Seasonal Fish & Oysters Market: A refined dining concept in Bangkok

I wasn’t really prepared for what awaited me that night when Nicole of Westin Bangkok invited me for dinner at Seasonal Tastes restaurant. Although she mentioned about a fresh seafood spread, I was shocked to see for myself the sheer variety at the buffet table.

Crustaceans including rock lobsters, brown crabs and langoustines among the many variety of shellfish including oysters that were specifically sourced from Brittany, the Marennes-Oléron area and Belon River which are famous for these succulent and flavorful shellfish. The huge legs of Alaskan king crabs and at another area, fresh fish, all of these freshly flown from all over Europe.

Seasonal Fish and Oysters Market is a refined and new dining concept at the Seasonal Tastes restaurant of the Westin Grande Sukhumvit. Think of it as being in Europe, probably at one of those markets in France and you’re picking the freshest seafood for dinner. But the main difference is you’ve got a highly skilled Chef Jerome Chautard prepare for you sumptuous seafood dishes paired with available good wines. Or have a dégustation with wine pairings.

After I was finished taking pictures of the delectable seafood morsels, I was again shocked at the food prepared for me: there was the mixed shellfish platter, breadbasket and the crustacean platter (sans the rock lobster) plus waterzooi of langoustines and monk fish. All for you, Nicole said.

The langoustine and monk fish waterzooi was delicious, creamy. At first, I thought it was seafood pasta but was in fact a Belgian stew dish, waterzooi that has a soup based on cream, egg yolks and thickened vegetable broth. It’s my first time to have such and I really liked it a lot.

It was also my first time to eat langoustines, which I have only seen in cooking shows, and here it is, like small lobsters or a cross between a shrimp and a lobster. It’s meat is delicate and not as salty. The pieces of monkfish were tender too. It was a good start.

I couldn’t help but grab those huge Alaskan king crab legs. These were really flavorful and good compared to the ones that I had in Takayama in Aichi region, Japan which were a little bland. In restaurants, I usually have second thoughts of eating crab as its kind of messy and takes me a great amount of time to deflesh the shells but here, you are supplied with shell crackers and crab forks that make eating these easy and fast.

The best of the shrimps was really the cocktail shrimps, which when compared with the langoustines, were flavorful and delicious. This, alternated with the cockles which were also good, the fresh oysters that were really succulent and clams. I did miss the sea snails because it was hidden at the back of the oysters.

The French brown crab was already cooked, actually poached with fresh herbs, shallot and mayonnaise and placed back into the shell. Which was also good but didn’t finish this as I was already full when I tackled this one.

It was a really sumptuous seafood dinner. Too bad that I can’t finish all. What made this dinner really memorable were two things:

• FRESH. The freshness of the seafood made all the difference. And all these flown all the way from Europe
• DELICIOUS. The langoustine and monkfish waterzooi was my first time and it was good. The crustaceans and mixed shellfish platter were varied but good combination

So much fresh and delicious seafood for one night can be too much but I’m not complaining. This dinner was just two platters and one dish. I poured over the menu and there are still lots of selections from starters, to mains to set menus that I’m already planning of what to order when I come back before 2015 ends.

TIP! Sumptuous. Delicious. Fresh. And do you know how to better enjoy all these at a cheaper cost? If you enroll with the SPG (Starwood Preferred Guest) as well as apply for the Eat, Drink and More membership card, you can have these from 30%-50% off.

Thanx to Westin Grande Sukhumvit for this delightful dinner at Seasonal Tastes

To make a reservation, please call 02 207 8000 or email fb.bangkok@westin.com. Visit www.westingrandesukhumvit.com and find them on www.facebook.com/westinbangkok or follow them on Instagram @westinbangkok.

Seasonal Fish and Oysters Market
Seasonal Tastes Restaurant
Westin Grande Sukhumvit
259 Sukhumvit Road
Bangkok, 10110
Thailand
+66 2 207 8000 | +66 2 255 2441 (fax)
bangkok@westin.com
http://www.westingrandesukhumvit.com/