Sühring @ Yen Akat, Bangkok - ซูห์ริง @ ซอยเย็นอากาศ กรุงเทพฯ

Cuisine: Modern German

Map: Sühring @ Yen Akat, Bangkok - ซูห์ริง @ ซอยเย็นอากาศ กรุงเทพฯ

Charged Price: THB4,500 per person

Visited: 30 May 2016

Food: 7/10

Atmosphere: 8/10

Value for money: 5/10

Services: 6/10
Scale: [1=poor ---- 5=average/standard ---- 10=outstanding/exceptional]

Suhring, a modern German cuisine run by Suhring brothers, launched epically during early 2016. I believe Suhring is under the same group of sponsors as the famous Gaggan. That explains implicitly the logic behind its style of food. Without doubt, food here come in those small portions and presented using modern technique.

Personally, this is my first chance to visit this place and it was during Albert Bichot wine dinner. The overall impression with this place was good but not great. Some dishes were delicious but some missed elements here and there. But the wine were definitely gorgeous. Apart from food, I have to admit that the ambient of this place is really lovely. It is a house-converted restaurant. It is spacious and with beautiful garden. The downside about this place is its location. It is nowhere near public transport access point. Hence, driving or taxi remain your only choices. For those who drive, beware of limited parking space. Otherwise, you will have to park along the Soi.

Sühring @ Yen Akat, Bangkok

a beautiful house of the restaurant

spectacular seats within the glass house area

the dining hall

As for wine, the line up for the night were:

Domaine Long-Depaquit Chablis 1er Cru les Vaucoupins 2013 (92/100): Lovely Chablis with early access. Fresh with white fruits elements.

Domaine Long-Depaquit Chablis Grand Cru Moutonne Monopole 2007 (93/100): Richer and deeper than the former one. Notes of mineral and floral. Wine for food it is.

Chateau Gris Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru 2011 (93/100): Sweet black fruits and oak harmony. Perfect for meat dishes. Expect more in a few years time.

Domaine du Pavillon Aloxe-Corton 1er Cru Clos des Marechaudes 2013 (93/100): Opulent with earth and fruit forward. Give it time to reveal its class.

Domaine du Clos Frantin Echezeaux Grand Cru 2012 (94/100): Definitely harmony in the glass. But it is a long way for this guy before full enjoyment.

Albert Bichot line up for the night

The dinner started with those small bites / snacks / amuse bouche (or whatever you may call). Spiced Tomato Cracker with Fermented Garlic (7/10) did show nice taste of tomato along with spices but Avocado, Smoked Eel and Horseradish (7/10) was somewhat confusing. It was delicious but could not really detect the distinct character of avocado and eel. On the other hand, Frankfurter Grüne Soße (6/10) was presented gorgeously but the taste did live up with its look in my humble view. Taste of herb, yes. Unbalance, yes also. As for, Duck Liver, Chicken Skin, and Sea Buckthorn (6/10), the sea buckthorn was the weak link in this case. It didn't seem to pair well with pate though the overall texture was lovely.

Spiced Tomato Cracker with Fermented Garlic | Avocado, Smoked Eel and Horseradish

Frankfurter Grüne Soße

Duck Liver, Chicken Skin, and Sea Buckthorn

The last nibble came with a more fruitful size: Pork Knuckle Sandwich, Sauerkraut, and Marjoram (7/10). Rather nice actually. A bit of sauerkraut would be even better. Tender texture with flavourful taste. Moving on to a more proper size dish. Simmentaler Roast Beef, Pickled Mackerel, Capers, Beetroot, and Apple (7/10) would be a lovely one if it had come without mackerel. The combination of beef and mackerel in the same plate seemed confusing though the beetroot and apple cut well through fattiness of beef. The strange thing is this dish was paired with Chablis. Not a perfect pair but interesting. Then we had a plate to share: Cold Cuts & Pickles: German Rustic Sour Dough + Cultured Butter + Griebenschmalz | Soft-Pretzel + Obatzda (8/10). Wonderful indeed. The sour dough was outstanding. I would not pay much attention on sauces here: cultured butter, griebenschmalz, and obatzda. I think when the bread is nice, just plain butter could already bring you to heaven so as cold cuts.

