Time travel is possible. You're seated in a beautiful royal teak pavilion lit by vintage bulbs suspended from gilded hong carvings. Traditional Thai music drifts in from outside and, as you sip your butterfly pea and pandan leaf tea, the sun sinks below the horizon and the nightly spectacle of the bustling Chao Phraya River begins.
You're in the elegant Salathip restaurant at Shangri-La Hotel, Bangkok and the only hint that it's 2018 rather than 1918 is the view. Bangkok's latest retail gem Iconsiam sparkles across the river, its neon dappling the wakes of tonight's dinner cruisers, including the Shangri-La's own vessel, the Horizon.
The view stretches upriver to Jam Factory and downriver to Asiatique and beyond.
The Thai pavilion we're seated in, one of three designed to conjure historical splendour by starchitect firm Bensley Design Studios, is enclosed by a promenade that snakes along the water, giving diners prime riverside seating. And tonight -- and every Wednesday -- Salathip presents its Thai Cultural Night.
Salathip is transformed weekly into a street market from days of yore. The leafy entrance is now a short soi lined with food stations displaying their delicious Thai favourites, be it freshly grilled seafood or sweet fruit desserts. Depending on your arrival time, your promenade to the pavilion may be soundtracked by a ranad player, teasing tropical melodies from his wooden xylophone.
Thai street food has been famous since there were elephants roaming Bangkok's busy sois, and has recently caught the eyes and stomachs of the Michelin Guide inspectors who've sprinkled their stars across the city's best restaurants. But sometimes the reality of dining street-side isn't as romantic as travel bloggers insist. There are traffic fumes, noise, rats and cats. And can you see any fridge keeping meat cold and safe? But the cravings for such street treats must be addressed, so pop the Shangri-La's address into your map app and head down any Wednesday evening.
Thai Cultural Night is an event designed for you to wander and browse, reminisce and feast. But where to begin? The menu helpfully groups the dishes by style -- crushed (salads) fried, grilled and soups -- but it's best to leave the menu on the table and walk outside to let your senses decide. At the numerous food stations, tub tim fish crackle on the grill, prawns and pork sizzle in oil, and mieng kham is carefully prepared. Perhaps the prettiest dish is a small wooden bowl filled with pomelo salad -- pomelo, fried red onion, shaved coconut -- crowned with a succulent shrimp. It's so handsome it looks like it's been visually enhanced, but there's no Instagram filter for flavour, nor would one be needed. It's delicious.
Ask any of the staff for recommendations and they'll all proudly point to the Phad Thai Sud Boran station, where Thai Chef de Cuisine Yanavit Theerasomboonkun's award-winning dish is prepared to order. The recipe, confides Chef Yanavit, will be included in all Shangri-La in-house literature soon. So, if you want to know the secret ingredients that make his version of the Thai staple so outstanding, you basically need to get a job here.
Before we get to the mains, how brave are you? Normally this refers to how spicy you ask your vendor to make your som tam -- one chili (hello tourists!) or ten chilies (hello Isaan!). But tonight the test of your courage is whether you order the Salathip signature cocktail. For those who find a bowl of tom yam soup too pedestrian, you can order a Tom Yam Spicy. It's a courageous combination of flavours in a glass, fired up with Mekhong spirit and garnished with lemongrass. We dared to try one, and can describe its taste as indescribable. Order one for yourself!
It's easy to get carried away at the food stations, but remember that while these may be the main event, they are not the main course. Salathip has three main set options from which each diner can choose one. But your decision making may be delightfully interrupted by a dance performance.
There are three traditional Thai dance performances during the night, and the small troupe performs in each pavilion as well as outside, so every guest gets an opportunity for a cool Instagram-worthy pic. Each of the three dances is slightly different, with classic dance styles in the first and last set, and a more Northern ceremonial dance -- called Gong Sabat Chai -- in the middle.
Back to the food. The three main course sets are well-chosen complementary dishes, presenting almost a Thai Food 101. And fear not, these aren't bland touristic versions of Thai classics. There's spice and heat where necessary, but not so much that you'll turn into a fire-breathing dragon. And, of course, should you prefer to walk on the mild side, just tell the waitstaff.
The two carnivorous mains options share three dishes -- green curry with free range chicken, stir-fried prawn in sweet and sour sauce, and stir-friend indigenous vegetables in oyster sauce. However, you can choose between the Rattanakosin Set with its delicious grilled Australian beef tenderloin with Thai sauce, or the Krung Thonburi Set, with baked seabass and ginger. The veggie option -- the Ayutthaya Set -- swaps the chicken for vegetables and leads with stir-fried agricultura protein with mushrooms and cashew nuts.
While the menu doesn't travel much around the 76 provinces -- it's mostly cuisine from central Thailand -- it does travel back in time. There's nothing as contemporary as an ice cube at the dessert station. Instead, a manually-operated retro device dispenses shaved ice onto your fruit and syrup, whisking you back to yesteryear's primary school break time snacks. There's also khao tom mud -- beans, sticky rice and coconut milk wrapped in banana leaves, and the artfully packaged pyramids of bai thong treats.
For Bangkokians, the Thai Cultural Night is a nostalgic trip down the memory lanes of old Siam. For tourists, it's a guided tour through the charms of Thai culinary tradition. Dinner over, it's time to reluctantly return to the present and plan your next Salathip trip to the past.
The Thai Cultural Night is held at Salathip every Wednesday and is priced at B1,888++ per person.
For more information, Tel. 02 236 7777.
Email: [email protected],
or may also book directly via the hotel's website.
http://www.shangri-la.com/bangkok/shangrila/dining/restaurants/salathip/.
