With the “by Water Library” title added to guarantee its high culinary standards, 1881 Bar & Restaurant is one of the anchor eateries of the city’s newly opened wining and dining venue, Groove@CentralWorld, on Rama I Road.
Flocked to mainly by fashionable gourmands and sophisticated bar flies — local and international — the 140-seat gastropub is the new face of the highly celebrated, six-year-old Water Library fine-dining restaurant. The steampunk-themed venue offers a unification of all-day dining bliss, sophisticated bar culture and late-night effervescence.
As a culinary haven, it features a decent variety of Asian fusion and contemporary Western fare alongside gourmet burgers and tapas created by 1881’s head chef Urs Lustenberger. Meanwhile a selection of breakfast and brunch items such as eggs benedict, a basket of artisanal bread and Rosso Verde scrambled eggs are served until 2pm.
Apart from the medium-sized regular menu, there’s also a list of approximately 10 recommended dishes of the season written on the blackboard. At our recent dinner visit, we sampled from the seasonal menu the tuna ala plancha with risoni and crab jus (590 baht) and were pleased. It was a generous plate of risoni pasta, which looked very much like natural long-grain rice but was in fact a versatile pasta made with durum wheat flour and semolina. In an Asian spice-infused crab juice reduction, the pasta was complemented beautifully by supple and naturally sweet pieces of partially cooked sashimi-grade tuna, bright green drizzles of tasty rocket pesto and charcoal fish skin garnish.
Beef fans should not miss Chef Urs’ special Angus short ribs with black trumpet mushroom-truffle polenta (860 baht). It was so far the best beef dish I’ve had this year, featuring two sizeable pieces of short ribs on a bed of wonderful mushroom-leavened cornmeal porridge surrounded with a beef jus-red wine reduction. The slow-cooked beef exhibited very flavourful meat enhanced by an impressive texture so tender that it could be cut with a spoon.
Beef fans should not miss Angus short ribs with black trumpet mushroom-truffle polenta.
Another memorable dish is the vegetable-feta cheese tart with capsicum purée (260 baht). The description might sound unexciting and it might look quite sloppy, but the taste was superb. It presented circular layers of feta cheese and seasoned artichoke on a thin crusty base accompanied by kalamata olive purée and a dab of capsicum sauce, which lent a pungent touch to the creamy soft and mild-tasting tart.
Should you look for a tapas-style treat, worth having is Siam chicken praline (150 baht). The vertically arranged platter of popsicle lookalike delicacies featured deep-fried breadcrumbed minced-chicken balls with tomato-chilli aioli. Or try the best-selling crab cigar (170 baht) — deep-fried crab spring rolls with apple sauce jam.
Of the limited but awe-inspiring dessert options (the likes of white chocolate panna cotta with cherry granita, spiced apple with dark chocolate and strawberry yoghurt sorbet with black pepper), I was highly delighted by the deconstructed lemon tart (190 baht), a very tasty and buttery, somewhat inside-out interpretation, of the classic lemon tart with frothy lemon and cream centre accompanied by a petite warm madeleine cake.
As a bar, 1881 has a vast collection of wine as well as an impressive list of creatively crafted cocktails designed by Water Library’s award-winning Italian mixologist, Mirko Gardelliano. Among the best-sellers are the Sexy Lychee (320 baht), my favourite concoction made with vodka, lychee liqueur, fresh citrus juice and chilli, and the Gummy Bear (380 baht), a gin-based cocktail served with house-made gin-infused gummy jelly.
Every night from 7pm onwards, live music and resident DJs take turns to exhilarate the diners.
During our presence, the service by a team of swift-moving, ever-smiling staff in chic uniforms was friendly and efficient. Reservations are recommended.
The 140-seat venue offers a unification of all-day dining bliss, sophisticated bar culture and late-night effervescence.
