At this very minute, no other high-end restaurants in Bangkok seem more in demand than Mott 32. Its popularity has been crazy with the earliest available table said to be for late November.
But the city's gourmands and trend-catchers don't seem to mind. I heard them lusting after Mott 32's glorious barbecued pork, a juicy 1,680 baht slab that is limited to 20 servings per day, as they eagerly waited their turn to experience it.
Established in Hong Kong in 2014, Mott 32 is a contemporary Chinese restaurant serving modernised Cantonese cuisine that celebrates Hong Kong culture and culinary tradition through a new approach.
The restaurant is highly treasured for its stunning design, which has won several awards including World's Best Interior of 2014 by Inside Festival.
Culinary-wise, Mott 32 has frequently been listed among Asia's best dining establishments. Such accomplishments have led the brand to expand to four more outlets in big cities worldwide including Vancouver, Las Vegas and Singapore.
The Bangkok location, which I visited last week, opened a month ago at the brand new Standard Mahanakhon hotel.
Living up to the highfaluting glory of its Hong Kong mothership, the 178-seat Bangkok branch boasts an awe-inspiring, Instagrammable interior design that unifies a nostalgic vintage feel with bright and breezy metropolitan space.
To go with the visual beatitude of the place is an opulent 120-item menu that showcases time-honoured Chinese recipes while encompassing superior ingredients such as abalone, bird's nest, sea cucumber, lobster and fresh fish.
A separate menu for lunchtime dim sum, meanwhile, lists over two dozen choices of steamed, baked, fried and barbecued delicacies.
My lunch started off with three dim sum items: the hot and sour Shanghainese soup dumplings stuffed with scallop and prawn (550 baht); the soft quail egg siu mai pork dumpling with black truffle (160 baht); and the crispy sugar-coated barbecue Iberico pork buns (220 baht). They were truly satisfying.
From the main menu came a signature fish maw jelly with Chinese marinade sauce, goji berry and mint (480 baht). Apparently, the dish is an upscale rendition of pork leg aspic, a classic Teochew dish commonly served at Chinese-Thai banquets.
Even though I am not a keen aficionado of barbecued pork, I considered myself super lucky when I was told that the restaurant's much-anticipated barbecued pluma Iberico (1,680 baht) would be available for me to order that day.
The limited stock of the special ingredient, a feather cut from the neck end of Spain's black Iberian pig, is the reason behind the dish's high price.
Judging from the look, it was an ordinary fillet of honey-glazed roasted pork loin. But the succulent mouthfeel it provided was evidence of extraordinary excellence.
If you are a fan of either Peking duck or classic roasted, Mott 32's apple wood roasted 42 days Peking duck (1,980 baht) is an absolute must.
The duck, carved at your tableside, was served in two styles. One with just the crispy skin to be enjoyed with granulated sugar, the other featuring juicy meat together with supple skin to be eaten with housemade hoisin sauce and pancake.
I found the duck dish, large enough to feed up to four diners, very pleasurable in terms of value for money and taste.
For those who'd like to have the leftover duck meat prepared as an add-on second course (280 baht), options include crispy deep-fried duck rack with chillies and preserved duck liver sausage with minced duck meat in lettuce cups. I went for the first and was delighted.
Another dish that truly impressed me was poached fish fillet in Sichuan pepper broth (1,850 baht).
It's a huge bowl of Sichuan-styled boiled fish prepared with fresh cobia fillets, pea sprouts and cellophane noodles in a bubbling hot peppercorn-seethed milky fish stock.
Desserts are also the star here. The sesame chocolate tart with lime, sea salt and pine nut (300 baht per four pieces) promises a heavenly wrap up.
Complementing the food is a beverage menu, an extensive selection of house tea, creative cocktail and mocktails as well as an expertly-curated wine list.
Mott 32's guests are in the good hands of restaurant manager Adit Vansoh, a familiar face and trustworthy veteran of Bangkok's dining scene.
The restaurant has three beautifully-decorated private rooms. Reservations are highly recommended.
- Mott 32
- The Standard Bangkok Mahanakhon, 2nd floor, Narathiwas Road
- Call 02-085-8888
- Open daily 11.30am-2.30pm and 6-10.30pm
- Park at Mahanakhon Cube’s car park or valet parking
- Most credit cards accepted
