We don’t know where to begin. There are simply too many choices. We’ve entered the JW Café in the elegant JW Marriot Bangkok hotel on Sukumvit Soi 2 and realised we are hopelessly unprepared.
At all the best buffets - and JW Café has a great Bangkok buffet - there’s a game to be played. The rules of the buffet game are simple. There’s the food, and you can have all you want. But what strategy should you employ to get the best out of the buffet? If it’s bang for your buck, you could stand next to the oyster bar and pound the Fines de Claire, Irish, Tasmanian, Normandy and Jersey molluscs. Or you could, as we observed one hardy customer doing, embark on a foie gras frenzy. You’ll win, but at what cost?
We went for a more-is-more approach, where we attempted to tackle the huge smorgasbord of options with a grand global tour, from aromatic Indian dishes to immaculately presented Boston lobster to honey-glazed gammon ham and the Chinese barbeque selection. We thought we were doing well, but realised we hadn’t even touched on the caviar, the king crabs or even the delicious selection of Thai classic dishes. And it was only on our third round that we found the sushi station. (It was there the whole time, but we were overwhelmed by all the other choices.)
JW Café, the JW Marriott’s buzzing downtown venue, hosts its Grand Dinner Buffet every Friday and Saturday, but for Christmas and New Year they’ve pulled out all the stops. Added to the usual vast array of dishes and delicacies are a host of festive treats. Star of the carving station is a plump and gorgeously golden roast Butterball US turkey, which can be cut to your exact white or dark meat (or both!) preference, and slathered with cranberry sauce and chestnut stuffing.
Did we mention the Indian food? The wonderful aromas of Chef Manoj’s dishes stopped us in our tracks. On our visit the prawn curry and lamb korma proved impossible to resist. Easier for some of us to resist were the Babylonia snails, although some of our party rightly claimed that the point of a buffet is to try different or unusual delicacies.
And did we mention the pasta? JW Café makes a deliciously rich gnocchi with black truffle cream sauce. That’s the beauty of a buffet - you get to try special treats like truffle sauce, caviar and oysters. In fact - and here is the key realisation - you can try them all at once. Put caviar on an oyster! Drizzle truffle sauce onto your lobster and avocado cocktail! Put Champagne jelly on your brandy-soaked traditional English Christmas pudding! The only limit is your imagination. (Except, if we’re being honest, the real limit is your calorific stamina. We recommend skipping at least one meal on the day of your visit.)
Such a rich assortment of food needs a suitable beverage or two to complete the experience. The JW Café cocktail menu is worth spending some time on. We tried a couple of cocktails, starting with the Leaf of Flavours, which encloses gin, martini, triple sec and lime juice with coriander and a spiral sliver of cucumber so you can tell yourself it’s a health drink. Or for those who aren’t pretending to be healthy (and at a buffet at this time of year, why would you?), there’s the Thai Tini, which combines vodka, apple liquor and Campari with juices, bitters and syrup.
If cocktails aren’t your thing, there’s a double bubble choice of either prosecco or Champagne, and a wine list covering decent bottles from both the Old and New Worlds.
Diners with a sweet tooth would do well to pace themselves through their main course and leave room for dessert. If you gorged on the savoury dishes, your roam around the dessert stations will be full of remorse. You’ll have no space for the ice creams, the cakes, the crème brûlées, the chocolate fountain or the crêpes. (We believe there was fruit also, but who comes to a buffet for fruit?)
The Christmas celebrations commence on the evening of the 24th, where the Christmas Eve dinner buffet runs from 6pm until 11pm. The dinner comes in at 3,100++ baht for each adult, which children dining half price. To get you in a more festive mood, snag one of the roaming egg nog waiters on the night.
Christmas Day has more of the same, with lunch (B1,325++) running from noon until 3pm and dinner (B2,600++) from 6pm. Make sure you fill up on the once-a-year treats of Stollen cake, festive Yule logs and - almost a legal requirement at this time of year - a few delicious mince pies.
But for those unlucky enough to be working on Christmas Day, the holiday begins proper on New Year’s Eve. And don’t worry - JW Café has you covered.
Before we cover the buffet deal, it’s worth mentioning that Marriott’s Chinese restaurant, Man Ho, is serving a selection of gourmet dim sum and other Chinese comfort dishes ideal for all the family. The all-you-can-eat dim sum menus are available for lunch and dinner on the 31st and the 1st, both priced at B1,500 net.
Back in the café, December 31 is one of the biggest nights of the year, and where better to kick things off than at the Dinner Buffet (B3,100++). The meal runs from 6pm until 11, but then where can you ring in the New Year? Where better than the Marriott’s stylish lobby bar, Manhattan. This elegant dark wood space has some booze deals for you to make the most of as you dance off the calories from the buffet. There’s a 3 Classic Drinks package for B1,500++ or 5 bottles of local beer B1,000. But if you don’t fancy toasting in 2019 with something as quotidian as beer, Manhattan early bird booking gets you 35% discount on Champagne when you order before 9pm. And why would you not?
JW MARRIOTT HOTEL BANGKOK
4 Sukhumvit Soi 2. Tel. +662 656 7700. http://jwmarriottbangkok.com/.
