When, despite having never set foot in France, Englishman, Marco
Pierre White, was lauded with three stars from Michelin, I’m sure a few ‘sourcils’
were raised across the Channel at this ‘rosbif’ taking them on
at their own game.
When, Australian, David
Thompson, opened Nahm at London’s
Halkin Hotel - it became the first Thai restaurant in the world to be awarded a
Michelin star. Upon opening Nahm in
Bangkok –many Thais were naturally dubious of just how ‘authentic’ this ‘Farang’s’
food could be.
Whereas, Marco learnt
his trade from French greats such as Raymond Blanc, Pierre Koffman and the
Brothers Roux - Thompson learned from royal palace chefs and ‘old Thai women’,
who, with a younger generation increasingly interested in westernised fast /
snack food, are keen to share their knowledge before it is forgotten.
Years of travelling, living and working in Thailand and study of their
food and its role in society and culture have resulted in David Thompson
publishing books and becoming one of the world’s foremost authorities on Thai
cuisine. The government even uses him as a consultant and to pass on his expertise
to Thai chefs at the prestigious Suan Dusit College!
Celebrating our tenth anniversary with a second honeymoon, the main
reason we selected Bangkok as a destination was to visit Nahm - largely, because of its inclusion on the S.Pellegrino list
of the Top 50 Restaurants in the World, at number 50.
Expecting the meal to be an education as much as a dining
experience, to say we were hoping for great things is a massive understatement
- I was not disappointed.
With its red brick columns
resembling the stepped chedis at the ancient Siamese city of Ayutthaya, gold leaf and Thai woven silk and
dark lighting the décor was the perfect setting for a romantic meal.
Translating as
‘galloping horses’ our dinner got underway with an amuse bouche entitled Ma hor. Balanced on a ‘sour’ young
pineapple base, these excellent little canapés featured a ‘sweet’ sticky
mélange of minced pork, prawns and chicken simmered in palm sugar with peanuts,
garlic and a topping of coriander and shards of red chilli. Sweet, sour, sticky
goodness!
To get a traditional,
balanced Thai style meal of sharing dishes, we decided to order from the ‘set
menu’ which involved choosing a dish from each of the menu sections: Salad; Soup, Relish, Curry and Stir-fried, steamed and grilled. Before
the main dishes arrived however we were served a series of Canapés.
Southern grilled mussels – perfectly plump, smoky, spicy mussels served
on sticks with slices of cucumber.
Smoked fish, peanut and tapioca dumplings – usually called saku sai (saku = tapioca, sai
= stuffed) these dumplings were delightfully formed from peals of tapioca with
a rich pungent, nutty and smoky filling.
Prawn and coconut wafers with pickled ginger – the pancakes or ‘wafers’ were wonderfully
light but it was the pickled gingers that I particularly enjoyed.
Spicy pork with mint, peanuts and crunchy rice
on betel leaves – a dish reminiscent
of the scene in Star Wars when Lord Vader throttles Admiral Motti! This, for
me, was what I had been hoping for – ballsy food which grabbed you by the
throat with its relentless spiciness. A delightful dish and quite unlike any
I’ve ever been served in Thai restaurant at home. Wonderful textures and
flavours: salty pork; dried chillies, mint; lemongrass; palm sugar; sweet
onions with bitter, young, fresh betel leaves! (It’s worth checking out the
Wikipedia page in Betel leaves – see here.)
Placing a heap of the sticky crunchy mixture (ensuring to include
some dried chilli) on a betel leaf, rolling it and popping them in my mouth and
the ensuing explosion of flavours will, I’m sure, remain one of my most enduring
and endearing food experiences ever.
Salad: Salad of deep fried
soft shell crab with pomelo, chillies and coriander – another dish
liberally bejeweled with blistering red, fried chillies. This time, tempered by
bursts of tartly sweet juice from the plumpest pomelo cells I have ever
seen!
Soup: Clear soup of roast
duck with Thai basil and young coconut – this was my wife’s favourite dish.
More of an umami hit than most of the dishes with a terrific tropical undertone
from the coconut water used in the broth.
Relish: Fermented fish simmered with minced prawns
and pork with chillies, galangal and green peppercorns served with fresh herbs
– this dish came in three parts: the fermented fish, which had been simmered
and lightly grilled were served on one plate with fresh herbs and vegetables; another
plate featured the fiery mixture of fresh chillies, green peppercorns and
galangal. The trio was completed by a bowl of sweet, sticky pork ‘relish’ with
a liberal sprinkling of caramelised roasted garlic – a wonderful synergy of
flavours.
Curry: Grilled wagyu beef
curry with sour tomatoes – most of Nahm’s ingredients are sourced fresh
from the best markets and suppliers in the area. Certain ‘prime ingredients’
are supplied from outside, including the wondrous wagyu beef whose flavour
stood up to the fiery red curry. The sour tomatoes added a burst of freshness
balanced by salty chunks of pickled, fermented snakehead fish called ‘pla rah’.
Stir-fried, steamed and
grilled: Stir fried venison with cumin and onions – to my mind, this was the
weakest dish on the menu and was outshone by the exceptional Jasmine Rice (adding to the natural
Jasmine scent here, they apparently infuse the rice water overnight with
Jasmine flowers). The expected rich flavour of the venison seemed lost amongst
the spice. The dish did not seem to have the same depth and complexity as many
of the others and it was not as texturally interesting.
As a pre dessert we were served a ‘palate cleanser’ of Sour Mango with a mixture of sugar,
salt and chilli – seemingly so simple yet so utterly scrumptious.
Lychees and salak in scented syrup with Thai
cup cakes – I enjoyed the
contract between the firm salak ‘snake fruit’ and the juicy lychees and the
soft pillow-like Thai cup cakes.
Pistachio pudding and golden tear drops with
perfumed mung beans – the
pistachio pudding was sweet and sticky; the perfumed mung bean creamy and fresh
but it was the rich egg dumpling formed into a ‘teardrop’ shape and set into oranges with the
unmistakable scent of pandanus, jasmine and ylang ylang which really wowed!
A top meal and experience well worthy of its place on the S.Pellegrino
World’s 50 Best Restaurants list – it will be interesting to see where it
places when the inaugural Asia’s 50 Best is published next year.
Follow @HungryHoss
Glad you enjoyed Nahm mate , really is an awesome place to eat good Thai cuisine.
ReplyDeleteIve eaten all of the dishes on your menu and i agree...theyre fantastic. One dish i didnt enjoy was the Wagyu , OTT rich for my palate.
The Miang Kham style salad wrapped up in the Betel leaf is one of my favourites and every one of the 5 taste sensations can be experienced with this one.
As for the Pomelo salads....Oh wow...its an amazing fruit.
Cheers and hope to catch you soon.