The ambiance is bright and airy due to the ceiling to floor windows. The high ceiling add height & volume to the space. Bistro like wooden chairs and tables filled the center of the room while bistro like sofas filled the edge of the room. The structure is a mix of wood, concrete, glass and brick. All the elements work well together.
The first dish was Prawn salad (260 baht). Roasted prawns, tomatoes, celery and red onion dressing. A simple looking salad but the prawns took the salad to the next level. The prawns were very fresh and large. Roasted well where the prawn was still moist & tender inside. The prawn added good flavour to what would have been a normal salad.
The next dish was Baby calamari (160 baht). The calamari was deep fried with oriental seasoning and accompanied with aioli & lemon. The calamari were fresh so that they were not overly chewy (a very good thing), they were slightly crispy due to the light oriental seasoning coating. The oriental seasoning and lemon made the calamari tasty and actually the aioli was not needed at all.
The next dish was Buffalo wings (180 baht). The buffalo wings were heavily coated with the rich house made bbq sauce and was accompanied with a cheese dip & celery. This was my least favourite dish of the day; not that it was not cooked well, but I thought the home made bbq sauce was too sweet. It could have been that way due to them thinking that is the Thai taste; but for me, bbq sauce should be more spicy and smoky.
The next dish was Spinach dip with house made chips (140 baht). The dip consisted of spinach, mozzarella, bacon & garlic. This was not bad at all; very unique...the combination of all the ingredients tasted good together. I liked the idea of home made chips to accompany the dip. The chips were nicely done, very crispy but not oily (a very good thing).
My friends main dish was Crab cake benedict (330 baht). Roast is famous for their breakfast foods...so their eggs benedict are also very popular. The eggs benedict of the week was with crab. The crab was fresh and abundant (which is a good thing; I hate it when a restaurant is so stingy with crab meat). All the ingredients seemed to melt together and it turned out to taste very nice. A unique way of serving this traditional dish but it was a big hit with my friend.
My other friend's main dish was Smoked salmon salad (300 baht). The salad consisted of rocket, feta cheese, toasted almonds and tangerine vinaigrette. Nicely presented...the burst of contrasting colours of the orange salmon, very green rocket and the sprinkle of white almonds & feta cheese. The combination of contrasting textures and flavours was another reason why this dish was a success.
My other friend's main dish was Roast club (260 baht). The club consisted of roasted chicken, bacon, avocado, tomato & cheddar. All the ingredients were abundant, fresh and had good flavour. The contrast of colours & textures was very evident. The accompanying french fries were also well done; crispy on the outside yet tender on the inside. A good choice from my friend.
My other friend's main dish was Ceasar salad (240 baht). The salad consisted of cos lettuce, grilled chicken, bacon & egg. The ingredients were fresh and had good contrast of flavours & textures.
My main dish was Cubano sandwich (260 baht). The sandwich was made with roasted pork, emmental, dill pickles & jalapenos. The sandwich was grilled like a panini. I chose this sandwich because I have never seen this type of sandwich. I was very glad I did. The sandwich had very nice The sandwich was very tasty. I liked the extra kick of spiciness from the jalapenos.
Since we pigged out; we all shared the dessert…Strawberry waffle (190 baht). Since this was one of their signature desserts; we had to have one. The waffle was toasted to a light golden brown. It was slightly crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. The strawberries were abundant and had good flavour. The vanilla ice cream was was of good quality and also had strong vanilla flavour.
Another view of the dinning area.
The view of the counter where the food and coffee were coming from.
The entrance to Roast…it is on the second floor of SeenSpace.
Overall; the place is not bad at all. I did not have any expectations before we went to Roast and I am glad Roast left a good impression for me. Roast is really easy-going and relaxed. The food is a good mixture of unique & basic hearty foods at reasonable prices..the menu is extensive with choices. It takes it's coffee very seriously; I guess you can tell by their name 'Roast'. Apparently; one of their own roasted coffee creations was voted one of the best in Asia...that is quite amazing.
Though it looked like there were enough staff in the place; the staff really need more training about being attentive to their own service area. The staff are very nice; but since, Roast is a large place with many tables, it would make sense that each area have a team servicing it. However; it seemed like, the staff were just servicing aimlessly. I am not sure if they were not trained about serving their own area or because the place was so packed that they were helping their colleagues by serving in different areas.
In the end; we had to wave for the staff to notice us for menus, to take our orders, for water (several times), for napkins, for menus (we were really hungry), for coffee, for dessert, for the check. You can imagine that my arm was going up a lot of times (more than I actually wanted).
Anyways; the service did not ruin our lunch date. My gang were too busy chit-chatting that I was the only one getting annoyed by the service (the job of the blogger to notice such things is never done). Roast is a great addition to Thonglor's coffee & food scene. It is unique in its offering which makes it very popular with both foreigners and Thais. The parking situation is awful; so take a taxi if you can. Also reserve a table on the weekend; it is always packed!
Address: 251/1 soi Thonglor 13 (@ SeenSpace complex) Bangkok 10110
Telephone: 02-185-2865
www.roastbkk.com
