Showing posts with label
-European food w Asian delight.
Show all posts
Showing posts with label
-European food w Asian delight.
Show all posts
402
.Back to the future Recently I went to La Tavola, the luxury Italian restaurant of the Renaissance Bangkok Ratchaprasong Hotel, there I found a surprise. Compared to a year ago, the menu had been 'upgraded', and the culinary outcome has also been 'upgraded', but the good price withstands.
I eat at Marriott Hotels' restaurant outlets quite often, they include the New York Steakhouse and Tsu Japanese Restaurant of the J.W. Marriott, Fei Ya and La Tavola of the Renaissance, and MoMo Cafe of the Courtyard. A recent visit to the Courtyard Hotel on Soi Mahalekluang 1, I ate at the hotel's MoMo Cafe with my friend. The first impression was that the service is as good as before, they are attentive and enthusiastic. By browsing the menu, both selections (of food) and the price had been revamped. For instance, the fish n' chips and wood-roast chicken 'enjoyed' a 50% price hike to THB 230++ and THB 260++ respectively, as well as most of the dishes in the menu, including the wood-fired pizza, all 'enjoyed' a new tag with 50% price hike. As for the taste of the food, no hike in quality and culinary skill though, and in contrast, the 'your-own' pizza (THB 380++) was quite awful in its crust and texture, very disappointing!
MoMo Cafe used to be Bangkok's most cherished hotel dining at mall food price, but the glory is definitely fading away!
MoMo Cafe ***
Courtyard Hotel by Marriott
155/1 Soi Mahalekluang 1
Rajdamri Road
Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330
Tel.: 02.690.1888
MoMo Cafe
Open daily : 6 - 1 am (all-day dining)
Pay (food only for two): around THB 1,200
(weekdays lunch set THB 240)
381
.Quality buffet to enjoy with friends Since 2001, the Espresso Restaurant's renowned buffet meal has never let me down.
Friday and Saturday seafood buffet dinner ****
Espresso Restaurant
The InterContinental Hotel Bangkok
973 Ploenchit Road
Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330
Tel.: 02.656.0444
Espresso
Open daily : 6 am - 10:30 pm (dinner buffet 6 - 10:30 pm)
Pay (Fri & Sat seafood buffet dinner): THB 1,499++ per person
BANGKOK AMAZING GOURMET
.Tokyo in Bangkok, Italian cuisine
In my eyes (and my taste-buds), mall food is pretty boring, especially non-Thai and fusion cuisine.
However, there are always exceptions. Recently I found there is an open-style restaurant in the middle of the atrium at Beacon Zone of the Central World Plaza; the food, Italian cuisine with a Japanese twist, is interesting and average. It is On The Table, the Tokyo Cafe. Since then I can get my next fix of Tokyo style western food without the cost of airfare and extra radiation.
Again, at On The Table it is about Italian food with a Japanese twist, so don't expect the food taste like those in Grossi and Bacco.
On The Table, Tokyo Cafe ***1/4
6/F Beacon Zone, Central World Plaza
4 Rajdamri Road (/Rama I Road)
Prathumwan, Bangkok 10330
Tel.: 02.613.1558
Open daily : 11 am - 10 pm
Pay (food only for two): around THB 800
335
.Rusted awardMarriott Cafe claims to receive the Bangkok Best Buffet Award for many consecutive years. Is it worth that credit? My view is a NO though some people may love the buffet especially those paid advertorial food critics.
Uncertain if I am more fussy these days or chefs have a very limited budget to do the buffet at Marriott Cafe! My most recent visit to its dinner buffet found out the quality of food was poor while the price increased. Not only the choice of food was poor, didn't justify with the buffet price (THB 1,450++), but also the quality was low. Though price increased, but snow fish fillets that I enjoy several times there were missing. That night, I had fishy king crab leg, non-fresh oysters, watery and tasteless sashimi in stingy thin cut, chewy prime rib, and even the pan grilled lamb chop was not tender (so difficult to have hard-to-chew lamb chop in a decent restaurant, bravo JW Marriott Bangkok)!
That night, back home, I suffered from loose bowel (a.k.a. diarrhea).
Marriott Cafe, buffet ***
JW Marriott Hotel Bangkok
4 Sukhumvit Road, Soi 2
Klongtoey, Bangkok 10110
Tel.: 02.656.7700
Open daily : opens at 6 am all day dining, lunch buffet 12:00 noon - 2:30 pm, dinner buffet 6 - 10 pm, Sunday brunch 11:30 am - 3 pm
Pay (food only for two): around THB 3,400 (dinner buffet)
178
.California Dreaming A friend from the West coast asked if there is any Californian cuisine available in Bangkok. CA? East meets west fusion twist in harmony!
Where in Bangkok we can find the likes of Mixed Sashimi, Pan-fried Goose Liver with Apple and Balsamic Vinaigrette, Fried Wonton Dumplings with Ginger Sesame Dressing, Angel Hair Pasta with Chiangmai Sausage, Grill Rib Eye Steak in Chipotle Chili Gravy and Deep Fried Grouper with Ponzu Sauce in one restaurant?
In Circle we found the answer.
The Asparagus Cream Soup, Baht 90++, thick and rich, a nostalgic taste so familiar with my old-school student lunch set at ABC Cafe. Came forward is the Spaghetti with Prawn and Ebiko in Vodka Sauce, Baht 250++. The dish is no more taste familiar to student lunch, pasta were cooked to al dente, sauce has layers of texture, a dish I may return for more. The miss is Circle shouldn't use CP frozen prawn as ingredients, who cares for a merely Baht 30 more in the bill. If we want something cheap, the noodle hawker outside the restaurant may serve such purpose.
Main course, the waitstaff recommended the Baht 320++ Crispy Half Chicken with double blanched Garlic Butter Sauce. The chicken claimed to follow the recipe of California celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck appears tender and flavorful, though compare to the Michelin two-star Spago in Beverly Hills our Crispy Chicken is definitely another story. But Circle only asked for $11, fair enough!
To round up the pleasant dinner, Home-made Green Tea Ice cream (Baht 120++) is the only choice of the night.
Service? Dee ma ma although a bit slow in reaction, but truly polite and the Siam-smile kind.
Circle California Fusion Cuisine ***1/2
20/27 Ruam Rudee Village
Soi Ruam Rudee, Ploenchit Road
Lumpini, Bangkok 10330
Tel.: 02.650.8047
Circle
Open daily : Lunch 11:30 am - 2:30 pm; Dinner 5:30 - 11:30 pm
Pay (food only for two): around THB 1,200
