Dinner round the campfire

BANGKOK IS the last place you’d expect to find a mountain hunting lodge yet anyone with a craving for the wild can now head along to S’mores, a wood-fronted bistro on the second floor of Groove at CentralWorld.

The hunting lodge theme kicks in at the entrance where customers are greeted by a large grizzly bear. 

“For many years, my boss has run the popular Cafe de Tu, which is famous for its pastries. He knows a lot about cooking and while he was living abroad, he often went camping with friends. Those trips inspired him to open S’mores and offer a variety of traditional American dishes that are popular with campers, like the Steak for Two and the S’mores set,” manager Ekachai Phisitchairak says. 

The wood theme extends to inside the restaurant with log walls adorned with such hunting trophies as the heads of reindeer and rhinoceros, along with miniature shotguns and the Stars and Stripes. 

Diners eat at long dining tables, surrounded by benches and chairs and the food is served on lightweight zinc plates and the drinks in mugs.

Only the best ingredients are used, with the succulent grain-fed beef imported from Australia and the lobster from France.

I pass on both and order a hearty Snow Fish Burger filled with cheese, sliced tomatoes and vegetables and served with French fries for Bt420 while my companions opts for Spaghetti Big Balls, a generous dish of pasta topped by large meat balls in tomato sauce, cherry tomatoes, basil and garlic for Bt240. 

Those who prefer to stick to the local route can order Thai shrimp spicy salad (Bt190) or Ground Rice Squid and Salmon in Thai spicy sauce. 

Dessert arrives in the form of the S’mores set (Bt320), a generous platter of creamy marshmallows grilled on a small charcoal brazier and served with sliced strawberries and green apples, cups of caramel and chocolate dip as well as sweet banana drowned in caramel.

Over at the bar, we sample a Gold Rush (Bt280), a hard-kicking mix of Bourbon, peach liqueur, fresh mint, lemon juice and honey that arrives with a dish of chocolate candies as well as the fiercely independent Fourth of July (Bt350), which sees the Bourbon blended with green chartreuse, ginger ale, vanilla syrup and Peychaud’s bitters, which sports a firework decoration.

“We’re designing a menu of dishes that will include rabbit and wild boar,” Ekachai says.

 

GRIZZLY GREETING

>>S’mores is on the second floor of Groove zone in CentralWorld. It is daily open from 10am to 10pm. |Call (02) 613 1271.