Excellent Service; Cuisine a Bitter Disappointment
- April 5, 2009
- Rated 1 of 5 by
de_la from Chiang Mai, Thailand
Arriving at the restaurant, we sat down at a splendidly set table, and ordered the most expensive set menu at approximately 1500 baht a head, the equivalent of an average Thai's monthly food budget. Such a detail would not normally be appropriate if it weren't for the fact that the assortment of starters presented to us - fish cakes, chicken brochettes, spring rolls - could have easily been purchased down the road at the local street market.
Yet my mind and palate remained open in anticipation of the main course. The pumpkin stalks were magnificently savory and the duck was divine, although it lacked imagination as it was simply a carbon-copy of the French "magret de canard". The masaman curry was adequate and the tiger prawns were tender and tasty. However, my disappointment reached maturity with the green curry and the pat thai noodles. The "keng kiaw wan" had been robbed of its "wan" (sweetness), leaving an attractive yet bitter, spicy, inedible substance that was graced but once by the serving spoon. The pat thai noodles were just as untouchable, completely overwhelmed by the taste of dried shrimp and whose noodles, perhaps in the spirit of "fusion cuisine", were served "al dente", unacceptably under-cooked by Thai standards.
Then came the dessert - overly sweet coconut ice cream, a sickeningly-sweet flan whose only possible Thai attribute was the element of coconut, and a durian cake which left my palate disturbingly confused. The dessert platter was partially saved however by a slice of delicious, succulent mango.
Overall, I applaud the fine service and the painstaking attention given to the atmosphere. However, if the Blue Elephant continues to serve the dishes I sampled tonight, I can only assume that they are content in fooling the average customer's palate by the smoke and mirrors of a sophisticatedly-presented, yet gastronomically unsatisfactory product.