Cicchetti, Groove Central World, Bangkok

Cicchetti (also sometimes spelled “cichetti” or “cicheti”) are small snacks or side dishes, typically served in traditional “bàcari” (cicchetti bars or osterie) inVenice, Italy. Common cicchetti include tiny sandwiches, plates of olives or other vegetables, halved hard boiled eggs, small servings of a combination of one or more of seafood, meat and vegetable ingredients laid on top of a slice of bread or polenta,^[1] and very small servings of typical full-course plates.

Signor Sassi, one of the top Italian restaurants in the UK, opened its door in Bangkok at the Anantara Sathorn, but understand it did not do too well there and is now re-locating to Siam Paragon. Cicchetti is one of its other offering in Bangkok. It is located in the new wing, Groove, at Central World – 2 levels of dining and bars which includes 1881, Fauchon, House of Beers etc.

Friday dining buddies decided to try Cicchetti last week. We ordered 4 starters – Caesar Salad with chicken pieces, deep fried mozarella, tuna tartare and codfish pate with chickpea biscuits.

Caesar Salad

The Caesar salad is not your typical US style caesar salad – it has lemony dressing and without the cos lettuce. The chicken pieces were rare, and not much to share among 5 strappy lads.

The deep fried mozarella did not have too thick bread crumb coating but unfortunately the size is quite small that there are not much mozarella cheese in each ball.

My buddies found the tuna tartare delightful. For me it is nothing special – quite a safe and standard tuna tartare.

The codfish pate is interesting – quite creamy which actually overshadow the codfish taste. The biscuit is more like a thin crispy cracker and I could not taste any chickpea flavour in there. Quite disappointed.

Unless we had ordered the wrong stuff but somehow the four starters did not invoke any of the Italian bar cuisine – they are presented too up-markety – should be more rustic so that we can behave more like Italians gesticulating and licking their fingers while drowning pitchers of Italian reds or chiantis.

Lobster Spaghetti Cicchetti

We then decided to order the lobster spaghetinni to share. The spaghettis were dished out in a lobster shell. The sauce is too tomatoey and drowned the lobster taste. And the lobster meat is far and few to be shared among 5 people. I think Lobster pasta should be done in white wine sauce or aioli so that the lobster taste is apparent and not suffused by the tarty tomatoe sauce.

Black Truffle risotto Cicchetti

Lamb Chops on Hay Cicchetti

My non-pork and non-beef colleague chose the lamb chops. The presentation is quite nice, and the lamb is quite lean but still have lamb flavour. Safe.

Another colleague ordered the black truffle risotto. Black and black. Risotto is creamy and not too soggy. Of course truffle is mere infused truffle taste rather than slivers of truffles.

Ravioli Cicchetti

Another colleague ordered the raviolis. I can never appreciate raviolis – mostly pasta skin and one never knows what’s inside. Give me a nice prawn wonton anytime.

I ordered monk fish in lobster sauce. Monk fish is cooked well – not overdone, still retained its moistness. Cant say much about the lobster sauce.

Rhubarb Crumble Cicchetti

Apple Turnover and Pineapple lumps Cicchetti

Chocolate bombs cicchetti

Dessert time – apple turnovers, rhubard and pineapple crumble and double chocolate bombs. Nice presentations but I would not give top marks to them. We did not try the tiramisu which probably would be good acid test for the restaurant.

Overall, it would not be an Italian restaurant that I would go back time and time again.

 

 

Opposite Mess Hall

Opposite Mess Hall’s tag line is Ordinary Pleasures offered with Uncommon Care. It is included in the Bangkok’s Tables top 10 list. Helmed by an Australian chef, Jeff Barnes, this restaurant is more like a cafe than  a restaurant. Everyone is seated on wooden tables and wooden benches with good view of the open kitchen. It is situated in a tiny lane off Sukhumvit 51, which itself is a tiny, unglamorous and slightly bohemian soi. Opposite the restaurant is WTF Bar, a small bar that does some fairly inventive cocktails, which is next door to vinyl record shop. The building itself where OMH is situated, is decked with grafitti. OMH is on the 2nd floor, accessible by steep and narrow staircase.

