409
.Start of a delicious new yearThe scenario of Italian restaurants inundating every soi (small street/lane) in downtown Bangkok lets us eat too much cheese and tomatoes these days; all of them say that they are authentic and run by Italian chefs, but it turns out many of their foods are dull and mediocre.
Three years ago, before Renaissance Rajprasong Hotel opened, I had heard that it will include an Italian (La Tavola), coffee shop (Flavors) and Chinese (Fei Ya) restaurants in the venue, but I just didn't feel too excited about these culinary additions to the city. However, later I found out that Fe Ya is probably Bangkok's best Chinese restaurant, especially its dimsum dishes during the lunch time yumcha period; the quality is above the mark in Bangkok's Chinese restaurant scene, and on par with top Chinese restaurant standards in Hong Kong.
La Tavola, nested in the Renaissance Rajprasong Hotel, is a ristorante with home-style Italian cuisine to offer. The food was good though not overly outstanding on the first time I visited; not the love at first bite kind! Over time, my taste buds tends to appreciate Chef Fabio's culinary style, complexity in simplicity, and I started to enjoy the food more.Just like in most five-star hotel dining, the service at La Tavola is of the enthusiastic and attentive kind.
rocket salad with tiger prawns, THB 390++
(served with cantaloupe melon, sun-dried tomato pesto, a wonderful appetizer)
clear duck consomme, B280++
(served with dill omelet & enoki mushrooms, a hearty soup, taste so-so!)
minestrone with parmesan crouton & pesto, B280++
(vegetable soup, with hints of sourness, like cooked and scented water!)
handmade squid-ink cappellini angel hair pasta, THB 680++
(with crab meat, in rich bouillabaise sauce, very light, one of my favorite)
white truffle & parmesan cheese risotto, THB 750++
(with seared foi gras and aromatic oil, nice texture, and it is a real treat)
roasted sea bream Acqua Pazza style with Prosecco wine, THB 670++
(w/ capers, red onion, fresh tomato, zuchini & basil, fish is fresh, sauce too sour)
la Margherita pizza, THB 320++
(w/ tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese & oregano, nice but not outstanding)
herbs marinated grilled lamb cutlet, THB 750++
(with potato tart zucchini Provencal, red wine reduction, yummy red meat)
grilled vegetables, rocket lettuce & parmesan cheese, THB 90+)
(mushroom, rocket leaves & parmesan just get along quite well, aromatic)
sauteed zucchini and cherry tomato, with herbs, THB 90++(just stir-fried zucchini with zest of wine vinegar, quite sour, didn't like it)
panna cotta with fresh strawberry, THB 380++, pretty nice pudding!
vanilla ice cream, THB 90++, chef homemade, but why not gelato?
crispy focaccia bread, complimentary La Tavola Italian Restaurant ****
Renaissance Bangkok Rajprasong Hotel
518/8 Ploenchit Road
Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330
Tel.: 02.125.5000
La Tavola
Open daily : lunch 11:30 am - 2:30 pm, dinner 6 - 11 pm
Pay (food only for two): around THB 4,000
406
.
Where French meets Vietnamese, Bon Appetit!
Le Dalat, offering Vietnamese cuisine with a little French accent, was founded by a Viet-French owner with her family recipes to offer. This is one of the fanciest stand-alone Vietnamese restaurants in Bangkok.
For a meal at Le Dalat I (usually) only order its traditional Vietnamese fare and skip the French-Vietnamese selections. It is a guilt not to mention Le Dalat's pho. At Thai Baht 180++ the beef pho comes with cooked beef in full flavor soup and raw beef with a separate running broth for dipping, and fresh vegetables to go with them. A bowl of pho at Le Dalat can give my blue day a lift, and followed by a serving of old-school flanc burlee may shine my day!
If one can afford (and willing to spend) the fine dining price (for Vietnamese food), dining at Le Dalat is definitely an exceptional experience. For most patrons this is not the place for frequent dining, so let's reserve Le Dalat, the restaurant, for dining on a special occasion.
