Philippe Restaurant
20/15-17 Sukhumvit soi 39
Tel: 02 259 4577
Credit Cards accepted
Website

Visit Saturday January 29th.
I was thinking of saying this restaurant is one of the best kept secrets in Bangkok: but it is not because it is often full. What I meant was that this restaurant is not mentioned in most culinary guides. I can only think of one reason they are not: not because they don't pay to do so, but because they don't need to!
Philippe restaurant has been around for six years. The last time I went there was about three years ago: then I remembered what was a good if somewhat staid establishment. Well I trundled back last night and had a superb meal. However it was the little things that really impressed me. In the trendier Bangkok restaurants, I sometimes think there is a competition going on to see how long they can stop you from getting a drink. In a good restaurant, I will usually have a bottle of white wine as an aperitif. Too often getting the wine in your glass is a three-ring circus: choosing, showing, getting an ice bucket, opening, tasting and then the look of surprise when an inadequate first glass disappears in a micro second! But not at Philippe’s: I do not think I had been sitting at the table for five minutes before I had wine in my glass and bread on my table. The most impressive bit was that the place was full and we were given the last table!
The menu is a good clean menu, well laid out with a good range of hot and cold starters. I had rock lobster with avocado and mango. The use of rock lobster instead of prawns suggests that Philippe has the same low opinion of local (warm water) prawns that I have. It was a small starter: I have seen larger amuse bouches: but it was delicious. My lady On had duck salad with smoked duck and duck foie gras: more substantial and also first class. I heard a man at nearby table announce to his friends before they ordered, that the portions were small. I was agreeing at that moment: but not after the mains!

One of the nice parts of the menu is a section called French stews and includes five items including ox tail and braised tongue. However in the special menu cassoulet was offered: I could not resist as it is a long time since I had that. On had corn fed chicken. This was a small local chicken that was clearly cooked to order and was declared the best chicken ever by a life-long chicken eater. I have never seen a whole chicken stripped quite clean. Those of us in polite society would have left the carcass: but not a country girl who sucked every bone clean of meat! My cassoulet was the treat I had expected.
We were encouraged to have some cheese but in the end a pud of fromage frais was enough for me. Although the cheese board did look tempting and I think this I the first place I have seen a cheese board, in Thailand, other than at Le Normandie.
The wine list is interesting and the red section is substantial with a good selection of good clarets including a Mouton Rothschild 1982 at 45,000 Baht which I thought made the Lafite Rothschild 1983 at 14,000 Baht look well priced. But apart from the top end Bordeauxs there was also a good Burgundy selection. Equally impressive was the selection of wines at around 1,000 baht a bottle. I had an Oxford Landing Sauvignon blanc at 1,100 Baht and a Cahors (Chateau Pradel) at 1,050 Baht. That is a big plus because most places now have little drinkable wine under 1,500 Baht a bottle.
Philippes itself is a comfortable drawing room style restaurant on two levels and the man himself always comes round to see that all is well. So I will end as I started by saying this is definitely one of the better restaurant in Bangkok but without the pretensions: just a single-minded seriousness about good food and the serving of it!