Shore Leave Chic | Bangkok Post: food

Holiday Time

As the just unveiled top-to-toe refurbishment at Trader Vic's at Anantara Bangkok Riverside Resort & Spa finally makes clear, it is not so much the core Polynesian ethnicity of the concept that defines this outpost of the celebrated international chain, as a certain spirit.

"It's like a global trader who calls in at every port to do some business and enjoy a spot of r&r," is how Jai Krishnan Govindan, the resort's convivial and highly creative executive chef puts it.

In other words, there's a strong sense of indulgence which, when mixed with the high of being literally and figuratively abroad, is so intoxicating that you hardly have need of that other notable characteristic of Trader Vic's; its "outsize drinks".

Habitues of Trader Vic's will be relieved to find that the vaguely voodoo South Pacific trading outpost atmosphere remains intact but will also welcome the refinement of rough edges and stylish new sheen. There's more subtlety, less clutter. Less curiosity shop, more cosmopolitan bar-restaurant chic.

The raised Mai Tai Bar area has been "opened up", points out Jai, so you can just come for the exotic cocktails, knock-out bar snacks and cool live music and DJ sessions, the volume of which is considerately modulated so as not to drown out one's tittle-tattle.

The furnishings are still definitively tropical, with dark-stained bamboo rattan resonating with the river wide reflecting illuminations from bridges, floating gin palaces and suspicious-looking settlements on the far bank, presumably populated by primitive natives. But rather than bombarding you with clumsily themed bric-a-brac, it eases you into a sense of life as celebration with the playful allure of a hula dancer.

It's a venue, a destination and a perfect place to chill beside a river that itself has seen, and indeed continues to see, more than its fair share of adventure.

Jai suggests we come with the attitude of having just stepped ashore from a schooner to slake a salty thirst in the nearest tavern. Immediately to hand is a well-chilled cocktail with lots of freshly squeezed tropical juice and a tot or two. Or three. Naturally, we're peckish for something more enticing than whatever the ship's galley has been rustling up on the high seas and, hallelujah!, true to Trader Vic's tradition, chef has assimilated piquant influences from all points of the compass and the provisions provided herein unerringly hit the spot.

Meanwhile, the band in the corner, currently a four-piece with keyboards, bass, and a flirty pair of singers, thumps out all-time pop favourites (requests accepted) beneath morphing spotlights as the expert bartendee mixes the drinks. At the opposite end of a glass wall overlooking the riverside terrace, white-clad chefs in an open theatre kitchen bustle to fill orders for everything from tacos and burgers to aged steaks and creme brulee.

The drinks menu is both impressive for its cartoon artwork and for the treasures described within its folds. Given that Trader Vic's invented the Mai Tai and hasn't stopped coming up with cunning combinations ever since, this is not surprising.

Cool cocktail concoctions range from Tiki Puka Puka to Doctor Funk Tahiti and one Hemingway might have appreciated: Suffering Bastard. Each is presented in a unique vessel, many evoking the romance and strangeness of Polynesia. Prices range from 240 baht to 3010 baht, with more for sharing items.

So start at the bar before moving onto a restaurant table, or just come for drinks, dig into the selection of 17 items on the bar menu, tap you feet and chat. Personal favourites include Cheese Bings (220), blended gruyere and Swiss cheese with smoked ham folded in a crepe and crisp fried, and Crab cake slider (250) with cream cheese and kimchi slaw.

But those are old story. This time we dined exclusively on new items, the results of Jai leading the team back through decades of TV recipes (founder Bergeron first set up shop in 1934) before selecting and updating a chosen few.

With Bengal Shrimp Tacos (240), the ever-resourceful Jai conceived and commissioned a novelty dish along the lines of a toast rack for tacos into which four of the Mexican marvels sit perfectly poised. The crispy taco shells are stuffed with prawn, mango and shallot dolloped with raita-style yoghurt, where the strong, fresh flavour of the open-sea Andaman prawns delectably dominates the cilantro and mild chilli marinate.