I have always wanted to eat there, having read all these rave reviews but it is difficult to get a seat and because its dishes are better shared, it was until last Friday that I managed to convince my Friday drink buddies to try it. And the stars were aligned because we were able to get a table for 5 when we rang that afternoon.

Because OMH can only accommodate us at 7:30pm, but we were accustomed to meet at 7pm, few of us decided to check out WTF for pre-dinner drinks. WTF is a cosy little bar with inside seating of around 15. The drinks menu is quite extensive with cocktails, wines and beers. The cocktail list was quite adventurous and one which caught my attention had absinthe. However I considered too dangerous to start the night with absinthe, so I gave it a miss but settled for a gin lychee cocktail. My colleague asked for a mojito and it came with a can of beer which raised some eyebrows. It turned out that they added beer to the mojito instead of lemon soda – an interesting twist.

Back to OMH – we promptly seated at 7:30pm. The menu is not extensive. We ordered the bruschetta, beetroot salad (my running buddy heard me said that beetroot drinks are now the rave in the running circle, and so wanted to have beet – he is training for his New York Marathon!), eggplant salad, of course the famous OMH buns – you can choose either pulled pork or fried chicken with the buns, so we ordered 2 pork and 3 chicken; crab salad dish, crispy prawns and the buttermilk fried chicken.

Bruschetta – instead of the typical salsa, OMH topped it with avocado and labne (my colleague thought they misspelt lamb; labne is strained yoghurt cheese). The combination was superb. The avocado was fresh and the labne not overpowering – quite a light and refreshing combination; unlike salsa which keeps dropping off when you try to eat it, the mashed avocado and moist labne just melts with the bread which were lightly toasted.

Crispy prawns

Next came the crispy prawns – they were tiny shrimps with their heads and tails and legs still intact. I just took the whole thing and put in my mouth – it was crunchy, lightly salted – perfect with beer. My western colleagues had to overcome their initial squeamishness about eating the head and all.

The salads then came out in quick succession:

Baked Eggplant Haloumi

Baked eggplant with haloumi, and figs and almonds;

Beetroot salad

Beetroot buffalo curd dukkah and pomelo;

Salad of crabs

Salad of crab with cucumber, grapes and mint;

As we shared the salads among the 5 of us, each of us had a small portion of each – each had their nice taste combination, none tasted unusual.

Steam Chinese Bun with Pulled Pork

Pulled Pork steamed bun

The buns came out – pulled pork and chicken. I had the pulled pork which was quite crispy. The bun was quite soft but if I had to compare with Momofuku’s, I think Momofuku’s is lighter and softer and I think these types of buns should be eaten with moist pork belly. The crispy pulled pork just does not have the same fatty moisture that just blends with the bun.

The chicken in the bun was the buttermilk chicken which we had ordered separately and had satay sauce with it. It would not have been my choice either. I am perhaps quite traditional in this steamed bun dish – it has to be done like the Dongpo pork made famous in Hangzhou.

Buttermilk Fried Chicken

The Buttermilk chicken was crispy on the outside and retained the tender and juicy meat. Plating the dish was buttermilk, kimchi and sriracha sauce – milkiness combined very well with the tartiness of the kimchi and the hint of chilliness in the sriracha sauce. Very nice.

Pigs Head – THB1000 each

Alas we did not try the duck waffle or its famous dumplings. Nor the pigs head! It costs THB1000 for the pigs head – unfortunately I was with a group of westerners who would be put off completely by the very idea. I indicated to the maitre’d that the pig ears looked delectable – he confirmed that the whole head is braised in the chinese style but then they would then serve them roasted. I will have to try this next time with like-minded connoisseurs.

Menu 1

Menu 2

Menu 3