Counter with a Parisian accent
Comptoir Eiffel on Sukhumvit 23 introduces a new range of light and healthy dishes made to traditional French recipes
OPENED SINCE May in the premises formerly occupied by Le Petit Zinc on Sukhumvit Soi 23, Comptoir Eiffel brings a touch of Gay Paree to this downtown area and from this weekend also ensures that health-conscious diners can enjoy authentic French food and desserts without piling on the pounds.
Owned and run by Frenchman Michel Maziere, the two-storey restaurant has added 10 light and healthy dishes to its menu, cutting down on the calorific load and replacing sinful cream with skimmed milk or yoghurt and butter with a dash of olive oil.
Bright and family-friendly by day, Comptoir Eiffel gets intimate at night, making it an ideal venue for a romantic dinner or tete-a-tete by candlelight. Maziere mans the bar at nightfall, whipping up colourful cocktails and offering suggestions for pairing his dishes with wines from France and Italy.
Maziere explains that the menu is not strictly Parisien but combines favourite dishes from all over France.
“Many people think of French food as being very rich. We introduced the new light menu to cater to the many ladies who like to lunch here but who are very conscious of their weight,” Maziere says.
The kitchen is in the capable hands of chef Panu Nualka, a graduate in food and nutrition from Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi and he has put his dietary knowledge to good use in creating the new range of healthy dishes.
“We use good-quality ingredients from the local market like fresh vegetables as well as low-fat scallops from Japan, beef from Australia and fresh fruits. The preparation is based on original French recipes but the dishes are cooked using different techniques,” Maziere says.
To illustrate his point, he serves us Scallop Risotto (Bt310) mixed with roasted sesame, basil, lentil, chopped tomato and olive oil and seared Rare Tuna steak (Bt440) coated with sesame and served on eggplant, sweet pepper and asparagus in balsamic sauce.
We also sample the Australian Beef Filet and Tagliatelle of vegetables in red berries sauce for Bt370 before ditching our diets to savour a delicious Duo de Foie Gras (Bt390), a combo of pan-fried foie gras and foie gras terrine served with fruit chutney, sliced mangoes and home-made ginger and cinnamon bread.
For something truly light, check out the Mozzarella Cheese and Water Cress Salad and Blinis topped with shrimp and avocado in pesto sauce.
“We keep the traditional flavours but use low-fat ingredients. For example, skimmed milk replaces the whipped cream and we offer a roasted duck confit, which is less oily,” says the chef. “Instead of using cream and cheese for the risotto, we mix it with olive oil, lentil and chopped tomato.”
Finish the meal with Panna Cotta made from yoghurt and assorted fruits and sliced apricots for Bt200 and don’t miss out on Maziere’s Red Cosmopolitan, a blend of vodka, lime juice, triple sec, cranberry juice and sugar syrup. He also offers a mean Bloody Mary in a bright orange colour by mixing lime juice, tabasco, vodka and tomato juice and a blue Caribbean Feel made with blue curacao, vodka, lime juice and sugar syrup.
HEALTHY HAVEN
>>Comptoir Eiffel is in the first |sub-soi on the right off Sukhumvit Soi 23. It’s an easy walk from BTS Akoke and MRT Sukhumvit. Book a table at (02) 259 3033,.
