Sushi does the samba

BANGKOK’S SKYLINE glistens in the background as Brazilian and Japanese food side by side tempt diners to the buffet line at Panorama, a restaurant up on the 23rd floor of the Crowne Plaza Bangkok Lumpini Park.

The place feels informal yet modern and sleek, the ideal setting for a rewarding repast after a hard day’s work. It’s heady so high up but relaxing, with dining areas both inside and out in the open air, enough room for 200 guests. 

Offering a fresh option for the office crowd and anyone else looking for a little festive cheer for the season, Panorama recently unveiled a new theme for its buffet dinner – Samba San – which combines Brazilian and Japanese fare. And they’re created by an Italian, no less, the very capable executive chef, Marco Turatti. 

From the vast South American nation come mouth-watering skewered meats, ceviche and guacamole, while sushi and sashimi speak up tastily for the Far East.

Turatti gets his ingredients fresh from abroad while finding some of the seafood and vegetables in Bangkok markets. His imports include chillies from Mexico and, from Australia, avocado and marbled tenderloin marinated in salt from the Adriatic Sea. That’s what goes on the skewers.

There are 10 stations in the buffet, starting with assorted breads with butter and jam. In the Cold Cuts and Cheese corner are paprika wurst, chorizo, cooked ham, pastrami, smoked ham, Parmesan cheese and dried fruit. 

The grilled meat on skewers ranges from chicken and that tender beef to a rack of garlicky lamb and a spicy pork sausage. Sweet pineapple dusted with cinnamon and brown sugar joins the meat on the sticks, which can also be ordered a la carte and brought to your table. You can also get the lamb rack the same way, served with mint jelly.

“The South American dishes are a nice alternative for our customers,” says Turatti. “I use ‘1824 top tenderloin’ beef from Australia, the best beef from there and great for skewers. It tastes great as is, but I also marinate it with sea salt to give it a stronger flavour.”

On Fridays there’s a “Seafood on Ice” station, complete with Alaska king tiger prawns, black mussels, rock lobster, blue and brown crabs, oysters and barnacles, the essentials alternating every day. “A barnacle looks like a shrimp in a shell,” the chef points out. “It’s rare – they’re collected only two months a year. The taste is quite refreshing, the strong flavour of the sea.”

The ceviche is made with scallops, salmon, tuna, prawns, chillies and lime sauce. The guacamole, an avocado-onion dip, comes with banana and taro chips.  

For power grazing you have scallop and French bean salad, coleslaw, a roast-pork salad and another with tomato and mozzarella cheese. 

The international corner proffers pork in clear soup, carrot cream soup, green-curry beef, yellow curry with prawns, seafood stew, sauteed mixed vegetables, spicy minced chicken salad, spicy seafood with glass noodles and pork with sago.

Please don’t tell the chef you’re too stuffed to go any further, because he’s got gelato ice cream, just like it’s made in every Italian home, served with strawberry and orange jellies. Also tempting are strawberry panna cotta, chocolate mousse, green-tea cake, brownies, pineapple cheesecake and raspberry jam rolls. And, oh, look, there are marshmallows with assorted toppings too. 

You also need to consider “Like & Check”, through which Panorama is testing new kinds of cocktails – and they’re all free. How about a Chucumber, a Kaffirinha, a Ninja Fresy, a Lychee Cooler or a Match Pano?

 

 

TALL ORDERS

>>Panorama is on the 23rd floor of the Crowne Plaza Bangkok Lumpini Park on Rama IV Road and open daily from 6pm to 10pm. 

>>The Samba San Buffet Dinner costs Bt1,200 Sunday through Thursday and Bt1,800 on Fridays and Saturdays. 

>>Book a table at (02) 632 9000.