Shuffle

Our friend at BK Magazine had a posting on his facebook that he liked Shuffle restaurant at the Rain Hill.  We had no idea what Shuffle was; so we asked him if it "was it good?"  Our friend's reply was that; "it was not bad at all."  The chef comes from Hamburger Factory on Ekamai soi 10...I think there was a disagreement between the chef and his partners, so he left and opened Shuffle.  Good for us...another place to try out.

Shuffle is on the second floor of Rain Hill community mall on Sukhumvit.  Actually; to my surprise when we arrived at Shuffle was that; Shuffle has replaced a Japanese restaurant, which I presume had not been doing well since it Rain Hill opened.

The design of Shuffle was following the restaurant design trend in town...the industrial look.  Lots of steel, concrete and glass.  A great kitchen view (but covered with glass).  However; the design of Shuffle does stand out for its use of space.  They did not try to cram in a lot of table but instead used a island sofa and put tables around the sofa...a touch touch.  This gives the illusion of more ground space.  The height of Shuffle also gives the illusion of it being larger than it is.

We sat outside on the large terrace with the view of Sukhumvit.  The tables are nicely spread out so that you can have your private conversations.

We started with Witte Trappist draft beer (7 for 1,260 baht).  That's a pretty good deal for a very good draft beer.  

Instead of bread...why not croissants?  The croissants were fresh and came out warm.  The croissants were flaky & crusty and at the same time; fluffy, light, buttery and soft.  Not bad.

The starter was Calamari Fritti (185 baht).  The calamari was very fresh so it was not too chewy.  They were lightly coated and were deep fried to a light golden colour.  The combination of crispness and tenderness was nice.  The dish came with two dip sauces.  Well done.  

The next starter was Parma Ham Quesadilla (195 baht).  A simple dish but not too bad.  The quesadilla was light and crispy.  The parma ham was good but I thought they were a bit stingy on the ham.  There was a slight parma ham taste to some bites but I was expecting an explosion of the flavour in every bite.

My friend's main dish was One Good Burger (325 baht).  A massive burger that looked amazingly good.  And...it lived up to its looks.  All the ingredients were very fresh from the meat to the bread.  The meat was cooked as ordered (my friend does not like a well done hamburger) and the cheese added good flavour.  A hearty and good tasting burger.  The only one thing we can complain about this dish was that the bacon on the side was beyond room temperature cold.  In the end the bacon was not eaten.

My main dish was Grilled lamb & rice (425 baht).  The lamb was incredibly tender and juicy...very yummy.  The lamb was cooked as ordered.  They were also very generous with the lamb portion...good value for money.  The rice was nicely cooked and added flavour to the dish.  The lamb was accompanied with horse radish and cranberry sauce.  A nice contrasting offer in sauces.

My other friend's dish was Pork Chop (425 baht).  The chop was huge and cooked as ordered.  The sauce was a nice blend of tangy, acidity, sweet and sour.  The pork was fresh, tender and juicy.  Another hit because it tasted very nice.  I just thought the dish was a bit boring...a side of plain lettuce, a scoop of mash potato and gravy.  On the other hand; when it comes down to the basics; the food is still the star and this dish was hearty and filling.

The dessert was Cherry Crumble Cheese Cake (155 baht).  At first my stinginess came out and I was thinking no way in hell was I going to order a 155 baht cheese cake...but as usual; hell won, I am weak and ordered the dessert.

The portion was of good size to share.  The cheese cake was creamy, dense and rich...not bad at all.  The cherry sauce was 'ok'...as usual (and I should have known)...the cherry sauce was way too sweet.  It over whelmed the cheese cake.  The crumble....ummmm, there was a mess of it.  I was not sure what to do with all of it; but it did add texture, not much flavour added.

Overall; the food was not bad at all.  The prices are good since the quality was good and the portions were huge.  We were nicely & humorously warned that Shuffle was only at their 'soft opening' stage.  They were testing and trying their recipies and service.  We were not expecting out of this galaxy tasting food but we were very pleasantly surprised at the quality of the ingredients, the professionalism of the cooking, the portions and the tastes of the food...all very good.

Where you can see that Shuffle was at their soft opening stages was the service.  Though they were very welcoming and nice...a few things the restaurant manager has to teach the service staff.  We had plates for our starters.  When we were finished; they were not cleared...which was ok with us.  However; we assumed sooner or later they would do that.  But; out of no where, the main dishes arrived and the waitress asked me to move the used starter plate so she can put down my main dish.  Then she asked my friends to do the same.  Who on earth taught her that???  Are you not suppose to clear off the table before placing other dishes on the table???  And asking the client to do that is not way to do either.

Because we sat outside;  in the beginning the service staff was attentive.  But as the night passed; all of a sudden they disappeared.  When we needed more beer, I had to wave like a bird about to take flight to get their attention.  When that did not work, I finally had to go inside and ask them to take my order.

The same happened when asking for the check.

Despite all this; we were relaxed and calm.  We knew Shuffle just opened (that is why they are not open yet for lunch...they are making sure they are ready); so we could not be upset.  We were just glad the food was good and that it just can keep getting better and better...same for the service.

Address:  Rain Hill Community Mall; Sukhumvit soi 47 (second floor)
Phone #:  02-206-7447