Flavours of Thailand in Bangkok
By Laurence Civil
Thai food is now one of the most popular cuisines worldwide. In Bangkok the experience can range from eating at the side of the road to some of the finest restaurants. The food styles vary from ancient recipes carefully handed down from generation to generation to Thai inspired cuisine. Some Thai chefs can be passionately resistant to change and believe that Thai food should only be made for original Thai ingredients but on the progressive side its often-younger chefs who are serving an innovative style, which in most cases a result of them traveling overseas and discovering how, took cook ingredients not traditionally seen on a Thai menu. Having been inspired they want to use the new products they have found to add a new dimension to their style of Thai cooking. Evolution of any food style is influenced by travel and the availability locally of new products.
There is a kaleidoscope of choice. To help our readers in making their choice we have visited a selection of the best Thai restaurants and selected at each the two dishes that most impressed us.
Our culinary journey progresses through the wealth of Thai food in Bangkok from the traditional to inspired. We start driving an hour northwest of Bangkok to Suan Thip (0-2583-4540-2) on the banks of the Chao Phraya River with its lush beautifully landscaped tropical gardens set around English style lawns. There are two seating areas the cool air-conditioning inside the house or al fresco on the terrace.
A guardian of Thailand's culinary past they have a collection of carefully preserved recipes. On of these was Gang Khee Let Set a rich sauce of salted fish, red curry paste, coconut milk and the bitter Khee let that goes better with the softer Kanon Chee than with rice.
The second dish to excite or palates was Yum Som O - Pomelo Salad with bean sprouts, prawns chopped chicken and pomelo we enjoyed the fresh balanced taste of this dish.
Then back into town and head down Sukhumvit Soi 8 to Kinnaree (0-2256-0328), a restaurant that has been open just 10 months serving authentic Royal Thai cuisine. The restaurant is in an L shaped house set back in a tropical garden with ample parking. The main dining room is on the ground floor with two private rooms upstairs.
The first dish to catch our attention was their prawn in yellow curry sauce with assorted steamed vegetables was very nicely presented with a subtle but significantly spicy sauce.
A half of the steamed spicy sea bass had been taken of a rolled around a stick of lemon grass standing upright. Nice presentation and the steamed fish had a pleasingly spicy taste with a soft texture.
At the far end of an inner tropical courtyard at Siam City Hotel we discovered Spice and Rice (0-2247-0123). Guest can either sit on the terrace outside to enjoy the balmy evening or inside where dinning room is decorated in the Rattanakosin era with a delightful collection of framed photographs of Bangkok in by-gone era.
Their Tom Som Pla a deliciously rich sour fish soup sweetened with tamarind juice was the first to excite our palates. It had an interestingly different taste that demanded attention; once I started I had to finish the bowl.
Next their steamed tiger prawns from the sea that has a far better taste than those from the river. The two curled large prawns were locked together on the plate.
Located on the ground floor of the Dusit Thani Hotel, Benjarong (0-2236-9999) is one of Bangkok's the most stylishly elegant Thai dining rooms. The decorations are Thai style in a sophisticated classical western style. Named after the five-colour pottery once reserved for the exclusive use by the Thai Royal Family.
Here the dishes that caught our attention were the starter selection of wrapped prawns, fish cakes and chicken steak with peanut sauce. The stylish food presentation was equal to the quality of the taste.
The innocent looking lily white Tom Khai Gai was misleading. From the colour the first impression was that it should have a mild taste but once in the mouth there was a hidden powerful chilli kick – a soup with attitude.
Supatra River House (0-2411-0305), the 50 years old former home of Khunying Suptra Singholye which, for the past seven years has been a highly successful and romantically unique restaurant. Located on the Thonburi side of the river possibly the easiest way to get there is to take the complimentary shuttle boat from Maharaj pier. If requested when making a reservation a special shuttle will collect guests from Saphan Taksin at either 6 or 7pm and the last shuttle back leaves the restaurant at 9.20pm. Coming from downtown I took the Saphan Taksin option and was served complimentary chilled lemongrass juice on the boat ride up river to the restaurant.
The location is magical. Seating either in the air-conditioned comfort of a traditional Thai house or on the terrace overlooking the Grand Palace, the Chaopraya River and the Temple of Dawn. If the weather is fine there is no choice I am on the terrace. It's cozy and intimate fringed with illuminated tropical plants. Pink candles in glass jars on the table and sultry instrumental jazz music simply round off this unique setting, making it not just a meal rather a complete dinning experience. The extensive menu of traditional Thai dishes caters equally well for vegetarian and non-vegetarian.
The food is essentially traditional Thai cuisine with a touch of salmon. The first dish to excite our palate was a powerfully rich sour salmon soup with a refreshing jolt to the palate. The other Green Curry with fish balls that had assertive strong taste.
