Extra special Thai cuisine

Extra special Thai cuisine

Imagine all the things you love about Thai cuisine amplified and augmented

SOCIAL & LIFESTYLE

How can you make a great cuisine even greater? Be lavish. Be inspired. Be uncompromising. Present it beautifully and originally in a setting that transports all the senses, not just the taste buds.

Check, check and double check one of the most daring new Thai restaurants Bangkok has seen in quite a while.

Rice & Chilli announces itself as a visual shock to the system the moment you disgorge from the lift at 5/F Mode Sathorn Hotel, whose "fashionable lifestyle" tagline is eloquently expressed everywhere from lush colour schemes to flamboyant design and intelligent infrastructure to rising-star culinary staff.

Indeed, Mode Sathorn has been bold in all its restaurant and bar concepts, both food and décor. Besides Rice & Chilli, that includes Thai-French bistro BLD, The Sathorn neighbourhood culture-inspired all-day diner, and the sexy The Roof@38th Bar with its 360o city views.

From said lift, you spill directly into a red reception area. Ahead is a floor-to-ceiling glass wall cabinet that's part wine cellar, part shiny ornament and artefact cabinet, and, slightly to the right, the door to a plush red private dining room with a circular table to seat 10-12 party guests.

You enter the restaurant proper up the slight incline of a ramp, arriving in a space with a bustling open kitchen bordered by a sit-up dining counter to the left and a split level stretch of tables and chairs arranged beneath gently waving white muslin, expressive of steam. That denotes the rice in the name, the chilli being the prevalence of red which, encased in Perspex assumes a lacquer-like mantle. Three tables opposite the kitchen action are canopied with more white muslin creating a boudoir effect.

So far, so chic. But this is also very much a new millennium experience to which the wide-screen window wall looking across to the multi-levels of Surasak Skytrain station adds a visceral Blade-Runner dimension. It gives a sense of still being connected while simultaneously being tuned into something more serene captured in the restaurant's quintessentially Thai but designer theme.

It's quite a billing to live up to but the culinary team, creatively led by Executive Sous Chef Suthon Phonkamchat, and very ably deputized by Chef Rangsima Chotinun, has seized the bit between its teeth with remarkable results.

For the uninitiated, an excellent introduction is offered in the form of 'Gourmet One Unlimited', an aptly named set menu featuring several of the restaurant's signature dishes.

The menu collects together five enticing appetizers, two soups, the restaurant's signature curry, three main dishes, three selections of rice and two desserts. Plus each diner enjoys a complimentary dish of wonderfully smoky and tender "Goong Mae Nam Salween Yang", grilled Salween River prawn served with a sour green chilli and sweeter red chilli sauce –  a classic.

Every dish is authentically Thai but strongly influenced by the new wave ways that have made the cuisine a Michelin star contender across the way in Europe and a favourite of in-crowds everywhere from Beverly Hills to Moscow.

Besides meticulous preparation and artful presentation by new generation intensively trained chefs, the other key is to use prime ingredients in place of commonalities of the cuisine. So fresh salmon takes the place of prawn or chicken in spicy salads, prime garoupa fillet raises a stir-fry several notches, and spring lamb shank, simmered for four hours in a superb sauce until it slides from the bone like butter, bosses mussamun curry in place of chicken or lesser cuts of beef. And where else on a Thai menu would you find French champignon mushrooms alongside eringis, and shitakis in a wild, tender and succulent assemblage of sautéed tubers?

Even the amuse bouche was a delight – a corona cigar of mashed tarot deep-fried in gritty rice batter resting in a mini jam jar of fresh mango sauce and joined by contrastingly sharp pickled vegetables prettily served in a separate jar. A killer little snack indeed.

The appetizers are another case in point – spring roll is deconstructed and supercharged with an extra crunchy casing, a tongue of soft salmon is doused in a subtly sweet red chilli sauce  and soft shrimp mousse in garlic perfume is complemented by homemade plum compote.

Then come two soups served in a pair. Tom Kha Gai features free-range chicken in coconut milk soup, fragrantly seasoned with fresh turmeric, galangal and kaffir lime leaves, and an exceptional Tom  Yam Goong premised on tender chunks of spicy-grilled Salween river prawns with the herbs and spices finely ground for smoothness.

A bowl of "Mussamun Nong Gae", Braised lamb-shank in mussamun curry/sweet potatoes/onion/spicy cucumber salsa continues to captivate as more main course dishes arrive, all equally cut through with quality, including Wok-fried assorted mushrooms, Stir-fried marinated chicken/roasted chestnut and Marinated fried fillet of grouper/Paris mushrooms/wild basil.

Three different rice options are offered, including the restaurant's signature fried rice with red chilli, along with home-grown red rice and classic Jasmine.

All this is rounded off by outstanding interpretations of traditional Thai desserts, namely a super smooth chilled coconut jelly and some of the best Kanom Thai you will ever try.

Priced at B1,900 net for two diners, there is a lot of food here, making it ideal for a weekend night treat. Modern presentation includes serving the soups in cups but if you want more tom yum gung or tom kha gai, that's where the 'unlimited' aspect of the menu comes into it. Second helpings are definitely allowed so you can have your fill of Tasmanian salmon, New Zealand mussels, New Zealand lamb, and the magnificent mushrooms and savour them at leisure.

Mention should also be made of the excellent drinks which start with a welcome cocktail of Gaow Ruwang – gauava/pomegranate/sparkling wine/rice – for the ladies and Tsang Yot – passion fruit/pomegranate and herb infused vodka/rice – for the men. In-house mixologist Pravit Boonta is a cocktails whiz who will whip you up anything you like and even a few things you may never have thought of. One of his most original offerings is Tom Yum Gung Tini where vodka is infused with the herbs and spices that create Thailand's most famous dish. Mango and Sticky Rice cocktail combines the rice of rice vodka with ripe mango and coconut milk while Pomegranate and mango combine with white sparkling wine for an inspired Thai spritzer.

This isn't the famous Thai street food, not by a long shot. It wants acceptance in the finest dining rooms for being as gourmet as the best of them. And guess what – it's completely convincing.


RICE & CHILLI 5th floor of Mode Sathorn Hotel
-  Lunch: 11.30-14.00 hrs 
-  Dinner: 18.30-23.00 hrs

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