Pork Knuckle Sandwich, Sauerkraut, and Marjoram

Simmentaler Roast Beef, Pickled Mackerel, Capers, Beetroot, and Apple

Cold Cuts & Pickles

building up

Moving on to heavier dishes. Celeriac Tortellini with Summer Truffle (9/10) would be the highlight of the meal in my view. Beautiful aroma of truffle. The tortellini was as well perfectly executed. Love this one. It seems the Italian dish performed much better than the German ones tonight. Next was Hungarian Duck Roasted on the Bone, Pumpkin and Lavender Jus (9/10) which was almost equally great as the tortellini. Flavourful and tender. Sweetness of pumpkin also cut through the flavour of jus well. Execution and ingredients are the keys here, I think. For lamb dish, it was Salt Meadow Lamb from Piet Van Den Berg, Beans, Saffron, and Herbs (7/10). Not extraordinary but enjoyable here. Honestly, saffron is too elegant and it looked as though unique aroma of lamb overwhelmed the great saffron here.

Celeriac Tortellini with Summer Truffle

Hungarian Duck Roasted on the Bone, Pumpkin and Lavender Jus

Salt Meadow Lamb from Piet Van Den Berg

Here comes the dessert. I have to say that dessert were superb here. Both Buttermilk, Cucumber, Gin, and Tonic (8/10) and Waldorf Salad (9/10) were just delicious. The cucumber one cleansed the palate pretty well. So simple, classic, and refreshing. For waldorf salad, this was a great transformation from salad to dessert. Freshness is the key, again. The crumb added 3rd dimension to creaminess of dessert. The meal then ended with a small bite of doughnut (if I recall correctly).

All in all, this is a restaurant for experience but not for often visit in my view. Nice and enjoyable but it lacks here and there and the meal can be very long.

Buttermilk, Cucumber, Gin, and Tonic

Waldorf Salad

petit fours (doughnut?)

Sühring @ Yen Akat, Bangkok - ซูห์ริง @ ซอยเย็นอากาศ กรุงเทพฯ

10 Soi Yen Akat 3
Chong Nonsi, Yan Nawa
Bangkok 10120
Thailand

Open Hours: daily from 06:00pm - 11:00pm for dinner

Tel: +66 (0) 2287 1799
FB: https://www.facebook.com/SuhringsHome/

Aronia de Takazawa @ Akasaka, Tokyo - アロニア ド たかざわ (高澤) @ 赤坂東京

Cuisine: modern/molecular gastronomy (Japanese/French fusion)

Map: Aronia de Takazawa @ Akasaka, Tokyo - アロニア ド たかざわ (高澤) @ 赤坂東京

Price: JPY30,000 per person without alcohol (what we paid for)

Visited: 9 July 2014

Food: 7/10

Atmosphere: 9/10

Value for money: 6/10

Services: 9/10
Scale: [1=poor ---- 5=average/standard ---- 10=outstanding/exceptional]

Aronia de Takazawa is definitely something really rare. The thing about this place is the limited seats. Yoshiaki Takazawa, the owner and the chef, only serves 10 customers per day during dinner time. While Yoshiaki runs the whole of the kitchen solely by himself, his wife "Akiko" as well performs the front role independently and flawlessly. Luckily, Akiko speaks very good English (but Chef Yoshiaki is opposite though), so there should be no worry for foreign visitors here. The kind of food Chef Yoshiaki serves is French/Japanese fusion with modern style and partly molecular technique.

Here, at Aronia de Takazawa, you have to really book in advance and it is compulsory. There is no a la carte menu but only tasting menu. You will get to choose your preferred set when making reservation. Deadly Bunny went for 9 courses tasting menu for the night. The course began with 3 amuse bouche: tomato soup, green pepper soup, and aji with ginger and spring onion. Aji with ginger and spring onion did not seem outstanding. Tomato soup was surprisingly clear with no trace of red colour of tomato but was full of tomato aroma. The green pepper soup came in a little shape. We believed the soup was held inside with dashi stock jelly skin. It was rather well made. Frequently, this kind of technique could be troublesome and at an expense of flavour but Chef Yoshiaki did bring this out well.

