April 20, 2006

Italianate at the Conrad Hotel

Italianate
Conrad Hotel
Wireless Road
Bangkok, 10330,
Tel: 02-690-9999

The Italianate restaurant was formerly part of 87, the late night bar-disco of the then newly-opened Conrad Hotel. Now it is supposed to be a separate entity but its proximity to 87 means it is still as good as part of the trendy nightclub. When I first visited here shortly after it opened as 87, I had a fascinating meal of cutting-edge fusion cooking influenced heavily by Chinese and Japanese cuisines. The dècor was equally modern and stylish. I wish I could say the same about the new decor. My first impression was that I had walked into Santa's Grotto! With no windows and round, it is not an easy room decorate But an all-around gold curtain and star-like spots on a ceiling dominated by a giant Brillo pad does not cut it for me, I'm afraid. Sorry. I am sure somebody thinks it is chic and trendy but personally I am allergic to Brillo pads!
After choosing an interesting Chilean white wine to get me going, we got into the menu. There was a special mussels and clams menu which had some interesting ideas some of which had foody speak names which left one wondering what on earth! ‘Seafood ceviche with Manila clams and keta caviar with lemon zest and basil dressing‘ was one such suggestion. There are several mentions of ‘Manila clams‘ which are actually farmed on the Canadian east coast and in Korea among other places. ‘Ceviche‘ is marinating seafood in citrus juices and ‘keta caviar‘ is salmon caviar, so providing you know all that, you can work out more or less what it is you will be served.

I started with a chowder of potatoes, clam and celery - the three principal ingredients of course of the classic New England Clam Chowder - or for that matter any Clam Chowder! Nothing wrong with this offering and I enjoyed it as it is not a dish I often get. On had stuffed and gratinated clams with spicy tomato dipping sauce which she enjoyed. But I had already been tempted by the much advertised signature dish of rabbit leg stuffed with duck liver and I wanted to try it. So despite all those tempting seafood dishes, that is what I ordered. I put On on to the Fricassee of lobster, scallops and clams. Her dish looked good with a lobster head as the feature and she thoroughly enjoyed it. My rabbit leg was good too and not dry as I feared it might be. To be picky, the sautéed potatoes were weak, but they were a very minor part of the dish.
I did have a pud of caramelised apples with grappa honey sauce, but frankly this was not really up to the standard of the rest of what we had.
I had a quick drink with Jonas the operation manager of the 87 as well as the Italianate. 87 features live music most days but not on Mondays the day I went, and it seems to be a good refuge from the masses at Spasso!
After that I went and enjoyed the jazz at the Diplomat Bar. As to the Italianate, I fear that the décor just does not make it, but otherwise the food was fine although frankly there was no zip or pizzazz and the while the staff were good, they seemed not particularly enthused. Good food and wine but weak in all the other fields that make a good restaurant which sadly does not make it a must visit operation!

Posted by at 2:25 PM | Comments (0)

April 4, 2006

Le Pré Grill a French bistro in Langsuan

Le Pré Grill
72/2 Soi Lang Suan soi 4
Bangkok 10330
Tel: 02 253 5919
Website:

I know the Soi Lang Suan area pretty well so I was surprised to find a new French restaurant had opened up unknown to me, right under my nose. I suppose a valid excuse would be it is hidden down a narrow soi half way between Sois Lang Suan and Tonson. Le Pré Grill is in an old wooden house which looks out of place among the soaring blocks of this popular residential area as almost every other building is a twenty storey plus serviced apartment block. That, I suppose, is why this street has such a heavy density of restaurants.
Le Pré Grill is marketed as a restaurant but everything about it shouts bistro. Of course the main market, I suspect, is Thais and they probably would be confused by that handle. But from the moment I set foot in this slightly lopsided, over-windowed building, I thought bistro. Then there is the owner Jai, a youngish Thai Frenchman who lived in France for a number of years. The staff are all young Thais so the youth and the building suggest bistro and so to does the menu. And if that is not enough, the prices are lower than the competition on the main drag.

The wine list is short and to the point with several wines, praise be to Bacchus, under 1,000 Baht. I recognized some of the wines as I had seen them elsewhere at much higher prices, in particular the Michel Lynch's Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon wines at 980 Baht. The Croze Hermitage was 2,000 Baht and I have seen it elsewhere at well over 3,000 Baht.
There is a set menu with three courses at 680 Baht, or with soup at 850 Baht. I started off by going for the a la carte menu then realised I might as well try the set offering, which meant On had to also have the set menu. For starters we had moules farcies which was fine if a little short of butter in some cases, but a perfectly acceptable dish. The soup was a rock lobster bisque which was full of flavour and then I had pork fillet with orange sauce, and On had duck breast. Both came with a few nice firm vegetables. We finished off with a couple of interesting puds including 'Ile Flotante' which was with custard. I always remember the first time I came across an Ile was in Beaune and it was floating in Cassis - magnifique!
The food was good and the cooking solid - a great bistro meal and the price reflected that. I shall most definitely return.
Later:
Well I did go back and had the Millefeuille de saumon. That was a dish well worth going back for. I was not sure how it would be cooked. What arrived was smoked salmon on a base of waxy boiled potatoes with a superb light salmon sauce. It looked good and unlike so many dishes which involve cooked smoked salmon, this did not ruin the smoked salmon and the smoked taste did not permeate through everything. Well worth a detour.

Posted by Sam at 2:00 PM | Comments (0)