MaiMai Eatery, this week's subject of review, might be located in one of Bangkok's super high-end locations and its cuisine more or less markets "favourite dishes of the grand dame".
Chicken liver paté with garlic toast.
But don't let the oh-so noble presence discourage you from checking out this six-month-old venue. My recent lunch there proved that the 50-seater offers some of the city's most comforting culinary authenticity.
The story behind MaiMai dates back to mid-80s when the daughter of Thanphuying Chanut Piyaoui, Thailand's noble lady and founder of the Dusit Thani hotel, opened a restaurant called Le Jardin in the large entrance hall of the, then very posh, Peninsula Plaza. The menu was a simple collection of Chanut's favourite dishes, with guaytiew rua (a brown-broth boat noodle), the first of its kind to be served in the ritzy ambience of an air-conditioned restaurant, as an additional highlight.
Because of the cozy cuisine it offered, Le Jardin had been much-loved by well-heeled local diners. It was until some years later that it gave up the space to another restaurant.
Now to the delight of regulars, the long-missed eatery is finally back.
Under the management of Chanut's granddaughter, MaiMai is a resurrection of Le Jardin with the classic menu slightly adapted to infuse a modern-day touch. Some dishes are newly added to offer more options to its guests.
To complement the fresh comeback, its dining area, decked out in royal blue hue, boasts a breezy and casual bistro-like vibe.
However (and this is a good news), service, which blends Thai-style cordiality with professional promptness, is done by the same old team of staff, most of whom have been with the restaurant from day one.
My lunch there was simply built on the restaurant's recommended dishes.
Coconut crème brûlée.
First up was spicy grilled assorted mushroom salad with shrimp (250 baht). It featured a variety of mushrooms perfectly cooked to retain their gummy soft quality and not at all feeble. The mushrooms were tossed with nicely-cooked prawns, fresh shallots, saw tooth coriander, chillies, fish sauce, lime juice and roasted rice powder -- the latest to add a tempting fragrance and more crunch to the dish.
Crab croquette with tartare sauce (250 baht) is said to be another best-selling starter. The golf-ball sized treat with crispy golden exterior revealed a warm creamy filling of chunky crabmeat and cabbage.
I truly loved MaiMai's rendition of chicken liver paté (280 baht). The paté, which came in a sealed glass jar, was light and silky in consistency while it's mildly sweet and creamy taste went marvellously with the accompanying garlic toast.
You can't be at MaiMai and not try its most popular dish dubbed "Penin Boat Noodle". I had my order with rib-eye beef (320 baht). The other meat option is kurobuta pork. It featured rice noodles topped with expansive yet thin slices of Australian rib-eye beef, beef balls and pork crackling in a brown broth concocted to an Ayutthaya-style recipe. The broth had been seasoned to subtly combine salty, sweet, sour and spicy tastes -- a well-rounded flavour that, for me, needed no extra condiments.
You may want to raise your guaytiew rua experience to another level by ordering it to come in a blazing hotpot (990 baht), which is ideal for sharing.
Fried rice with mackerel and fresh Thai herbs (220 baht) is a comforting homestyle dish that marries velvety firm meat of deep-fried Thai mackerel with nice grain jasmine rice and a captivating wok-burn aroma.
Fried rice with mackerel and herbs.
While stir-fried glass noodles with cha-om, prawn and egg (220 baht) boasted wok-tossed glass noodles that nicely retained their gumminess and were never soggy with supple and toothsome prawns, minced pork, bright green sprigs of young acacia and red chilli peppers.
Another thing that I, a beef loon, liked much about MaiMai's menu is that it, unlike many eateries nowadays, has a good number of dishes prepared with beef. Among the tempting ones are spicy salad of beef shank (aka yum nuea nong lai); stir-fried green curry with beef short ribs; Café de Paris steak and frites; and Japanese beef bowl with soft-boiled egg.
I tried spicy chilli basil spaghetti with minced beef and garlic olive oil (240 baht) and was happily hooked by this full-flavoured dish.
Though MaiMai's cuisine is nothing more than a humble collection of everyday dishes, every detail was an evidence of culinary sophistication and generosity.
Portions were big, ingredients were top-notch, cooking was always done right and the taste profile was what you may call phu dee or "highborn" -- a subtle mild taste that offers the genuine character of the top-notch ingredients rather than overwhelm diners with heavy seasoning.
Wrapping up the meal was a lovely assortment of desserts.
It showcases the likes of Ovaltine panna cotta, crepe Suzette with passion fruit sauce, mango pudding and the top-seller caramelised banana.
My party of three settled on coconut crème brûlée (180 baht), another famous dessert. This family-sized delicacy featuring creamy custard seethed with crunchy morsels of coconut flesh under brittle burnt sugar is guaranteed to send you to a sweet nirvana.
On the weekday that I visited, clientele was a good mix of locals (families and high-ranking politicians) and international tourists. A pianist played a song list from the 60s and 70s.
