Holiday Time

There's something about being on or right beside the river that always seems to put life in a better perspective. As the water races purposefully to the sea, so one's cares feel washed away.

But some places get you closer to the poetry of the river than others. Places like The Terrace@72 Restaurant & Bar on Charoen Krung, just along from the new Asiatique night plaza, where the sensation is not unlike being on one of those large dining cruise ships with great flat decks more or less at river level. Or since you are not actually moving, perhaps an upscale houseboat restaurant.

With floor to ceiling glass along the entire considerable length of the air-conditioned part of the restaurant and only a low railing bordering the equally expansive al fresco terrace part of which juts out into the flow, the surface of the river in this medium-wide spot with long views up and downstream to the next bend claims a large, peaceful proportion of the line of vision. What's more, at lunchtimes and brunchtimes, the light shimmering on the water reflects inside the restaurant making it feel bright and fresh.

The restaurant design itself is clean, modern, low key with only some tubular bell arrangements hanging from the ceiling, making one wonder whatever happened to Mike Oldfield, to suggest anything abstract or esoteric.

What's given importance here is the length of buffet line, which is considerable, and the concentration of live cooking stations behind said, stretching the entire length but for desserts and salads islands.

All this leaves the natural beauty of the river, accented by the jolly craft that ply their way up and down the broad reach, the star feature of the dining performance, even up against some excellent dishes and enough variety to satisfy a full sitting of the United Nations.

Something unusual about the culinary concept is the authenticity of each ethnicity. The Chinese, Thai, Indian, Japanese and Korean selections in particular seem inspired by the preferences of diners indigenous to those nations rather than pandering to multinational dabblers. This means that each presentation and morsel is to be savoured as a genuine travel experience for strangers, or pure comfort food for those who would include said dishes in their staple diet, if they weren't also at the high end of the spectrum, so reserving them more for special occasions.

In general terms, the Sunday Brunch buffet (Bt1,100++) for instance is split more or less 50:50 between East and West. That is if you don't count the breakfast section with its international breads, cereals and egg station selections.

I started with an excellent cream of mushroom soup with crouton but could equally well have chosen the definitively Chinese bamboo pith with seaweed soup had I felt like experimenting, or indeed enjoyed both, to get the party started.

I followed with a plate of homemade pa{aci}te{aac}s and whatnot including excellent pate de campagne and mustard, all of which went swimmingly well with the Caesar salad I whipped up for myself from the comprehensive contingent of applicable ingredients.

Had I been of a different mood or mind, I could have done equally well with Thai, Chinese or Vietnamese salads, for example, minced chicken salad (laap), spicy beef salad, chilled pork leg and spicy Vietnamese sausage salad.

Moving onto hot dishes, again the selection was expansive but certain items could absolutely not be selected out at any cost. Among these were superbly succulent spare ribs in BBQ sauce with meat so tender it literally fell away from the bone. Also among the carnivorous selections, tender chunks of grilled beef in a lavish red wine sauce and classic pork cordon bleu could not be passed up on any account.

Also tempting was the duck and pork with abalone mushrooms sauce among the many Chinese hot dish and dim sum selections and lethal but alluring looking steamed squid with chilli and classic green curry with fish balls representing Thai inspiration.

There were many other fishy temptations as well with Dory fish baked with cheese proving out of this world and saute{aac}ed river prawns appropriately toothsome and grand.

Just around the corner from this lot was the restaurant's regular Indian section which is always comprehensive enough to satisfy the preferences of the hotel's popular Indian and Indian food-loving following, including the large parties that descend now and again for spectacular wedding parties at this privileged River of Kings location.

I duly composed myself a mini curry of fried chicken with Indian herbs, roti paratha, Pilao rice, chana daal, vegetable curry, chicken tikka with a token spoonful of fish masala which turned out to be the most delicious of a very strong selection altogether.

This is the point at which the red baseball cap and traditionally toqued chefs get particularly busy behind the presentations, starting with the expansive grill area where you can select the likes of white shrimp, lamb rack, dory, salmon, chicken breast, pork sirloin and beef sirloin for preparation to taste, all of which are accompanied by comprehensive East-meets-West condiments, from chilli sauce to BBQ sauce to white wine sauce, for starters.

Here too is the strong selection of sushis and sashimi fish, all also prepared a la minute fresh for the best taste.

They do not stint on the desserts either, with no fewer than eight ice cream flavours and lots to put on your scoops from chocolate drops to toasted almonds.

However, you should also leave room for the likes of excellent raspberry cheese cake, white chocolate cake and shoofly pie, a sticky molasses-based dessert that takes some beating.

Cap it all with a plate of the excellent cheeses served, on this occasion emmental, Brie, Blue with biscuits and butter and an outsize single espresso, great coffee and more like a triple.

Something more to savour as you no doubt linger longer to enjoy the pristine riverine ambiance, peaceful view and unmistakable sense of being exactly where you're meant to be right now.

THE TERRACE@72 RESTAURANT & BAR.
Ramada Menam Riverside Bangkok. 2074 Charoenkrung road. Tel. 02 688 1000.