Having made a name for her in the world of fashion with her Khanitha boutiques, the ever-elegant Khanitha Akaranitiku, could see that there was a need for somewhere to enjoy high quality Thai food in a traditional atmosphere. She was one of the modern Thai Restaurant pioneers, who realised there was more to Thai food than just eating and decided to open a restaurant that matched her values of cuisine and décor. Appropriately named the restaurant was called Baan Khanitha (0-2675-4200-1), which means Khanitha's home, in a Thai style house in Sukhumvit Soi 23. She wanted it to have traditional handicrafts; painting and plants serve delicious food beautifully presented.
She was to open another two restaurants in Soi Ruamrudee before embarking on her most adventurous project moving Baan Khanitha and Gallery to Sathorn Road on the corner of Soi Suan Plu in September 2005.Its a large homely decorated house with an art gallery exhibiting works by local and foreign artists, decorated with well selected antiques, decorations, and greeneries. Thai style wooden furniture and orange ceramic tile floor give a warm feeling of an old Thai house.
The two of their dishes to catch our attention was, stir-fried soft shell crabs with black pepper, slightly crunchy on the outside yet deliciously soft on the inside. The cracked black pepper a spice innovation to Thai cuisine adds a different fresher peppery taste that you don't get with chili.
Her Roast Duck Curry with Grape, (another additional taste touch) in red curry has a wonderfully rich wholesome sauce.
Located on 51st & 52nd floors of Banyan Tree Bangkok, the food style at Saffron (0-2679-1200) is traditional Thai cuisine with a modern creative twist, familiar items served slightly differently prepared by Thai sous Chef Impawn Udomthanapipat. The focal point the new look Saffron is Latitude Lounge & Bar – the sky deck on 51st floor. Understated contemporary Asian design, wooden tables with cracked glasses tops. On wide side a view of the city and the other a view of the Chaophraya River snaking its way round into Bangkok.
Their well-trained service staff announced and then professional explained each of the dishes. For our starter we took the 5-item platter to give a good over view.
The mushroom salad while not using an ethnic ingredient did have a very authentic Thai Taste. The carefully designed artistic presentation of all of their dishes was equal to the taste.
With her snow fish in lime sauce she had skillfully used the shape of the scales in the presentation. A nice spicy Thai taste but possibly a little too much as it masked the flavour of the fish.
For our main course Braised Rack of Lamb, Massaman Curry. Essential this is a Muslim dish it makes perfect sense to serve Lamb with this curry. A lump of sweet potato had been skilfully carved into the shape of a leave making a stylish presentation. The dish sumptuously rich in texture had a pleasing sweet taste.
The building housing the Blue Elephant (0-2673-9353) was built in 1903 starting life as the Bombay Department Store before being taken over by the Thai Chinese Chamber of Commerce one of the most delightful old style building left standing on Sathorn Road. The Blue Elephant was started in 1980 by Noorer Somany a Thai living with her Belgian husband Karl Steppe in Brussels. It was while they were eating Foie Gras with apple that Noorer got the idea that it could go equally well with the Thai fruit tamarind and this is how Foie Gras with Tamarind Sauce got onto their menu.
A visit to the Blue Elephant isn't just about eating Thai food it's a total Thai experience, from the decoration of the dinning room, the abundance of fresh orchids and the Thai hospitality. And its not just a restaurant but also a Thai cooking school.
The two of their dishes that stood out for us were Black Chicken – Green curry of Black Chicken with aubergine and spices in fresh coconut milk served with a roti. You virtually have to drench the roti in curry gravy to get the best out of this dish. Roti is often used as an alternative to rice with certain curries in India and it's interesting to see this has spread to Thailand.
The second was their Bamboo Fish, a fillet of sea bass marinated with herbs placed inside a piece of bamboo and grilled eco friendly as well as a great taste.
And finally we conclude with Patara (0-2390-0427) in Sathorn Road. To really understand a restaurant it's important to know the route it travelled to where it is today. The name of this restaurant means gracious lady. It's inspirational interpretaion of contemporary Thai hospitality of one very gracious lady Patara Sila On's. So many Thai restaurants have opted for the ornate Royal Thai style but she took the fine dinning approach with the launch the first of 9 branches in London's Fulham Road in 1990, to be followed by another three in the UK capita; two in Singapore and one in both Geneva and Teipei before finally opening this branch. She dared to be authentically different by presenting Thai food in an elegant western style with subtle exotic Asian influence.
The restaurant in Bangkok is located in an elegant single story house surrounded by a tropical garden. The interior feels like the home of rich friend slightly understated but done with style and taste. The food served is inspirational Thai created for Patara's global market.
On of the most noticeable innovation recently in Thai cuisine is the addition of lamb to the menu. Their New Zealand rack of Lamb marinated in lemongrass with green papaya salad and sweet rice roll caught our attention. The sliced rack had been perfectly cooked and the meat still had the essential pink rose colour. The papaya salad was intense yet not overpowering. Fried seabass that has been coated with panang curry is relatively common in Bangkok, but Patara has created '"Fillet of seabass chargrilled in banana leaf and perfumed panang curry.'" Wrapping the delicate fillet in the banana leaf allows the restaurant to grill it without the fillet falling apart. In addition, the banana leaf adds a bit of flavor to the fish and the panang curry is excellent, factors making this one of Patara's most popular creations.
|
