(L to R) Vichai Poo-alai, restaurant manager of the Grill Room & Wine Cellar; Paitoon Ritdej, food & beverage director for Royal Cliff Beach Resort; Walter Thenisch, executive chef at the Royal Cliff Beach Resort; Ekachai Mahaguna, general manager of Canpac Beverages Ltd.; Ranjith Chandrasiri, president of the Royal Cliff Wine Club and deputy general manager of the Royal Cliff Beach Resort welcome guests to the event.

The September edition of the Royal Cliff Wine Club dinner was, as usual, fully booked out within 48 hours of the invitation being sent to the club members. Undoubtedly, the Royal Cliff Wine Club has been one of the success stories in Pattaya.
For the September dinner, the venue was changed from the ballroom to the Grill Room and Wine Cellar, and nobody would complain. The Grill Room is a multi-awarded restaurant, and Wine Club president, Ranjith Chandrasiri, very proudly announced the latest accolades. Last year, the Royal Cliff Beach Resort became the first resort in the world to get five “Best of the Awards of Excellence” for its five main restaurants in one year, given out by the world renowned Wine Spectator magazine. In 2009, the amazing feat was repeated, making the resort again the only one in the world to get another five “Best of the Awards of Excellence” in two consecutive years. Incidentally, this gave the Grill Room and Wine Cellar its seventh award. Pattaya can be very proud of the Royal Cliff Beach Resort.
This wine dinner featured the wines from the Columbia Winery. This should not be mistaken for “Colombian” wines, advised the MD of Canpac Beverages, Ekachai Mahaguna, in his address to the members. The Washington State (again not to be confused with Washington DC) boasts 400 wineries and is actually the second largest wine producing state in America.

(L to R) Peter Malhotra, Chan Vathanakul,
Judy Hoppe, Panga Vathanakul, and Dr Iain Corness.

However, the reception wine which was held in the Panorama Lounge was a Beringer Chardonnay 2005 from the Napa Valley, and it was certainly a pleasant drop for the start of the evening.
Descending to the muted natural wood tones of the Grill Room, passing the expanded Wine Cellar, the guests were quickly introduced to the Columbia Winery Pinot Gris 2007, and then welcomed by President Ranjith and followed by Ekachai, who described the Columbia Winery and its wines.
The first course was very novel, and you could imagine the silent mirth of the executive chef, Walter Thenisch, as the members looked at a plate with a red and white striped “truffle” and a shot glass with something that looked like a Midori. “I thought the dessert usually came at the end,” was muttered by one diner at my table. But of course, this was not a dessert, but was a seafood terrine in tomato aspic with a cucumber and lychee smoothie! It was superb.
The second course was a pan-fried foie gras medallion with an apple-pear chutney and duck liver flan, and the wine chosen to go with this was a very interesting Columbia Winery Gewurztraminer 2007. Now I am not a great fan of the Gewurztraminer style, finding it always too sweet for my palate; however, this one was not overly burdened with sugar, and suited the more cloying nature of the foie gras. Interestingly, a large percentage of the other members felt the same way, with many nominating it as the wine of the night.

Guests enjoy the cosy atmosphere in the well stocked award winning wine cellar.

The next course was a braised veal cheeks on a sweet garlic tart and rosemary emulsion. The meat fell apart at the first touch of the fork, it was just so tender. Bravo the Royal Cliff kitchen. The wine to accompany this was the first of the reds, a Columbia Winery Cabernet Sauvignon 2006. A strong bouquet but neither the finish or body for my taste, but always remember that wine appreciation is a personal thing.
The main course, a pink roasted boneless lamb chop with an eggplant-potato timbale, Roman artichoke and apricot-goat cheese quenelle and thyme jus was teamed with the second red, a 2002 syrah (shiraz) from Columbia’s Red Willow vineyards. Great nose and ‘almost’ enough body for me, though most members enjoyed it. The lamb was also very tender and the quenelle very tasty. A wonderful dish from the imaginative Walter Thenisch.
With the dessert, I went to see if I could find some gewürztraminer left on the sommelier’s table, but alas, I was not the first to make beseeching noises!
The wine dinners, at slightly over B. 2,000, continue to be the culinary bargains of Pattaya. If you are interested in joining, you may contact the Wine Club president, Ranjith Chandrasiri, on [email protected]. You may be lucky and take up one of the very rare vacancies.

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Avocado and Crabmeat Soup

Avocados are in season right now, and very inexpensive. To check the ripeness of an avocado, gently squeeze it, and you should feel a slight “mushiness”. If the avocado feels hard when giving the gentle squeeze, it is not ready for eating. To remove the avocado from its outer shell, slice the avocado in the long axis, running the knife around. Take the avocado in two hands and gently twist and the two halves will separate. Remove the stone, and then with a spoon gently run around the inside of the shell and the green avocado will separate from it. The crabmeat can be tinned or fresh.

Ingredients                          serves 4 Crabmeat                                  250 gm Avocados, peeled and seeded     4 Onion, finely chopped                1 medium Chicken stock                           1 liter Heavy cream                             500 ml Butter                                       4 tbspns Flour                                         1 tbspn Garlic powder                            ½ tspn Salt and pepper to taste

Cooking Method
Mash together the avocados and crabmeat.
Sauté the chopped onion in the butter.
Add the flour, garlic powder and chicken stock, then whip until smooth.
Add the avocado/crab mixture to the liquid and simmer for twenty minutes.
Add the cream and salt and pepper, stir gently and serve.