Showing posts with label Hotel Dining. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hotel Dining. Show all posts

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Elements Restaurant Review @ Sheraton Pattaya

Some people go to Pattaya for the sin.

Some people go to the Pattaya for the sun.

Others want to be by the beach.

Yet others decide its a close place to Bangkok for relaxing.

I, on the other hand, go to Pattaya to eat.

I had a coupon for a free dinner at Elements @ Sheraton Pattaya due to be completed in a few days.

I needed to make full use of my coupon, so I filled up oil to rush to Pattaya to eat my free meal.

I like Sheraton Pattaya. It is not surprising it immediately became an award winning hotel. The feel there is one of total relaxation, beautiful views, though you won't get to play in the beach, but with a swimming pool this nice, who really cares?

Besides, I was there at night, and the weather was balmy; windy enough to sit outside and enjoy the night air. Humid enough to keep your skin from getting dry, but not enough to make you sweat.

Buffet selections were very good; after my dreaded meal at Birds of Paradise @ Sheraton Laguna, I was praying that this meal would do good to the Sheraton name, and it did. I think this buffet is even worth its full price.

The highlight is an outdoor grill of seafood, with the sweet meat of rock lobster.

Food: 46/50

Service was very good, though they were slow when we wanted to order some drinks in between the meal.

Service: 27/30

Atmosphere was perfect, I blame the night :)

Atmosphere: 20/20

Total: 93/100

Brought back some much needed confidence in buffet meals at Sheraton properties. Worth my 2 hour drive going, and 2 hour return to Bangkok.

Pool Side Restaurant Review @ Sheraton Blue Lagoon Hua Hin

The Bkkeater is a firm believer in evolution. After all, how do you explain constant changes in body sizes and brain sizes even as far as recent history amongst humans, and not too far amongst apes and us humans.

But when you go further back, it could just be we came from the sea. We were the biggest fish of them all apparently because now we eat all the other fish, including whales.

In that essence, our food preparations too evolve.

For example, a Naan Pizza?
So simple, yet few have thought of it. I mean, we got a Pita Pizza, but whosoever thought you could add cheeze on a Naan?

Indian food enthusiasts are probably having a cow about it... pun intended.

But as I was getting back to my evolutionary roots (swimming) I was again starved, so I made a stop over at the pool side deck and ordered a pizza with a som tum.

The Som Tum was great, it wasn't spicy, and they used cashews instead of peanuts. Also they gave 2 good size shrimps and the dried shrimp were bigger than what your typical som tum lady sells. Hi-So Som Tum anyone?

The Pizza was a pizza, though the crust tasted Indian, like a Naan... so thats why they call it a Naan Pizza!

It was delicious.

Food: 45/50

Service is what is expected.

Service: 28/30

A nice sala with good views to go with the good eats.

Atmosphere: 19/20

Total: 92/100

Not bad value for money... For STARWOOD CARD HOLDERS!!!

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.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Birds of Paradise Review @ Sheraton Laguna Phuket

One of the incredible things about Laguna Phuket is the sheer size of it.

It is absolutely beautiful, a huuuuuuuuuuuge lagoon, 5 resorts, an 18 hole golf course, and a beach front that probably stretches 3km from end to end (with the laguna properties covering a full 1.5km of it).

These properties include the Banyan Tree Phuket, Dusit Laguna, Sheraton Laguna, Laguna Beach Resort, and Laguna Holiday Club.

Residents of the Laguna Holiday Club (where I stayed) get a spot on the beachfront right in front of the Sheraton Laguna property. On the way walking back we decided to join in the Birds of Paradise Buffet which I got complimentary from a Food Voucher.

Here is the thing about this place, I would never have eaten there if it weren't for the voucher, and after eating there, I safely conclude that I wouldn't even go for a meal there if paid.

Visiting the beach from Bangkok, especially Phuket, one wants to sink their teeth into some good shrimps, maybe small rock lobsters, fish, etc. But none of these meats were available at the Birds of Paradise. The main meal available was CHICKEN. Now I understand the restaurant is called "Birds" of Paradise but the name of that comes from the tropical birds in the Lagoon, not from the main course offering, whose prices are B1200 nett per person.

My grade gives my opinion, avoid eating here at all costs, or even for little income, don't eat here

Food: 0/50

Service is what you expect in a 5 star establishment.

Service: 26/30

The atmosphere is nice if you think about it objectively because you are set in the middle of a lagoon, and there is a great breeze. But when you are eating crap food wondering how the hell a 5 star place can do this and get away with it, while you stare at farangs eat their chicken like its the best food ever...

