The Allium Bangkok — Restaurant in Lumphini Subdistrict

My understanding of fine dining expanded during my visit to Allium. In the past, I think I expected to be blown away by each dish. I now understand that this is probably an unrealistic expectation. So what should I expect? Fine dining represents the synthesis of high-quality produce and ingredients, the artistry and execution of the chefs, and the service of the front of the house. Such was the case during our most recent visit to Allium. In the spirit of full disclosure, this was probably our fourth visit here over the past seven years. The decor has not changed over this time (and could use a refresh, but to the uninitiated, it is fine).

We settled on the 8-course tasting menu. The service included warm sourdough buns with a smoked paprika and sea salt butter. I am happy to report that this was not included in our 8 courses! I can not recall a server who moved so quickly during the presentation of our dishes. Our 1st dish was a tuna tartare (mine without coconut foam), and it was a wonderful balance of tuna, avocado, and citrus. The 2nd dish - French Onion soup was not traditional, but decadentnon the less! The broth was brimming with richness and a depth I've never experienced with this dish in the past. Excellent. The 3rd dish - oyster was not my favorite (I neglected to mention that I do not like lemongrass and it is not common in French cooking). The 4th dish - the scallops was another miss for me. Although I do not like pumpkin, I expected it to be sweeter to mate with the natural sweetness of the scallop. The 5th dish - foie gras was the best I've had in years and was an excellent execution. The 6th dish - red snapper a contrast in flavors. The sauteed fish was mated with crispy skin, stuffed eggplant, and a condensed tomato/red pepper puree. The contrast was interesting, but Im not a huge fish person. The 7th dish - wagyu tenderloin was magnificent! The bordelaise was intense, rich, and full of umami flavor that accented the beef perfectly. This was an awesome dish. The final dish in our menu was dark chocolate and orange marmalade dish with chocolate ice cream. Although I'm not a fan of orange marmalade, the ability of the chef to make me enjoy it was commendable! Merci beaucoup! Our server for the evening was Mimi. I can not recall a server being as attentive and spirited as her. She made sure that our plates were brought to the table in a timely manner without anyone in our party sitting around waiting for their food. Great job Mimi!

The restaurant is spacious and you will never feel cramped. Reservations are still recommended and a peak at the current menu is...

At long last, we finally visited this famed restaurant on our 5th day in BBK. Earlier, we had revisited severall one Michelin star French and Thai restaurants.

The venue and atmosphere lived up to a typical 5-star hotel but food is more important to us. We were not hungry tonight after having a proper lunch. Without elaborating too much on details of each dish, I'd like to say my wife enjoyed the unusually looking French onion soup with its very deep color, more importantly, the sweetness (from onions) impressed her the most.

For me, I'm a big fan of frog legs, I had been to many French restaurants, traditional and modern types in BBK in last 30 years, I ordered this very tempting (because of its look) dish to share with my other half tonight.

After devouring the first of 5 legs, I said to wife this is the tastiest I had ever tried. Later, the restaurant manager came to talk to me and immediately, I said to him to send my COMPLIMENTS to the chef. He then informed me their French chef, if I'm not mistaken, won a special award with this dish when he worked at a 3-Michelin star restaurant in 1991.

These frog legs are crispy on the outside and deliciously seasoned on the inside, it's both juicy and very large. Almost all of the traditional frog legs I had tasted in Paris, BBK,HK and London were much smaller in size and boney. I then learnt from the manager they sourced these large legs from Chiang Mai.

We'll, if you're a fan of frog legs, I am confident you'll enjoy this dish like me, they serve it with pure garlic puree and parsley...

I had dinner at The Allium during my recent stay at the Athenee hotel, and it was a great experience!

The restaurant itself is gorgeous, with great atmosphere and decor. And the service was impeccable. My main server, I believe his name was Ratchnaseth (spelled wrong possibly!) was absolutely wonderful. He was warm and friendly, and made me feel very welcome as a solo diner, engaging me in conversation and ensuring I was enjoying my evening. The bartender and the young lady who also server me were just as helpful and welcoming, and even the chef came out to my table to check on my enjoyment of the meal and chat a bit about the Bangkok and food scene, which I really appreciated!

And of course the food was great. The artichoke soup that I started with was rich and creamy, and the crispy artichokes added a great texture. Even the complimentary bread that was served at the start of the meal was great, warm out of the oven and very fresh. For my main I tried the lobster burger with truffle mac and cheese croquettes. Unfortunately the burger, while well prepared and very decadent, wasn't quite to my liking due to the huge amount of caviar it was topped with, which I didn't realise was going to be part of the dish. It just made the taste too fishy for me, but for someone who loves seafood this would make a great meal. The little croquettes were fantastic though, I absolutely devoured those! No room for dessert sadly, but I'll be sure to try them and one of the other main courses the next time I'm in Bangkok, when I'll be...