Haute cuisine with food hall flair

GRABBING A snack at lunchtime, in fact at any time of day, just became a whole lot easier thanks to a massive upgrade of Central Food Hall at the department store’s popular Chidlom branch. 
Gone are the long queues at the coupon and food counters, replaced by iPad orders and a choice of cuisine ranging from standard street delights to the finest dining. 
Occupying 4,000 square metres on the ground floor, the newly renovated food hall is designed as a smart communal space, a place where customers can come to eat, work and tuck into Asian and Western dishes all while shopping for top-quality grocery products from around the world.

Ocean Bar offers a wide range of imported seafood. 

The retail space now includes a bigger fish department, a complete bread corner manned by a professional Austrian baker and offering hundreds of pastries, a shop-in-shop-style beauty zone for women and men and a fresh juice bar. 
The popular deli counter with dry aged meats and home-made sausages by Australian and German butchers is still very much in evidence, as is the Cheese Room with its 500 premium cheeses from around the world and the salad bar stacked high with organic vegetables and grains plus different freshly made dressings. 
“Basically we renovated Central Chidlom with three goals in mind. The first was to make what we already offered even better. We’ve increased our selection of produce to make our supermarket section more exceptional and we’ve also worked with local agriculturists to develop several kinds of fruits, vegetables and rice. We provide more choices of water, tea, coffee and chocolate too. We’ve renovated the areas selling fresh food, enlarged the fish and bakery departments bigger and introduced a new dining area on an ‘eat over the bar’ concept,” says Nick Reitmeier, executive vice president of Food Halls, international food & alcohol buying.

The food hall is designed in Europeanloft style.

Inspired by Berlin’s largest food hall at the famous KaDeWe department store, which Central has owned since 2015, this 120-seat dining hall boasts an elegant European loft design with a high black metal ceiling and glass walls.The highlight is the counter bar zone featuring four stations – grill, ocean, tapas and deli – operated by different chefs and guaranteeing a delicious dining experience. 
“Our new ordering system means that you can sit anywhere and eat anything. You can have oysters at the ocean bar and a burger from the grill bar at the same place. You can enjoy waitress service and you get one bill. It’s not like a traditional food court where you buy and pay for your food at different stalls. Our staff will bring your order to the table,” Reitmeier says. 
“In Europe, the fine-dining food hall is standard in high-end stores. People come to drink champagne with oysters and try home-made pasta. We have a lot of different chefs at the bars. We don’t have to freeze anything. Everything is made fresh every day.”
Uno Mas, a haute-cuisine Spanish restaurant from Centara Grand at CentralWorld, has set up a kitchen to serve a selection of lunch sets and traditional tapas. Among the offerings are tender Iberian ham Joselito, rich Manchego cheese and Joselito Iberian ham croquettes. 

 Fine de Claire Oyster

Alongside is the Ocean Bar, home to a Nagomi Tei Japanese eatery that serves a variety of sushi, sashimi and maki rolls using only Hokkaido rice and high-quality ingredients from Japan. 
Thammachart Seafood titillates the taste buds with Canadian lobsters and 12 kinds of oysters from France, Japan and New Zealand – all still alive in tanks to maintain the rich texture and sweet taste. 
A Central Food Hall chef stands by at the Grill Bar to prepare such tempting Western delicacies as Truffle & Cheese Fries, Fit Chicken burger, grilled Australian Grain Fed Tenderloin and Soizza Hogie Italian sandwiches served with bell peppers and mozzarella cheese. 

Freshmade Pasta with Italian sausage in Arrabbiata sauce 

The Deli Bar prepares food to order in restaurant style and offers such delights as St Louis BBQ Ribs & Coleslaw with Roast Baby Potato and Crispy Skin Porchetta with Stone Ground Mustard, Tomato Chutney & Microgreens.
“Here we make everything fresh including the pasta. The counter bar is designed to give customers comfortable seating and convenience. You can hang your bag under your knees. We provide USB chargers and electric points so you can charge your mobile phone and iPad while you’re working and eating. It’s a perfect solution for people who don’t want to go a high-end restaurant and pay big money.”

HokkaidoSignature Special Sushi

We put Reitmeier’s enthusiasm to the test by sitting at the bar where we sample Fine de Claire oysters served with sliced lime and shallot, Hokkaido sushi topped with fresh salmon, tuna and scallop and fresh-made pasta with aromatic Italian sausage in Arrabbiata sauce. We follow up with Beef Skirt Steak, Lamb Rack and Rotisserie Chicken & Mixed Grilled Vegetables with Roasted Baby Potato and end our meal with warm Churros served with rich chocolate.
“We have many kinds of beverages not only water and soft drinks but also beer on draft. There’s no corkage charge so you can buy wine at our refurbished Fine Wine Shop, starting at Bt150 a glass. Our sommeliers are happy to help you in your choice,” Reitmeier says. 

The famous Eiah Sae coffee shop from Yaowarat

For a quick meal, diners can check out the Street Food zone, which is home to several of Bangkok’s favourite restaurants and cafes. They include Eiah Sae coffee shop from Yaowarat, famous for its traditional coffee paired with toast and breakfast sets and Tha Din Daeng Goose Stew restaurant. Even the Wanlamun eatery from Chiang Mai is on hand to serve a selection of traditional Thai dishes and desserts.

EAT, DRINK AND BE MERRY
>> Central Food Court is on the ground floor of Central Chidlom. It’s open daily from 8 to 10.