Do yourself a Thai flavours favour and book your New Year’s Eve dinner at Front Room, the Waldorf Astoria’s vibrant, high-ceilinged, lower lobby level Thai restaurant.
Named for the cosy sociable rooms in typical houses, Front Room only reopened in early November, starting out again with a fresh concept that celebrates the eight distinctive flavours of Thai cuisine (sour, sweet, nutty, salty, spicy, bitter, astringent, mild and mouth-watering mixes in between) presented ‘ros mue mae’ (cooked by mum) style.
And thanks to rarefied input by Dr. Niphatchanok Najpinij (Ajarn Ning) who learned from her mother, legendary Thai culinary wiz Asst. Prof. Kobkaew Najpinij, together with equally celebrated Chef Supanant (Ann) Khanarak, it’s got off to an impressive start.
Nevertheless, the best is yet to come thanks to the highly trained and passionate young team the project inherited, led by bubbly, exceptionally talented Head Chef Sarocha (Bua) Rajatanawin, who trained in Australia. In fact, most of the chefs have western culinary chops that they combine to excellent effect with their indigenous Thai food roots. “Thai food is about much more than just throwing together certain vegetables, herbs, and spices,” says Bua. “It’s how the flavours intermingle that’s most important.”
Balancing the flavours and textures and combining them into tasty Thai treats manifests not only the skill of the chef or cook but the quality of the recipe, she adds. Many of the dishes reflect the chefs’ memories of childhood meals at their family dining table – except not with quite the same excellence of ingredients, variety or finesse.
The virtuoso multi-course New Year’s Eve sharing menu for two rallies around a lotus, embracing the mystical flowers’ Buddhist association with renewal. The exquisite culinary voyage begins with an amuse bouche of Raak Bua Klook Foon – crispy spikes of deep-fried lotus root brushed with grated lotus root and northeastern laap spices, dusted with chili powder and kaffir lime leaf cream. The idea, according to Bua, is to provoke the gastric juices, and it certainly does that.
Two starters are offered. Miang Kleeb Bua Goong Dang Spain Pao pitches Spanish carabineros red prawn marinated in oil and lime then briefly sousvide-cooked and finally torched. This is anchored in a sticky coconut sugar, dried shrimp and fish sauce blend and dressed with lotus blossom and coconut syrup. It’s a marvellous mouthful of miang, the usually leaf-wrapped hors d’oeuvre.
The other is Hoi Nang Rom Chea Num Pla – oysters two traditional Thai ways. Firstly, a kind of ‘hoy tord’ where the oyster is marinated in fish sauce, rolled in flour, and deep fried. Here it is enhanced with sautéed pea sprouts and a dab of homemade hot yellow chili Sri Racha sauce. The other is a picturesque riff on oysters marinated in fish sauce then served raw with seafood sauce, here presented in edible lotus flower petals. Both are irresistible.
Each dish is a picture of festivity but the salad is particularly startling. Phla Pla-Tuna Lae Hoi Peek Nok Num Phrik Pao owes more to Latin “ceviche” than Thai “yam” but the flavours are unmistakably Thai. Strips of Akami tuna are laid out like bed throws then brushed with fresh, grilled and cooked chilli paste, juxtaposed with surf clam and sprinkled with kaffir lime powder and lotus stems. A squeeze of lime, roll, and pop in the mouth for an explosion of sour-sweet flavours.
For soup we have Gaeng Jued Pla Muek Yad Sai Lum Yai Oob Hang. The ambrosial broth is Bua’s Thai-Chinese mum’s recipe using pork bone, dried squid, dried shrimp, coriander root, turnip etc. that simmers half a day. Floating atop is squid stuffed with minced pork while lurking below are lotus root, shitake mushroom, carrot and turnip. A sprinkling of dried longan before serving adds a teasing sweetness. There are four generously proportioned main courses.
Gaeng Phed Tai Gun Chiang Poo Gub Poo Nim Lae is a spicy southern thick yellow curry stuffed with tender chunks of crab meat and whole legs. To keep it tidy, the rice noodles that are usually served with this dish are neatly trimmed and wrapped in nori like sushi. A side of crispy soft-shell crab and tempura vegetables along with fresh fruits, herbs and leaves, cool the taste buds so the curry can be enjoyed without injury.
There’s also Goong Mae Num Thod Phrik Gra-Thiam, river prawn flash deep-fried to crispen, then tossed with fish sauce, sugar, crispy chili and garlic and garnished with Thai chive. A classic of the genre.
Dip devotees will be appreciative of Naam Phrik Phrik Thai Oon Gub Pla In-See Fu. It’s a thick and sticky dip of wok-fried green pepper, shrimp paste and chili added with chewy pork belly. Served with crispy mackerel and Thai veggies with contrasting and complementing flavours, it’s another winner.
Last not least, Si-Khrong Gae Phrik Gaeng Lueang Yang is another recognisably southern Thai dish but with a festive upgrade. Instead of chicken, pork, prawn, beef or mussels, as you would expect, the dish features finest Australian lamb rack, sousvide tenderised then grilled for a crispy outside and medium-rare inside, complemented where the mint sauce might otherwise go with tor lae, yellow curry paste and coconut cream sauce. This is served with roti, deep-fried to stay crisp, and contrastingly tart pickled papaya, cucumber, capsicum and shallot.
Dessert, Kati Song Krueng, also raises the quality of a classic. The coconut cream in this coconut ice cream is leavened with coconut juice, so it’s not too heavy put together with filo pastry roasted with jackfruit and Thai donut batter grilled with banana and khao mao young green rice. Spoon on top coconut and white chocolate foam for a very yummy pud indeed. Conclude with wonderful petit fours of steamed banana pitted with Chiang Mai chocolate, peanut and chocolate sauce.
Front Room is a stylish mélange of contemporary western and traditional Thai design elements. A monumental forged-metal garland announces a stretch of showcases leading to the theatre kitchen’s blond wood, with muted greys and beiges throughout, and a conservatory-like dining room extending to a garden and the street.
New Year’s Eve Dinner is served 6:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. priced at THB 3,000++ per person (food only).
Front Room is located at the Lower Lobby of Waldorf Astoria Bangkok. Open Tuesday to Saturday for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. (last order), and for dinner from 5:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.
(last order). Three-course set lunch THB 900++. A la carte items range from THB 280++ to THB 980++.
Tel. 0 2846 8888
Email: bkkwa.fb@waldorfastoria.com
BULL & BEAR — Sunset Dinner (5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.) or New Year Celebration (8:30 p.m. until late) priced respectively at THB 4,500++ per person for a fivecourse dinner (food only) or a la carte with minimum equivalent spent and THB 9,000++ per person for a five-course dinner with wine pairing.
THE BRASSERIE New Year’s Eve Buffet is available from 6:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. priced at THB 3,900++ per person (food only), THB 5,900++ per person including free-flow house wines, and THB 2,500++ for children aged 6-12 years when dining with adults.
THE LOFT & THE CHAMPAGNE BAR — A minimum spend of THB 5,000++ per person is required at The Loft and THB 7,500++ per person at The Champagne Bar.
