The Landmark Bangkok's executive chef Philippe Gaudal is a very passionate beef connoisseur. I've personally known him since 2009, a few years after he successfully relaunched the hotel's legendary Rib Room steakhouse.
Back then the modernised Rib Room & Bar (dubbed RR&B) was among the few places in the city to have its own meat ageing room, featuring a wide selection of beef from Japan, Australia, Argentina and Thailand to be cooked in the state-of-the-art open kitchen.
Sociable and ever active, the French chef is always up for new projects and challenges. And this week's subject of review, the Wagyu beef kaiseki chef's table, seems like a brilliant idea to welcome beef-loving diners back to RR&B after a Covid halt.
The dining concept, initiated by the hotel's general manager Francis Zimmerman, who's also a keen culinarian, has been well received from the day it was launched. So much so that my dining companion and I had to wait for almost two months for the earliest available seats.
Guests booking for the chef's table experience are seated at the dining counter next to the dynamic kitchen and with a glittering panoramic view of Bangkok, from the 31st floor, as a backdrop. Only two kaiseki dinners are on offer each month (on the first and third Thursday) and with just eight guests per dinner due to limited seating.
On the evening that we visited, the ambience of the 90-seat restaurant was vivacious, almost celebratory. Clientele were international groups of business execs and friends. Our fellow diners at the counter were local families and young couples.
RR&B's chef's table menu unifies the art of butchery with a French culinary flair and the delicate artistry of Japan's much-glorified kaiseki haute cuisine.
The eight-course dinner is priced at 2,900 baht per person, or 4,000 baht per person inclusive of pairing wines.
We were treated to complimentary flame-grilled sourdough bread with house-blended brown butter and French fleur de sel, which nicely kicked off the dinner.
The first course is a duo of beef tartare, one a rendering of the French classic while the other showcasing a Korean flavour profile.
On the French side, the raw Wagyu tenderloin, neatly diced into tiny cubes yet still exhibiting fine lines of marbling fat, was seethed with olive oil, spices and mustard seeds and served on puffy beef crackling made from dehydrated beef tendon.
On the Korean side, the chopped beef came flavoured with ginger and house-made gochujang on a nori seaweed sheet. Both versions were equally delicious.
One of the comments I heard about the RR&B Wagyu kaiseki experience, other than that the meal was fantastic and fun, was that the price was very affordable.
The key factor contributing to the low pricing is the use of local beef: Sakon Nakhon F1 Wagyu, a cross-breed between Japanese Tajima Wagyu and American Brahman cattle in the northeastern province.
Thus the menu is not just economical but also demonstrates the chef's dexterity in transforming local beef into a gourmet masterpiece that entices both the eyes and the palate.
A dish featuring ox tongue speaks for the second course.
The chef said it took eight months for the team to perfect the recipe, which features bite-sized cubes of teriyaki-glazed beef tongue on an airy bed of buttery potato espuma accompanied by braised baby carrot and a crispy paper-thin "potato glass".
The heavenly dish, one of my favourite courses that night, proved an impeccable result of a time-invested experiment.
Following was a dish dubbed "Swish Swish Siri", imitating the sound of stirring meat in bubbling hot broth.
For this kind of flash-cooked recipe, most chefs would opt for beef cut with at least A4 marbling score to highlight the delicate fat and extraordinary tenderness.
But here, the A3 sirloin proved to do as admirable a job.
Thin slices of the beef were presented to us in pinkish-red raw before a piping-hot broth, made with kombu seaweed and katsuo (dried bonito fish), was later poured. After a brief bath, the impressively tender beef was dipped in housemade ponzu and sesame dipping sauces.
Interestingly, finger rib, a common secondary beef cut, was chosen as the focal point of the kaiseki main course.
The lengthy beef strip, offering multi-layer mouthfeel, from succulent meat and sweet juicy fat to springy tendon, in one bite, went through a long process of preparation, which included being sous-vided, flame-cooked on a Japanese diatomite charcoal grill and attentively brushed with a red wine reduction glaze.
The grilled beef was then cut into neat chunks and served with potato pavé, the square-shaped pressed potato sautéed until the exterior was slightly golden and crusty while the centre showcased fine layers laminated with butter and cream.
Every element in the dish, including roasted onion and dollops of black and white garlic cream, exists not just for its own glory but to perfectly enhance other ingredients -- taste-wise and presentation-wise.
Tomato water granita with balsamic caviar was a great choice for a palate cleanser before proceeding to the rice course, titled "Fat Cow".
Of it, Japanese rice was wok-fried with beef tallow, which gave an irresistibly inviting redolence to the dish, as well as housemade chilli sauce and kimchi pickles -- the latter offered a tangy contrast that helped the characteristic beef to stand out even more. A soy-marinated egg yolk, meanwhile, lent to the fried rice a creamy tasty gloss.
The seventh course "Herbal Beef Tea" carried on the glorious Wagyu formula but without the heavy density.
The amber-hued consomme fragrant with tarragon and thyme proved to cleanse the taste buds and soothe the stomach very well.
Just like the savoury courses, dessert was obvious evidence of the chef's thoughtful planning.
A plate of warm canneles-shaped Bordelais fondant au chocolate accompanied by vanilla bean ice cream wrapped up the dinner with an indulgent intense cacao note.
The Wagyu beef kaiseki chef's table also operates for private groups upon discussion. Reservations are a must.
- Rib Room & Bar Wagyu Beef Kaiseki
- The Landmark Bangkok, 31st floor
- Sukhumvit Road
- Call 02-254-0404
- Open for dinner on the first and third Thursday of the month
- Park at the hotel car park
- Most credit cards accepted
