In Bangkok, where certain people's lifestyle revolves around gastronomic indulgence, restaurant operators are always eager to come up with a new selling point to help differentiate themselves from the others.
The competition is fierce in the city's weekend buffet scene, too. Attempting to beat competitors by offering superlative food quality seems all too common already. Now, proprietors play the game by extending operating hours.
Just very recently, Chatuchak Café, an international restaurant on the lobby level of Centara Grand at CentralPlaza Lardprao hotel, has launched its new weekend buffet concept dubbed "Luxury Lazy Lunch".
Available every Saturday, the buffet affords guests with up to six hours of all-you-can-eat fare drawing on over 70 Asian and Western dishes. That is one of the longest lunch buffets in town.
Wok-fried crab at the Chinese cuisine corner.
From noon until 6pm, dozens of food stations offering ready-to-grab delicacies and cooked-to-order dishes bring palatable joy to diners.
Among the buffet highlights are choices of seafood on ice including Alaskan king crab legs, crayfish, rock lobster, mussels, clams, tiger prawn, river prawn, octopus, brown crab and freshly-shucked Fine de Claire oysters from France.
Also popular is the charcoal-grilled variety of seafood such as sea bass fillets, rock lobster and river prawn, all of which are complemented perfectly with zesty Thai-styled dipping sauce of chillies, garlic, coriander and lime juice. Cuttlefish comes tightly stuffed with a scrumptious filling and may need no extra condiment.
The Japanese corner offers sushi and sashimi with yellowfin tuna, hamachi (yellow tail), salmon, sea bass, ikura (salmon roes) and wakame seaweed salad. If you are lucky, you might run into a whole tuna cutting session and have a chance to enjoy akami, chutoro and otoro fillets fresh off the fish.
Salmon fans will be delighted by the salmon carving corner offering smoked rare salmon, roasted salmon and cured salmon, while beef buffs were offered, on the day that I visited, Australian wagyu flank steak from the carvery station.
Charcuterie of the season was dry-cured ham off the bone, prosciutto, salami and pancetta. An impressive selection of cheese accompanies them. I particularly loved the creamy truffle-infused Italian cheese and the 24-month-old Comté.
Spanish seafood paella.
Carb-addicts are spoiled with choices here. There's a nice gourmet selection of carb-based Western dishes including lobster-seethed macaroni and cheese; Spanish seafood paella rice; Italian pasta; and more than a dozen options of bread -- from sourdough, focaccia and brioche to croissants and pretzels.
You'll find at the Thai corner local favourites, such as green curry, deep-fried prawn cake and prepared-to-order tom yum goong with fresh river prawn. The Chinese cuisine corner had wok-fried curried crab and braised chicken in soy sauce, while Indian specialities of the day included buttered chicken, dal makhani (lentil curry), fish curry and aloo gobi (mixed vegetable curry) complemented by a variety of naan bread.
To add a touch of luxury to the experience, each guest will be served a half lobster baked with butter and cream and a nice piece of pan-seared foie gras.
The café features a large dessert corner, showcasing a repertoire of cakes, mousses, pastries, ice cream and classic Thai sweets.
As a family friendly feast, there's a kids corner awaiting children and the young-at-heart with light bites, fun snacks, balloons and activities. The "Luxury Lazy Lunch" buffet is priced at 2,000 baht per person inclusive of soft drinks and herbal juices; or 3,000 baht per person with sparkling wine, beer and cocktail; and 4,000 baht per person with Moët Chandon Brut Imperial Champagne.
At this introductory stage the restaurant offers a 25% discount for up to eight persons per group until Aug 25.
