Services: 6/10
After a successful year of Calin: La Boulangerie et Le Cafe, we now had a chance to taste the famous French style cafe which is located on the ground floor of Eight Thonglor. Often that we pass by Calin and there will always be a long queue awaiting to be seated. Ok, we are those who do not so much in love with queueing. However, at this occasion it was surprisingly no queue so we did not hesitate to give it a go (perhaps because of the political situation at the time).
The place itself is lovely and chill. It is decorated pretty much to resemble French style cafe: those small marble table, classic wooden chairs, staffs in white shirt and black vest, and etc. There are also outdoor seats. Personally, we prefer the al fresco dining here over indoor seats. Of course, it is cooler inside but the atmosphere can be a little crowded and noisy with tables are close to each other.
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| Calin @ Eight Thonglor |
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| view in front of Calin |
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| atmosphere and interior |
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| outdoor for al fresco |
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| part of open kitchen |
The menu of Calin comprises of mainly classic brunch menu such as egg benedict, viennoiserie, French onion soup, and etc. There are also those popular international dishes available, for examples rocket salad, sandwiches, and pastas.
As for beverage choices, coffee and tea are French brand with Ronnefeldt for tea and Cafes Richard for coffee. There are also some alcoholic beverage available. The cool thing here is the free Calin drinking water. I am certain that there is hardly any restaurant with free drinking water left in Bangkok (of course, profit of drinking is really high): respect the attitude.
On the service side, staffs are pretty much friendly. Only a thing that let us down which was the efficiency of kitchen staffs. Food was slow. The first dish to arrive took 30 minutes and it was on a non-crowded day. Anyway, we did also try both coffee and tea. For coffee, we had Cafe au Lait with Papua New Guinea origin coffee (3/10). I was not so impressed with it. This was supposed to be full body and rich in flavour. It turned out to be too light and the way it was made was not genuine at all. I expect to see barista skill, not the automatic machine from such cafe. For tea, it was Irish Whiskey-Cream (5/10) which is aromatic black tea with assam base. This one was not bad at all. The cocoa and whiskey aroma were pleasant; somewhat like caramel in fact. Only if it was infused properly, that would have been a much better cup of tea.
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| something I agree |
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| just the menu |
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| tea and coffee selection |
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| Papua New Guinea origin coffee by Cafes Richard |
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| Irish Whiskey Cream by Ronnefeldt |
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| Cafe au Lait (THB130) |
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| the Irish Whiskey Cream tea (THB100) |
Moving on to main dishes. It was our fine Saturday lunch/brunch so we decided to have
brioche egg benedict with smoked salmon and zucchini (5/10) and
croque madam (6/10). The egg benedict was on average from my perspective. The brioche was nice. Egg was well cooked with the creamy runny yolk. Zucchini paired well with smoked salmon. Only if they were more generous with smoked salmon, it would have lifted the overall balance. Croque madam, on the other side, was a more enjoyable classic French dish for me. I kind of like the runny cheese that went fabulously with egg. Love the classic.
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| brioche egg benedict with smoked salmon and zucchini (THB260) |
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| croque madam (THB260) |
For desserts,
strawberry millefeuille (4/10) and
croissant pudding (5/10) were selected. On the menu, it was gooseberry millefeuille but it turned out to be strawberry millefeuille without informing us. Well, it was not a big deal. The strawberry was not the very best, still sour. The puff was crisp but too thick. Layers of puff did not well rise. Anyway, it was an enjoyable classic dessert. For croissant pudding, I have to mention that croissant pudding is a dessert that I very much fall in love. For the one at Calin, the overall taste was acceptable. However, I wish the texture could be thicker. I looked like the custard sauce did not soak in well and it was not baked long enough.
Well, if you are thinking of visiting Calin just to discover fabulous food, then you may have to rethink. But if counting in the lovely atmosphere, Calin is a place for a lovely weekend indeed. Nevertheless, we will never be in the long queue to be seated at this restaurant, only popping by when it is not crowded should be fine enough. Bon Appetit!!!!!
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| strawberry millefeuille (THB180) |
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| croissant pudding (THB140) |
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| closer look of croissant pudding |
