The Reflexions @ Plaza Athenee Bangkok

Cuisine: French

Map: The Reflexions @ Plaza Athenee Bangkok

Price: THB2,600 per person without alcohol (what we paid for)

Visited: 25 November 2013

Food: 7/10

Atmosphere: 7/10

Value for money: 7/10

Services: 9/10

Often that we give The Reflexions at Plaza Athenee Bangkok a visit, this latest visit was also another exceptional one. Once again that I had to take all photos with mobile phone as this was another unexpected review. Many occasions, the services and atmosphere here are always at the top range and this time was friendly as usual.

At the moment, the head chef of The Reflexions is Chef Daniel Bucher, a talented chef who succeeds Chef Thibault Chiumenti (who now looks after the overall picture of restaurants at Plaza Athenee Bangkok) about a year ago. Menus have been adapted largely from my previous review but at equal quality and taste. See links below for my previous review of The Reflexions:

http://deadlybunnychubbypenguin.blogspot.com/2011/01/relexions-hotel-plaza-athenee-bangkok.html

http://deadlybunnychubbypenguin.blogspot.com/2011/03/relexions-plaza-athenee-bangkok.html

http://deadlybunnychubbypenguin.blogspot.com/2013/03/wine-dine-perspective-glaz-bar-reflexions-plaza-athenee-bangkok.html

At that night, I also felt like having a bottle of Burgundy to accompany. I chose Domaine Faiveley Mazis-Chambertin 2002 to go along. Unfortunately, there was surely something wrong with this bottle of mine. The acidity was weirdly high and sharp. There was no fruit aroma. Really sad that a suppose to be good bottle turned flaw (T.T)"

bread and butter

Faiveley Mazis Chambertin 2002

As for the start, we were served with seared tuna on hot stone (7/10). This is simply an aromatic piece of lightly grilled tuna to go with fresh spring. The next small portion of starter by Chef Daniel to come along was foie gras with parsnip and lime (8/10). Ok, I like this dish a lot. The parsnip was so smooth. Lime and foie gras balanced out each other. Of course, foie gras was so soft and fatty. Never mind the health and just enjoy it.

seared tuna on hot stone

foie gras with parsnip and lime

foie gras act 2 ^^

For our first courses, we decided to have portabello and truffle cream soup (8/10) and pink trout tartar with tapioca, apple, and sour cream (8/10). For the soup, we often had this as the starter and it has never let us down. It was so smooth and aromatic. The texture was not too thick but creamy. So much of flavours were packed within. For pink trout tartar, this was in fact my first time to give it a go. The dish came in a rather surprising presentation. In the picture below, you can see that there is something like a red lollipop on the right hand side, and that is the sour cream....yes, it is sour cream. The trick of this dish is to have a bit of everything in one bite: trout tartar, apple, apple chutney, and sour cream. I promise it was a nice one to try.

portabello and truffle cream soup (THB450)

pink trout tartar with tapioca, apple, and sour cream (THB600)

After the first courses, a small portion of middle course and entremets were followed. The middle course was scallop and fennel (7/10). The scallop was grilled just to lightly enough on the outside to be somewhat crisp but still maintained its natural tenderness. The quality of the scallop of great; sweet and fresh. The alongside fennel was naturally sweet and the pea sauce balanced out the overall palate. For entremets, this time was lime and nutmeg sorbet (8/10). The unique aroma of nutmeg just paired well with lime. A good one to clean up the palate to be ready for main courses.

scallop and fennel

lime and nutmeg sorbet

As for main courses, there were sole and St. Michel blue mussel with cauliflower with caviar (6/10) and Challans duck sous vide with orange, fennel, and peach (7/10). We would usually like the seafood dish at The Reflexions a lot, especially the lobster dish. However, the sole at this occasion was somewhat tough and perhaps cooked a little too long. Nevertheless, the squid ink sauce did match nicely with the sole, mussel, as well as cauliflower. The duck, on the other side, was really tender on the texture. I love the way that duck is paired with fresh spring and peach. The mousse like texture of orange on top of duck can be new to many. We would usually get used to the orange sauce in other places. Well, this dish is rather creative and savoury from my view.

