With illustrious overlords and pernickety guests to pacify, the demands on the young culinary team at The Oasis, led by switched-on Head Chef Ohm Tosporn Suwannagate, are weighty. To their credit, however, every dish passes muster impressively.
They do not lack inspiration. The large, high-ceiling space with glass walls on three sides abutting the expansive pool deck is state-of-the-art modern dining room design. Function and form are smoothly balanced in a way that mirrors nature. Granite and greenery, ergonomic furniture and homey tableware, are pierced with vivid colour points and zany metal ants climbing the wall.
The theatre kitchen is shiny business-like but injects a compelling note of artisanship, as does the large bar island, sake, whiskies and draught Asahi etc being included.
We trialled its "A La carte International Dinner Buffet", comprising starters and desserts sandwiching a free-flow menu of a la minute mains. Besides avoiding waste, the format ensures freshness.
The seafood-on-barrels-of-ice counter offered three selections; plump steamed prawns and green mussels and freshly-shucked Korean oysters, served with copious condiments, all top notch. A salad bar includes a full-Monty self-help Caesar setup. Plus a couple of exceptional soups, a spicy beef broth and a princely lobster bisque with crunchy crouton. Nice crusty breads, too, and green tea buns.
So just enough not to spoil your appetite for the international mains, of which there are five choices nightly.
Oasis Hamburger pits ground Australian beef with a poached egg on top, Aussie breakfast-style but soused with gourmet red wine and nori gravy.
Fish Samurei, grilled cod fish with miso sauce, is simply irresistible.
There’s a lot of prep-work in the Japanese Seafood Curry (karē raisu) with the sauce blending three kinds of curry, chicken and beef stock, onion, apple and banana, giving it a moreish fruity robustness.
Mount Fuji, creamy sauce spaghetti topped with seared salmon, crispy tobiko and Parmesan tuile, hits the spot.
Other evenings offer Pork Ninja, pork roll with apple curry sauce, and Quessadilla stuffed with prawns in spicy tomato sauce.
Eight excellent homemade ice creams star chewy, deeply milky Hokkaido Milk and uber smooth green tea, along with blueberry yoghurt, mocha chips etc.
A dainty custard tart is de rigueur and chef’s gateaux and pastries are lighter and taste even better than they look.
Served Sunday-Thursday evenings from 18.00 – 22.30, the indulgence is sound value at THB 780++ including drinking water and black coffee. Friday-Saturday presents a BBQ meat and seafood extravaganza priced THB 1,590++. One Harmony membership, joinable on the spot, invokes an immediate 10% discount.
Sunday Brunch with Pool Access: THB 1590++ pp Served from 12.00 – 15.00
The Oasis All Day Dining, 6th fl, Hotel Nikko Bangkok. Tel. 02-080-2111