By the way, just a friendly notice that Chef Yoshiaki can be quite shy and does not like taking photo. Hence, taking photo of the kitchen might be avoided. In addition, respect to other customers is very important here. Thus, taking photo of food is allowed but the atmosphere when customers present is prohibited.

tomato soup

green pepper soup

aji (horse mackerel) with ginger and spring onion

The first course was the famous Ratatouille. This comprised of 15 kinds of vegetable marbled and layered in a terrine-like style (mini and tiny one). The flavour was well marinated and of excellent quality of ingredients. It came along with pork belly pate to be served with toast. The pork belly pate was mild with a hint of smoky aroma. Next was Cucumber Cappuccino. This was a blend of cucumber with cucumber puree, tomato, mango, and sweet shrimp. It represented cleanse and freshness. This was nice but not impressive.

Ratatouille

Pork Belly Pate with Toast

smoky aromatic pate

Cucumber Cappuccino

The third dish was called Awabi. Simply abalone served along with seaweed from Okinawa called "Sea Grape". At the time that Deadly Bunny visited, it was July and it happened to be the season for awabi. This dish was presented with tartar sauce that had been fermented with awabi. Overall picture was fine but just saltiness that was a little overwhelmed.

A dish called Tiramisu was then followed. This was perhaps the dish of the night. It was so smooth and creamy. There were 3 layers in which top and bottom were creamy corn with crab meat in between. An addition from a touch of salt flakes on top of Tiramisu did play its role pleasantly: another dimension of flavour that balance the picture. There was grilled sweet corn coming along side too.

Awabi

Tiramisu

Harvest from Takazawa's Farm was the next to arrive. This was a nicely presented dish. It is perhaps just all about presentation. The dish was simply green and white asparagus to be eaten with black truffle mayonnaise (served in the toothpaste tube). What you can see in the pictures below that look like soil was in fact crumbs with garlic (which was edible of course).

Harvest from Takazawa's Farm (green asparagus)

Harvest from Takazawa's Farm (white asparagus)

black truffle mayonnaise

grilled green asparagus in crumbles

green asparagus

white asparagus

The sixth dish was named "Rock on the Seashore". This was another presentation. But more importantly, the attention was on aromatic dimension. Once the dish had arrived, you could scent sea breeze right away. Rock on the Seashore came in 2 parts: the rock and the soup. The soup was lobster bisque which was lovely. The rock was, on the other hand, crispy potato skins with shells inside. The last dish before going to desserts was Japanese Green Cabbage Roll. Pork was the best part of the dish: Spanish Iberian pork vs. Hokkaido pork. This was really tender and juicy. The sauce was mild Japanese mustard base: a little too mild actually. The cabbage was crisp but bitterness didn't really go with the dish. There was as well a piece of crispy pork skin along side.

Rock on the Seashore

shells in the rock

Japanese Green Cabbage Roll

Lastly, desserts came into two parts. The first one was Ohishi Plum. It was beautifully presented. The plum ice-cream was so smooth. The genius about this simple looking dessert was the balance. Sweetness and sourness of Japanese plum did not overwhelm each other. The white base was shiso jelly which matched well with the ice-cream. The other part was called "Dinosaur Egg from Miyazaki". This, on the other hand, did not quite match the level of Ohishi Plum. The egg shell was white chocolate. The egg white and egg yolk were meringue and mango respectively. This was served with spicy & salted wasabi. The taste was kind of unusual though.

The course ended with a pot of flower tea and some petite fours. Well, Aronia de Takazawa produces a rather interesting experience for each customer. The presentation is good and the technique is unique. Some of imagination also involves. Just some of the dishes that might be too difficult to get hands on or perhaps balance is needed. Anyway, if you are thinking of visiting Takazawa, booking in advance is important. Remember, there are only 10 seats a night and be prepared for an expensive meal. Bon Appetit!!!!!

