Rang Mahal
26th. Floor
Rembrandt Hotel
19 Sukhumvit Soi 18
Tel: 02 261 7100 ext: 7532
Website

I had been told that the Rang Mahal was the best Indian restaurant in Bangkok, a claim I was somewhat doubtful about because there are a lot of Indians in Bangkok and more than a few own restaurants! However this tucked away four star hotel most certainly has many Indian clients so a good restaurant, of that ilk, seemed probable.
This is from the restaurant website: In ancient times, rang mahal was the name given to the pleasure house and banqueting room of the maharajahs of India. The maharajahs frequented these pleasure houses to get away from the hassles of ruling the kingdom. Once there, they were treated to the best food, drinks and music.
Bangkok is well known for its pleasure houses which I fear do not always feature such exalted ideals as the maharajahs did! But I was here for the food and drink and there was indeed music. The live music of the wailing nature that I must admit reminded of some pleasure houses I had encountered in Turkey. Pleasure houses I might add that were certainly not for the faint hearted! I digress although I am not sure mentioning pleasure houses when talking about a restaurant in Bangkok is all together wise!
The lift wafted me straight into the restaurant. The aroma instantly indentified the cuisine. Far more than the elegant but low key décor that positioned it as upmarket. Sadly for us Brits Indian food is seldom thought of as haute cuisine: a fact that upsets many Indian eateries who consider themselves vastly better than a curry house. But here was civility, space and great views all promising much more than just curry and popadums.
I was greeted and seated with great reverence with lots of scurrying and helpful noises. Mind you it still took me an age to get a bottle of wine opened and on the table. It was not till I started snapping that the wine was finally opened and I was allowed to actually drink the stuff. I have been absent from Bangkok for a few months and had almost forgotten how difficult it is to get a bottle opened in a so called top Bangkok restaurant. I sometimes think that the staff seriously believe all you want to do is look at the bottle, probably because the price of said bottle is outrageous, especially so if you earn a waiter's salary here! I found the Rang Mahal wine list priced to encourage that view!
The menu is impressive in appearance backed onto a wooden platter and then designed so that different leaves led you to different sections. A little confusing at first as I thought it was a thick covered menu rather than a slab of wood. The next problem was that the highly ornate writing and background merged in such a way that in the available light it was very hard to read. Then there were some special menus on a transparent middle page. I can read them now because I took a picture of them. I had already worked out that my pictures were likely to be more readable than the actual menu and that proved to be so. In any event I decided the menu was too difficult but there were the set menus and it was simpler to go in that direction. We had the Rang Mahal special menu at 1,080 Baht (++) which included Tandoori prawns in the starters and Murgh khada masala (chicken) and Elaichi gosht (mutton) as main courses among other delicacies. The first thing to arrive was a decent pile of popadums with chutney etc. These were actually the best popadums I have had in Bangkok. They were a bit dry, not the fried variety I am used to back home, but at least they were not spicy which seems to be the Bangkok norm.
The food arriving as the first course featured a very large tandoori prawn for each of us. The staff served each dish, quietly arranging the selection on our plates. With the mains, as there was still much food left over, the main dishes were placed on warmers. The mains also included both nan bread and rice with two types of nan offered. The one described as wholemeal was particularly good as it was quite oily and had a real yeasty taste to it. I am afraid I could not get over excited about the food. I cannot deny that it was a veritable feast but I think I would have preferred my usual Indian meal of fresh tandoori chicken and a curry. Here there were conflicting tastes and textures but nothing really sat up and said 'eat me.' On the other hand my dining companion was very happy and enjoyed her meal enormously so maybe it was just me!
The final piece de resistance was worth commenting on as it was a smoking bowl with little ice cream lollipops coated in chocolate. Looked impressive and tasted wonderful!
The Rang Mahal is a very serious restaurant and has a great deal going for it. Maybe I am just so used to thinking of an Indian meal as the dyno rod so that when I get elegance, service and civility I am too surprised to enjoy it!