But if we thought that shrimp couldn't come as any more of a revelation, we were in for a surprise. The next little snack, "Maui Waui" Shrimp was another stunner. Again using the strong tasting "beef of the sea" variety, these fat beauties were coated in succulent coconut milk-infused batter and served with sweet chilli and aioli (garlic mayo) dunking sauces. All hail Hawaii! I thought.

Our third new Bar Menu try was Trader Vic's Burger; three mini baps about the circumference of Jackie Onassis sunglasses harbouring ground Angus beef, charcoal grilled with comte cheese melted on top and a serving of onion jam on the side. Quite possibly the best BBQ burgers in BKK.

TRENDY TRADER VIC'S

It was time to adjourn to our dining table overlooking the river where first to arrive was a loaf of ciabatta bread still in its baking dish. The thing about ciabatta is that it uses salt for flavouring, thereby achieving a slightly crystalline texturing. It's a very old-fashioned bread but none the worse for that and, light and fluffy, it combined excellently with spreads of rustic homemade chilli jam, roasted garlic with rock salt and olive oil, and black olive butter.

Salt is another specialty of the restaurant which offers guests the opportunity to select from 12 types to season their grill items. Habenaro, rosemary and black salt, for instance, are perfect with chicken, whereas sundried tomato, chilli verdi and wild porcini varieties help create spanking good steaks.

For our starter, we chose Ahi Poke (280), finest raw tuna marinated in lime, chilli and coriander, diced into small cubes, topped with guacamole and baby red spinach and presented in a large martini glass. To the side was a tower of crispy taro chips tied with string which provided ideal platforms on which to place the solid cocktail and launch mouthwards. The subtly spiced tuna, creamy guacamole and crunchy chips combined sublimely.

Jai always uses the word "we" when talking about the restaurant's remarkable make-over and lauded his team for taking a simple salad proposed by Trader Vic's head office in San Rafael, CA., namely beetroot, goat cheese and rocket salad (250), and making it look stunning. Here the raw beetroot is thinly sliced a la carpaccio, neatly arrayed to cover the plate, upon which sits baby arugula, walnuts, cheese, mandarin oranges and mandarin orange dressing. A delicious dish which, if it was all one's diet permitted, would elicit no complaints at all.

We moved on to a couple of new entrees. BBQ French Duck Breast (500) was slow-cooked sous vide style so that the meat was tender and red without being rare. With the skin crispened before setting on a thick mattress of forbidden rice (seven different kinds _ geddit?) aromatised with ginger and star anise powder, studded with pods of red wine jus, then set with colourful and crunchy young French winter vegetables, and rounded out with a chaser of very fine duck consomme{aac}, also aromatised with star anise and ginger and cutely poured tea-style into cups, this was a festival of duck at its buttery best.

Our second main was a fish dish that turns out to be no. 1 on the recently reopened restaurant's current hit parade: Macadamia Mahi Mahi (700), or dolphin fish. This was an icy white calving of fish crusted with parmesan, egg yolk and macadamia nuts which, with the light orange-ginger sauce, wasabi-infused mashed potato base and seasonal French vegetables, is indeed so delicious and satisfying that it should even have confirmed carnivores switching sides.

For dessert we chose another new item, Tahitian Coffee Creme Brulee (235), a large, deep dish of smooth yet firm mocha-esque creme with a clever cinnamon and star anise crust. Finished off with fresh raspberries, strawberries and blueberries, it was simply divine.

As per TV tradition, the meal ends with one of the guests being canibalised. Kidding!!! Actually, it concludes with complimentary choc-pop ice creams on lolly sticks served in an evocative swirl of dry ice, each on a higher plain to anything you will find in your convenience store freezer.

So much for the new and novel. Don't worry if your affair with Trader Vic's still centres around its absurdly succulent meats. Bangkok's only wood-fired Chinese oven, dating back to the Han Dynasty, remains in operation. Sell-out Sunday Brunches are making a comeback too.

Anantara Bangkok Riverside Resort & Spa. 257/1-3 Charoennakorn Road, Thonburi.
Tel. 02 476 0022 Ext 1416.

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TRADER VIC'S