Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Hyde & Seek Gastro Bar

There has been so much hype lately about a place called Hide & Seek Gastro Bar. Anyone who is anyone in town is talking about it. Even our foodie friends tell us that we should try out the food. It is the place to be seen, has amazing cocktails and fantastic food. We have been meaning to go for a long time but we have been busy and the location is difficult to get to with traffic. Or maybe, I am too old for these trendy places.


But we finally decided to try out what everyone is talking about.

You truly need to call several days ahead if you want a table outside on the terrace (the most wanted tables). The atmosphere outside is dark (you need a flashlight to read the menu) with mood lighting & loungey music. But there is a buzz from the cool & chic people. There is non-stop action of people coming and going. It was Tuesday but it seemed like a weekend with the amount of people eating & drinking.

Speaking of drinking; Hyde & Seek is really famous for their cocktails. They have the hottest 'mixologist' in Bangkok and they have created some of the wackiness cocktails such as the 'Modern Mad Men' a bourbon infused with rosemary and pear and served over a sphere of ice or the 'Moscow Mule' a vodka based cocktail with lime and ginger beer, 'New York Thymes' a blend of apple vodka, fresh thyme, lemon & saffron or 'Guilty Pleasure' a mixture of raspberry vodka, panna cotta, strawberry & black current. The very long list of cocktails is absolutely amazing.


The first dish was Ginger ale fried calamari with ginger spring onion aioli (190 baht for small/ 360 baht for large). I am a sucker for any deep fried food. And this dish was not bad at all...the calamari was deep fried to a light golden brown, they were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. I did not get the taste of the ginger ale but that was no issue. What was really nice about this dish was that it was not oily, which I give big bonus points for them knowing how to deep fry.


Tuesdays is local beer at 99 baht when ordering a any burger. With an offer like this; we could not refuse. There were five hamburgers to choose from with wacky, funny & interesting names like the 'Oscar of the Waldorf' or the 'Posh in Paris' or the 'Brooklyn Bums' at a whopping 625 baht. We chose the 'Notting Hillbilly' hamburger...red wine-braised short ribs, char-grilled portabello mushrooms, fried egg, glazed bacon, fresh mozzarella and safflower sauce all on a dark rye bun (395 baht). So many ingredients in one small bun. And; WOW, all the ingredients exploded with flavour in my mouth. The textures, flavour and colours of this hamburger has changed my perception that a hamburgers was a tasteless & boring piece of meat between two pieces of white bread.


The next dish was Atlantic Salmon at 48.8c degrees slow poached parmesan foam with Ms. Celery's Celeric & Proud Asparagus (385 baht). To start with; this was one of the 'BEST' salmon dishes we have had in Bangkok in a loooooooonnnggg time. This was perfection; in terms of quality, cooking and taste! The salmon was a light pinkish colour and the texture was so soft & tender. The parmesan foam was light & airy but heavy on taste. A creative & wonderful dish.


For dessert...Jasmin flower flan with refreshing base and crispy sesame tulle (140 baht). This dessert was beautifully presented. The flavour and texture was light & soft. A dessert that was not overwhelming in terms of sweetness and richness (this is a good thing). A nice way to end a meal.

Overall; the service was casual & efficient but the girl we had was emotionless...no smile, no reaction to when she served the food...well not everything can be perfect.

The food is classic European/American comfort food but with attitude. And; of course the food is good, the kitchen is watched over by the world famous Thai chef...Chef Ian Kittichai. Everyone in town already knew about chef Ian's amazing cooking before he joined Hyde & Seek. So; when everyone heard that he joined Hyde & Seek, the gastro bar already earned respect from foodies in town.

65/1 Athenee Residence
Soi Ruamrudee, Wireless Road, Ploenchit
Bangkok, 10330
Tel. 02-168-5152-3
Mon - Sun: 11:00 am - 1:00 am

www.hydeandseek.com

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey mate, long time reader. First time poster. Awesome post like always, i follow a few bangkok blog daily. Anticipating my next trip to bangkok from sydney.

From your hit counter you have over 10,000 people visiting daily but no comments..

So wanted to register and show my appreciation! :)

Hungry in Bangkok said...

Hi, thanks so much for reading, very cool that you enjoy the blog. I definitely will try to keep updating you on the yummy places to eat in Bkk.