All in all, this was another pleasant dinner at The Reflexions. We love the way the restaurant keeps its standard rather consistently.

sole and St. Michel blue mussel with cauliflower and caviar (THB1,300)

Challans duck sous vide with orange, fennel, and peach (THB1,500)

The Reflexions @ Plaza Athenee Bangkok

3rd Floor Hotel Plaza Athenee
61 Wireless Road
Lumpini, Pathumwan
Bangkok, 10330
Thailand

Open Hours: Mon-Sat from 06:00pm - 11:00pm for dinner

Tel: +66 (0) 2650 8800
Web: http://www.plazaatheneebangkok.com/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/plazaatheneebangkok

Silk Road @ Plaza Athenee Bangkok

Cuisine: Chinese

Map: Silk Road @ Plaza Athenee Bangkok

Price: THB2,400 per person without alcohol (what we paid for)

Visited: 17 November 2013

Food: 7/10

Atmosphere: 6/10

Value for money: 7/10

Services: 7/10

For many years, I have been returning to Silk Road @ Plaza Athenee Bangkok from time to time to enjoy fine Chinese cuisine as well as good dim sum lunch. This occasion was another exceptional night. I would simply put that Silk Road serves tremendously delicious Chinese food but not the glamorous one. On the service wise, staffs are pretty much friendly. For knowledge wise, some staffs may not be particularly clear. However, the restaurant manager and assistant manager are excellent and are willing to help.

As for interior, the venue is kept in kind of Chinese contemporary decor with some comfy seats. There are large private rooms available upon request also. If you plan to visit here for dim sum, especially during weekend, a few days in advance booking is highly recommended. Personally, I find that dim sum here is enjoyable but the dinner menu is fabulous. In fact, I did not intend to review Silk Road at this occasion, however dishes were wonderful that I have to review. So pictures in this review were taken purely with mobile phone (^^). At this occasion, I also popped up a bottle of Domaine Pavelot Savigny les Beaune La Dominode 2010 which was a wonderful bottle of Burgundy at value for money price. This bottle can be aged for perhaps 2 more decade and should be much better in a few more years.

Silk Road @ Plaza Athenee Bangkok

Pavelot, La Dominode 2010

For the meal, we went for a set menu which costed THB17,250. Expensive??? Yes indeed, it was an expensive set that came with 8 dishes which should be perfect for 10 to 12 people party. Nevertheless, we felt that the meal was kind of worth the price tag. For hot tea, it would cost around THB120 to THB150 per head depending on type of tea.

The course started with 4 kinds of hors d'oeuvre - ออเดิร์ฟ 4 อย่าง (7/10) which comprised of stir-fried fish maw with egg and crab meat, deep-fried silver fish, deep-fried prawn, and jelly fish in sesame oil. I love these classic starters. They were savoury, especially the jelly fish which expressed rather strong flavour with the elastic but yet soft kind of texture. Next was superior bird nest soup with crab meat and egg white - ซุปรังนกเนื้อปูไข่ขาว (9/10). I promise that many of soup choices at Silk Road are extremely delicious. This bird nest soup is as well unexceptional. The texture was so fine and smooth. A touch of sweetness on the palate. The additional scent of sea breeze from crab meat fulfilled the whole picture. I like this dish a lot. Anyway, I know I should try avoiding these cruel dishes such like shark fin and bird nest!!!!! Will try to stay away from it. (T.T)"

4 kinds of hors d'oeuvre

superior bird nest soup with crab meat and egg white

Here comes my all time favourite dish: peking duck - เป็ดปักกิ่ง (8/10). This is sure one of the best peking duck in town. Each piece was cracking crispy with no fat attached and full of flavour. The sauce was typically sweet but not overly. When taking with cucumber, it was simply delicious.