Ohishi Plum

Dinosaur Egg from Miyazaki

Meringue White and Mango Yolk

flower tea

Petite Fours #1

Petite Fours #2

Petite Fours #3

Aronia de Takazawa @ Akasaka, Tokyo - アロニア ド たかざわ (高澤) @ 赤坂東京
Floor 2, Sanyo Akasaka Building
3-5-2 Akasaka
Minato-ku
Tokyo 107-0052
Japan

Open Hours: daily from 06:00pm - 09:00pm (last reservation)

Tel: +81 3 3505 5052
Web: http://www.takazawa-y.co.jp/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Takazawa/113767988808533

Paste : Innovation Thai Eating House @ Sukhumvit 49, Bangkok

Cuisine: Thai

Map: Paste @ Sukhumvit 49, Bangkok

Price: THB900 per person without alcohol (what we paid for)

Visited: 4 December 2013

Food: 8/10

Atmosphere: 6/10

Value for money: 7/10

Services: 8/10

It is January 1 2014 today, so, Happy New Year everyone. Allow me perhaps to walk you through briefly with an interesting Thai restaurant for such new year.

The first time I came across this restaurant, Paste : Innovation Thai Eating House @ Sukhumvit 49, Bangkok, was at the time of my visit to Casa Lapin X49. Paste is located in the same Soi as Casa Lapin X49, which is opposite of Samitivej Hospital, and is a mere 10 meters away. Spotting on the sign "Innovation Thai Eating House", I thought loudly to myself "interesting but would it worth a try?". Thus, I went back and did some research and found really good feedback, especially from foreigners/travellers. There sure must be something good, so, here we come the try.

The restaurant itself is just a small semi-detached building which can probably accommodate at the maximum but comfortably of 20 guests. I would not suggest to pay much attention on the interior decoration. It is at least decent enough and is kept simply but contemporary. However, it is not the kind of grand nor elegant. There is a bar on the first floor. As you sit, you can also look through the half-open kitchen to observe chefs performing the magic. At the night of our visit, there was only 1 staff but friendly and polite. Chef Bongkoch did come out and took order herself. Really good recommendation and friendly style. The place was not crowded during the course so leaving some doubt for me whether the service would be efficient if the place is pack and there is only 1 staff.

Paste : Innovation Thai Eating House @ Sukhumvit 49, Bangkok

small but cosy indeed

decor is kept simple

just another corner

I have to mention a bit on chefs. Paste was originally established by two chefs: Chef Bongkoch and Chef Jason. Not much to my surprise to see a non-Thai chef cooking tremendous Thai food these days. What we love about Paste is the way they cook. Nothing too excessive in terms of flavour, balance in fact but plenty of herbal touch without too much heat and spiciness. The style is also wonderful. I would use the word "creation" rather than "fusion". It is not fusion but more like adjusting cooking method and ingredients whilst preserving the authenticity and traditional feel. Ingredients are mostly organic and from local. With the background of Chef Bongkoch and the experience of Chef Jason with one of the best known Thai restaurant "SaNguan Sri", they sure guarantee you a level of satisfaction.

Chef Bongkoch and Chef Jason

contact, just in case you need it

Menu at Paste is clearly defined into sections: entrees, slow cooked meats, fishes, curries, and etc. Price ranges from around THB200 plus/minus for entrees to around THB500-600 for a main course. Rice is charged as per head at the price of THB50 (organic jasmine flower perfumed rice - ข้าวหุงน้ำหอมมะลิ). The overall pricing is as high as those from Thai restaurant in hotels such as Smooth Curry at Plaza Athenee Bangkok and Basil at Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit or the famous celebrity cuisine Bo.Lan at Sukhumvit 26. As for wine list, most of them are light white such as riesling and sauvignon blanc which can be paired well with strong herbal taste like Thai food. There are also some red wine selection which mainly comprises of light pinot noir and fruity merlot. Nevertheless, mark up price for wine here can be excessive, at least to my sense.

There were three of us during the night so we had 4 dishes (n+1 formula). The first one was from the entree menu: dry spiced chilli squid with sweet vinegar and fresh tomato relish - ปลาหมึกทอดเสิร์ฟกับซอสน้ำส้มหวานและมะเขือเทศบด (7/10). With a touch of lime, we think that this dish was the most enjoyable of the night. It may not be the most sophisticated nor elegant but it was fun to eat it. The squid was tender whilst the outer layer was a bit of crisp texture. The tomato relish was full of herbal touch. The balance between sour and sweetness was magnificent.

