Background

During our trip to Xmas Bangkok, my family and I had an opportunity to lunch at Sra Bua Kiin Kiin (We were staying at Hotel Kempinski).

My wife had kept praising and bringing the restaurant to my attention. I did some research online and found It is highly acclaimed in Thailand and the first Michelin-starred restaurant there.

在我們去曼谷聖誕節的旅途中，我和我的家人有機會在Sra Bua Kiin Kiin吃午飯。我的妻子一直不停地稱讚，並把餐廳引起我的注意。我在網上做了一些研究，發現它在泰國和米其林第一星級餐廳都備受讚譽。

But I do not quite buy the Michelin guide. It appears to me that their editors are experienced in western dining / cuisines but might not be the same in the case of Asian cuisines. I doubt that recommendations on Asian dining are made critically? I am not convinced. I have tried Michelin HK local recommendations and many of them have been quite disappointing and over-rated. Rather a kiss of death.

但我不太滿意米其林指南。在我看來，他們的編輯在西方餐飲方面經驗豐富，但在亞洲美食方面可能並非如此。我懷疑亞洲餐飲的建議是否批判？我不相信。我已經嘗試了米其林香港本地的建議，其中許多人都相當失望和過分評價。而是一個死亡之吻。

On the day

With a doubtful mind, I remained speechless while stepping in the restaurant with my family. The ambience somewhat was altering my mind. I found the atmosphere to be captivating, a spacious layout coupled with a high ceiling and Thai decor impressed me.

懷著懷疑的心情，我和家人一起走進餐廳時一直無言以對。但是，我發現氣氛迷人，寬敞的佈局，高高的天花板和泰式裝飾讓我印象深刻。

We were ushered to a seating compartment and given two menus; one for set lunch and one for a la carte. My wife and I went for a four-course lunch meal. If ordered a la carte, price would have almost doubled. If you want to give the restaurant a try, lunch there is a bargain.

我們被迎來了一個卡位，並提供了兩個菜單;一個是午餐和一個是點菜。我和我的妻子去了四道菜的午餐套餐。如果點散餐，價格幾乎會翻倍。如果你想嘗試一下餐廳，午餐是便宜一點的。

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Appetiser 1

Deep fried lotus roots in thin slices came first as an appetizer. The roots were crispy as expected. But out of expectation was the big bowl adding a grand touch to the presentation.

作為開胃菜，炸蓮藕部首先出現。如預期的那樣，很脆。

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Appetiser 2

I cannot recall what they were...sorry :-)
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Appetisers 3 & 4

A server pushed a table on wheels to us on which there were a giant grounding bowl and four small bowls. The server made a sauce for a dish on spot and explained the process, entertaining it was.

一個服務員把一個輪子的桌子推到了我們身上，那裡有一個巨大的接地碗和四個小碗。服務員現場製作汁，並解釋了過程，讓人感到有趣。

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I had seared scallops and my wife had grilled beefs for the first course. My dish was garnished with some dots of carrot-flavoured sauce and some garlic Thai sauce.

我點烤扇貝，而我的妻子在第一道菜上烤了牛肉。我的菜上點綴著胡蘿蔔醬和一些大蒜泰式醬。

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The scallops met my expectation; I expected them to be golden brown and crispy outside but juicy and slightly raw inside.

扇貝符合我的期望;我預計它們會變成金黃色，外面很脆，但多汁且內部稍微粗糙。

Main dish 1

Second came a lobster in an appealing presentation. A server came to pour liquid ice in a bowl, smoke popped out in no time to add to some visual excitement. Chilled Lobster was alright. What surprised me though was the taste of splodges of yellow lobster sauce.

龍蝦。服務員將液體冰倒入一個碗中，立刻冒出來的煙霧增加了一些視覺上的興奮。龍蝦可以。讓我感到驚訝的是，一堆黃色的龍蝦醬。

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Main dish 2

A quail in curry sauce with rice. The quail was tender and juicy. The sauce was not spicy at all. I did not feel any heat. But it had coconut milk in it, I do not fancy foods with coconut milk. The bowl of rice was disappointing, it was without any jasmine flavour. A stir-fried pork rice (hundred times cheaper than this) I had a night before at a Thai food joint was thousand time better than this in terms of that jasmine flavour.

咖哩醬鵪鶉飯。鵪鶉嫩而多汁。醬汁根本不辣。但它裡面有椰奶，我不喜歡椰奶的食物。這碗飯令人失望，沒有任何茉莉花味道。一個炒豬肉飯（比這個便宜一百倍）我有一個晚上在泰國食物關節比這更好的茉莉花味道。

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Dessert

Caramel ice cream to bring the lunch to an end. If you ask me, the most satisfying dish was the dessert.

焦糖冰淇淋帶來午餐結束。如果你問我，最令人滿意的菜是甜點。

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For my boy

My boy went for a kids menu. Pasta and scoops of ice cream were for him. The restaurant is so attentive that a dedicated set of cutlery is designed for kids. They can pretend to be chefs cooking over the stove.

我孩有兒童菜單。麵食和冰淇淋勺是他的。餐廳非常專業，專門為兒童設計了一套餐具。他們可以假裝成廚師在爐子上做飯。

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Final thoughts

If garnishing and plating with a western twist, hotel service, and atmosphere were edible, this restaurant should come top on my list. Staff were attentive and decor is classy. But the major component - food itself failed to truly impress.

如果西餐的裝飾和電鍍，酒店服務和氣氛都可以食用，這家餐廳應該列在我的名單上。工作人員很周到，裝飾很優雅。但主要成分 - 食物本身並未真正打動人心。

You may give it a try if you have some free hours at noon and fancy the east-meets-west dining experience. But I will not return for the food itself.

如果您有中午的空閒時間並且喜歡東西方的用餐體驗，您可以試試。但我不會為食物本身而返回。

This is a subjective review. Photos and content are original.

這是一個主觀的評論。照片和內容都是原創的。

This is my first post on busy.org, let's see how this goes...

See you later

Lunch @ Sra Bua Kiin Kiin, Hotel Kempinski Bangkok 西式泰菜在曼谷