As for the duck meat, we were offered 2 type of dishes to be cooked: fried duck with black pepper and garlic - เนื้อเป็ดผัดกระเทียมกับพริกไทยดำ (5/10) and stir-fried duck with herbs wrapped in lettuce - เมี่ยงเป็ด (7/10). The fried duck with black pepper was, however, not so on par with other dishes; average to be more precise. The texture was tender of course. Nevertheless, too much of pepper taste covered all other tastes. For stir-fried duck with herbs, this one was really enjoyable with somewhat complex flavour with spices. To enjoy the most of it, it should be consumed with lettuce. Love it.

peking duck

wrapping up peking duck

fried duck with black pepper and garlic

stir-fried duck with herbs wrapped in lettuce

Moving on to seafood dishes. Braised sea cucumber and dry baby shrimps in superior soup - ปลิงทะเลแผ่นกุ้งแห้งบดอบยอดซุป (8/10) was flavourful. We love the sea cucumber that was soft in the texture like half-gelatine but still firm. This must be braised for long surely. The flavour of dry shrimps with superior soup combined well to bring up the whole picture. Though being flavour, this dish actually tasted rather light, lighter than many other restaurants would have cooked it. For stir-fried scallops and prawns with broccoli - หอยเชลล์และกุ้งผัดบร็อคเคอรี่ (5/10), it was good but not a wow one. Particular attention was given to the quality of scallop and prawn: fresh and sweet. But the overall picture was plain, too plain to be a great one. Just enjoy it.

braised sea cucumber and dry baby shrimps in superior soup

stir-fried scallops and prawns with broccoli

Next was steamed grouper with soy sauce - ปลาเก๋านึ่งซีอิ๊ว (5/10). Ok, the ingredient was good, the overall flavour was as expected but I suspect that it was overcooked. The texture was somewhat a little touch with some dry part of the fillet. Before ending the course, it is almost like a tradition to have a dish with high carbohydrate like rice or noodle dishes. For this set, it came with fried rice with abalone - ข้าวผัดเป๋าฮื้อ (7/10). Pretty good as the whole. Rice was not overcooked and not soaky. Only if the taste was a bit more intense that would be almost a perfect fried rice dish. By the way, the chewy abalone was really good with fried rice. The course ended in style with traditional dessert like red beans and lotus seeds in hot syrup - ถั่วแดงกับเม็ดบัวหวานร้อน (7/10). It may look like something uninteresting. But it was actually a good one for ending the course with "finale". I guess the red bean must have been cooked for long such that red bean and water almost combined into one leaving just small pieces of red beans and whole lotus seeds to give a touch for chewing.

steamed grouper with soy sauce

fried rice with abalone

red beans and lotus seeds in hot syrup

Silk Road @ Plaza Athenee Bangkok

3rd Floor Hotel Plaza Athenee
61 Wireless Road
Lumpini, Pathumwan
Bangkok, 10330
Thailand

Open Hours: daily from 11:30am - 02:30pm for lunch and from 06:00pm - 10:30pm for dinner

Tel: +66 (0) 2650 8800
Web: http://www.plazaatheneebangkok.com/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/plazaatheneebangkok

Wine + Dine Perspective @ Glaz Bar & The Reflexions, Hotel Plaza Athenee, Bangkok

Cuisine: Modern French

Map: Wine + Dine Perspective @ Glaz Bar & The Reflexions, Hotel Plaza Athenee, Bangkok

Price: THB2,100 per person (what I paid for)

Visited: 7 March 2013

Food: 8/10

Atmosphere: 7/10

Value for money: 8/10

Services: 8/10

Undeniably, The Reflexions at Hotel Plaza Athenee Bangkok is one of the most favourite French restaurant of ours. We happen to give it a visit every single month intentionally or unintentionally. Well, let's us tell you one thing. Every first Thursday of every month, The Reflexions has been organising what it's called "Wine + Dine Perspective". If you are a wine lover, you will love this event, I promise. Admittedly, I am one of its kind and really love the event.

The concept is that you get to do wine tasting at The Glaz Bar with around 5 kinds of wine from the same producer, depending on the month. At this stage, you will sure just keep drink drink and drink (oh oh.....and cheese too) that you may even forget your meal at The Reflexions. For the after tasting meal, there will be the typical 3 courses dinner with a bottle of wine either white or red for every couple.

