This enchanting restaurant in the compound of the Rose Hotel is housed in a delightful golden teak wood building constructed over 100 years ago during the reign of King Rama V. Origi­nally it was the home of a herbal medical doc­tor whose name has been lost in the dusts of time. Today, as a nod to its heritage some of the medical herbs once used by the doctor are used in some the dishes.

The Rose Hotel was acquired by the Vitayakul family in 1960’s and then a decade later they purchased the adjacent plot of land where the golden teak house stands. In its day it was used as a storeroom and housed exclusive guest accommodation on the first floor.

A couple of years ago the teak house was completely renovated to make it into a Thai restaurant. Guests have a choice of dining on two floors. The ground floor is air conditioned with floor to ceiling windows allowing an open view of the swimming pool and gardens. The feel is contemporary with clusters of dark wood tables topped with lime green cotton placemats and lounge areas tastefully woven together to create a residential feel. Up­stairs the setting is more formal, classical Thai with a collection of antiques and classical paintings. As it was a cool balmy winter’s night we decided to dine al fresco on the first floor terrace – the tranquil environment adding to the dining experience.

The taste of the food is modern Thai, designed to be an authentic Thai taste balanced and not overpowering. The introduction of non-traditional Thai ingredients such as salmon, soft shell crabs, scallops and broccoli doesn’t mean fusion food. This is simply taking advantage of what’s now available in the market to improve the quality. The cooking technique adheres to tradi­tional Thai methods.

All of the furniture dates back to the 70’s. Some sets of chairs are Chinese style from the middle of the decade, others are heavily carved teak from Chiang Mai, all had been originally used in the main hotel building and have been restored for their new role in this restaurant. The cutlery is con­temporary western with simple cotton placemats and napkins on dark wood tables.

The first dish we tried was a crispy seafood crepe, a modern Thai dish with an authentic taste. This was followed

by a selection of appetizers; among them spicy shredded chicken and giant prawn cakes with a superior texture. Dipping sauces to match were served in small round bowls.

It seems that almost every restaurant these days are using white chinaware to showcase their food but here the colorful Thai food is served on black chinaware, a presentation decision that works very well.

The soft shell crab was deliciously light with the perfect crunch to the taste-again not the purest of traditional ingredients but another example of how new ingredients are being successfully integrated into the Thai menu.

The lemongrass infused chicken with a delightfully unique and subtle Thai flavor was refreshing and light. Again there was balance in the taste allowing the guest to enjoy the freshness of the ingredients used. I appreciated the fact that burning chili wasn’t the dominant flavor.

Tom Som is one of the lesser known Thai soups but has a delightful taste. Their version was served with small cubes of fresh salmon, with the sweet taste coming from tamarind sauce used in the preparation. It didn’t smell fishy due the amount of fresh ginger that had been used together with shal­lots and Kapi, a Thai shrimp paste. It is very refreshing and wonderfully fragrant.

The queen of Thai desserts is mango with sticky rice garnished with flakes of gold leaf to enhance the presentation.

The contemporary residential setting blended modern paintings with Asian artifacts and was complimented by a selection of light instrumental music with a slight Asian twist. Dining at Ruen Urai isnt just about eating food – it’s a complete dining experience, feeding the need of all the senses.

The dinning experience is superb, to describe it as fine dining would create the wrong impression of too much stiffness and formality. This is not the case. Its best described as elegant casual, something stylish yet comfortable that just feels right. A small sanctuary of calm in a sea noise and chaos, proof that small is beautiful.

Published by Traversing The Orient Magazine. You want to make an online travel business? Please go to www.web.com.

The Doctor’s Former Golden Residence: Ruen Urai

Kai is a Japanese restaurant located at the posh Greenbelt 5 Mall and having a meal there is guaranteed to be a memo­rable culinary experience. The brains behind the restaurant’s exciting menu is Chef Gilbert Pangilinan – a hard work­ing, experienced chef and co-owner of Kai restaurant.

Before he could convince his mother to allow him to study at the Culinary Institute of America, he first had to graduate from his Entrepreneurial Management Degree. Then he had to prove to her that he was serious in pursuing a culinary career by being an apprentice at Edsa Shangri-La Hotel and at Tagaytay Highlands, (a golf resort) which was run by Chef Gene Gonzales’ group. Highlands had 22 kitchens and Gilbert worked there without pay, just to learn the ropes. After a year, his mother was convinced of his culinary ambition and packed him off to the Culinary Institute of America where he earned an associate’s degree.

When asked what was his most difficult job, he recounts his experience when he worked at the Savoy in London. “We had a restaurant and a banquet serving a thousand guests. There were 50 of us in the kitchen under a German sous chef and we worked at both the banquet and restaurant simultane­ously. When there was a function in the banquet, we’d go up to cook for the thousand guests, then come down to the restaurant again. We were in an oven room with burners in it, plat­ing the food, and a hundred waiters would come in to get them and serve them to the guests. Then there was a refrigerator room for the desserts. We were going from hot to cold (hence the toque and gloves), from the ban­quet to the restaurant in one night.”

“So I realized what our chef used to tell us was true: What you can do with one plate you can do with 2000 plates. That’s what I do now for catering, no matter how difficult, it’s feasible. It can be done.”

In New York, he worked for the prestigious and popular Nobu restaurant. Working in Nobu made him dream of opening his own restaurant, which had been at the back of his mind even while he was still studying. He came home to the Philippines and opened Sticks Japanese Bistro, a casual dining restaurant that gives classic Japanese dishes an unexpected twist. Sticks was first opened in Robinson’s Star Mall in Pampanga, then he moved it to Rob­inson’s Galleria in Ortigas. The food in Sticks Japanese Bistro was very good and very reasonably priced.

