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!