Flocked by urban revellers and highbrow gastronomes, the 19-year-old London-based Zuma restaurant brand is known for its world-class dynamism complemented by refined izakaya-styled cuisine.
Zuma’s Bangkok edition, situated on the ground floor of St. Regis hotel, is one of the brand’s 15 venues worldwide. The other locations include Hong Kong, Istanbul, Mykonos, New York, Rome and Austria’s Kitzbühel Alps, to name a few.
Just like its other big city locations, expect to find a luxurious variety of Japanese pub grub served in a modern sake bar dining room amid upbeat lounge tunes and sizzling sounds from the open kitchen as Zuma Bangkok’s signature vibe.
Beef tenderloin with sesame red chilli and sweet soy.
Corporate execs and expats make up the restaurant’s weekday crowd, especially in the evening, but on weekends, the place converts into a food haven for families.
My review this week is Zuma Bangkok’s free-flow Sunday brunch.
The weekend buffet feast is, in fact, nothing new. My first impression of this place was formed in 2012, just a few months after the restaurant first opened. I can still remember its sweeping array of inventive but no-nonsense sushi and sashimi — the biggest exhibition of all-you-can-eat sushi I had ever come across.
Now, nine years later, the management has decided to revive the selection and highlight the weekend fare again.
Available from 11am to 3pm, the Sunday brunch allows guests to enjoy as much as they can in a four-hour timeframe and choose from a vast selection of Japanese light bites, kuchiyaki (grilled skewered food) and main courses.
The all-you-can-eat sushi, sashimi and freshly imported seafood station.
Zuma's all-time favourite miso marinated black cod in hoba leaf.
The restaurant’s sushi and robata dining counters are transformed into continuously refreshed buffet stations where besides the sushi and sashimi, the likes of deep-fried items, salads, savouries, snacks and grilled meat are featured.
The buffet is priced depending on the guest’s choice of free-flow beverage. The Signature is the basic package, which includes food and soft drinks at 2,180 baht per person.
A Deluxe package, which adds wine, beer and Bottega Prosecco to the mix, costs 3,180 baht per person. The Premium package, inclusive of free-flow Bollinger Cuvée Champagne costs 4,180 per person. Children aged four to 10 pay 1,080 baht per person.
The sushi selection proved as large and exquisitely made of high-quality ingredients as I had expected. Next to it was a nice exhibition of freshly imported seafood on ice and sashimi, including oysters, surf clams, hamachi (yellowtail fish), akami tuna, salmon and scallops.
The deep-fry corner featured a golden pyramid of prawn tempura next to displays of karaage (Japanese fried chicken), crispy salmon, potato croquettes, gyoza dumplings and takoyaki (pan-fried octopus balls) — all freshly made and piping hot.
The selection of prime sushi and sashimi.
Some of the gourmet sushi selection.
Next was a kuchiyaki station where there were options of flame-grilled food ranging from pork belly, chicken wings, glazed chicken filets and fresh shiitake mushrooms.
There was also housemade tofu custard; Wagyu beef tartare with sweet potato crisps; Wagyu beef tataki; salmon ceviche and seaweed salad.
For the main course, guests can choose one a la carte dish from Zuma’s selection of signature menus.
Options include spicy beef tenderloin with sesame; teriyaki salmon fillet with sliced pickled cucumber; spiced lamb cutlets with Hatcho miso; chilli-marinated chicken thigh with barley miso; and hamachi kama (salt-grilled yellowtail collar).
Premium dishes such as miso-marinated black cod wrapped in hoba leaf, which is the best-seller at Zuma outlets worldwide, and roasted lobster with garlic, shiso and ponsu butter are also available at an extra charge.
Giving a monumental finale to the meal is a camera-ready dessert platter served in an extra-large stone bowl of crushed ice. Designed for sharing, it consists of assorted seasonal fruits straight from Japan as well as a collection of housemade cakes (the green tea and banana cake with peanut toffee sauce was heavenly), custards, confectionaries, ice creams and sorbet.
An innovative range of drinks, including more than 40 different varieties of sake and cocktails, is designed by a sake sommelier and wine master to complement the cuisine.
The long brunch also features a guest saxophonist and music by a resident DJ.
There’s a terrace equipped with a cosmopolitan cocktail bar and outdoor air-conditioning system which gives an al fresco dining feel.
The restaurant is open daily for lunch and dinner. On Saturday night, the Yashoku (which translates to “midnight snack”) is Bangkok’s only party night buffet. However, the restaurant also lets guests unwind after a long week and kick off the weekend in style by featuring top-shelf drinks and gourmet dishes on Saturday.
- Zuma Sunday Brunch
- 159 Ratchadamri Road
- Call 02-252-4707
- Open every Sunday 11am-3pm
- Park at St. Regis Bangkok's car park
- Most credit cards accepted
