If you haven't fine-dined by the river in a while, it's perhaps time to show your face at Volti. Shangri-La Hotel, Bangkok's Italian outlet (Volti means "faces" in Italian) has excellent food, fine wines, river views, and handsome young chef who has created a menu with surprisingly reasonable prices.
There are several ways to approach to hotel -- you can glide into the ferry pier, step just metres from Saphan Taksin BTS station into the Krungthep Wing, or swan into the grand entrance of the Shangri-La Wing at the end of Charoen Krung Soi 42/1. While taking the BTS or boat means dodging gridlock, entering the Shangri-La Wing presents two problems. You first have to resist stopping for a drink at the Long Bar and marvelling at its stunning river panorama, then avoid ruining your appetite at the Chocolate Boutique, an artisanal sweet shop that presents its creations as if they were fine jewellery. Of course, while doing either of those things isn't technically forbidden, it would just prolong your journey to Volti restaurant & bar.
Those made of sterner stuff can breeze past temptations directly into Volti's bar. Two tips: firstly, get a seat that faces the river for the best view. And secondly, order the restaurant's signature cocktail, Volti's Spritz, a refreshing mix of Aperol, sparkling wine, soda and a slice of orange. For extra kudos, see if you can time your drinking of the cocktail with a view of the matching orange sunset.
After signor and signora have enjoyed their aperitifs, it's time to enter the restaurant. Volti is a stylish and modern space, backed with a long open kitchen and blessed with views of the teak pavilions of the garden and the river beyond. As the menus arrive, it's for once worth reading the small print, which states Volti's manifesto of produce and cuisine rooted in nature, featuring the finest local and ethically-sourced ingredients.
Let's begin. You can start with premium cold cuts and cheeses, or graze from the antipasti menu, with its salads and tartares. We immediately veered from the Italianate to the Spanish flavours of polpo marinato alla grigilla con chorizo -- char-grilled octopus in a tomato and avocado salsa with green olive, avocado and chorizo (B480++). It's a light first course, and thoroughly enjoyable. There's a hint of molecular gastronomy in the execution of the dish, and the char-grilling brings elevated barbeque flavours to the table. It's a fine start, but something more unusual caught our eye.
Let's face it, foie gras is not everybody's favourite dish. But something about Volti's version (B460++) being espresso poached piqued the interest of the caffeine fiends among us. Rather than try to decode this odd pairing ourselves, we asked the hotel's Executive Sous Chef, New Zealand-born Phillip Taylor, to talk us through the inspiration for the dish face to face.
"It's not so often you see foie gras on the menus in a regular Italian restaurant, but actually in Bangkok most Italian restaurants have it. So I tried to do it with an Italian twist by poaching it in coffee with a little bit of salt. And to balance it we caramelise brown sugar on top, so it's quite rich. Then we add sour items like green apple, raspberry and beetroot." There's also a drizzle of truffled goose jus, which, aside from being delicious, is also fun to say. Overall it's remarkably light and fresh, not adjectives you usually associate with the foie gras, and -- spoiler alert -- it would surprise us by being our favourite dish of the night.
Drawing on his 13 years of experience at leading restaurants in Australia, Europe and Asia, 32-year-old Chef Phillip Taylor explained that the menu is basically comfort food. "We base the menu around the flavours first and then we play a little bit with the presentation, but the whole point of the food here is to be full-flavoured. We still try to play with interesting pairings."
Post antipasti, there are several Italian avenues to take a culinary trip down. The pizzas, starting from below 400 baht, compete for your attention with the pastas, risottos and hefty mains. Faced with such variety, it could be difficult to make a choice. So we chose twice.
We began with asparagus risotto, served with seared river prawns and Portuguese Parma ham (B560++). It had a pleasing mix of flavours, and the chef cooked the risotto to perfection. Sadly, we ate it rather too quickly, such was our excitement to see what the kitchen does with its lamb.
You should always trust a New Zealander to cook lamb. Although Chef Phillip left New Zealand when he was young, some innate lamb expertise remains in his culinary DNA. The meat came medium, with the two cutlets plated upright, leaning on each other like drunken friends. The red wine jus had islands of white garlic and potato puree, and grilled eggplant and deep friend kale added a touch of green, thereby completing the colours of the Italian flag. The dish was a perfect main course -- satisfying, filling without being heavy, and deftly leaving enough space for dessert.
Tea sounds like an odd choice for a dessert, but bear with us. This isn't some steaming mug of strong 'builder's tea' from an English greasy spoon. Firstly, the hibiscus tea is iced, and has strong sour overtones. These are balanced with a sweet yoghurt panna cotta, a half-raspberry half-strawberry sorbet, and a dash of Grand Marnier (B220++).
Is it illegal to leave an Italian restaurant without a parting shot of Limoncello? If not, it should be. After that, the only thing remaining is to perhaps wander along the riverside promenade, or, for calorific daredevils, raid the Chocolate Boutique on your way out.
Volti restaurant & bar is open daily from 6pm.
For further enquiries, Tel. 02 236 7777. Email: restaurants.slbk@shangri-la.com, or may also book directly via the hotel's website https://www.shangri-la.com/bangkok/shangrila/dining/restaurants/volti-ristorante-and-bar/book-a-table.
