A night to remember

by Joachim Caula - Member of the International Food, Wine and Travel Writers Association

I had spent a very pleasant day with some old friends of mine who had arrived in Pattaya for a visit, and I wished to give them a dining “experience”, so I decided to take them to the Cliff, reputedly one of the best resorts in Thailand.

After a little cocktail in the Piano Bar listening to old fashioned music, we moved to the renowned “Grill Room”. With an attentive waiter leading us to the table, we were impressed by the romantic decor, with silver candelabras adding a touch of distinction to the elegantly laid tables. The ambiance is of a famous old restaurant in Paris, London or New York, and you expect at any moment to turn around and see Marlene Dietrich chatting up Humphrey Bogart to the dismay of Ingrid Bergman!
Mr. Walter Thenisch, the Executive Chef of the Royal Cliff Beach Resort for more than 14 years, just created a new menu for the “Grill Room” with a Mediterranean touch and a great selection of enticing appetizers, such as Lobster Medallion with leek salad on tarragon vinaigrette and truffles, Boiled Shrimp and Asparagus Salad on ginger vinaigrette, and Champignons de la forêt aux fines herbes.
The soups are equally exotic - a few examples: Bisque of sweet water crayfish flamed with brandy, Tomato soup with bacon, onion and mushroom flamed with Gin. The taste of our various choices was perfect.
Be sure to ask for the bread selection which includes dark bread, cashew nut bread, French bread and many more selections, but don’t be tempted to eat too much or you’ll not be able to enjoy your main course!
For our main course we have chosen: Grilled Lamb Fillet on Black Olive sauce - the beautiful decoration compli-menting the taste. Marinated Pork medallions with Orange - Lemon scented jus - what a wonderful combination. Pan-fried Rock Lobster on tomato, zucchini, celery ragoût - which was my favoured dish. Without asking I knew that the meal was being seriously enjoyed, as I heard not a peep from my usually voluble friends.
To accompany our ap-petizers we selected a pleasantly dry California white wine “Fume Blanc” Mondavi. The Main course was complemented by Chateau Lanessan Cru Bourgeois, in spite of its name an aristocrat of wines, full bodied with a superb nose. The wine card was impressive with a great selection of international wines.

Replete, but not so much so that we could resist the desserts, we selected variously: banana flambe with Cinnamon ice cream, crepe Suzette which was served with home made ice cream, another friend was tempted by the Creme Catalane. What a delightfully sinful ending to a sybaritic meal.
The service by the trained waiters in such elegant surrounding made us all feel like royalty and we will definitely return to repeat the experience.
Here is the address: Royal Cliff Beach Resort in Pattaya, “The Grill Room” Tel: (038) 250 421

Recipe: LENTIL SOUP

Cut about 200 grams of a smoked raw country ham in small cubes. I used some split ham I bought in Foodland in Pattaya which was splendid for this purpose. Also needed; 250 grams of diced pork shoulder, one and a half cup of diced carrots and thinly slice the whites of two large leeks.
Soak a 450 gram package of lentils in water for a couple of hours and drain. Add three tablespoons of butter to a pan and sauté the leeks until they are limp. Add the ham, the pork shoulder, carrots, the lentils, eight cups of chicken stock, two bay leaves, six dried sage leaves or two teaspoons of rubbed sage and two teaspoons of dried thyme. Cover the pan and let it simmer until the lentils are well done. Add a heaped tablespoon of a good fragrant curry powder (optional) or your own recipe “Garam Massala” and if necessary more liquid. Cook a little more and add salt to taste.
Remove the bay leaves and serve the soup in bowls with freshly made bread croutons.
PS. Curry powder is a difficult commodity to keep fresh and fragrant. Most curry powders sold in the grocery shops and super markets are already stale or consist mainly out of dried turmeric powder. I prefer to make my own and keep it in a tightly closed jar. I also promised you my recipe for this spicy flavouring several years ago which promise I have, so far and with utter remorse, not kept. I will make amends for this neglect next week and that is a promise!