Thai and spell my name to her letter by letter in English.
The dining area for this proclaimed fine dining venue is bravely paved with PVC tile flooring, with 'matching quality' furniture probably bought from a night bazaar.
The ingredients, claimed the use of quality free range meats and line-caught fish from France happened to be true. Finished products, eatable though we found no shadow of Alain's on any of our orders. The ingredients were satisfying but the food quality (esp. sauce) not on par with other fine dining French restaurants. So we wondered who did the cooking that night!
Unless you open a bottle, the house wine sold here is of very cheap quality. The owner (claimed to be a wine merchant and sommelier) shall stock better house wine for choices. Indeed, who minds to pay a little more if the quality matches the bill.
-amuse bouche and bread(suppose a chef to show off his culinary skill and enthusiasm on cooking at the begin of a gastronomic journey, our amuse bouche was something without efforts)
-organic green salad Baht 380++
(weird presentation we ever got from any fine dining French restaurant)
-mushroom soup infused with truffle oil Baht 890++
(most pricey soup in BKK, even Reflexions of Plaza Athenee and Normandie of M.O. no soup over Baht 700++; mushroom soup is nice, but no trace of any aromatic from truffle; so we paid $32 for just a bowl of mushroom soup without truffle? crazy!)
Gl. Alexis Merlot
- roasted duck breast with confit of its leg Baht 1,350++
(quality duck, breast nicely prepared, confit of leg & sauce didn't live up to expectations)
- slow cooked Bresse pigeon Baht 1,980++
(Bresse pigeon, good preparation, nicely slow cooked, good flavor, best shot that evening)
- chocolate fondant Baht 290++ vanilla ice cream Baht 180++
(chocolate is of so-so quality; ice cream not Bonjour's home-made)
-petit four (complimentary)
(something anyone can get from the Siam Paragon)
The restaurant, gave us absolute privacy to enjoy our meal, as we were the only table served on a Tuesday (whole) evening. Service (by a junior waitstaff and a busboy; as the waiters and manager maybe busy in the office making calls, and sommelier was not on duty) is sincere and friendly though not professional.
Thanks to Bonjour! Now I may reconfirm that the Normandie is consider a bargain in fine dining, making the rest in Bangkok not comparable. Of course for a bit informal yet romantic choice I always buy Le Banyan, and for home-style cooking that shall be Le Bouchon.
Bonjour French Restaurant ** 1/4
1217/2 Sukhumvit Road(behind Fullerton Condo)Wattana, Bangkok 10110Tel.: 02.714.2112BonjourOpen daily: 11am - 10 pm (lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner)
Pay (food only for two): expect THB 7,000
168
.Moving BackwardSince we tried to escape from high-db-noise (noise, not vibe) and congested ambiance at Zanotti, for many years we jump to her sister restaurant Vino di Zanotti (Vino), a wine bar cum pizzeria also sited on the same soi (lane).
Our first visit were five years ago. Satisfactory began with the able young farang manager* who has excellent service manner and knowledge on wine and tapas. We received good recommendation as well as close attention from him and his service team. Later the decent service was gone in alongside with his departure.
A revisit to Vino few nights ago, we found that the restaurant was quite empty instead of the once full-house scene. We further found that the food quality didn't stay while the price flew. Service? We felt that the present manager may enter to a wrong industry!
Lucky that in Bangkok we are never short of good Italian restaurants. An unofficial survey suggests that we are surrounding by some 250 Italian eateries that are either owned by native Italian or ran by Italian chefs, and over 30 of them are quite good. We have choice!
Vino di Zanotti **1/4
Silom Road
Bangrak, Bangkok 10110
Pay (food for two): around THB 2,500
* Ex-Manager Alex Morabito opens his own wine bar and restaurant Opus on Pan Road (off Silom Road), and it is superb (both food, wine and service)
* (Update 2010-Dec-01 : Congratulations! Vino di Zanotti is closed forever. Justice served!)
