Treasures of the deep

SEASONAL TASTES restaurant is among the many fine dining venues wishing its customers a happy and prosperous year ahead and it’s doing so by offering patrons a new selection of fresh seafood dishes prepared to original French recipes by new chef Jerome Chautard.

Located on the seventh floor of the Westin Grande Sukhumvit, the restaurant gives off the ambience of a European fish market – minus the smell – and boasts an open kitchen in addition to counters displaying seafood imported from the Atlantic Ocean. The dining area is relaxed and modern and easily seats 105 hungry souls.

“If you look around, you’d think we are offering a buffet the way the counters laid out. In fact, we are showcasing the seafood in such a way that diners can see the freshness for themselves,” says Peter Zimmerman, the Swiss chef who heads up the hotel’s culinary services. 

Patrons can select their seafood from five different stations and many make a beeline for the stall offering oysters from France and Ireland including the well-known Belon and Marennes-Oleron No 2 mollusks. 

Another live station is well stocked with such British favourites as cockles and whelks as well as the more sophisticated langoustines, rock lobsters, clams, brown crabs, Dutch mussels and grey shrimp. For its part the salmon station features the healthy fish prepared and marinated in different ways. Options include smoked and gravalax salmon cured with beetroot, dill and lemon and orange. 

Also worth trying are the German rollmop herrings in oil and vinegar, which some people swear cure hangovers, before heading over to the fish station, which has everything from grouper, sea bass, turbot and sander to trout and Dover sole.

“We cook and prepare everything fresh daily. We’re also working with French cheese makers so the cheese we offer here is exclusive to Thailand,” Zimmerman says. 

“We mainly import our fish from France. They have firm flesh and juicy textures that make them very different from local species. We also support sustainable fishing and our imports are certified by international bodies.”

Zimmerman adds that one of the most popular orders is the Westin Royale Platter (Bt6,290), a three-tiered tray of seafood and crustaceans on ice that comes with selected condiments, breads and different types of sauces. 

Families will enjoy sharing the pan-fried sander fillets (Bt790) in a mushroom, bacon and red wine sauce and the French Brown Crab gratinee in its shell served with themidor sauce (Bt1,290). For the meat eaters, there’s Roasted Rack of Lamb with dukkha and basil while the vegetarians can opt for sauteed vegetable tagliatelle in rosemary sauce. 

Another popular order is three-course Deep Blue dinner set. Priced at Bt1,050, it features shrimp, avocado and pomelo with seaweed salad in cocktail sauce, a rich langoustine, monk fish and rock lobster waterzooi stew and a dessert of Warm Rhubarb Crumble with yoghurt ice cream.

The restaurant also offers an international seafood buffet on Friday and Saturday nights for Bt2,490. 

 

GREAT FOR GOURMETS

>>Seasonal Tastes is on the seventh floor of Westin Grande Sukhumvit Hotel. 

>>The a la carte Seasonal Fish & Oysters Market is offered from Sunday to Thursday) from 6 to 10.30pm.

>>Book a table at (02) 207 8000 or visit www.WestinGrandeSukhumvit.com.