Aldo's
The Cascade Club,
The Ascott
187 South Sathorn Road
Bangkok 10120
Tel: 02 676 6969
Website:

I was told about Aldo's some time ago but then Hu'u came into the picture and I made the common mistake of presumption. How, I thought, could the Ascot have two top establishments? Of course I now realise that I was wrong. That is after I was again reminded about Aldo's, this time by a restaurateur and when I needed somewhere to lunch with Lord Toad. So once again I took a taxi to the Ascot, but this time took the lift to the 6th floor Cascade Club and walked up to the pool level and found Aldo's.
The moment we walked through the door we knew we had a result. It just looked like a good restaurant and we were there at lunch time, and it had a good sprinkling of customers. This is a big modern room with glass walls on three sides and big bar area at the far end covering about half the space. This is a wine bar and more, and I can imagine it is a lively place early doors. We sat in the main restaurant area near the kitchen with chairs, as opposed to banquet seating against the rear wall.
Menus and wine list were produced quickly and a bottle of wine ordered before we studied the menus. There were two menus; an a la carte and a list of daily specials from soup to pasta to cooked dishes and the like. Both menus are subject to change and revision according to what is available. We ordered a lobster and avocado salad and Vitello tonata. It was now that another presumption I had made, I know not why, was torpedoed. Somehow I thought this was an Italian restaurant. But Herve appeared from the kitchen and seeing what looked like two players came to greet us. Herve is from Marseille in the south of France. The clues as to the owners origins were all over the menu in bouillabaisse and coq au vin. Now with the boss as a guide it was easy to work out our main courses and I ordered coq au vin and Toad ordered salmon papilotte. I think it is unnecessary for me to say the food was first rate and well produced. Hervre runs his restaurant from the kitchen with regular forays to check on the punters. This is a man who is very serious about food and has worked in one of Paris's top restaurants the three-Michelin-starred Grand Vefour.

So, of course, it was downhill all the way once we had got paly with Herve. We had plenty of foody chatter as he dashed in and out of his office. For desert he produced a magnificent creation of fresh raspberries with sabayon on top. And this was after one of the best cheeseboards I have seen in Bangkok. The final chapter was a couple of large 15 year old Calvados.
Herve admitted that the restaurant does have an Italian feel since that cuisine is without doubt the most popular in Bangkok. The wine list is heavily skewed towards Italian wine. The restaurant is described as a Mediterranean bistro and wine bar - not a bad description although I think this is not a bistro, not in my book anyway.
The name comes from the painter Aldo Luongo whose prints are displayed on the walls. They are quite wonderful expressive impressionist prints and you can look at more on his website:. I show a print from this range that I liked. The main picture in the restaurant is An Evening at the Ritz which I photographed but decided the quality did not do it justice.
Aldo's is certainly a splendid place to have lunch and it is open all afternoon. I am sure dinner would be just as memorable!

Please note Herve has now left and is at le Beaulieu