Picking just the right restaurants for any given trip is never easy. You have to balance trying different types of cuisine whilst also balancing the time spent on fine dining with experiencing the place you are visiting. With such an array of restaurant Bangkok have to offer initially I didn’t book a table at Sorn at first. That all changed when I by accident ran into another foodie at the reception off our hotel and she could not stop talking about Sorn. I then knew that I had to try it. I am so glad that I did.
The menu naturally starts with a series of smaller bites before the bigger dishes. before each dish the products are introduced. It’s fair to say that many of them were new to me.
The first was a simple rice cracker with river prawn. A simple snack with great textures and from the first bite lots of chili as well. However, the chili had lots of flavor and the heat was mild and not dominate. I liked that they already from the first bite showed that they knew how to use chili in the right way for its flavor and not just for its heat and how to balance out the heat.
For the next dish a very active abalone was presented for us. Active because it was still alive and moving. A great example of their dedication to fresh ingredients. It was served with mangosteen, a bit of seaweed and green mango. A nice mix of refreshing elements together with the abalone.
From a soft abalone to a very crunchy silverfish. The small fish was served whole which meant that everything from head to tail had been deep fried. It was topped with curry powder for a bit of heat but all in all it was dish more about the crunchy texture.
The next dish was a small and delicious bite of blue crab. The meat was served extremely cold, and I am sure it was removed from the freezer just minute minutes before serving it to get a nice texture.
The menu would continue with a small bite of lobster topped with both green mango, watermelon chili. I loved the mix of the clean lobster flavor with the acidity from the 3 salsas.
The menu would have a decent amount of chili so cleansers would be an integral part of the menu. The first one was a sorbet of radish and young ginger. Originally, I had a hard time seeing how the two would match but the sour flavor from the radish was a great balance to the very refreshing ginger.
It’s fair to say that Sorn has a few signature dishes, and it would now be time for the first one. A crab leg served with what can best be described as an intense chili paste. A dish that was worthy of its status and its heat was only surpassed by its deliciousness. It is supposed to be a hot dish and the next dishes helped to soothe the way and reduce the heat. This with a coconut cream with a bit of dried shrimp and squid. Again, it was simple but very delicious. It’s fair to say that I will remember this combination of dishes for a while. It was easily the spiciest food I have ever had in a finedining restaurant, but it was so much more than the pure heat.
A simple grilled cockle topped with dried abalone would be served before another signature dish. Unfortunately, the dish didn’t leave a lasting impression.
The next one did, however. It was again a simple dish. A refreshing salat of many different fresh herbs, fruits and vegetables. What is astonishing about the dish is the dedication made to a presentation that will be destroyed by the waiter table side and also the dedication to mixing 15-20 ingredients in the perfect amounts to form the perfect cleanser.
At the beginning I mentioned that I made the reservation at Sorn because it was recommended by another foodie. Half of the conversation that day was about the rice. I was therefore excited to see if the rice be able to live up to my very high expectations. The rice entered in a claypot and it looked like it would serve 4-6 people. Spoiler it couldn’t as we almost finished it. It looked like each rice grain had been individually placed and cared for as it was as if each grain of rice was reaching for the sky. It would be served with not 2-3 sides but 5 condiments and 5 sides making it a tasting menu on its own right. This was showing just how important the rice is to them. Showing also just how much we loved everything we surprised the waiter and later the chef by almost finishing the entire pot of rice. An end-to-end impressive display of the importance of rice and, how versatile it is and especially also how delicious it can be if the right rice is sourced and especially prepared with the same attention to details that you would any other precious ingredient.
The dessert would start with a crunchy cashew cake with young coconut ice cream and black sticky rice pudding. Nice but not amazing.
The last dessert would be a twist on an experience as a young student in America where the only fruits he could afford were canned fruits from Thailand. This would then be recreated here in the form of an almost frozen watermelon and a lime sorbet. A great story and a nice ending to an astonishing meal.
With a menu with lots of chili I really loved the variety in the pairing with both sake, champagne as well as natural and conventional wines. Each carefully selected to match each dish and the variation suited my temper great as I often get tired if the wines are too similar.
Sorn is Ice Supaksorns tribute to Southern Thai food. This means spicy food. It also means spicy food how it is supposed to be and not a meal where the heat is taken away to cater to the Western palette. To me this made it feel much more authentic as this is how I image that Thai people actually eat their food at home. Even though it’s definently a hot meal the chili is an ingredient like any other and never does it overpower the rest of the ingredients. Instead it’s part of a complex and delicious flavor palette. Unfortunately, my experience and knowledge of Thai food is still limited but I loved that I was introduced to so many new flavors and products in combinations that felt new to me which I absolutely loved.
For its authenticity, flavors and presentations Sorn is definently a World class restaurant. In a restaurant scene where I think restaurants look more and more alike I am so happy that Sorn doesn’t bow to conventions by making the food less authentic simply just to make Western people who knows nothing about genuinely Thai food happy by serving them a kind of Thai food that they are familiar with.
Practical information
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
Head chef: Ice Supaksorn
Menu: 15 course tasting menu $200
Website: https://sornfinesouthern.com/
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