You've got to hand it to Fifty-Five fine dining restaurant at CentaraGrand: it sure knows how to organise a successful invasion of airspace by seafood and meat on the hoof from deep beneath the rolling waves and ground zero way below and finish with a flourish.
Its absurdly indulgent Champagne Sunday Brunch on the first Sunday of each month (next event 7 December) and sister New Year's Eve special edition and fireworks celebration are awesome logistical as much as culinary triumphs, such that it is almost a crime not to seat oneself at its sharp end and tuck in with gusto.
How did that superabundance of seafood from around the world arrive so supremely fresh and succulent high up in the Bangkok skyline? Well, it didn't swim there, steam itself and arrange itself on a mountain of crushed ice!
All that French foie gras and pheasant, Japanese beef, Australian lamb and Perigord truffles, to name but five non-aquatic premium products, came a long way to join the party too. Not to mention the free-flow Perrier-Jouët champagne, red and white wines.
But on the evidence of the fabulous feast that results, it is well worth the effort of starting preparations the night before the night before, then putting in a 14-hour shift the day before, and starting crack-of-dawn on the big day itself – times a team of 30!
Indeed, the spectacular venue itself demands such superhuman effort to do justice to its dronesque views radiating around the city. And how better for the precious produce to assert its own aesthetics than by forming the centrepiece of the design itself? An interactive installation of perfectly pink crustaceans avidly admired, removed and devoured only to be instantly replenished?
Even the wrap around view through the downward angled windows is all but upstaged by it. As are the plush dining room fittings, from the classic hardwood floor to the cubist fabric, granite and marble wall coverings, saddle brown leatherette armchairs and, in a fitting flight of fancy, feathers from the wings of the wine angels who famously fly up and down the giant glass-encased wine cellar, waving caressively from the ceiling.
Though only, in effect, the appetizers, the seafood display is sumptuous in the extreme, ranging layer upon layer of three kinds of lobsters – Canadian, South African and Phuket, a puzzle of Alaskan King crab legs, Scottish (Dungeness) crab, spider crab, yabbies and langoustines, tiger prawns and shrimps.
Shellfish are equally abundant, starting with varieties of oysters, depending on what's prime today, from France, Japan and the US, from Tsarskayas to Fines de Claires, each with distinctive heft, texture and flavour. These combined with haute French cuisine preparations such as black mussels salad/basil/olives and clam salad/dill/Pernod along with Thai-style cockles salad. Yet other salty, sea-fresh delicacies include precious sea urchin, avruga caviar, salmon roe and achovia. And all enhanced by seven seafood dips conveniently set in shooters, ranging mango salsa to wasabi mayo.
All this is joined by various live stations preparing apple and salmon tartar and smoked salmon mousse, fresh lobster sashimi and Kagoshima beef sushi with its fabulous fat delectably released into the rice by a brief blow-torching.
Thus the amuse bouche, courtesy of French Chef de Cuisine Hugo, would almost be an irrelevance – except that it offers finest Oscietra caviar atop multiple layer blinis.
And even that is all just a distraction when you consider the parallel a la carte surf, turf and eggs menu.
On the first Sunday's of the month, the brunch translates into an eggs Cocotte (slow-cooked in the oven), served with toast and either Scottish smoked salmon, French yabbies or San Daniele ham. This being truffle season, classic black truffle with scrambled eggs is offered while Alba white truffles turn a pumpkin veloute into a super soup with an irresistibly velvety texture. Nor should one hold back from the soft and buttery croissants served with lightly salted butter churned in the French style in the hotel and homemade apricot jam.
For the surfers, there's Oyster Rockefeller with Spinach and white wine Hollandaise, Charcoal grilled half Phuket lobster, Butter roasted Dover Sole, Gratinated Hokkaido scallop and Nova Scotia lobster ravioli cooked in a rich lobster bisque.
Carnivorous choices are equally indulgent: Pheasant/foie gras/truffle Pithivier, a delectably gamey, festive flavour encased in puff pastry and garnished with Golden Chanterelle and peppercorn sauce. Other choices range poached French guinea hen/Basmati rice/Albufera sauce, charcoal grilled Wagyu beef tenderloin/Béarnaise, braised Dutch veal cheek/red wine sauce, pan-seared duck foie gras/roasted French figs, and last but not least, classic Australian lamb rack.
Plus, various wheeled trolleys arrive from all sides. One carves crusty, slow–cooked Wagyu beef rib/green peppercorn sauce/horseradish cream that melts in the mouth. Others offer cheeses, foie gras, smoked salmon/halibut/eel, black mussels mariniers, Iberico ham/tomato salsa, and Caesar salad.
The foie gras is a must both because of the fabulous terrine served with fresh fig jam and the insanely savoury and smooth foie gras crème brulée that come with a bonus glass of sweet Sauternes.
The cheese trolley – which includes such meticulously edited delights as Testun al Barolo, Cusie Malto whisky cheese, gooey Neufchatel, goat cheese and Erborinato, among others, along with fresh figs, truffle honey and whatnot – is another standout.
Which brings one to the grand finale, two superb dessert buffets, a huge display closest to the kitchen and smaller numbers of similarly varied selections in the glass-walled wine cellar, each featuring firm fresh berries, grand cru chocolate and inventive arrays of gateaux and puddings. A separate berry trolley prepares assorted berries/Grand Marnier sabayon, chocolate mousse white/dark, and an excellent apple crumble with a crunchy top goes a treat with homemade sherbets and ice creams.
The service is tip-top too with Maitre D Joe state-of-the-art. And while we're giving credit, Hugo, who's other baby is Red Sky one floor above, cut his culinary teeth with three Michelin Star Guy Savoy in Paris and Las Vegas, so say no more!
Meanwhile, the floral and fruity Perrier-Jouët Grand Brut Champagne, hybrid peachy bellinis and well-chosen red and white wines flow freely and you could be forgiven thinking you were truly in heaven. After all, at this height you are nearly there so what's the difference?
Baht 3,955++ per person from 11.30 – 15.00 hrs.
FIFTY-FIVE Centara Grand at Central World. Tel. 02 100 6255 or email: diningcgcw@chr.co.th
