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Published on September 19, 2007

You want Thai food and are prepared to spend for the best. Maybe you want to impress business guests or friends jetting in for a visit.

The Sala Rim Naam is the place for you.

The Oriental Hotel's signature Thai restaurant - a prestigious eatery combining real Thai food and palatial surrounds - is back serving following a refit.

"Dining here you get authentic Thai-ness and the art of Siam," says the Oriental's executive Thai chef Vichit Mukura, who has spent the past two decades running the kitchen. "We not only serve delicious food but ensure use of only the freshest and most natural ingredients."

The authentic cuisine is complemented with cultural performances, all in an elegant setting that still manages to feel like home.

"Credit has to be given to general manager Kurt Wachtveitl, who had the vision to upgrade the signature restaurant to a place for fine dining in sumptuous surroundings," Vichit says.

The hotel has spent Bt80 million on the project, which has included the addition of the Sala Rim Naam Lounge, an open-air pavilion overlooking the Chao Phya River. Here you can snack on savoury dishes like pan-fried scallops flavoured with chilli sauce and black pepper in rice-flour wraps, minced chicken with herbs, and peanut balls with fluffy rice.

 The Sala Rim Naam restaurant itself is impressive, with its glass panels etched with Thai script, and chandeliers made from inverted ceremonial parasols of silk and gold thread.

It's furnished with dark-teak tables and silk-covered chairs and sofas, and patrons can opt for traditional, reclining dining on silk cushions.

The attention to detail is evident right down to the cutlery, which carries a design used during the reign of King Rama IV.

While the food may still be authentic, the presentation has evolved. "The menu is no different but the matching and grouping of the food is new. It is more pleasing on the eyes. It's almost like tapas, but Thai style," Vichit explains.

The restaurant is open for buffet lunches and set-menu dinners.

The stars of the Sala Rim Naam menu are its curries, spicy dips and herb-infused soups. There's gaeng khiew waan nuea (beef green curry), gaeng ped mara loogchin pla (red curry with bitter gourd and fish dumplings), gaeng gari gae (yellow lamb curry and potatoes), gaeng som goong (hot and sour curry with shrimp and vegetables), tom yum goong (spiced blue-river-prawn soup with lemongrass and straw mushrooms) and tom kha gai (coconut chicken soup with fresh herbs).

A must-try are the spicy dips called naam prig. Hard to find elsewhere, there are six types served in granite mortars at the Sala Rim Naam. They go great with fresh, boiled or fried vegetables.

Try them in small amounts - there's naam prig makham  (tamarind-and-minced chicken dip), naam prig khing grob (crispy herbs-and-fish dip), naam prig gapi (chilli-and-fermented-shrimp paste dip), naam prig num lieb (minced black olives-and-pork dip), naam prig pig Thai-on (green pepper corn-and-dried shrimp dip) and naam prig long ruea (chilli-and-shrimp paste with salted egg, sweetened pork and crispy fish).

There are eight chef's recommendations on the set menu, including grilled sirloin spicy salad, scallops, river lobster and grouper.

Entertainment laid on for diners includes traditional dancing from all corners of the country.

Buffet lunch is Bt1,060 per person between noon and 3pm. Set dinner is Bt2,650 per person from 7pm to 11pm. Sala Rim Naam Lounge is open between 10am and 11pm. Reservations are recommended, especially for dinner. Call (02) 659 9000 and ask for the Sala Rim Naam.

Juthamas Cholthavornpong

 The Nation