Appetizing art

Appetizing art

SOCIAL & LIFESTYLE

Creative and clever, Sra Bua by Kiin Kiin's mind-bending Michelin-mirrored take on Thai food is above all exciting, accessible and delicious – hence its surging popularity…

One’s natural scepticism tends to work against overtly creative cuisine, presumably because, from experience, the most important thing — delicious, satisfying dining — has a tendency to get lost in translation. You end up quite liking this or that element, but there isn’t enough of it, and you just don’t relate to the rest.

Well, you can put aside all such concerns about the delectable experience that awaits you at Sra Bua by Kiin Kiin.

The cuisine is created by none other than Henrik Yde-Andersen who, as the mastermind behind the world’s one and only Michelin-star Thai restaurant, Kiin Kiin, Copenhagen, is indeed an artist who, it is no exaggeration to say, is the progenitor of a whole new school of modern Thai  cuisine. In effect, he has immersed himself in Thai cooking, absorbed it into every neuron in his nut, re-imagined it, and now shoots it out onto plates in the form of Thai culinary impressionism with occasional surrealism that is not only a joy to behold and an experience to ingest but, most importantly, “hits the spot” at least as surely as any comfort food.

There are certainly new flavours which you wonder why nobody invented before but overall there is more that is essentially familiar, though refined with fresh clarity or deconstructed and pretty much re-invented in ways that lift it into another realm.

And foodies really relate: judging by its well-attended tables, Sra Bua by Kiin Kiin is about to echo those M-word restaurants where you book not 24 hours, but weeks in advance.

With its mirrored walls and temple-high ceiling, it gives the impression of being palatial but in fact only offers a moderate 70 covers. Most guests opt for the “Culinary Journey” dining format, whether the Mini Set of seven courses (Bt2,200++), or the marathon 10-courses (Bt2,700++). And since you can’t serve so much in 45 minutes, one sitting per evening is about the limit. An a la carte menu is offered but the sets beat all.

The décor channels vintage Thai indoor-outdoor, upstairs-downstairs teak villas. The ubiquitous timber, arched ceilings, lily pond and art as décor features such as a glorious moulded gold awning above the largest table see to that.

The evening’s dining begins in the chilled lounge area beside the entrance with a wonderful cordial of pandan and lemongrass sipped from rustic beakers. In the same instant complimentary snacks arrive: crunchy kaffir lime leaf-infused lotus root that you could scoff like potato chips,  roasted cashew nut soya meringue (one of the most original experiences), and inky squid and prawn crackers tear dropped with day-glow green oyster and coriander mayo. It sets the scene and opens the mind to the concept of culinary art.

This soon segues into the appetizers comprising three sets of two “nibblings” inspired in Henrik by Thai street food complemented by his handpicked cocktails and mocktails.

For eats, there’s a teasingly playful crispy wanton cornette of “miang kham”, a sweet, slightly spicy and citrusy salad premised on dried shrimp and pomelo. Up next are charmingly surreal semi-frozen Hokkaido scallop with lemongrass “snow” and kaffir lime jelly and crispy five-spice pork skin with black and white sesame dip, another new flavour with which one instantly bonds. Then there’s homemade Chiang Mai sausage served with a slice of pickled cabbage and a chicken satay that doesn’t look anything like: a dome of frozen peanut mousse infused with the stock cucumber, chilli and vinegar sauce, garnished with ginger syrup and served, dusted with turmeric powder, on a crispy fried chicken skin wafer, altogether imparting more pleasure than the real thing. But then what is reality? Equally enigmatic is miso flan comprised of creamy egg and garlic custard surrounded by a moat of fine miso soup so resembling crème caramel.

And so to our dining table proper, simply set other than sporting iridescent silver silk place mats.

Now comes Henrik’s deconstructed tom yam gung in two bowls; one brimming with a classic broth mercifully stripped of the bits that stick in your teeth, the other sheltering solid edibles of sundried and green tomato, dried shrimp and seasonings atop tender abalone mushroom set in tomato jelly. In alternating the solids with the liquid your focus on the moment sharpens and the sensations are intensified.

Another course is grilled red mullet fish salad with chilled, spicy lemongrass soft meringue, cucumber, mint and coriander; wonderfully fresh and filling starring excellent fish and Henrik’s unique tartar.

Next comes a full moon of creamed baby corn, a frisson of finely cut celery and coriander sauce to which is added at the table unshelled crab in yellow curry, each element adding to the other in a robust harmonisation.

The main course is three large chunks of slow-roasted Australian beef in oyster sauce, each nestling beneath a tobacco soft onion wafer, again, a classic Thai dish turned inside out to amazing effect.

“Koh Samui” is for dessert — a pouch of virgin pinacolada which you suck through a straw embedded in a sandy seashore scene, a bowl of pineapple and soft coconut macaroon, and either coconut or salted caramel homemade ice cream in a cone. With the butterfly wing-like bowls, it’s transporting and uplifting in one.

The mini wine pairing of four wines is priced Bt1,800 (10-course: Bt2,700).  A “Liquid Kitchen” pairing with Henrik’s cool cocktails (Bt1,300) and an adventuresome juice pairing (starting from Bt570) are also offered.

Sra Bua by Kiin Kiin thus continues to garner prestigious “Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants” listings, moving up the ranks each time.

FESTIVE SPECIALS

Note that Henrik has created Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve menus priced Bt3,500 and Bt5,200 respectively. From the Christmas menu we found the pan-fried foie gras, ginger & pear chutney to be a savoury, fruity treat, and the dessert of candy floss, suspended over ginger ice cream, plum sorbet and passion fruit compote, as fruity as it is dramatic (pouring compote on the floss dissolves it into the glass). Also outstanding from the New Year's Eve menu was Tom Kha, done with slow-cooked quail and coriander. The dry goods arrive in the middle of a flying saucer soup dish — perfectly pink quail flesh, crispy Thai wanton wafers — onto which the quail jus creamed with earl grey honey and tamarind and added with pop-in-the-mouth pearls was equally delectable.

It's endlessly fascinating dining in the proxy presence of a great artist (Henrik is in and out throughout the year) and there's a lot to it. Henrik is in league with Mikkeller, a Danish boutique brewery to create his own herb-and spice infused beers (a couple of which are popular in the restaurant), he's just bought a vineyard, is investing in coffee and there's no telling what he'll be up to next. The only certainty is that it's going to be a lot of fun following his progress.

SRA BUA BY KIIN KIIN

Open daily.

Lunch: 12:00 — 15:00.

Dinner: 18:00 — midnight.


Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok 991/9 Rama I Road. Tel. 02 162 9000 Email srabua.siambangkok@kempinski.com

 

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