Unapologetically un-hip, Eat Me endures as refuge for the trend-weary

COCONUTS CRITICS TABLE — I had the most terrible dream last night. Bangkok had run out of wine. In fact nobody even knew what wine was. All you could get in the bars was beer, except everyone was calling it “craft beer,” and it cost THB250 a pop, and most of it came from – I’m not joking – America.

And these huge wrecking balls were flying through the air, right before my eyes, knocking down all the restaurants – you know, the real restaurants with air-conditioning and comfortable chairs – and beside the rubble people were wheeling in these things they called “food trucks.”

And the only baked goods you could find in the city were strange things with names like “cronut” and “macaron.”

Oh, and everyone was eating cupcakes – cupcakes for Christ’s sake! Of course, I screamed myself awake – only to realise it was all pretty much true …

Just kidding. But I think we can agree this city’s diners are a capricious bunch. On the one hand, they’re commendably open-minded, quite willing to get excited about things like, I don’t know, Japanese-Peruvian fusion food. The other side of the coin is that they’re just as quick to dump a new trend, or hip new joint, once the shine wears off. And so you always get the sense, in any new place du jour, that it won’t be around forever – that it will have its two years in the sun, and then turn into a Nicaraguan bistro, or whatever the next big thing is.

This is why it’s gratifying to eat at a place like Eat Me – a restaurant that has been quietly doing its thing for years, and doesn’t seem to give a damn what the rest of the city thinks is cool. Actually, many of the hallmarks of this Silom staple – creative cocktails, focus on quality produce, boundary-jumping menu, informal ambience – are all the rage now. Some of the latest flashes in the pan would do well to study what’s happening at this restaurant-cum-art gallery.

They could start by noting the invigorating hum in the air, and the 1am closing time. In the second floor dining room, a well-lit gallery with art lining the walls, you can hear the kitchen in the background – the clatters and shouts that give you the comforting feeling that Chefs Are Working Hard Here. Some of the fittings are a little anachronistic – the leather chairs, for example  – though not off-puttingly so. And anyway, as with sex, so with decor: good lighting makes a difference. The lighting here hides the cellulite.

But anyhow, this is a delectable-sounding menu, the kind that makes you want to order just about everything. You’d need to be a Russian oligarch to be able to afford to do that at Eat Me, of course. At these rates, your expectations soar, and you can’t help but hold the cooking to the highest standards. The heirloom tomato salad (THB375) with olive oil ice cream, mint, basil and parmesan, for example, is a simple but delicious dish, showing off what may well be the best tomatoes in the city. And yet we couldn’t help but wish that the ice cream was less sweet, and that the sweetness of the fruit had been allowed to shine in its place.

The Alaskan sea scallops (THB690) with roasted corn puree and lardo were excellent, the scallops fresh-tasting and perfectly fried. The popcorn that finished the dish didn’t detract from it, though it didn’t add much either, and we felt that instead of this high-low jiggery-pokery the scallops deserved more regal treatment. Pearl shell ceviche (THB380) was the simple and refreshing dish you’d expect, and the addition of honeydew melon worked well. But the dish would have been better if the ratio of flesh to melon was swapped – surely a ceviche should feature more of the former than the latter.

Our mains were across the board superb. The pappardelle with braised rabbit ragu and nduja (THB500) was the kind of hypnotic comfort food you could feed to the sick as a morphine substitute. And the lamb rack (THB990) was some of the best lamb I’ve tasted in Bangkok – succulent and aromatic and cannily complemented by toasted sunchokes, goat’s cheese and hazelnuts.

Chef Tim Butler’s desserts are his calling card, and we enjoyed what we had here. A pavlova (THB290) is always welcome in my book. Butler’s is as good as any, with basil leaves and toasted coconut adding an unusual touch. The dish was slightly let down by the mango, which didn’t pack enough flavor. Of course, mangoes aren’t in season right now, which just begs the question: why not use something that is? The Moroccan spiced orange m’hannacha pastry (THB320) – try pronouncing that – was paired with a chestnut and rosemary ice cream, and very good it was too.

The overall experience is well in the black. The atmosphere is warm and lively and the service is faultless. The prices led us to nit-pick over the composition of some of the dishes, but they are never less than enjoyable, and often delicious. It isn’t hard to see why Eat Me remains popular – and, in a city of macaron-chomping trendsters, that’s quite an achievement.

Coconut’s Critics Table reviews are written based on unannounced visits by our writers and paid for by Coconuts Bangkok. No freebies here.

FIND IT:

Eat Me

1/6 Phiphat Soi 2

Convent Road

3pm – 1am

Dan Waites is the author of Culture Shock! Bangkok, a guide to the culture, customs and expat life in the Thai capital. Follow him on Twitter: @danwaites

 



Reader Interactions

Leave A Reply


BECOME A COCO+ MEMBER

Support local news and join a community of like-minded
“Coconauts” across Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

Join Now
Coconuts TV
Our latest and greatest original videos
Subscribe on