Some of you might know that I spent 5 weeks in Bangkok and during that time I was mildly obsessed with trying Michelin-starred restaurants after having a great first experience at Resonance. I was midway through my trip when at the encouragement of my foodie friend, I decided to try booking Thailand's only 3-star Michelin restaurant, Sorn. And I was lucky enough to secure a seat on my actual birthday. I booked online via Tablecheck - seats are released on the 25th of the previous month at 12pm Bangkok time. You just have to prepare like you are booking concert tickets - wait for the seconds to count down before clicking on the book button and pay for the meal upfront (it was SGD333 incl. of service and tax).
The menu was extensive and I love the touch of customisation with the Happy Birthday printed on the menu for me. It made me feel special!
After a brief introduction with a leathery map of where the cuisine is from - Southern Thailand (bordering north of Malaysia), the show got going with the Amuse Bouche, aptly named Let's Eat Rice. There was Tapi River prawn, Jasmine rice, sago crackers and prawn fat. It was one of the best bites of the meal, IMO, making a very strong first impression on me for what's to come. I love the presentation of the ingredients beforehand as well.
We started with the prelude, or series of small bites. They were exquisite, mostly because of the expert blend of Thai spices with seafood. It started with the Hand Caught Abalone which had young mangosteen, hoi tai seaweed and green mango. The bouncy cuboids of abalone were a textural delight with the refreshing and cold mangosteen/green mango? liquid.
The second appetiser, the Silver Sillago, was expertly fried with turmeric, scallop sat on top of a smear of Ming aralial curry paste. It looked quite scary but it was a bite of crunch and an explosion of flavours!
The Ocean trio with raw marinated Blue Crab, Phuket Lobster, and Spotted Babylon conch was presented first in its raw ingredient form. What a colourful tray!
Each bite was fresh and sweet despite being raw. I love tasting the ocean this way!
Then there's this sinister looking sotong which saw Andaman squid, eggplant, lobster and pickled chilli on a stick. I am not sure where the eggplant and lobster is, but it was fun to eat this. The chilli did have a kick though!
The Sorbet which was very much needed because my mouth was slightly on fire from the sotong dish.
This was a prelude of what is to come. It was followed by what they named the Crab Stick, which saw mud crab roe on blue crab leg slathered with chilli paste. This set my mouth on fire, and I was advised to drink more wine to help quell the flames.
They got the Melinjo broth ready on hand immediately after the crab stick though, knowing the spice would be quite strong for those unused to it. The broth was made with coconut milk, coconut meat, dried shrimp and squid and was just what was needed! Next up was the Gor Lae, or cockle and dried abalone on a stick grilled on a mini pot. This was fine (I was still distracted by the lingering spiciness).
The only vegetable course was a sort of tossed salad which awakened my taste buds for more. It's called The Sea Holds the Forest, and someone actually tossed the turmeric rice with Southern herbs and budu sauce by my table and served it.
Now on to the main course - the Thai way of sharing. Chef Ice actually came to my table and shared more about the 4 Thai ways of cooking (stir-fry, deep fry, curry and soup) and revealed the OUTSTANDING rice in a charcoal-fired claypot. Every grain was standing upright when the lid was opened, and the heady fragrance of the Thai jasmine rice was intoxicating. He said he learnt how to cook the rice from farmers - the way the heat rises from the charcoal below causes the rice to stand up that way.
The rice came with condiments, which is apparently typical of this cuisine. I was asked to try each one by itself first. There was pork rind, sweet shrimp, dried yellow curry, fish sauce with chilli and Som Hoak chilli paste (I skipped that).
There were 3 sides to go with the rice, starting with this Stink Bean with redtail catfish and Southern curry paste. It was not as stinky as one would imagine and went perfectly with the rice.
Next was half a omelette which saw tiger prawns cooked with organic egg, shallot and sweet basil. This was the first dish where I though it missed the mark in comparison to local streetside omelettes because the brown bits of the omelette itself was tasteless.
Half of the omelette was served and the remainder brought back to the kitchen (but not wasted, I was assured!)
There was a tiny bit of Morning Glory with abalone liver, dried scallop and shrimp. Enough for me to eat with the rice - at this point I was feeling a little bit stuffed and there was a lot of things happening (the condiments, the omelette etc). So this unfortunately got lost.
The main savoury dish was the Roti with Wagyu Green Curry. It was here that I felt like the spice was too heavy for me to fully enjoy the dish and flavours - it felt like I was getting punched, Muay Thai style,, by the chilli. Perhaps I had the unfortunate luck of biting into a piece of chilli or something but it was PAINFUL.
But the plum soup with bamboo shoots helped, though it was not served as swiftly as the melinjo broth. My lips were red and swollen!
Finally it was time for desserts after that and I appreciated the off-menu passionfruit birthday cake that I was surprised with! It was so good I'd almost wanted to have all of it, but I was bursting (and told to save space for more desserts!). I'm so glad I decided to bite the bullet and come here for my birthday, and managed to get a seat.
For dessert, there was black sticky rice with young coconut ice cream and cashews which I adored. The play on temperatures and textures for me is what determines a great dessert!
There was also a small bowl of seasonal canned fruit which was also very refreshing. It perfectly matched the flavours from the beginning to the end.
Lastly I had the Petit Four (more like 9!) with Southern style tea or coffee. There was also actually a pot of herbal tea for digestion. These little kuih bahulus (what I call them in Singapore) were served first.
It was followed by a cart of Thai kuehs/sweets and I could not resist getting 1 of each! They were worth it and I finished them at a leisurely pace with the teas.
All guests were also given a red guava jam and cashew butter to take home, which was a super sweet gesture!
Overall, I felt blessed to be able to experience Sorn: Southern Fine Dining and be taken on a journey with the play on ingredients, flavours and cooking styles, many of which were lost traditional methods. I am a firm believer that Asia is just as good if not better than the Western counterpart when it comes to food and Sorn is a shining example. Highly recommended if you can book a seat to go before prices shoot even higher!
Thanks to the team at Sorn for taking such great care of me!
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