June 29, 2005

Le Cafe Siam

Le Cafe Siam
4 Soi Sri Akson
Chua Ploeng
Bangkok 10120
Tel: 02 671 0030
Website

There are a couple of contradictions about this restaurant: it's name and it's location. This is no cafe and it is instead a rather elegant restaurant, but in a decidedly unsalubrious area.
The Cafe Siam is located in a grand house with a pleasant, mature garden in what is a semi-industrial area that has grown under the new tollway. It is in a back street that is part of a run between Sathorn Road and Chua Ploeng Road which runs directly under the tollway about 100 meters from the overhead road.
It is a small stroll through the manicured garden to the front door
of the glass-walled room that serves as the main dining room. A waiter dressed immaculately in the style of the Court of Siam greeted us and led us to our table.
The main dining room is an interesting room with several scattered antiques, dark wood furniture and an old looking bar. The all around windows preclude many pictures but there was an interesting clock or two and other eye-catching objets d'art. It struck me as very French and we could quite easily have been in France.
I was offered two menus - French and Thai - but as I had come for the Michelin chef my choice was a forgone conclusion, as was that of my dining companion, who went almost instinctively for her native fare.
The menu was reasonably limited and I struggled a little for choice - nothing wrong but certainly nothing in the mains that said to me: ‘you must try this’. There were four fish and three meat dishes plus steaks served in a variety of ways with different sauces. This was not a top Michelin menu in France! However I ordered a terrine of foie gras, which I can always suffer, and duck breast with Granny Smith apples, mashed celeriac and lime sauce. The foie gras was as it should be and therefore excellent. The duck breast itself was to me under seasoned and therefore lacking in taste, but the whole dish worked well with the sharp Granny Smiths providing a good contrast to the meat. If my salt cellar had delivered more than one crumb at a time I would probably have been happier, but I do like things well seasoned.
My companion declared that her local dishes were first class and it is interesting to note that this restaurant calls itself a Thai and French Restaurant as opposed to other top restaurants that simply supply Thai food as a service to appease visiting paramours.
I will digress for a minute to the wine list because this was an interesting list, albeit without a massive assortment of wines. But there was more than enough to catch the eye and included some interesting wines that I have never before seen in Bangkok. The sorting of the list was also interesting with white wines sorted as light, medium and full bodied, and the reds sorted similarly, with the addition of spicy and exotic wines. There was also a small fine wines section. I started with an Entre-deux-mere and then had La Chasse du Pape, a Cotes du Rhone at 1,330 and 1,890 respectively.
The puds were offered via a samples tray and they all looked very good and I wanted several, but settled instead for the mango crumble which was a kind of muffin. I did ask for cheese but was politely refused as they did not have any! Mon dieux, a French restaurant sans fromage – quelle de mage!
But it was a very good meal served in pristine surroundings and I think on a really busy night it might be a little more fun. However, even on this quiet night, it was difficult to fault.

Posted by Sam at 1:55 AM | Comments (0)

June 28, 2005

Ciao in Walking Street

Ciao
Walking Street 139 M 10 Soi Saensamran
Pattaya
038 716614

Ciao is a good unpretentious Italian eatery in an area distinctly
short of any such animal. Otherwise Walking Street is just about a gastro-free zone. However Nic the friendly boss at Ciao has created a decent enough spot serving a simple menu of Italian favourites not on but just off the street (just past the big tree).
Last time I dropped in, I had fritto misto to start. This was a mixture of deep fried prawns and calamari with a nice big bowl of mayonnaise-type sauce. This was not exactly gastro cooking but a perfectly acceptable starter. The main however of Scaloppino Mediterranea was a genuinely good dish with an interesting sauce of tomato, olives, capers and onions - simple and tasty. All washed down with a carafe of house red, it did not break the budget coming in under 1,000 Baht.

Posted by Sam at 3:16 PM | Comments (0)

June 15, 2005

Basilico in Soi 33

Basilico
8 Sukhumvit Soi 33
Tel: 02 662 2323

This is a big restaurant with a large front area that is dominated by a pizza oven. This is a nice airy space but I prefer the back room which I find cooler as the air-con is not fighting with the oven.

Essentially this is a pizza pasta operation with a big range of those items. I noticed four calzone pizzas as well as 20 other options, and I suspect that you can chop and change as you desire. I headed for the other menu items and had cream of courgette soup with gorgonzola. This turned out to be a first class choice. A good smooth soup with more than a hint of the cheese in the final taste.
For mains I plumped on an item not really knowing what to expect and therefore it was a new dish to me. It was “taglaita di manzo ai porcini e tartufo” which was described as medium raw beef, with mushroom truffle sauce. It was not the most appetsing dish to look at, but it was cleverly presented surrounded by a big sellection of al dente vegetables. The beef itself was lightly cooked fillet that would probably been better without the heavy saucing. But hey that is what I had ordered. The sauce itself was a béchamel-based sauce with lots of flavour and plenty of the porcinni mushrooms.
I finished off with a slice of cheesecake. Basilico is like a few other Italian restaurants that seem to set their stall out as a pizza/pasta operation but are a great deal better than that. This is a pretty good Italian restaurant, and it is made better by having Sergio, an ever-present owner manager, who is clearly very hands on.

