I couldn’t get into Gaggan in Bangkok (Number 1 on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants of 2017 and 2018), so I booked into Nahm (currently Number 10 in Asia’s 50 Best on the list). An online reservation for dinner was made a couple of months prior and the booking confirmed via email. It was a rainy night and what seemed like an easy walk from the closest train station, was a bit of a trudge even with umbrellas. We finally made it to the Como Metropolitan hotel where Nahm is located. We were ushered to our table for two, asked whether we wanted still or sparkling water, and provided with menus. The menus were printed in both Thai and English, and most of the wait staff also spoke English. I loved that there was an iced tea and non-alcoholic menu with various mocktails. I chose the ginger raspberry with fresh ginger, raspberry puree and ginger ale (and have forgotten what Mr FPJ ordered from the regular cocktail menu).
An amuse bouche called Ma Hor arrived consisting of caramelised minced pork, peanuts, and palm sugar on top of fresh pineapple. Ma Hor translates to ‘galloping horses’ and is a popular appetiser in Thailand. I can’t seem to find any concrete evidence of what the name represents. But the small bites were a delicate balance of hot/sour/salty/sweet – a fabulous introduction into what Thai food is all about.
We were tempted at ordering the degustation, but there were other things on the menu that we wanted to try so we went a la carte instead. For our entrées, we ordered the lobster and pork served as little patties and steamed in banana leaves. Though the amount of lobster was minimal, there were plenty of herbs and spices to make it very moreish.
Our second entrée were the scallops with coconut and red curry served on betel leaves. We were encouraged to eat this in one mouthful so that we could experience all of the flavours together. A good piece of advice. Beautifully cooked plump and sweet scallops in a mildly spicy curry. I liked the addition of crunchy pickled slaw that helped round out the small morsels.
Our first main was the coconut and turmeric curry of blue swimmer crab with calamansi lime (770 baht). This mild curry was creamy smooth and delicious. We would have liked more crab meat in the curry (but who doesn’t). I found that we didn’t really need the added lime in the curry.
We ordered a second round of drinks mid-way through dinner. Mr FPJ chose the white mojito with white wine, lychee and sprite. While I tried the mint mellow mocktail (210 baht) with lychee and mint.
Duck larp (sp. laab / larb) from Isaan with fresh vegetables (600 baht) was another main we chose. We were warned that this was a spicy dish but ordered it anyway. I mean, I can handle some spice! This dish started off as surprisingly sweet and I could taste so many herbs and spices mixed throughout the larp. Then after a few seconds, a burn started to develop. And with each mouthful, the burn got hotter and more intense. Luckily we had some cold drinks to help but I could not handle much of this dish after a few bites. So yes, extremely spicy!
The prawns in the prawn stir fry had been char-grilled and cooked to perfection. It was also easy to pull out of its shell. There wasn’t much else in the stir fry to pick at.
We felt that the green mango salad with sweet fried pork was an average dish. The crispy fried pork had been marinated and cooked in a sweet sauce, and it went well with the tart green mango, but it didn’t seem to fit the fine dining set up.
Mr FPJ was full but knew I wanted to try dessert so I only got to pick one dessert. I decided on the sweet Thai wafers with poached persimmon and golden duck egg noodles (350 baht or AUD $13) as it sounded very unique. I didn’t know what to expect. These came in a serve of four with the crispy deep fried egg noodles sitting on individual curved sweet Thai wafers topped with raisins and sesame seeds. I don’t remember tasting much persimmon but I believe it was in the form of a cream hidden underneath all of the noodles. There was a lot of sweetness and crunchy textures. I would have liked something to contrast against the crunch, and perhaps some ice cream to go with it. I wasn’t impressed or blown away by this dish and regretted not picking something else. It was kind of a let down finish.
I must admit I had higher expectations for Nahm considering it’s number 10 on the list. For a fine dining experience, prices were actually affordable – around AUD $35 for a main dish, and $9 for a mocktail which is comparable to Australian restaurants. The dishes didn’t scream ‘fine dining’ to me but the balance of flavours (besides the very hot larp) were spot on. The lights were dimly lit for dinner and it was relatively quiet inside. We were seated right next to a desk with a computer on it where staff often stood. Perhaps it was where the bills were printed. Even though there was a bamboo screen separating us our table from the computer, it was a little distracting having staff so close to us. Apart from that, service was polite and we appreciated that the wait staff spoke English.
The lunch menu is cheaper than dinner, but there’s less selection of dishes. I would have liked to have tried the set menu for 2,800 baht per person but we weren’t hungry enough that night. After dinner, we stopped by for foot massages (had to fit in as many as we could!) before catching the train back to our accommodation.
More on Bangkok next…
If you want more random photos and updates about food, I’m on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Facebook: /foodpornjournal
Twitter: @foodpornjournal
Instagram: /foodpornjournal