Never did I expect to indulge in innovative Turkish cuisine in Bangkok, let alone a multi-course meal that astounded and allowed me to learn about Turkish heritage and food.
Listed in #asias50best restaurants 2017, @thehouseonsathorn serves a Signature Journey Tasting Menu in “The Dining Room” that I found to be thoroughly enjoyable.
It isn’t everyday one gets to dine in a colonial mansion that’s almost 130 years old, furnished in the most resplendent style. Any fears I had that I was in for a stuffy time evaporated once I read the menu. Chef and Culinary Director @fatih_tutak is a man with a sense of humour.
As each course arrived, Chef shared the story behind it, so the meal unfolded like a culinary tale of Turkish history alongside references to his own life. It began with delicious Mezzes: Foie gras & sweet fig jam in Turkish wafer halva, “Lady’s Thigh” Wagyu kofta, Black mussel in an edible shell, “Menemen Egg” (a soft-cooked egg with “sucuk” & kashkaval cheese), as well as Pide bread served with “Kaymak” (clotted cream and honey comb) & a spicy “Cokelek” that‘s to-die-for.
Next was a dish with the funniest moniker: “Thailand Has Plenty Of Crab Hallelujah” which I‘ve posted about separately, so please go read it.
Then came the “Most Delicious Part Of The Turkish Salad”, a refreshing cold soup of feta, tomato, juice of salad & “Ekmek”, followed by the “Zeytinya Of Summer”, a trompe l'oeil of sweet peppers, umami cream & green paste.
A tribute to his mother appeared after, in the delicious form of “Manti”, “Kaymak”, vegetables and mint cream.
Representatives from the ocean and the sky were the last two courses before desserts. The former was seabass with artichoke and avgolemono, while the latter was a 17-day-aged charcoal-roasted Anju quail with rainbow chard and grape.
The desserts of “Bici Bici” (rose flavoured shaved ice) and sheep cheese curd with goat milk ice-cream were playful and really scrumptious. Same goes for the pair of petit fours, one of chocolate and the other of pomegranate liquid encased in white cacao, that were delivered on a bonsai tree.