Atmosphere 10/20

Total: 36/100

TERRIBLE VALUE OF MONEY

AVOID AVOID AVOID

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Reflexions Review (Plaza Athenee)

There are times when eating out can be described in 1 word: 'Delightful'.

Such would be the term for my night out at the Reflexions at Plaza Athenee.

For those who don't know the restaurant, it was opened approximately 5 or 6 years ago as a jazz bar, then moved into a jazz-themed restaurant... and at that time, the standards fell...

Then, the restaurant hired a new Chef and a new manager and went under renovation.

Renovations can be scary because like a box of chocolates, you never know what to expect.

In this case, was a wonderful mix of food, atmosphere, and service.

Bkkeater had a great meal for his dinner at the reflexions, starting with Sea Bass Ceviche and Raw Scallops.

The sea bass was nicely mixed with herbs (photos coming shortly). The cuts were superb, it was not too citrus infused as some ceviche's can be, and the touch of green mayonnaise on the side was a perfect compliment to the texture of the fish.

The scallop too was served on slight mayo on the side. I loved the hearty touch into the sauce (picture to come shortly). On one of the scallops, the Bkkeater got a big piece of sea-salt. Even then, the next scallop piece seemed to have melded perfectly with the saltiness on my tongue giving an amazing sensation at the taste buds.

Next was a sea-urchin soup topped with a mushroom ravioli. Its hard to really explain the flavor sensations when one takes a sip of this soup. I would even argue that the flavor that lingers and the imagination of that flavor when I recall it while writing is simply divine.

The one mistake I made for the night was not to listen to the manager's suggestion for the steak. In Thailand, my experience has been that 'no' restaurant makes a medium-rare steak properly. Somehow, even the holy grail of steaks in Bangkok, being the New York Steakhouse, tend to char the outer layer of the steak too much while leaving the inside bloody and therefore having no smooth transition of flavor within the steak.

Prejudice intact, I ordered my steak medium. And I must say, it was the best steak I have ever eaten in Bangkok. Kudos to the chef for getting the flavors and transition of flavor 100% correct.

Mrs. Bkkeater had the duck. And what a duck that was! The duck is served on a bed of snow peas. Its cooked to perfection.

For dessert, it was chocolate mousse cake (served for my b'day), and a capuccino. The cake was so rich: not too bitter, not too sweet, not milky, and had a velvety-chocolaty flavor that leaves the taste bud at the back of the tongue just yearning for one more bite. Addictive.

The only problem with the food, was that 1 piece of bread served was slightly salty... as such, we found 1 way to deduct exactly 1 point from the food total.

*Update* Someone commented to the Bkkeater that no restaurant should make a mistake with the bread, as a result the Bkkeater will reluctantly deduct 2 points as he too agrees with the notion.

Food: 48/50

One thing the bkkeater dislikes are servers, especially in 5 star restaurants, who think they know what you want, and give it to you without asking.

If bread at a table is finished, ask first before giving a new tray of bread. Even though its free, the people at the table might not want to get new break for fear of losing their appetite. Just ask first!

Or another common example are servers who assume you are done with your food, and pick it up without your asking. Hey, sometimes you are saving to eat the remaining sauce with bread, or whatever... again, its polite to ask.

The above examples did NOT happen at the Reflexions. What did happen was that our water (with both the Mrs. and I with glasses more than half-full) one of the dear waitresses decided for me that we wanted our glasses filled to the brim and opened me a new bottle of water. Of course, I wasn't going to complain about it there and look cheap, even though I may have wanted more water, I would've preferred being asked first.

Other than that, service was attentive and not over-bearing. Without that one incident, the service actually received a perfect score. However, that kept me annoyed for all of a minute (then the tango dancers entered), and I will cut off 2 points from there.

Service: 28/30


Intimacy requires passion. As such, live piano, movies of tango, and even real life tango dancing build intimacy. On one of the walls, you see beautiful photos of Angkor wat and a collection of mixed photos around southeast asia including children. The other wall is a large window looking down into wireless road. Somehow, either the window tint, or the room lighting gives it the image of a reflection of the room as a shadow.. its a very interesting and very intimate play.

The live tango, unfortunately, is temporary.

The manager deserves credit for his handling of the restaurant.

Atmosphere: 20/20

Total: 96/100

Value for Money: Very worth it. If you value food, and I mean delicious food, and you're willing to pay top money for it, forget Sirocco, forget Lord Jim's, this place just is so much better.

The total grade of Reflexions shows how they lost points on areas they should not have lost on. They are slights that do matter to the Bkkeater in his quest to review every dining establishment in Bangkok for your enjoyment.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

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.