Terra Roku Review (at Grand Millenium Asoke)

Saw an ad for GRAND MILLENIUM SUKHUMVIT via SCB Platinum card.
Spend 3000 baht on the card, get a free night coupon.
Not bad idea I thought, having just read the restaurant introduction on 'Bk Magazine'. Terra Roku, a Japanese-Italian restaurant, 'fusion' I thought.



How wrong I was.

The only 'fusion' dish was a tuna with wasabi-cream sauce with veal (pictured below)

the tuna is on the right, and the veal on the left. The veal was served with a sauce I wouldn't bother remembering, and while the tuna was quite good, crispy on the outside while raw in the middle, the veal was atrocious and tasteless. Not a good start to my meal.

I followed that with a pasta dish. Seafood ravioli with a light tomato sauce. Another disappointing dish.


Finally ended with a Baked Cod with a paste of sundried tomatoes and chillies on the top. On a bed of phak boong.... very surprising. Pictured below.


The taste of the cod was just right, not too soft that it breaks with your fork, but not at all chewy. This dish was the highlight of the evening, and the sweetened red onions only satisfied the palate even more. However, the surprising phak boong bed did not go with the dish.

The dessert (chocolate lava with another name) was good served with green tea ice cream. The outer layer chocolate was sticky and chewy, when it should've just melted in the mouth.

All in all food: 40/50

Service was great, as expected out of any and every 5 star hotel establishment.

Service: 28/30

The atmosphere was, like the food, a hit and miss. They got the right idea, but something, the chemistry just didn't do it for me. Not good for a hotel.

Atmosphere 13/20

Total: 81/100

Value for money:

Worth it only because they gave me a one night stay. I will add that during my stay at the hotel, I definately will NOT eat at the hotel restaurant.

The hotel looks promising. I suppose they need to make a big change on their system of food at Terra Roku. Either they should move or create more 'fusion' dishes in the Italian-Japanese sense, or separate their kitchens. The seating arrangement in the restaurant could use with a few minor changes. What those changes are, I don't know, but they should bring in an interior decorator's opinion to create a more warm feeling.

Jae Nui review เจ็นุ็ย

Report:
Jae Nui เจ็นุ็ย

Food:
The food here is GREAT. But you have to order what they are good at:
Pla Krapong Kaeng Som: Seabass in Orange Curry. It is a wonderful dish, not too spicy, yet has the tangy flavor expected in orange curry. The fish is fried and very meaty.
Pla Kao Sam Rod: Fried Garoupa Fish with 3 flavor sauce. Also well made, cruncy, meaty, and a good combination of the spicy, sour, and sweet flavors.
Poo Phad Ton Hom: Full Crab stir-fried with garlic and spring onions. Wow! Sweet, meaty, goes well with their seafood sauce.
Goong Ob Woon Sen: Bakes Prawn with vermicelli. The greatest thing about the Good Ob is that they don't use much pork fat, the flavor of the prawn is perfect, not too oily or pork smelly. The noodles taste great with the seafood sauce. So good, my mouth still waters thinking about it.
Goong Sub Krapow: Diced Prawn stir fried with basil leaves. The krapow is not too spicy and overpowering, very good with rice.

Note: This restaurant, you cannot order their fried rice, it is really bad.

rating: 48/50 (food)

Service: Most of their staff seems to be FOBs (Fresh off the boat). Either from Mainland China or one of the Doi's in the north of Thailand. In other words, they can be hard of understanding, and don't know Thai very well. They have two 'captains' who take the order, both are knowledgable about food.

rating: 26/30

Atmosphere: Serves the purpose well, a/c, big screen tv with karaoke apparently. Got some big cocks guarding the front of the restaurant (you have to come here to see it). Also a photo of McDang on the wall with the Jae herself.

rating: 16/20

Total: 90/100

Value for money: SUPERB. You get the most amazing seafood at prices that would be considered 'very cheap' when comparing to anywhere in Bangkok.

How to get there: If coming from Bangkok, drive down RamaII road until you pass Mahachai Mueang Mai (the highway will go under a bridge, and there will be red/orange rooftops). Take an exit after that, and drive pass Tum Thai restaurant as well as Muang Le and a Honda Showroom. The restaurant is next to the Honda showroom.

You know you've gone too far if you're driving past the Mahachai Hospital

Starting

I love food.
I love to eat out.
I love to be a critic of the food.
There is not enough information on restaurants in Bangkok online. This blog seeks to give whatever information the Bangkok Eater is able to give.

A restaurant will be surveyed and given ratings according to these weighted average.

Food - 50% of the grade. Lets face it, the main reason to eat and to return to a restaurant is if its food is great! How else can you explain getting back to the same restaurant?

Service - 30%. You can have great food, but if your service is terrible, you just can't cut it.

Atmosphere - 20%. Its the final ingredient.

Value for money - Not part of the grade because in itself, its a make it or break it grade. A restaurant may get a 95% rating, and yet might have low value for money... though not probable but possible. For example, you might get amaaaazing noodles worth 400 baht at a 5 star restaurant that is fantastic, but at 400 baht, it provides low value for money...