Update April 2008
Sadly, for Basilico, Sergio now has is own operation at Bacco.
But the restaurant is still very popular although Saturday and Sunday afternoon's are best avoided unless you like children.

Posted by Sam at 2:02 PM | Comments (0)

June 8, 2005

Calderazzo Bistro

Calderazzo Bistro
60 Soi Langsuan
Tel: 02 263 9310

I am quite a fan of Calderazzo so when I heard they had opened a new bistro nearly opposite I was keen to try it out. The Calderazzo Bistro is in a showroom type building at the front of Mayfair serviced apartments. It is a good space with high white ceiling and glass walls. Inside it could almost be a marquee.
The menu is limited, as is the wine list. The starters are limited to six salads and five entrees as well as a soup of the day. Then for mains there are six pastas and two pizzas, both based on a selection of the day; and seven second courses. In truth there should be something for everybody, and there is a decent range of food with sea bass, cod, sardines, lamb, pork, veal and beef as the meat in the secondi. I was also offered a special.
I started with Grillia Amalfitana described as lobster morsels and baby calamari grilled with a mixed salad. It looked good and was good with plenty of lobster - rock I am sure. The salad was nice and crisp with leaves of various kinds, and tomato. My main was the special and verbally described as leg of lamb but was in fact lamb chops. I asked for them pink and they were cooked to perfection. Still nice and red but cooked through. I am nervous about asking for things rare and even medium rare because Thai chefs tend to err on the side of caution and it is not rare it is bleue! The chops were really thick and meaty: almost as though they were double chops. They were well presented and represented a substantial meal. I was a little disappointed in the cheese I had as a final offering, in part I suspect because the cheese over the road is so good.
All in all I liked the new Calderazzo. I am not put off by limited menus providing they are well thought out and changed regularly.

Posted by Sam at 1:11 PM | Comments (0)

Rioja: Spanish Restaurant in Ploenchit Road

Rioja
1025 Ploenchit Road
Tel: 02 251 5761

I have been meaning to get to this restaurant for a long time, but was unsure of exactly where it was. It is on the North side of Ploenchit Road about 100 yards after Soi Langsuan towards Siam Square in an unnamed dead end soi: but there is a Rioja sign on the main road. That means coming from Sukhumvit you have to get across the road at Sois 3 and 4 junction.
I was surprised to find that this is the same operation that was previously in Soi 24. I went there an age ago and was not at all impressed. Mainly because I thought the menu very ordinary and I had gone for that tapas-style experience. The only thing I could see in common was the suits of armour and now I think about it, the genteel arty décor with a good Spanish Bodega feel to it. The first person I met as I walked in was the Spanish chef and at 160 kilos (I was told) and, in today’s world, vertically challenged, he was clearly a man who liked a good meal!
The menu here is extensive and interesting with enough tapas style dishes, alas served in slightly too large a portion if you are a couple. A party of four or more could have a really varied and interesting meal. There is a tapas plate that we started with, and this has five different items for two people. It was good but barely touched the sides, so as soon as it appeared I ordered a tortilla, and then some garlic prawns which went together very well. The art of the tortilla was demonstrated perfectly with this soft flavorsome omelet that did not appear to be an omelet at all!
At this point the said chef appeared and I was able to ask about main courses. But I had already decided to hit one of the nine paellas on offer, all cooked to order and for two. There was also a nice range of main dishes available with nine meats and five fish options, as well as a good list of specials. The item that caught my eye was stewed oxtail in red wine. I shall have to go back! Since the paella was to take 20 minutes we also had a plate of ham to nibble at whilst we waited. Now I was beginning to understand how the chef had expanded so far!
The ham was served with bread smeared with a home-made tomato sauce which meant nice soft bread that really complemented the ham.. We had selected the mixed paella that came with chicken, pork, duck and chorizo. It arrived at our table and then emitted plumes of steam as the waiter dug into it. Paella is like risotto in that it is about infusing the rice. The steam was a good sign that the dish was still moist and succulent - no steam would have meant it was dried up. The taste was very good although I thought we could have had a little more meat. The chef wanted us to have the seafood version and maybe that is why. I suspect that the slow cooking had literally melted the meat. But as I am not a paella expert, I can say no more than I enjoyed it and its’ suitably complex taste.
I did have a little pudding of a prune in custard just to round the meal off: I certainly did not need anything large or filling!
I very pleasant meal and well worth the effort to find the place. As I have said before, it is always good to find somewhere one can get some genuinely different food. Rioja is one such place.

Posted by Sam at 1:03 PM | Comments (0)