This time the wine was from Feudo Maccari which is a vineyard from the island of Sicily. You, by now, may know that wines would be Nero d'Avola base. There were 5 wines for tasting, starting from white, rose to red. For white and Rose, they were Grillo and Rose di Nero d'Avola. Rose was good but not spectacular while the Grillo was excellent value in fact. For reds, they ranged from Nero d'Avola to Saia to Maharis. Both Nero d'Avola and Saia are 100% Nero d'Avola but Maharis is combined with Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah.

Walking on to the meal, I chose to start with Mackerel Tartar, Sliced Turnip, Salsa Verde and Cucumber Jelly (7/10). I do like this dish: pretty good aroma and character of mackerel. It gave soft creamy touch with refreshing sliced turnip. This dish could go easily well into the regular menu.

Mackerel Tartar, Sliced Turnip, Salsa Verde and Cucumber Jelly

Moving on to main course, lamb dish was picked this time: Gently Cooked Lamb Loin Marinated in Herbs, Confit Baby Vegetables and Parsnip Puree (7/10). This one did not really hit to my heart. However, it was still an excellent made dish. Really tender and when combined with roots, it was just wonderful: savoury with sweetness of roots. Particular attention was made to the small onion that contained filling also, like it.

Gently Cooked Lamb Loin Marinated in Herbs, Confit Baby Vegetables and Parsnip Puree

Dessert was the highlight for me, it was Valrhona Chocolate Tart with Bourbon and Cigar Ice-cream (8/10). Hell yeah, I love this one a lot. Really rich and thick choco tart with delightful creamy cigar ice-cream, what a good match. The dried fruits gave another dimension on the palate. Wish I could have more of this. @(^V^)@

Valrhona Chocolate Tart with Bourbon and Cigar Ice-cream

Anyway, Wine + Dine Perspective is somewhat value for money if you do love wine and good French food. It is a must try, I promise. If you decide to go, I would recommend an early booking as the event is rather popular. Bon Appetit!!!!

The Reflexions @ Hotel Plaza Athenee, Bangkok

3rd Floor Hotel Plaza Athenee

61 Wireless Road

Lumpini, Pathumwan

Bangkok, 10330

Thailand

Open Hours: 06:00pm - 11:00pm Monday - Saturday

Tel: +66 (0) 2650 8800 ext 4338

Web: http://www.plazaatheneebangkok.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/plazaatheneebangkok

Le Beaulieu @ Athenee Tower, Bangkok

Cuisine: French

Map: Le Beaulieu @ Athenee Tower, Bangkok

Visited: 2 March 2013

Price: THB1,650 per person without alcohol (lunch set)

Food: 7/10

Atmosphere: 6/10

Value for money: 7/10 (based on lunch set)

Services: 6/10

Bonjour!!!! Today we, deadly and chubby, would like to bring you to a fine French cuisine restaurant in Witthayu-Chidlom area.  Le Beaulieu offers some of the best classic French menu in town surely.  Of course, fine cuisine/haute cuisine does come at its own price tag.  One thing you may need to be aware is that menu here does get changed from time to time, so what I tell you may not be in the menu when you decide to give it a visit.  Menu is designed just like other fine European restaurant which contains only minimum but great choices.  Wine list is ok but not great, marked up price is high comparing to other places in town.

Le Beaulieu @ Athenee Tower, Bangkok

the entrance

seats overlooking into the kitchen

a look from first floor

The long table

Le Beaulieu is situated right on the ground floor of Athenee Tower: basically it is just the building next to the hotel building of Plaza Athenee Bangkok on Witthayu Road.  The size of this place is not large but there are two floors with outdoor area (for a cool day or night time) too.  There is also a small patisserie shop that offers delicious pastry too (open 9.00am to 6.30pm).  The decoration is kept in modern style with red/black tone that gives such power and elegant feeling.  In fact, I feel that this place is somewhat half restaurant half bar of its own with the cocktail bar placed right in the middle of the hall.  I actually do like the outdoor area for the night time, rather a good and comfortable place to hang out with friends.

the bar

kitchen is busy

Le Beaulieu Patisserie

limited seats for patisserie

example of delicacy

As mentioned the price you will have to prepare to pay here can be high, we would actually like to recommend anyone to try the lunch set which comprises of more or less the same menu as a la carte.  3 courses lunch on Saturday costs THB1,250++, not a bad deal at all for what you get.

a la carte menu

We were served with Chocolate Croissant (8/10) and Baguette (5/10) to start with.  I promise chocolate croissant was one of the best in BKK: very nice taste with layers and layers of crisp pastry, fluffy and smooth in the mouth.  Whilst croissant stands out, baguette was just ordinary that was enjoyable with good butter.

