Le Bouchon Restaurant Bangkok

Le Bouchon restaurant is located in the heart of Patpong, the famous entertainment area in Bangkok. It is located in a one floor shop-house with a large bar, small dining room, and an even smaller kitchen and toilet.

The amicable owner, Serge Martiani, is usually at the bar and you may have a chat with him. It has been very popular over the last ten years especially with the French crowd, and the main draw is not the menu but the real bistro feel of the place, it seems that everyone feels comfortable here and I would advise advance booking, due to the popularity and limited seating. You can always eat at the bar, if you can find a spot to squeeze in.

During a recent lunch and after looking at the very extensive blackboard menus, which are propped-up in front of you by the friendly tri-lingual waitresses, I chose to start with what turned out to be a very fresh tomato salad drizzled with vanilla scented, olive oil and sprinkled with pink peppercorns from Madagascar, and my dining companion ordered lentil soup for the first course. I followed with lamb shank with white beans while my friend had duck confit. It was all washed down with a good bottle of red Cahor wine.

This was followed by a couple of eau-de-vie Poire William to finish.

Le Bouchon Restaurant Bangkok
37/17 Patpong soi 2, Surawongse Road, Bangkok 10500 Tel. 02-234-9109

  

Le Beaulieu Restaurant Bangkok

Classic French cuisine makes many demands of the chef - adherence to strict rules, an understanding of special methods and techniques, skills acquired after long apprenticeships in the kitchens of great restaurants.

At Le Beaulieu, Chef Herve Frerard knows what a great dish requires. His sauces, the foundation of haute cuisine, are created under the strict, time-consuming rules he has learned in major restaurants in Europe.

Yet French gastronomy today is constantly transforming. Out of tradition, aesthetic sense, and culinary history is evolving a re-interpretation of French haute cuisine into "French Contemporary", where elegance underlies a subtle simplicity, and fine ingredients are presented with a clarity of taste.

All these are elements you'll find at Le Beaulieu, where the 200-year-old French culinary heritage is re-interpreted in a contemporary setting.

Le Beaulieu Restaurant Bangkok
Sofitel Residence, 50 Sukhumvit Soi 19, Bangkok

  

Le Banyan Restaurant Bangkok

Le Banyan Restaurant Bangkok is a Thai house splashed in yellow and red with a bar on one side and traditional table settings.

For 18 years chef Michel Binaux and partner Bruno Bischoff have continued a legacy that keeps Le Banyan a respected French restaurant. Among the foie gras variations, try deglazing with blackcurrant vinegar and apple galette; pan-fried yet served semi-cooked helps the liver lobe to resonate with a sweet hint.

Hot appetisers such as lobster bisque is aromatised the old-fashioned way with cognac. While Le Banyan is synonymous with Rouennaise-style pressed duck, a traditional French delicacy that uses the juice squeezed from the duck as a sauce, chef Binaux's culinary expertise is also attested by chateaubriand, medium grilled before flambeed with Armagnac and served with red wine sauce and bone marrow croutons. End the meal with calvados and souffle or choux pastry profiteroles with fruit sherbet.

Le Banyan Restaurant Bangkok
59 Sukhumvit Soi 8, Bangkok 10110

  

D'sens Restaurant Bangkok

Right at the top of the hotel, D'Sens's full-length glass windows provide breathtaking views of the city.

Michelin-star twin chefs Jacques and Laurent Pourcel have created a menu that is modern French inspired by the Mediterranean influences of their restaurant at Montpellier in the south of France. Specialty ingredients are imported to provide an exceptional dining experience. Each item on the menu is paired with a recommended wine.

Start with Brittany blue lobster terrine, served with mango and baby vegetables, smoked duck breast, snow peas and vanilla-flavoured olive oil. Duck liver ravioli is a speciality that lives up to its reputation. For a main course, duo of pan-fried beef fillet and braised short ribs in red wine with black truffle mousse is strongly recommended. Not to be missed are some divine desserts.

D'sens Restaurant Bangkok
Dusit Thani Hotel, 946 Rama IV Rd, Bangkok 10500