Le Banyan
Soi 8 Sukhumvit Road
Tel: 02 253 5556
Website

I have not been to Le Banyan for a few years, but it used to be a favourite. Things seemed to go awry for a while and then last year I thought it had closed. But I think the reality was that Bangkok's oldest independent French restaurant suffered badly during the raising and resurfacing of Soi 8. There was a while when Soi 8 was more like an off road driving test than an accessible road! However I trundled round the other night and can say whatever was wrong is no longer an issue. Le Banyan is back at its best!
One of the best aspects of Le Banyan is its home in a pleasant old house with a delightful mature garden half way down Soi 8. This gives the whole operation a touch of class before one enters the door of the elegant dining room. I will go back to my first impression all those years ago when I said Le Banyan reminds me of the typical stylish country restaurant that I often stumble upon when in France. It definitely has that je ne sais quoi!
Michel Binaux and Bruno Bischoff are the hosts here with Michel in charge of the stoves and Bruno managing front of house and, after eighteen years, they still seem to have the enthusiasm that eludes many who try such a long stint in one place.
There is a good wine list with plenty of French wine as well as a few items from Australia, USA and Chile. I had a good well priced Chardonnay from Burgundy which had me once again commenting on how different French Chardonnays are from the so called New World Chardonnays and, at the risk of upsetting the ladies what lunch, I prefer the ones from Burgundy! For my red, Bruno put me onto a Californian cabernet sauvignon by Wente which he had decanted and was very good indeed. And yes, Bruno did give a wry smile when he made the suggestion and I queried a Frenchman recommending an American wine!

The menu may appear somewhat limited especially when the specialties are French duck foie gras and duck in general, with pressed duck being their forte; indeed a duck press is the symbol used as the restaurant logo. In my opinion there are more than enough options for most, however discerning, especially when you add the range of sauces available with the grills. As starters On had 'Seafood salad with sea scallops, salmon, roasted prawns, with a honey dressing' and I had 'French Riviera fish soup with garlic croutons and rouille'. My soup came with a scallop and a large prawn as garnish which, of course, made it look very good and the taste was spot on, with lots of garlic but none of the muddy taste that so often goes with fish soup. The seafood salad was also well praised.
For mains I had 'Roasted rack of lamb on a herbs crust and walnut'. Unusually this came with roast fennel as well as a herb crust that actually had a little bite to it. The meat was nice and pink and I was more than happy. On had a steak with the hot and spicy sauce, which I noticed she used sparingly, a fact not missed by Michel as he caterpillared past.
They did not have cheese, or as Bruno honestly put it, I would have had to wait ten minutes whilst the cheese warmed up, but he suggested the 'cheese in puff pastry' which had a good strong blue cheese flavour. All it needed after that was calvados and a taxi to waft me happily home well contented. And as I said after my first visit I could almost dream of catching a glimpse of the Loire on the way!