But soon after Sticks, he was approached by some restaurant entrepreneur friends and together they opened Kai at Greenbelt 2, then moved to Green belt 5, a newer more plush mall.

Gilbert claims that as much as he loves to experiment, there are some dishes you just can’t touch. Like Peking duck, “you don’t touch the sauce profiles. Even in Japanese cooking, you don’t change the teriyaki sauce. I’ve been wanting to use truffle oil for one Chinese soup, but I know it would ruin the taste, so I gave up the idea.”

Part of Chef Gilbert’s success lies in his attention to detail. During one cater­ing experience for a high end group, he and his staff called up the guests one by one and asked them to choose from the main courses. Weeks before the party, they asked the host to give them a copy of the seating arrangement. So at the party, the waiters knew exactly what to give to the guests without having to ask them. It was such a gratifying moment for him when he was introduced after the dinner and all the guests clapped and congratulated him for his menu and the excellence of his service.

Gilbert got the idea when he attended a wedding in the USA. The hotel called him and asked him to choose from the set menu. It was such a good idea, he thought, no intrusive waiters interrupting the guests who are in the midst of a conversation to ask about their choice for a main course.

Chef Gilbert is in his restaurant daily to personally cook the specialties that Kai offers daily. He comes up with new menus every so often and usually gets his ideas after a long walk which he says clears his head.

The best gauge of a good Japanese Restaurant is when you hear the Japanese themselves giving it a good rating and this is true for Chef Gilbert’s restau­rant. And the man most deserving of the restaurant’s excellent rating is Chef Gilbert Pangilinan himself.

KAI NEO RESTAURANT
Green Belt 5, Makati City, Philippines
For reservations, call: 632-7575209
fax is 632-7575210

Published by Traversing The Orient Magazine. You want to make an online travel business? Please go to www.web.com.

Master of Details

The Restaurant is housed in a cluster of Thai-style, striking teak pavilions set in a garden next to the Chao Phraya River. Bensley Design Studios recent ren­ovation of Salathip at Shangri-la Bangkok has given it a contemporary neo­classical feel with the over structure remaining unchanged.

The décor is a combination of tradi­tional Thai blended with contem­porary elegance and simplicity. A stricking feature is in the ceiling design of the individual salas where they have cleverly used gold leaf stenciling of Thai inspired designs set on a back­ground of dark wood – subtle yet effective.

Chef Tussamee has a traditional, Thai based style of cooking to which she adds a creative twist us­ing the finest ingredients and products from the Royal projects. As the ideal Thai meal consists of a mixture of flavours and textures, to help guests get the right balance to their meal the menu in­dicates whether the predominant taste in each dish is spicy, sour, sweet or salty.

Salathip is more than just about eating; they have carefully paired some of their dishes with an individual wine to elevate it to a dining experience. Their recommendation is to choose wines from the list of Pinot grapes as they believe that wines from this family are less tannic and softer making them very suitable for Thai cuisine.

Pinot Noir is the mother grape of the Pinot family, Pinot Meunier, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc are some of the more successful mutations of Pinot Noir and produce distinct and unique wines on their own. Each differs from its parent Pinot Noir, in the colour of their fruit and possesses a different char­acter of its own, but will not over power the flavour of their dishes.

The first dish I tasted was deep-fried ‘Tub Tim’ Fish, side-served with kale leaves and its condiments of diced lime, diced shallot, diced ginger, roasted coconut, roasted peanut, and roasted diced chili. The wine they chose to pair with it was a Leon Byer Pinot Gris from Alsace that is crisp and me­dium bodied and contains a suitable level of acidity that went well with the gingery flavoured appetizers. Serving wine at the correct temperature makes all the difference to the structure of the taste and I appreciated them serving it very cold.

Next, they served Southern style crispy pork leg with Thai herbs accompa­nied by fresh vegetables such as cucumber, eggplant, snake beans and green salad which they had paired with Sileni Estate Pinot Noir from Marlbor­ough, New Zealand. This very versatile wine complemented the crispy pork,and did not take away any flavour from the Thai herbs. The acidity of the Pinot Noir complements the fattiness of the pork. There is sweetness to the wine that bal­ances the taste of the sauce and enhances the overall flavour of the dish.

Then they served Salad of Grilled Austral­ian Strip loin with Thai Aubergine with Pi­not Nero Castello della Sala as they wanted a stronger fruitier wine with the beef. Pi­not Nero is the Italian version of the Pinot Noir varietal found mainly in the north of the country. While the wine is strong it didn’t overpower the grilled strip loin – in fact it balanced with it nicely.

We then moved onto Banana blossom salad and Artichoke with Roasted Cashew Nuts and Chilli Jam which they choose to pair with Pinot Grigio Castello Banfi from Tuscany Italy. The intense fruit aroma of the wine com­plemented the spiciness of the salad as well as the roasted flavours from the nuts.

To conclude the meal they served their signature dessert of sweet, sticky rice with custard and Thai tea ice-cream that they paired with Leon Bayer Pinot Blanc – again from Alsace. This wine is less dry, and contains a good balance of softness, that will go well with the Thai tea ice cream. This dessert is rather light in texture and flavour, therefore Pinot Blanc’s complexity balances the aftertaste. A dessert wine at the end of the meal nicely rounds off the dining experience.

The new look Salathip is chic, elegant and trendy taking fine Thai dinning to the level where it belongs. The palm trees lining the walkway give the es­sentially luxurious, tropical touch to set the right tone.

Salathip
Shangri-La Hotel, 89 Soi Wat Suan Phu, Charoen Krung (New Rd.), Silom, Bangkok

Published by Traversing The Orient Magazine. You want to make an online travel business? Please go to www.web.com.

Salathip: Elegant Riverside Thai Dining