The next one to arrive was from fish menu: steamed wild seabass fillet with longan honey, fennel, and lemongrass "Lon" sauce - หลนปลากะพงใส่น้ำผึ้ง เฟนเนล ขมิ้นขาว และตะไคร้ (8/10). Lon is typically a kind of sauce or condiment to be eaten with various vegetables and is usually made by reducing coconut milk, herbs, minced shrimp or other ingredients. It would be served as a kind of starter. However, it is another story at Paste. Lon here is created to be eaten a main dish with rice. So much spices were presented. The sour taste and lemongrass aroma led the overall impression which was followed by a touch of sweetness on the palate. If the fillet texture was cooked a touch under to give smoother and softer bite, this would have been a memorable one.

dry spiced chilli squid with sweet vinegar and fresh tomato relish (THB280)

steamed wild seabass fillet with longan honey, fennel, and lemongrass "Lon" sauce (THB550)

Moving on to meat dishes. From the curries range, we had slow cooked Australian beef cheek with fresh curry paste, pickled garlic, ginger, lemongrass, and dry spices (Hang Lay Curry) - แกงฮังเลเนื้อแก้มวัวออสเตรเลีย (8/10). As a lover of northern style curry "Hang Lay Curry", I did not hesitate to order this at all. I love the rich flavour but well weighted: the saltiness, the sour, the sweetness, and the spices touch are all there. The texture was thick and fine. The beef was indeed tender. It was also well presented. Oh, almost forget the nutty flavour and texture that brought another dimension to the dish (if I was not mistaken ^^).

Lastly, we had master stock poached organic pork with avocado, red grapefruit, toasted sticky rice, and local Thai flowers  - หมูตุ๋นเสิร์ฟกับอโวคาโด เกรฟฟรุ๊ต ข้าวพอง และดอกไม้ไทย (8/10). This dish was a beautiful one. The poached pork was tender but sweet; a little bit too sweet to my liking actually. But you have to take the pork together with grapefruit, the toasted sticky rice, and avocado. The tanginess of grapefruit cut out some of sweetness whilst sticky rice gave cracked fun texture and avocado added creamy touch. I would say that this a one "should try" dish: wonderful and tasty on its own.

slow cooked Australian beef cheek with fresh curry paste, pickled garlic, ginger, lemongrass, and dry spices (THB480)

one more view of Hang Lay Curry

master stock poached organic pork with avocado, red grapefruit, toasted sticky rice, and local Thai flowers (THB450)

poached organic pork with hang lay curry background

Finally, it is dessert. Though, we were really full, we thought at least we should try one. Without much expectation, we ordered black sticky rice with fresh coconut cream and free range egg custard and coconut ice-cream - สังขยาข้าวเหนียวดำเสิร์ฟกับไอศครีมกะทิ (7/10). It was simply the traditional coconut custard on top of black sticky rice in triangular shape like cake served with coconut ice-cream and coconut milk sauce. Ok, I like this dessert. The classic combination of coconut custard (สังขยา) with soft black stick rice are always all time people favourite.

Well, the overall impression with Paste, for us, is definitely beyond the famous "Bo.Lan @ Sukhumvit 26". Whilst dishes are nice in its own style (though I prefer the aromatic and herbal flavour of Paste), the differences are friendliness and services that come at Paste. We would sure be returning to Paste from time to time (if it does not yet break my wallet). This is a highly recommended restaurant by us "DeadlyChubby" (^.^).

black sticky rice with fresh coconut cream and free range egg custard and coconut ice-cream (THB220)

one more picture with dishes together (^^)

Paste @ Sukhumvit 49, Bangkok

120/6 Soi Sukhumvit 49 (opposite Samitivej Hospital)
Sukhumvit Road
Khlong Tan Nuea, Watthana
Bangkok 10110
Thailand

Open Hours: lunch from 12:00pm - 02:30pm Wed-Sun and dinner from 06:00pm - 11:00pm Tue-Sun

Tel: +66 (0) 2392 4313
Web: http://pastebangkok.com/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/PasteBangkok