Holiday Time

To dine at Tables, Grand Hyatt Erawan's ravishing redoubt of creme de la creme continental cuisine, is to be completely immersed in a fantasy of fine dining.

The restaurant that seeks to evade being labelled "French" with all the conviction of a coquette playing hard to get, for once truly inhabits the well-worn cliche of being a feast for all the senses.

Taste, smell, sound, vision and touch are all indulged and stimulated to greater or lesser degrees. Not to mention the sense of time implicit in what is ultimately an intensely referenced experience that warps you back to the days of the original modernizer of French haute cuisine, Georges Auguste Escoffier, if not his predecessor as supreme arbiter, Marie-Antoine Careme.

With tableside cooking making a comeback, having become something of a lost art for many years, Tables is to the fore but takes the concept a couple of steps further than simply wheeling the geuridon around to saute a pepper steak or flambe a couple of crepes.

Every weekday evening from Monday to Saturday, for instance, it sets out five intricately designed cooking tables around the restaurant between which you stroll ordering appetizers at will, added to a menu of entrees and alternative desserts and a cheese board for an all-inclusive tariff. The action at the tables, including plumes of flame worthy of a circus fire eater, creates a sense of showmanship and entertainment and offers a surprise element that complements the dining experience. That means plenty to feast the eyes upon besides the sumptuous decor that one could imagine Marie Antoinette and Karl Lagerfield colluding over, though it is in fact a Tony Chi concept.

And yet, for all its authenticity and sense of tradition, there is nothing stuffy about Tables. Indeed, it is not above poking gentle fun at itself to keep the ambiance light, as graphically denoted by the pint-size models of waiters floating high on the walls like something out of Peter Pan or Harry Potter. Moreover, the cuisine isn't just about ladling on the butter and cream; it's much more subtle and creative than that.

The so-called Signature Dinner package fires on all cylinders starting with a dish of sublimely fresh and well proportioned seafood - oysters, tiger prawns, black mussels - on a snowstorm of ice accompanied by assorted condiments. Another table slices slivers of butter-soft Scottish smoked salmon accompanied by horseradish, chives, sour cream and capers. Yet another carves prime Serrano ham arranged with sweet Australian cantaloupe. Then there's the Caesar salad table complete with croutons, Reggiano Parmesan and bacon, and exquisite Boston lobster bisque which is dramatically flambeed with Cognac. My personal favourite is the Champagne risotto with lashings of melted Reggiano Parmesan accented by slivers of fresh black truffle. And those are only the appetizers, each portion being mercifully proportioned to just about leave room to continue to the equally mouth watering mains.

The menu of entrees invites you to select from: Steak au Poivre beef tenderloin with green peppercorn sauce, mashed potato and glazed carrots; Grilled Australian lamb chops with sauteed potatoes and green beans; Slow cooked duck leg, cherries, mashed potatoes and tomato Provencal; Pan-fried sea bass - fried rice, tomatoes, olives, capers; Flamed tiger prawns, Pernod, bell pepper, zucchini - pilaf rice, creamed spinach. A couple of extra deluxe options add 300 baht to the flat Bt2,200 tariff, namely Tournedos Rossini, beef tenderloin, duck liver, black truffle, rosti, saute{aac}ed green beans; Boston lobster thermidor ( pc) with pilaf rice, steamed broccoli, and; Dover Sole Meuniere with nature potatoes and creamed spinach.

Conclude with a fine European cheese selection with original accompaniments such as fruit bread and chutney, or the Tables dessert platter, a selection three or four signature dessert items altogether, including a tableside flambe - or both for an additional Bt300.

To enhance the dinner experience, a perfect matching red or white wine is on offer starting from Bt320 per glass, allowing guests to pair drinks individually with each dish.

Equally gratifyingly, special seasonal wine selections, mostly Wine Spectator or Robert Parker noted, are offered at agreeable prices, recently ranging from Prosecco Villa Sandi il Fresco Doc Treviso at Bt1,600 to Grattamacco Bolgheri Superiore, Tuscany, Italy at Bt6,800.

Hat's off especially to Chef de Cuisine Michel Eschmann whose talents would not be out of place in any of the finest fine dining restaurants, including those that aspire to Michelin Stars. His foie gras pate, for example, now and then presented by way of an amuse bouche, is the work of a master guaranteed to send epicureans into swoon.

Lunches from Monday - Saturday are also interesting. Diners can enjoy a wide selection of European cuisines in buffet style, including oysters on ice, smoked salmon, Boston lobster bisque, sauteed tiger prawns and many more items that ensure a sophisticated, yet informal, lunch experience with business associates or friends, all at Bt950 per person

Of course, Sunday Brunch Buffet at Tables is notoriously perfect for family and friends to share a casual meal and seriously hard to get a table for without booking in advance. The Sunday Brunch menu includes a spread of all-time favourites, including Boston lobster and oysters on ice, lobster bisque, Champagne risotto, Sunday roast, flamed tiger prawns and much more. Complement your Sunday Brunch with our free-flowing beverage package that includes Prosecco rose, wine, beer, orange juice and soft drinks. Bt1,600 per person including iced tea, water, coffee and tea. Bt900 for children aged 6-2. The Sunday Brunch Beverage Package is priced at Bt580 per person.

All plus plus, natch.

Two private rooms with a capacity of 12 and 32 people are each equipped with two cooking tables, ideal for private dining and entertainment; and a bar where cocktails are expertly mixed.

Those who arched an incredulous eyebrow when Travel + Leisure magazine in 2010 voted Bangkok the top city in the world may gain more insight into what it's all about by dining at Tables where they can eat their doubting words with the greatest of pleasure.

TABLES. Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok.
494 Rajdamri Road. Tel. 02 254 1234