Ok!!! it is the best chocolate croissant for me

simply baguette

the contact via namecard

Starters of the set lunch were Burrata D.O.C, Heirloom Tomatoes (7/10), Plancha of Scallop, Organic Salad (7/10), and Sautéed Frogs Legs with Garlic Puree (4/10).  All of which were nice but Burrata and Hokkaido Scallops did stand out.  Burrata is a kind of cheese with a mix of mozzarella and cream.  It was creamily soft but had some firm texture.  Savoury taste and aroma of mozzarella was preserved. This is a fantastic and fresh starter.  Scallop was as well delightful. Refreshing salad with tanginess touch of summer coupling with big and flavourful Brittany scallops can easily be diners' favourite choice. Last of starter was frog legs. This dish was not like the first two. It lacked of flavour though frog legs were tender. I don't think this dish would match personality of local that prefer stronger taste of dishes.

Burrata D.O.C. , Heirloom Tomatoes....loving it

Plancha of Scallop......tasty flavour

a little more close up onto scallop

Sauteed Frog Legs with Garlic Puree

close up frog leg

Next were fish dishes: Plancha of Baby Monkfish with Provencale Ratatouille (6/10) and Dover Sole, Ratte Potatoes, Lemon Capers Sauce (7/10). Monkfish gave a more firm texture when bitten. It went really well with ratatouille which was lighter than many ratatouille I had tried in the past: sweet taste of tomato in fact. Like this dish but still does not hit my point just yet. Dover Sole gave more delicate touch. Elegant and classic pan-seared with butter and a final touch of herbal lemon capers sauce. Fabulous. A dish to try indeed.

Plancha of Monkfish with Provencale Ratatouille

Lemon being squeezed onto Dover Sole

For meat lover or carnivore, here is your kind of dish: Slow-roasted Lamb Racks with French Needle Bean and His Jus (7/10). Le Beaulieu does sure make one of the best lamb dish in town. It was really tender and juicy. Jus was kind of light but savoury. This could be a better dish if the quality of lambs was more premium. I still find that lamb from Rossini's is a step better.

Slow-roasted Lamb Rack

The highlight of this meal was in fact the dessert. Millefeuille, Tahitian Vanilla Ice Cream was fabulous (9/10). This dish was a near perfect 1,000 layers pastry: light, fluffly and crisp. Not overly sweet too. I could actually cut the millefeuille easily without destroying the nice decoration. The coupling vanilla ice-cream also came with crunchy nut which was fun and enjoyable. Love this millefeuille to the max. Strawberry Flambeed, Vanilla Ice Cream was a sweeter choice (7/10). Thick strawberry sauce with again vanilla ice-cream. Really chill and suitable for summer.

One of the best millefeuille in town

Strawberry Flambeed for sweet lovers

Overall, this is a fantastic classic French restaurant that must try.  Just the price is probably a big matter T___T".  Services are friendly and polite too but perhaps staffs still lack of explanatory skill.  We sure will give Le Beaulieu a return to see how it can keep its standard of delicacy.    By the way, most of ingredients seem to be imported.  From our opinion, if they can manage to make some fantastic dishes with local ingredients that would be even better.  Bon Appetit!!!

Le Beaulieu @ Athenee Tower, Bangkok

Floor G Athenee Tower
63 Witthayu Road
Pathumwan

Bangkok 10330

Open Hours: Mon - Sat 11:30 - 15:00 for lunch and 18:30 - 23:00 for dinner

Tel: +66 (0) 2168 8220

Web: http://www.le-beaulieu.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/LeBeaulieuBangkok