The Setting: The moment you step into Pullman Bangkok King Power's Glen Bar, you can tell it's grand. The high ceiling, the mixture of low and high tabletops with sofas and eclectic chairs, along with dark mood lighting makes for a classy yet fun ambience. It's the sort of place you can bring your S/O or friends out for a nice night out or for casual after-work drinks. The setting is also dotted with various traditional Thai objects that go along with the bar's "very Thai" theme, such as a ranat ek next to a DJ's booth, a wall filled with fancy jars of ya dong and Thai sarongs draped over sofas. To top it all off, there are two live music performances every Thursday to Saturday night each week. It's a stylish place, alright, which makes us wonder whether the menu lives up to it.
The Menu
Glen Bar sources some of its ingredients from a local organic farm through the Royal Project Foundation. The fresh ingredients are used to create Thai/Western fusion dishes that are a modern interpretation of its "very Thai" theme that is also reflected in the setting.
We started off by sampling three of Glen Bar's Thai signature cocktails (B350 each). The rum-based Sud jai had very strong sour and salty flavours that were refreshingly light. The Sa-nea cocktail of rum mixed with roselle juice is also quite refreshing and if you're more partial to sweeter cocktails, this one is probably more your cup of rum. Our favourite was the Rang nam, a drink consisting of dark rum with gingery syrup, Thai black jello and gold leaf. It had a nice hint of sweetness from the jello and a little kick of a spiced up aftertaste.
For appetisers, we couldn't help snacking on the French fries with tom yum goong flavor (B110). The fries are of the thicker variety, perfect for the sweet, spicy and sour taste of tom yum goong. The Fresh shrimps wrapped with salmon and spicy wasabi seafood sauce (B220) was also a great start to the meal, albeit a very spicy one.
We really enjoyed the Pan-fried duck liver with tamarind sauce (B350). The texture of the chewy Portuguese bread is a perfect complement to the duck liver, which could be quite greasy. The tamarind sauce makes the dish quite sweet and not too heavy. The Pacific oyster served with flavours of Thai sauce, lime, garlic, and chilli paste sauce (B290), however, has very strong flavours that were quite overpowering. The traditional Thai flavouring of fish sauce with garlic, chilli and herbs proved to be quite spicy. The lime and garlic is not as hot but also had a nice kick to it. For those of you with more sombre palates, the chilli paste with fried shallots had a sweet aftertaste you will enjoy. We really do think the menu should have added an "H" to signal hot.
Another spicy dish we had was the Organic riceberry roll stuffed with steamed chicken spicy salad (B150) which was luckily marked with an H. The chicken was indeed quite hot but the cushioning of the riceberry roll helped. It is an interesting take on Japanese sushi, but we feel the ratio of rice to meat was a little too large.
The Pad Thai prawn with longan (B180) was probably the most "very Thai" dish as the only twist was the addition of lum yai. The intention was to reduce the amount of sugar and have the sweetness replaced by the fruit, which we have to say worked surprisingly well. The Stir fried Canadian lobster and hot basil (B1,250) was a nice take on the pad kra phao as the tenderness and sweetness of the meat enhanced the not-too-hot taste of the basil.
Insider's Tip
If you're looking for a more private setting, the mezzanine has some enclosed areas where you'll still be able to hear the live band or DJ and enjoy the ambience of the bar from above. There is a limited selection of desserts but we're sure the strong and delicious flavours of the appetisers and main dishes will more than enough.
Value & Verdict
Portions may seem a little small for the price range but the innovative fusion dishes are worth a try. It is perhaps one of the very few times you can judge a book by its cover, or should we say the food by its restaurant: it's stylish, modern yet Thai, and delicious.
Glen Bar
Thai - Western fusion
6pm - midnight
Pullman Bangkok King Power, Rang Nam Road
02-680-9999 ext Glen Bar
