Bangkok Marriott Hotel Sukhumvit is a hard place just to barge past. With its angled frontage opening up the mouth of soi 57, there's a sense of being sucked in.
Hence the eponymous "57th Street", its ground floor all-day dining restaurant with street scenery visible through its tall window wall, feels integral to this neck of the hoods.
The décor and culinary concepts are claimed to be inspired by Thai home-style cooking which, if you include the denizens of the district's cool condos, is fairly accurate.
Of necessity, given its popularity, there are lots of tables, collected in the area nearest the window. The spot-lit ceiling, with its comb of rattan reflectors, is moderately high, so your style isn't cramped. The rest is softly lit buffet islands and theatre kitchen, the hearth of the home.
Buffet-wise, special attention is lavished on Thursday-Sunday evenings and Sunday Brunch. Thursday focuses on fish (1,250 net), Friday-Saturday on Seafood (Canadian lobsters, all sorts of prawns, New Zealand mussels, French oysters) (1,950 net). Sunday night is prawn night (1,250 net). Children 6-11 are half price.
Marshalling the multi-ethnic culinary angles is talented Executive Sous Chef Kriengkrai Jakkhujuntorn. His equally friendly English-speaking team covers much ground more than competently.
Where to start? With soup, of course. But already there's a dilemma. Cream of potato with crouton and crispy bacon bits appropriated from the DIY Caesar salad stand and a buttered crust of excellent rustic bread? Or dive right into the interactive experience: pick some fish, prawn, mushrooms, veggies from the fresh counter and have a chef create the broth of your choice? Both are recommended and you won't find any finer spicy clear fish soup, tom yam or mild Chinese style soups. Bring some of the numbered clothes pegs from your table as you browse and your orders follow you back.
Also interactive are pastas and grills. Pizzas -- say generously topped Margarita and Hawaiian -- from the wood-fired oven, are all-set. Salads, cold cuts, cheeses and sushi-sashimi with imported hamachi, red tuna, salmon and others are top quality. Prepared salads may include spicy chicken, spicy shrimp, prawn, rocket & parmesan. The good customer base supports two upscale carvings, say herb-crusted lamb/mushroom sauce, and crispy pork leg/apple sauce.
Thursday's fish feature focuses on sustainably sourced varieties that come ashore in Krabi and arrive unfrozen the same day they're served. Think filets and steaks of salmon, mackerel, sea bass, dolly and barracuda. The latter two, when grilled, are buttery soft and with fine soy sauce and spicy seafood sauces respectively, definite delicacies.
Prepared with evident flair by an Indian chef, Indian selections, ranging murgh masala chicken, green lentil daal, vegetable samosas, yellow rice, poppadum, breads and a full cast of condiments, are eye-catchingly housed in gleaming copper urns.
The Thai, Chinese and other Asian corner showcases chafing dishes appetizingly filled with fried noodle with chicken, clear soup pork ribs with pickles, green curry chicken, deep-fried sea bass chilli sauce, stir-fried seafood chilli paste, and on. Western selections range deep-fried dory with tartar sauce, roasted pork loin mushroom cream sauce, grilled chicken breast barbecue sauce.
Desserts also focus on quality, including mind-boggling toppings for the homemade ice creams, with the Thai tea, green tea, and coconut numbers creating a particularly tasty trio. The Thai sweets are unimpeachable as are the panna cotta, crème brûlée, black forest gateau, blueberry crumble and on.
illy coffee and Dilmah teas ensure equally satisfying digestifs.
Lunch 12.00:15.00 hrs. Dinner: 18.00-23.00hrs.
