IGNIV Bangkok — Restaurant in Lumphini Subdistrict

This is my most serious comment left for a restaurant in Google Map… if I could put a comment here without a single star, I would do so…

Disappointed, terrible experience. The restaurant only focused on the outlook but forgot the core of dining. Lack of consideration of the customer experience, and more importantly, it’s kind of disrespectful to the food... absolutely unacceptable for a Michelin starred restaurant.

Not every Michelin starred restaurant is good in my experience, but IGNIV is definitely the worst one I have ever had (NOT One of).

We had ordered a 4-course sharing menu (5500baht@) plus a 3 glass signature wine pairing set (3500baht@). For the 4 courses (2 appetizers, 1 main course, 1 dessert), each courses had 4 dishes for sharing and all the 4 dishes would be served at the same time.

Why I said it's lack of consideration of customer experience?

Firstly, the food to be shared was not handful food, we had to move it from the original plate to our own plate; otherwise we had to have it one by one on the original plate but not having at the same time.

Secondly, some of the sharing food was needed to be "cut" into 2 pieces (if possible) ourselves; again, it's so difficult to move it to our own plate, and if not doing so, it's not really enjoyable to have one bite each in turn.

Thirdly, for four dishes served at the same time on the table plus our own two main plates and two small plates for bread all on a small table... it's easy to imagine how complicated it was for moving the dishes around for sharing.

Fourthly, our own main plate would not be changed before the next course of another 4 dishes... that mean the sauce from the previous dish would be left on our plate, and would be "mixed" with the next dishes shared and put on our plate... is it intended to do so like Asian type of food sharing?

Fifthly, for the dessert course, it also came with four dishes, including one soufflé and one sorbet, where they were supposed to be eaten at the third and fourth in sequence among the four dishes of dessert. Soufflé would "drop" and sorbet would melt over time. So, we had to be rush finishing the first two dishes to have the soufflé and sorbet... would it be better to serve them after we had finished the first two desserts? Does the chef really want the customer being relax and having the food at the best of its condition?

Other than the above factual issues, more subjective comments were:

1. most if not all dishes except the dessert were super salty or very sour… even putting aside the salty and sour tastes, the general taste of food was quite simple, straight forward without complexity / layers…

2. the wine pairing was not up to standard as well. The white wine was clearly better to drink alone than pairing with the appetizers; the red didn't raise the taste of the main course nor raise its own taste; and the riesling pairing with dessert was just typical choice...

Such quality of food and arrangement at a price of US$290 per person in Bangkok… right, in BANGKOK!!!!

ha ha, so bad luck of me choosing this restaurant for a celebration dinner… I hope I won’t have such experience again...

Having already had the opportunity to get to know Chef Caminada's kitchen in Switzerland, I was very curious to see how this would be implemented in Bangkok. It seems problematic, as Caminada is a pioneer in the use of local products and with the restaurant in Bangkok it is certainly difficult, you don't hear or read about it. On arrival we were very pleasantly surprised ,how well the conversion was done. We felt very comfortable in the modern and dignified ambience. There is unobtrusive music, and the noise level is pleasant. Surprisingly, nothing happens for a long time, you don't get a menu (but you can look on the website), no aperitif is offered. We then ordered two glasses and unfortunately didn't ask the price, which was completely exaggerated for the quality of the rosé sparkling wine offered. Unasked, we got Italian industrial water - 8000 km of pointless transport, but then they can charge 280 Baht for it. Is this now the new Caminada philosophy? The concept of offering menus to share is great and very much in line with Thai habits. Unfortunately, you won't find this in other restaurants of the same class. The extensive wine list is available on request. Then some small things are served and finally you get the menu. You can order a three-course menu at a reasonable price and several surprise courses. But: to serve surprise courses without giving the guests at least a hint what it is all about, in Thailand it is a game with fire. Because there are large groups of the population who, for example, do not eat beef, others do not eat pork, others do not eat lamb. Perhaps this shall be considered. In any case we have ordered the menu plus 3 surprise courses. But we were not able to find out what the three surprise courses were. We then found two times two surprise courses on the bill - that was the next surprise. The service is very attentive and of course very friendly. But sometimes it doesn't really work with clearing up and also not with refilling the wine. Fortunately, as expected, the cuisine was of a very high standard, on the level of two to three Michelin stars! After the start had taken so long, it was served relatively quickly and everything really tasted great. In the end, however, we were already very full and were pleased that they offered to take the petit fours home. The bitter end came with the bill. The prices for the food are high, but certainly justified by the quality. Less is the case with the wine prices. But it left a bitter aftertaste that we were denied the Club Marriott discount (for which we paid) with flimsy arguments. We should have announced the use of the card before we arrived at the restaurant. But this is a secret that is not disclosed to the guests. I feel cheated by the restaurant management and I will certainly not return to this place. I am really disgusted by this small-minded,...

IGNIV, the restaurant at the St. Regis Hotel in Bangkok, is famous for its "Swiss cuisine". It just got one Michelin star. The environment is nice, but it's really unpalatable. The goose liver appetizer was a bit salty, and the foam was fine, but it started to get outrageous. The next bite of tuna oil felt like drinking lard. The beef tartare was okay, but also a bit salty, and the portion was too small. The pictures were all for two people, basically one bite each. The main course was sour and salty, the bacon was so greasy, and the other dishes were also salty. I don't remember what I ate. Anyway, there was nothing expensive in the main course, all of which were very ordinary raw materials. The ridiculously sour Thai cherry tomatoes were also considered the main course. There was nothing expensive throughout the whole process. There was a vegetarian at the same table, and the main course was watermelon rind... I took a bite of the broccoli at the same table, and it felt like I was biting it with a salt shaker. The dessert was just so-so, the lemon tart was a bit sour, just enough to relieve my greasy heart that was covered by lard, and the others were all very sweet. Finally, you can go to the candy bar at the door to pack a box of candy. I took a bite and it was so sweet that it made me sick. I ordered a cheap rose for 1200 baht a glass. The cocktail was not alcoholic enough. The air conditioning in this restaurant was not good, and my companion was so hot. The service was good, but when I paid the bill, somehow miscalculated a lot of drinks. There were only three tables in total, and I don’t know how miscalculated. The experience was really bad. The only thing I thought was delicious was the baguette, but only two pieces. In the end, I asked them for two more because it was too salty. In the end, the average cost per person was 5000 Thai baht. The more I thought about this meal, the angrier I got. Now I have to complain about it even when I drink water...