During our last trip to Thailand, we decided to check out a few restaurants. Having been back in 4 years, I was excited to see the food scene in Bangkok. First up was Sorn. The infamous reservation process made me want to hate this meal. It was a pain to get the table to say the least, but it was so worth it.
We fought through the notorious Bangkok traffic for our 6 pm reservation. We were seated promptly upstair and were presented with the menu. Our waiter came by to confirm dietary restrictions and asked how spicy we wanted our food. A few of us were more brave than others and opted for normal spice. Throughout the meal, each course was tailored based on our preference, which was a nice touch. A quick note that milder spice here was still spicy (at least for us).
1. Amuse bouche: a series of in-seasoned bites.
2. The beach: Sand mole crab/seaweed powder. This was delightful. Crunchy, salty.
3. Phuket lobster, cuttle fish, trevally: The raw lobster was well-prepared with a slight kick in chili pepper. Trevally fish looks mild but was the spiciest of all.
4. Jorang: we were presented with the ingredients, while our waiter explained the origin and significance of each ingredients. This was a common theme throughout the meal and allowed us to really appreciate Southern Thai cuisine.
5. Torch ginger flower: I’ve never had torch ginger flower sorbet before. It was sour and a refreshing course.
6. Gems on crab stick: A signature at Sorn. The crab and its roe were sweet and fresh. Yellow chili paste provided a nice punch of spice. Perfect.
7. Coconut: Our waiter encouraged us to take a sip of the coconut soup right away to cool down our palate. This was salty with a hint of dried seafood.
8. The sea holds the forest: Another signature at Sorn. 10 kinds of Southern herbs were beatifully presented and finished tableside with the tamarind sauce.
9. Roti – Southern beef curry. Perfect. Really just amazing. Masaman style beef curry was so fully of flavor, paired perfectly with the buttery roti.
10. Main courses: we were then served a parade of dishes with rice. Everything accompanied with side dished of chili paste, chicken skin, dips. Our waiter ensured we never run out of rice. My favorites were the crab curry and the stinky bean with grouper.
11. Jungle curry: this was not included in the menu, but the kitchen wanted us to try. We were told this would be very spicy. They were not wrong. Extremely flavorful.
12. Mushroom clear soup: last savory course to clean our palate.
13. Sago boiled in young coconut water, longan ice-cream: a great first dessert. Not too sweet but a cooling break in the meal.
14. Seasonal canned fruit: this month, it was watermelon. The fruit was prepared 3 ways: granita, compressed, jelly.
15. Coffee/Tea service with Thai pan cake: We were asked whether we preferred Thai tea or coffee with condensed milk. This was served with buttery cupcake type dessert. I was so full at this point couldn’t help eating 2 of the cake.
16. Petit four: We thought we were done, but the service team wheeled out a cart full of little bites. Our waiter asked which one we prefer but encouraged us to take everything. As full as we were, we complied. Little bites of Thai dessert. It was delightful.
Service was great throughout the meal. Our waiter was warm, personable, and did a great job explaining each dish. Sorn has a pretty generous corkage policy: 1 free corkage for 1 purchased bottle. So we opted to buy a bottle of wine to go with a bottle we brought.
Having been to a few fine dining places now in Bangkok, I could say Sorn is easily the best meal in town at the moment. And it’s not close.
Venivinnievici on
Good to see that from the cheapest street stand to the best michelin star restaurants Thailand has two flavors of spice: no spice or f all foreigners.
2 Comments
During our last trip to Thailand, we decided to check out a few restaurants. Having been back in 4 years, I was excited to see the food scene in Bangkok. First up was Sorn. The infamous reservation process made me want to hate this meal. It was a pain to get the table to say the least, but it was so worth it.
We fought through the notorious Bangkok traffic for our 6 pm reservation. We were seated promptly upstair and were presented with the menu. Our waiter came by to confirm dietary restrictions and asked how spicy we wanted our food. A few of us were more brave than others and opted for normal spice. Throughout the meal, each course was tailored based on our preference, which was a nice touch. A quick note that milder spice here was still spicy (at least for us).
1. Amuse bouche: a series of in-seasoned bites.
2. The beach: Sand mole crab/seaweed powder. This was delightful. Crunchy, salty.
3. Phuket lobster, cuttle fish, trevally: The raw lobster was well-prepared with a slight kick in chili pepper. Trevally fish looks mild but was the spiciest of all.
4. Jorang: we were presented with the ingredients, while our waiter explained the origin and significance of each ingredients. This was a common theme throughout the meal and allowed us to really appreciate Southern Thai cuisine.
5. Torch ginger flower: I’ve never had torch ginger flower sorbet before. It was sour and a refreshing course.
6. Gems on crab stick: A signature at Sorn. The crab and its roe were sweet and fresh. Yellow chili paste provided a nice punch of spice. Perfect.
7. Coconut: Our waiter encouraged us to take a sip of the coconut soup right away to cool down our palate. This was salty with a hint of dried seafood.
8. The sea holds the forest: Another signature at Sorn. 10 kinds of Southern herbs were beatifully presented and finished tableside with the tamarind sauce.
9. Roti – Southern beef curry. Perfect. Really just amazing. Masaman style beef curry was so fully of flavor, paired perfectly with the buttery roti.
10. Main courses: we were then served a parade of dishes with rice. Everything accompanied with side dished of chili paste, chicken skin, dips. Our waiter ensured we never run out of rice. My favorites were the crab curry and the stinky bean with grouper.
11. Jungle curry: this was not included in the menu, but the kitchen wanted us to try. We were told this would be very spicy. They were not wrong. Extremely flavorful.
12. Mushroom clear soup: last savory course to clean our palate.
13. Sago boiled in young coconut water, longan ice-cream: a great first dessert. Not too sweet but a cooling break in the meal.
14. Seasonal canned fruit: this month, it was watermelon. The fruit was prepared 3 ways: granita, compressed, jelly.
15. Coffee/Tea service with Thai pan cake: We were asked whether we preferred Thai tea or coffee with condensed milk. This was served with buttery cupcake type dessert. I was so full at this point couldn’t help eating 2 of the cake.
16. Petit four: We thought we were done, but the service team wheeled out a cart full of little bites. Our waiter asked which one we prefer but encouraged us to take everything. As full as we were, we complied. Little bites of Thai dessert. It was delightful.
Service was great throughout the meal. Our waiter was warm, personable, and did a great job explaining each dish. Sorn has a pretty generous corkage policy: 1 free corkage for 1 purchased bottle. So we opted to buy a bottle of wine to go with a bottle we brought.
Having been to a few fine dining places now in Bangkok, I could say Sorn is easily the best meal in town at the moment. And it’s not close.
Good to see that from the cheapest street stand to the best michelin star restaurants Thailand has two flavors of spice: no spice or f all foreigners.