The restaurant is situated in the basement of the Oakwood Residences on Sukhumvit soi 24. When we approached the stairs that led to the basement's outdoor courtyard; we were pleasantly surprised and pleased to see a mock up French style village courtyard. Kitschy, almost authentic and charming.
Once we arrived in the courtyard; we were surrounded with views of the kitchen, the bar or the French village.
We underestimated how popular Bouchot would be on a Friday evening. We did not reserve a table because we assumed that Thais would not be interested in moules frite for dinner. How WRONG we were! We arrived and the place was packed. On top of that, there was a private party in the back room. So; we sat at the bar for 20 minutes waiting for the next available table.
The decor is very modern, eclectic and highlighting the elements of stone, wood & metal. The strategic lighting gives the room a moody ambiance. There were a mix of tables and chairs styles which was comfortable but we thought the lay out of the furniture was a bit chaotic and difficult to maneuver for the staff & guest (or it just could have been like that because the place was packed).
Luckily we ordered our food at the bar before getting our table. Because; once we were seated, our food did not arrive for more than half an hour. We were STARVING! They finally brought some bread after half an hour. To our disappointment, the bread was of low quality, awful texture and had no taste. But, who cares when were starving.
The appetizer to share was the seared tuna wrapped in gold & black sesame accompanied with a Japanese sauce. The tuna was fresh, had a nice texture and nicely prepared. The Japanese sauce added a lovely flavour to the dish.
The next dish was a kilo of Blue moules et frite (we ordered the white wine sauce; there are several sauces to choose from, but we wanted the basic & original). We were not sure if we really got a kilo of moules but they swore to us that it was kilo. Anyway, the Blue moules were fresh, plump & juicy. The white wine sauce was incredibly tasty. We could not stop drinking the sauce. The white wine sauce was of course on the salty side (not too much) but that for sure was expected due to the salt sweating from the moules.
At first to our horror, french fries were cold (cold french fries are disgusting). We kept the moules and asked the waitress to replace the french fries. The waitress was very nice about it and to our surprise a new batch of very hot french fries arrived in less than five minutes. The french fries were deep fried to a golden brown. They were very crispy on the outside and very tender & moist in the inside. Very well done!
The next dish was pasta with prawns. The pasta was cooked perfectly, the prawns were fresh, plump & firm. The pasta was topped with bright orange flying fish row. The light & creamy broth had a nice flavour to it but it was on the sweet side. We were not sure what they added to make the sauce sweet (it would have been perfect if it was not sweet). The combination of colours, textures & flavours made this dish very nice.
Overall; a really cool, chic & trendy place. The majority of the customers were young & well off (I noticed from the food & drinks they were consuming). The food is quite good but there are other restaurants in town who do better seafood.
However; Bouchot is one of the first to try to focus on moules frite. I hope they keep the consistency & freshness of this concept because it is a good one. We would like to return to try the other sauces for the moules.
The staff were too over whelmed with the amount of people in the restaurant. The staff were nice, capable but not very attentive. For example; after our moules frite, our table was very dirty from the white wine sauce. Our plates & cutlery needed changing before our next dish arrived. Nothing happened. But of course our pasta arrived with the table dirty and and our plates were not replaced. I had to ask for the waitress to change our plates, which she did but she did not clean the table. Oh well, nothing can be perfect.
B1 Floor Oakwood Residence
15 Sukhumvit Soi 24
10110, Bangkok
Phone: 02-258-5510
3 comments:
This coming Tuesday we will go for a try at this new restaurant and share our experience with you later.
But first we are going to do a daily biking tour today with ABC Amazing Bangkok Cyclist. Have a look at their website: www.realasia.net or the promotional video they have:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZsG6GAUDfc
This is a must-to-do when in Bangkok.They are easy to find as they are located on Sukhumvit Soi 26, just before the Imperial Tara Hotel (coming from Sukhumvit).
Have fun and see a complete different Bangkok.
Our family just went last night and we had half a kilo each of the black mussels, one of the bacon and spicy sauce and the other one of creme fraiche and tarragon.
First the bread was awful quality.
For 620 baht for half a kilo we expected half a kilo, which it wasn't, 7 of the mussels were spoilt which meant it didn't open, the sauce was completely very salty for both dishes. For the creme fraiche and tarragon, they charged an extra 90 baht for the tarragon which i couldn't smell or taste it at all. It was a very disappointing experience for such high expectations and i wouldn't go again. At the end of the meal i handed them a bowl full of unopened mussels which they shrugged and walked away.
The mussels are still good but the service is very bad..
When I was there there were only 3 occupied tables and at least 5 staff. Despite it being a very slow night we had to constantly call the waiters to get the menu, to order, to pour the wine and to clear the table.
This place needs a capable headwaiter to organize the service.
I won't be back anytime soon.
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