For a long time up until several years ago, people went to upscale steakhouses for a unique deep-pocket dining experience in which imported prime-cut meat was offered with fancy pricing.
Today, thanks to the widespread popularity of top-notch beef, a steak-centric meal, especially in Bangkok, has become more of a culinary comfort than a special celebration. Many fine steak restaurants now offer 5-star steak through casual dining, with affordable prices to match.
The Rib Room and Bar (shorten as RR&B) is one of the most-respected steakhouses in the city.
Located on the 31st floor of the Landmark Bangkok hotel, the 80-seater, bathed in bright red, has been treasured by steak connoisseurs for its no-nonsense offering of prime steak.
RR&B's much-loved cuisine follows a stern direction of the hotel's French executive chef Philippe Gaudal. Though always looking jolly and super-cuddly, Gaudal never takes cooking as a matter of child's play. He is known to settle for the crème de la crème of ingredients. For the steakhouse, that means only the best-sourced beef from Australia, Japan, Spain and the US.
Recently, to celebrate its 12th anniversary, the restaurant has introduced the new addition of a set menu. The set, priced at 2,000 baht per person, allows guests to create a sumptuous 3-course meal, from a selection of popular à la carte dishes, plus an assortment of mignardise and tea or coffee.
For the first course, options range from a platter of creamy burrata cheese and marinated cherry tomato with wild rocket salad and pesto oil (690 baht if ordered separately); lobster bisque with lobster remoulade (480 baht); porcini mushroom cream soup with black truffle oil and mushroom ravioli (450 baht); and Caesar salad prepared at tableside (480 baht). My personal favourite seemed to bounce between the refreshing burrata salad and the ambrosial mushroom cream soup.
Choices of mains include a 200g portion of 120-day grain-fed Australian Angus beef tenderloin steak (1,500 baht); Maine lobster and homemade tagliolini with Newburg sauce (1,350 baht); snow fish fillet with white miso paste, pistachio, pea purée and seaweed hash; and slow-cooked chicken with Soubise purée and roasted shallots. Avid beef fans will never regret going for the tenderloin, which was super-lean yet very full of beefy flavours. The velvety snow fish also proved heavenly for seafood connoisseurs and meat lovers alike.
For the sweet finale of the set, diners are to choose between profiteroles choux pastry with vanilla ice cream and hot chocolate sauce; and Grand Marnier crème brûlée with orange flavoured custard cream and fresh berries.
Those who wish to explore more on other best-selling dishes are welcome to surf the 40-item à la carte menu.
Of it, escargot baked in garlic butter sauce (490 baht) is the best in town, thanks to the pleasingly chewy texture of the snails and the excellent garlic-smothered parsley butter.
Should French foie gras be your gastronomic indulgence, the steakhouse's pan-fried duck liver with roasted shallot, Champion mushroom salad and thick berries sauce (1,200 baht) is guaranteed to provide palate satisfaction.
Also showcasing impeccable kitchen flair were seared Alaskan king crab leg and Virginia crab cake (850 baht); seared US scallop with Tarbais white beans in Vermouth sauce and pancetta (1,150 baht); and charcuterie board of culatello ham, bellotta chorizo, house-made pork rillette and chicken pate (600 baht).
Currently one of the best-selling main entrées is Surf & Turf (2,400 baht), a duo of grilled 120-day grain-fed Australian tenderloin and scrumptious grilled Songkhla lobster.
If fat intake is your dietary concern, don't let Gaudal lure you into a wicked world of rib-eye that will burst-release its deliciously sweet fatty juice on your tongue. But for those simply looking for utmost taste buds pleasure, you can't miss that of the superb 120-day Australian Angus (1,450 baht) or the very succulent 400-day dry-aged Australian wagyu from Stockyard Black Label cattle (3,200 baht).
Steak here comes undressed with a choice of sauce. Choose from mushroom cream, Béarnaise, Stilton blue cheese, Cafe de Paris and red-wine sauces.
With a dynamic show kitchen and extensive floor-to-ceiling glass window that allows a panoramic glittering view of the city, RR&B is as ideal for casual gastronomic gatherings as it is for romantic dinners.
Service by fashionably dressed staff blended efficiency with cordiality.
