In the daytime and at first glance, Theo Mio, which occupies a ground floor, street-front space of the InterContinental Bangkok Hotel, looks more like a random café at a corner of a shopping plaza.
But after sunset, however, the 94-seater turns into an electrifying dining venue flocked by an international crowd of food lovers amid the dynamic vibe of the city's bustling shopping district.
Visually, it might take the evening sensation to help verify the restaurant's world-class fame. But once you've tasted the food, you'll know why the customers keep coming back.
The restaurant, which opened in August last year, is London celebrity chef Theo Randall's first outlet outside the UK.
Despite being a Brit, Randall, with more 25 years of experience in some of the world's best kitchens, has garnered many culinary awards for his dexterity in Italian cooking, including a Michelin star in 1997.
For the Bangkok branch, which is decked out in a cosy, contemporary style and festooned with warm lighting to mimic Sicilian lemon trees, Randall and his chef de cuisine Chris Beverly have crafted a menu catering to the Asian dining style of sharing.
Yet, the principle of the Italian cooking strictly remains. That is to honour simple homestyle cooking while celebrating high-quality seasonal produce and local ingredients.
The restaurant's translation of Pugliese-style salad (375 baht) -- a perfect debut to Randall's cooking approach -- was a unification of fruit and vegetables that resulted in a comforting harmony of flavours.
It featured a clean jumble of locally-sourced sweet tomatoes, watermelon and cucumber lightly dressed with basil, mint and milky-white shavings of dried salted ricotta cheese.
A weekday dinner vibe at the nine-month-old restaurant.
The charm of culinary simplicity prevailed in grilled asparagus with burrata and pangrattato (550 baht). Plump German white asparagus and its slimmer local green counterpart came simply finished with the creamy burrata cheese -- produced in Thailand by an Italian affineur from Apulia. The mild-tasting fare was scrumptiously lent a brittle buttery touch by sprinkles of brown butter breadcrumbs, grated Parmesan and crispy mint leaves.
A sharing board of antipasti (650 baht), allows diners to sample some of the conventional choices of appetisers, out of almost 20, at one go.
The platter includes olive oil-leavened burrata, freshly sliced prosciutto di Parma, grilled Mediterranean vegetables, deep-fried mushroom rice balls with truffle aioli, sweet peppers & fresh goat cheese crostini and marinated olives. All proved well worth having.
There are seven options of main course on the menu. Of it, grilled Australian lamb chops with roasted pumpkin, red wine sauce and wild arugula leaves (1,100 baht) may sound run of the mill but to miss it would be regretful.
Our order presented three thick cutlets of lamb, well cooked and yielded a perfect succulence and refined taste, with the silky sweet pumpkin that brilliantly complemented the high-quality meat.
Oven-roasted salmon with white asparagus (850 baht) proved a delightful choice of fish. A hefty fillet of Norwegian organic salmon was perfectly cooked to exhibit juicy firm meat with slightly crispy skin. Accompanying the fish were seasonal asparagus, sautéed spinach, slow-roasted cherry tomatoes, capers and rosemary butter.
Grilled Australian lamb chops with roasted pumpkin, red wine sauce and wild arugula leaves.
Cappelletti di vitello (450 baht) is said to be among Theo's signature dishes that has been a best-seller since the Bangkok branch opened its doors.
Handmade pasta dumplings, shaped like a little hat, tightly stuffed with shredded meat of slow-cooked veal, came seethed with porcini mushroom, butter and parsley in a pool of aromatic, yet a bit too salty, mushroom sauce.
I'm no aficionado of sweets, but found all of the four desserts ordered truly delicious.
They included lemon tart with ice cream (200 baht), soft Valrhona chocolate cake with crema di mascarpone (225 baht), almond tart with vanilla-poached guava and crème fraîche (250 baht), and vanilla panna cotta with roasted coconut and chocolate sauce (225 baht).
Roasted organic salmon fillet with asparagus and spinach.
Lately the restaurant has introduced an Italian weekend brunch featuring an all-you-can-order selection of antipasti, a choice of main course and free-flow desserts and wines at 1,288 baht per person.
Among the main entrées are crispy-skin house-roasted porchetta, slow-cooked beef lasagne with creamy béchamel sauce and fine selection of pizzas.
Service quality was a lovely blend of five-star efficiency and bistro-style cordiality.
The must-try selection of desserts.
Theo Mio Italian Kitchen by Theo Randall
Inter Continental Bangkok, ground level Phloenchit Road Call 02-656-0444 Open daily 7.30am to midnight Park at the hotel's car park Most credit cards accepted
