Friday, April 25, 2008

InAzia Review @ Sheraton Blue Lagoon, Hua Hin

Swimming. I like to swim. I was never (and still) am not a strong swimmer, yet I enjoy swimming.

The reason is that swimming is one of those things that increase appetite. Since I live my life to eat, swimming is good in that it allows me to eat more.

We reached Sheraton Hua Hin after almost 10 hours of straight driving from Phuket. Sitting in the car didn't exactly increase the appetite from the heavy lunch. In spite of reaching Huahin at 6pm, the first destination was the swimming pool, and there we remained till 30-40mins AFTER the pool closed. One of the great advantages of the "pool access" rooms they have there.

Famished from the straight hour and half of swimming, we headed to InAzia restaurant.

They claim the food is some 'modern asian' cuisine. They are right, in part, but there is no real 'fusion' dishes there. Just a choice of different Asian food from "Japanese", "Indian", "Thai", "Indonesian", and I think "Singaporean/Malaysian".

After swimming for so long, I thought I'd go for a Sashimi collection. Also, in the mood for some lamb, I ordered the 'lamb kebab'.

The Sashimi selection was not so good. A lot of 'fillers' were there in forms of squid and artificial crab sticks. Very less fresh fish, and the salmon was the high point of the dish. I must say though that the entire selection was very fresh and cut properly; just not worth it's price.

The Lamb Kebab should be renamed to lamb curry. It is served with 2 pieces of Naan, but the flavor of the Garam Masala was INCREDIBLE. They actually used the ribs of the lamb that tend to be reserved for lamb chops rather than just lamb meat or lamb shanks. Typical kebab dishes means 'no bones', but I guess this not being an Indian restaurant, and the fact that the dish was so delicious made up for that boo boo. The flavor was tangy, not too hot n spicy, not too sweet, not heavily curried at all. It is not too pasty, and not too watery. In short, it is very delicious and highly recommended.

Our final course was diced shrimp wrapped in seabass with a sweet and sour sauce. Everything in this dish went well because all the flavors cut each other perfectly. That we ate it with brown rice was even more telling.

Desserts were a "Thai-ramisu" (Tiramisu with a Thai twist) and a chocolate cake. The cake was good, but not memorable. It was the Thairamisu which was a hit though. Pretty much your tiramisu with mangoes and coconut meat inside. I think the coffee-ness of the Tiramisu is different too, and the type of cream was not as thick as your typical tiramisu, which is good because otherwise it wouldn't have gone well with the other ingredients.

The kebab, fish, and dessert made up for the bad selection of sashimi.

Food: 46/50

Service was top notch. I don't think they made a single mistake.

Service: 29/30

Somehow the Bkk Eater gets the feeling the finishing at InAzia was rushed, or something just doesn't fit right and doesn't make me comfortable.

Atmosphere: 18/20

Total: 93/100

Good value for money I guess if you're going for hotel eats.

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