Long known as one of the best Sunday brunches in town, Uno Mas, on the 54th floor of Centara Grand at CentralWorld, has expanded its culinary repertoire with new Spanish chef de cuisine Roberto Gonzalez Alonso.
The “dinner with a view” restaurant offers a rich and diverse selection of Spain most iconic dishes, and then some. “I haven’t changed the menu too much. I’ve just changed a few of the recipes to improve them and added a few ones. From the vast menu, I’ve improved on 26 different dishes, which isn’t much when you look at the offerings. When I tasted the dishes, I agreed with the dish but some of them could be improved upon. I always tell my team: ‘We always want 10’. The day we are okay with eight, they will give me six. The food is not easy, many different eyes and many different hands. I have to teach them also why we are changing the recipe and why we are cooking this way. That is my job,” says the chef
One of new dishes added to a bursting menu by chef Alonso is the Strawberry, tomato and beetroot salad (B250++). A symphony of red, it is a salad for those hot and humid days that will immediately refresh and cool you down and comes with a smoked sardine tartare. The Smoked salmon mille feuille (B480++) is delicious and comes with avocado aioli, another new addition.
I am a huge fan of artichokes any which way, so the Pan fried artichokes (B1,100++) called out to me. Simply served with Albequina olive oil and almonds, they are creamy, crunch and everything one wants in a frito. “I really like the artichokes, because it is typical of Spain. At Uno Mas, we buy around 100kg of artichokes in January. We clean it and store them of the entire year,” explains chef Alonso.
“It’s not just about the recipe, its about the way we enjoy the food. I did not change the recipe for Txangurro [B820++], but the way we presented the spider crab has changed and the way it is to be enjoyed has changed. Before it was served in a crab shell, now we put it in a shiso leaf with citrus caviar and you’re supposed to use your hands. In Spain, we use our hands a lot and we share food. I really love it,” explains the chef.
The Spanish tuna tartare (BB510++) recipe has been changed from a tuna skirt to a loin. Razor clams (B450++) are new and the presentation and flavour worked really well, though I am a sucker for razor clams. A feast for the eyes and mouth, the clams are removed from their shell, boiled in their juices and cooked in a susa refrito sauce, which is garlic with a little bit of vinegar. They are put back into their shells and served with a lemon foam.
“My signature dish is the Dover sole [B1,800++], with Iberico ham cream and snow peas. In Spain, we think in another way. For me it a process and the flavours work well together,” says the chef.
Suckling pig is always on the menu and requires no pre-ordering. The Cuchifrito (B540+) is a dish that is made in-house from start to finish. “The piglets are generally around two to three months old and we cook the whole pig. It is confit in olive oil for 12 hours. We then remove all the bones, cut it and deep fry it; following a recipe from my hometown in the Castellon region,” explains chef Alonso. The salad works well with it too, rocket and orange. Though if fried pork doesn’t make you quiver, try the Suckling pig Cochinillo (B1,990++), which is half-roasted Segovian style and served with green mojo sauce , gravy and nam jim jaew. Though be warned, it feeds a minimum of two to four people.
“We have also changed the recipe of the Spanish omelette and we are doing one of the best. I worked at a place in Spain which had one of the top five omelettes in the country. There, I learnt to cook it properly and the secret to cooking it correctly lies not in the potatoes but in the onions. The Spanish omelette is supposed to be with just eggs and potatoes but when you add the onions, it changes the game,” says chef Alonso.
“The paella is left untouched because it is already very good,” says the chef and we agree. A delicious marriage of Spanish round rice and an array of herbs and spices, including saffron, salt, pepper, paprika, a generous squeeze of lemon, come in five varieties. The Uno Mas paella (B1,490++) is a fusion of free-range yellow spring chicken and succulent seafood.
The Lobster paella (B2,490++) features wild Canadian lobster, while the Pyrenees paella (B1,950++) is a gourmet delight with wild mushrooms, Iberico Secreto pork, Catalan “Butifarra” sausage and black winter truffle. Can’t make up your mind about which one to order? Get The half & half paella (B2,350++), which has lobster and Pyrenees paellas. Though the ultimate indulgence would be the Seafood “Mariscos” paella (B3,200++), a seafood lover’s paradise with creamy “Bomba” rice, Maine lobster and tiger prawns.
Though desserts have the usual Spanish sweets, try the Baked orange with saffron yoghurt ice cream and fresh herbs. It is a salad and a dessert, really fresh and not sweet.
On Sept 3 and Oct 1, Uno Mas will host its Champagne Brunch, where a wide variety of Spanish and Mediterranean dishes and unlimited pours of G.H. Mumm Cordon Rouge Champagne seem the best way to spend Sundays. It is priced at B4,555++ per person and offers the restaurant’s signature dishes, prepared a la minute, apart from oysters, snow crab, Maine lobsters, tiger prawns, jamon Iberico, traditional paella and more.
Uno Mas is open from noon to 11pm, call 02-100-6255, or email diningcgcw@chr.co.th.
