The Christmas and New Year feasts are paradoxically classic and innovative, comprehensive and highly specialized in terms of quality, creativity and freshness at Seasonal Tastes international buffet restaurant at The Westin Grande Sukhumvit, Bangkok Hotel.
On arriving for Christmas Eve Dinner and Christmas Day Lunch, guests will be greeted with a traditional glass of egg nog, made with cream, spices, whipped egg and brandy, from a special recipe.
Taking pride of place on the fabulously festive buffet line is, of course, the turkey. Swiss Executive Chef Peter Zimmermann explains that the big beautiful butterball birds look, smell and taste so good because they are rubbed with fresh thyme and rosemary, slow cooked for tenderness and so as not to evaporate the moisture in the meat and then basted with paprika and olive oil at a higher temperature at the end to get that superbly suntanned skin nice and crispy.
The yummy-chunky, savoury-herby and aromatic stuffing is nice and light thanks to a base of fresh rosemary and thyme laced and extra virgine olive oil moistened focazzia bread mixed with bacon and finely diced vegetables. Some of it is steamed and some, the choicest, is cooked stuffed in the turkey.
Typically festive sides include red cabbage marinated with red wine and red wine vinegar and slowly braised to create that tart, sweet, spicy and eminently festive specialty. Plus roasted demiglazed potatoes, mashed potatoes, perfectly al-dente Brussels sprouts and broccoli, roasted turnips and caramelized chestnuts and grilled bacon-wrapped Nuremberg sausages. Completing the classic picture are the sauces and gravies: “For those who like their Christmas dinner a little sweet and fruity” says Peter laughing a lot like Santa Claus, there’s homemade cranberry jam with diced strawberry along with pork roasting and giblet gravy and shallot-red wine jus.
Almost equally traditional is honey roasted gammon ham glazed with a tantalizing mixture of honey, mustard and Johnnie Walker, alongside creamy Dijon mustard, demiglazed pineapple and and lashings of sweet gravy.
Then there’s uber tender Australian 150-day grain-fed ribeye beef with black-pepper gravy and sweet new potatoes an enticing shade of yellow reflecting the nutrient rich soil from which they were plucked.
As for the brandy-laced desserts so indispensable to the Christmas experience, there’s chef’s special recipe Christmas pudding, minced pies and rich fruit cake with mutliple candied fruits, cashews, hazelnuts and macadamias. Special care is also lavished on the stollen so that it is buttery-moist, dense and fruity, including basting it with butter and granulated sugar when it comes out of the oven. The displays are also exceedingly festive, including cute white chocolate snowmen with marzipan Christmas trees and gingerbread cookie logs.
Take It To Another Level
So much for the festive dishes. What about the also essential seafood? Here we’re talking finest Norwegian salmon, French oysters, bouchon mussels, Alaskan king crab, brown crabs, mud crabs, king prawn, rock lobster and on, all steamed or poached with various cocktails of herbs and served with varieties of condiments.
The live action grill will also be going full-tilt with local and imported fish and seafood, ranging snowfish to rock lobster to salmon bearnaise finished to pink perfection in the salamander.
Not neglecting to mention the smoked salmon, marinated salmons and gravlax, ceviches and on! Plus shooters of expertly composed salads and antipastis.
Also live is the busy French foie gras station pan-frying the delicacy and serving with marinated peach, red wine vinegar and baby rocket.
Another specialty of the season pâté, in this case chicken liver and salmon varieties, to enjoy, like the extensive imported cheeses, with freshly-baked breads and crispbreads.
Soup-wise think gourmet lobster or shrimp bisque on the Western menu and something hot and spicy from the East.
Meanwhile, Bangkok’s cosmopolitan customer base is welcomed with Thai, Indian, Chinese, Italian and Japanese sections, all exemplarily executed, including dim sums, noodles, Peking duck, Thai salads and the famous Kisso Japanese restaurant’s prime sushi and sashimi, ranging tuna, salmon, hamachi and crab stick.
The youngsters will in particular relish the area around Seasonal Taste’s fire-breathing pizza oven where, besides thin and crispy pizzas, all kinds of pastas dishes are prepared to their wide-eyed instructions along with Italian sausage wrapped in puff pastry and so on.
As for the gala desserts, say yes to panacotta and tiramisu, chocolates, teppanyaki Mövenpick ice cream, fresh stone fruits and berries and on.
Pick It Up For Countdown – New Year’s Eve And New Year’s Day
A similar, if anything even more lavish spread greets celebrants at Seasonal Tastes’ glamorous Masquerade New Year’s Eve Dinner Party with live entertainment razzmatazz. Starring on the carvery is 300-days grain-fed Australian prime rib while a special chafing dish reveals prime beef tenderloin wrapped in bacon.
And all with the convenience of Asok Skytrain and Sukhumvit Subway stations on your doorstep so you can get to any of the countdowns around town conveniently. Or hang out with the live band at Zest Bar & Terrace for your midnight whoopee.
On awakening, at whatever time that may be, a special long and lazy new year’s day breakfast will go on till 2.30 PM featuring special egg dishes to easy you into 2015, from baked egg wrapped in bacon to scrambled egg/hash brown muffins. Meanwhile, the fresh fruits and vegetables juice station will be working maniacally and though you won’t find ‘hair of the dog that bit you’ bloody marys there are lashings of soothing cocktails made with the finest Jing teas.