Le Dalat ***1/2
57 Sukhumvit Soi 23
Sukhumvit Road
Wattana, Bangkok 10110
Tel.: 02.259.9593
Open daily : lunch 11:30 am - 2:30 pm, dinner 6 - 10:30 pm
Pay (food only for two): expect THB 3,000
398
.Palace of a shabby-genteel rajaBangkok has a carnival of around two hundred Italian restaurants in town, some run by native Italian restaurateurs, others owned by enthusiastic local or foreign investors. No matter which one they are, furious competition is a common obstacle in the running of them. Many high end restaurants roll out quality lunch sets at a bargain price to keep customers aware and to lure them into dinner, which has more expensive menus.
Palazzo Ristorante and Wine Bar, a popular wine and dine joint in Thonglo for the high-so(ciety) locals who love wine at an affordable price, does a four-course lunch set at just THB 350++. The set consists of an all-you-can-eat antipasti, a soup, a choice of mains, and desserts followed by coffee or tea.
Those who still do a two-course lunch set at THB 500 or more shall feel the heat!
Weekdays lunch set ***1/2
Palazzo Ristorante and Wine Bar
335 Thonglo Soi 17
Sukhumvit Soi 55
Wattana, Bangkok 10110
Tel.: 02.712.9900
Open daily : lunch 11:30 am - 2:30 pm, dinner 6 - 11 pm
Pay (food only for two): around THB 3,000 (lunch set THB 350++)
394
.Thanks, turkey!Every year, I don't want to skip two very important meals, one among them is the Thanksgiving dinner. Though I am not a farmer, but I shall give thanks for being able to live so happily on earth.
I am not an enthusiastic turkey eater, and usually I eat the big bird only during very special occasions, such as the Thanksgiving. For nearly twenty years living in Thailand, I have always waited for a feast of truly impeccable turkey menu to celebrate with this festive moment, whether it is in an individual establishment or in a hotel's restaurant, but to no avail. But tonight my prayer was being answered, at Roadhouse, the roast turkey breast served in the Thanksgiving buffet dinner was so moist and tender with the rich flavor of the bird, and the flavorful giblet gravy enhanced the taste to a truly impeccable level. Surprise! The buffet offered scrumptious pumpkin pie as well.
For the once in a year festive meal, I didn't eat alone. Tonight, I ate with two friends, one of them is a foodie from the U.S. who really knows Thanksgiving menu, and he agreed that the dinner at Roadhouse is a very pleasant one.
Thanksgiving buffet dinner ****
Roadhouse Barbecue Smokehouse and Grill
942/1 Rama IV Road
Surawong, Bangkok 10500
Tel.: 02.236.8010
Roadhouse
Open daily : 10:30 am - 1 am
Pay (Thanksgiving buffet dinner): THB 895++
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
377
.Deconstruction cuisineIn Thailand, there is never a problem to enjoy a meal of good Thai cuisine (of course); they are just around any corner, at a decade-old pochana (small local restaurant), or in a Thai household. But when the cuisine comes to luxurious banquet versions it is rather sad; most five-star hotel's versions of Thai cuisine are quite disappointing; the food is pale and bland without bright ambition or effort. I feel they are just repacking mediocre food, serving them on porcelain tableware in the comfort of exquisite ambiance and impeccable service. So boring!
Sra Bua by Kiin Kiin, the Bangkok branch of the Copenhagen based Kiin Kiin Thai Restaurant, wearing one-star Michelin recognition, opened almost two years ago in the Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok and has added spice to the local gastronomy scene. Sra Bua offers molecular gastronomy Thai dishes, the first in the Kingdom; so grandma's recipe gaeng bark (firey hot jungle curry), a backpacker's love phad Thai (stir-fried sen-chan noodle) and a tourist's favorite chicken pieces wrapped in pandan leaf may not appear on the menu; even if they do, they may appear in another costume, like the very common red curry there is presented in a form of iced cream, served with frozen fog.
My friend took me to Sra Bua for lunch, to see if our taste-buds appreciated the first Thai molecular gastronomy cuisine. There are likes and dis-likes for Sra Bua's modern Thai cuisine, using cutting-edge culinary technique and molecular gastronomy, and I enjoyed the meal so much, as long as I opened my mind, and treated that as haute cuisine with a Thai twist.
Sra Bua by Kiin Kiin ***
Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok
991/9 Rama I Road
Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330
Tel.: 02.162.9000
Sra Bua
Open daily : lunch 12 am - 3 pm, dinner 6 - 11 pm
Pay : lunch set THB 1,500++, dinner set THB 2,400++
