January 30, 2007

La Boulange: Great value French food

La Boulange
2-2/1 Convent Road
Silom
Bangkok
(02) 631 0356
Website

I had always thought that La Boulange was simply a snack bar and bakery. However, the other Sunday, frustrated at finding my first choice of eatery closed, I decided to take a look at its menu.
And what a pleasant surprise I got. It was clear that this was a full-blown restaurant, so I trundled in to sample the serendipitous selection.
The principal dining room is only small, but there is a second, much larger area on the mezzanine floor. Thankfully for me there was room downstairs and I was promptly seated by an attentive member of staff.
As always my first task was to order some wine, which I did from a list of decent French options. While the selection was not the most extensive, I was extremely impressed at the prices, especially my choice: a bottle of Gewurztraminer for just Bt1,000.
The house wine was on offer at Bt380 for half a litre, while there were several other very drinkable wines at less than Bt1,000 a bottle.
On the food front, La Boulange has a pleasant menu that contains a plethora of items, from fruit juices and breakfasts to a fair selection of classic French brasserie dishes. There’s also a blackboard promoting the daily specials.
Unintentionally, I managed to make a pig of myself. In the charcuterie section there were rillettes and a terrine, both of which are favourites of mine, and something of a treat in Bangkok. Dithering over which to choose, I decided on the charcuterie plate, which had them both.
Of course, I should have realised what was going to happen from the pricing: the rillettes were Bt115, the terrine Bt120, and the mixed plate Bt220. That said, few Bangkok restaurants offer any substantial starters for less than Bt200.
I was about to discover that La Boulange is priced to attract!
My charcuterie plate contained full portions of both the rillettes and the terrine, not to mention salami and two types of ham. It was more than enough for two and could easily have served as a sensible starter for four.
The staff noticed the error of my judgment and decided not to bring the dish I'd ordered for On, assuming, quite reasonably, that she would share my mammoth platter.
Eventually, we managed to get On the fish she wanted, and it seemed the staff had simply assumed she meant this to be her main course. They were nothing if not helpful, and it was obvious that La Boulange is far from being a formal-style restaurant.
Regardless of my over-ordering, the charcuterie was totally up to standard and I could have quite easily been sitting in a decent brasserie in France.
As the starter was so good, I decided to indulge myself further. Okay, I was also tempted by the andouillette. It wasn’t bad, made locally, and somehow I could tell! It came agreeably presented with mashed potato and mustard sauce, although I think I would have preferred just a good pot of moutard forte.
All in all it was a very enjoyable meal, with the prices almost too low to be believable. It's just a pity the place is not a little closer to where I live.
On the other hand, that is probably a good thing. All that lovely pork fat would do the diet no good whatsoever!

Posted by Sam at 3:02 PM | Comments (0)