Leave the guilt at home

Guilty is Bangkok's latest addition to the five-star dining scene.

The 55-seater, which celebrates its official grand-opening today, takes over a courtyard-facing space at the breathtaking Parichart Court of Anantara Siam hotel.

Despite its alluring location, the name initially sounded more like a bar than the subject of a restaurant review.

However, my recent visit there during its soft launch proved me wrong. The experience was worthwhile for a review.

Conceptualised as a versatile dining place with fun-filled vibes, Guilty is a popular restaurant brand which originated in Portugal by famous chef-entrepreneur Olivier da Costa.

Each of the outlets (three in Portugal) have their own culinary identity but at the same time stick to the bold and provocative cosmopolitan cuisine concept of the brand.

The giant hibachi barbecue gambas prawn.

Guilty Bangkok labels itself as a standalone restaurant that happens to be situated in a hotel, and is driven more by the food than the drink.

Steering the kitchen is Venezuelan chef de cuisine Carlos Rodriquez. A familiar face in the Bangkok restaurant scene since 2015, Rodriquez has worked at a number of the city's high-profile restaurants including Gaggan, Meatlicious, Mejico and Park Hyatt Bangkok's Penthouse Bar + Grill.

His menu here showcases contemporary Latin American cuisine with worldly twist. Guests can find in the 60-item collection dishes such as snacks, salads, tacos, ceviche, meat and seafood courses as well as sushi and sashimi. All are generously portioned and ideal for sharing.

The Busyu A5 Wagyu striploin on Himalayan salt stone.

More than a dozen dishes were enjoyed in one evening by my party of four.

If I was to describe them in just a few sentences, here is what I'd have to say.

The dishes, an indication of culinary dexterity and attention, taste exactly how you expect a good rendition of them to be.

Starter courses of salad and ceviche were light and refreshing, yet bursting with piquant zest of natural ingredients. The meat and seafood course, on the other hand, were hefty and so flavourful that you might not need condiments. And while the savoury offerings were absolute no-nonsense, desserts were spectacular and fun.

Our dinner started with a wonderful complimentary cornbread.

The jicama mango salad with confit tomato and kalamansi citrus.

The moist, bright-yellow cornbread, to be had with butter, fresh tarragon leaves, salt and red pepper, was good enough a reason for my future return.

Then there was Holy Guacamole (550 baht), prepared tableside with only fresh ingredients and served with house-made tortilla chips.

Should you be in the mood for zesty appetisers, both vegetarian salad and fish ceviche are among options truly worth having.

The salad of a la plancha asparagus, arugula, Manchego cheese and chimichurri (500 baht) was one of my favourites that night. The consistency of the salad was built on the mustardy rocket leaves and roasted green asparagus which also lent a smoky charred touch to it.

The sheep milk cheese, in ribbon-like shavings, provided to the dish a buttery creamy tang while toasted pine nuts gave a nutty crunch. Meanwhile, tomato added a sweet succulency and chimichuri capped it with an aromatic pungent finish.

The hamachi ceviche with yellow tiger milk and crispy corn.

Another salad, which I loved, was jicama mango salad with confit tomato and kalamansi citrus (450 baht).

The dish featured a nice proportion of crisp jicama, soft sweet mango and creamy avocados, all in neat cubes, with shallots, cilantro oil, fresh chillies and citrus dressing.

For ceviche, there was classic Peruvian ceviche prepared with sea bass (500 baht) and the Nikkei-styled ceviche featuring hamachi fish (800 baht).

The first was diced sea bass seethed in milky leche de tigre (citrus-based marinade) with radish, chilli oil and sweet potato puree. The latter was a luminous exhibition of yellowtail fish, radish, coriander and crispy corn tortilla in passion fruit-based tiger milk.

You can forget commonplace tacos.

Holy Guacamole prepared at the tableside.

Here, your choices are an authentic Barbacoa taco, a spicy salmon taco and a vegetarian taco stuffed with tofu, feta cheese and guacamole.

The Barbacoa, an authentic Mexican pulled beef taco, was prepared with Wagyu beef (700 baht for three pieces) and deserve a two thumbs up.

On a soft corn tortilla shell was an aromatic, unselfish slab of shredded Wagyu beef that had been slow-cooked with honey and spices until it developed a nice depth of flavours and became tender but still yielded a nice chew. Adding a nice finish to it was Barbacoa peanut sauce, onion, corriander and smoked paprika.

Guilty's version of crab croquettes (600 baht) is represented through chubby croquettes tightly stuffed with seasoned crab meat and dressed with tarragon mayonnaise.

An order of Peruvian seafood rice with roasted Chilean sea bass and rock fish sauce (1,250 baht) is recommended if you are looking for a decent fish dish that will fill your stomach.

But for fans of crustaceans, there's a nice option of giant hibachi barbecue gambas (900 baht) featuring large tiger prawns rubbed with spices and served sizzling over flame on portable hibashi grill. Chilli aioli and lime were offered on the side. But as I previously said, the main dishes here were so flavourful you wouldn't feel the need for condiments.

Another evidence of the aforementioned is charcoal-grilled Busyu striploin grade A5 (25 baht per gram). Yes, the dish was pricey. But every bite (approximately some 300 baht per bite) is worth the money.

Served on a Himalayan salt stone, the top-tier Wagyu from Japan's Saitama prefecture came with a pinkish medium-rare perfection and in beautiful bite-sized slices. Thanks to its high-marbling content, the beef was full of sweet beefy flavours. A brush with the surface of the serving stone gave the beef an ideal level of seasoning.

The Wagyu beef taco with Barbacoa peanut sauce.

Side items of crispy sweet potatoes and Huancaina sauce (150 baht); truffle mashed potato (250 baht); and red pepper-spiced corn lollypops with feta cheese (220 baht) were no less admirable compared to the main meat courses.

Please spare some rooms for desserts.

The orange and lime churros de Naranja with dulce de leche and chocolate sauce (450 baht); Mango Latino cheesecake with pear sorbet (350 baht); and tres leches Maracuya almond sponge cake with condensed milk and coconut-rum sauce (295 baht) proved a joy to the eyes and the tastebuds.

For a greater sensation, I highly recommend Break It Up (1,750 baht), a gigantic hazelnut chocolate truffle with a surprise filling.

Complementing the excellent food is a wide range of beverages including a signature collection of Latin American-inspired cocktails by the hotel's master mixologist.

Service was folksy with a foundation of professionality.