If you can’t get home for the holidays, then good news: Jamie’s Italian is offering a festive-themed menu for the season, daily through Jan. 2, at its Siam Discovery location. The menu focuses on British Christmas favorites, though, according to Executive Chef Alex Barman, those of you who miss a good Christmas feast will still have your holiday cravings quelled.
He handpicked several items on the menu including the traditional Christmas Pudding. The restaurant is using Barman’s mom’s recipe — one that requires steaming for over seven hours. The result is a soft, rich, moist, and dense pudding that melts in your mouth despite being crafted of items that wouldn’t do so if they hadn’t been in contact with hot water for so many hours: nuts, seeds, fruit, and stem ginger figure heavily in the recipe. When served, it’s topped with brandy mascarpone with a scoop of rum raisin ice cream.
We stopped by to try all the offerings and were impressed with the high value of the set menu. For THB1,250 diners can choose from one of several starters, entrees, and desserts. They can add a glass of prosecco for an extra THB200.
Starters include Duck Liver Pâté with toast points, parmesan, and a nutmeg-heavy orange and cranberry compote that tastes like Christmas in a cup. The Porcini Mushroom Soup features cream and truffle, Beef Carpaccio is topped with rocket and mustard dressing that provides a spicy kick, the generous Salmon Bruschetta is topped with whipped ricotta flavored with lemon and horseradish and large hunks of smoked fish.
But our favorite of the starters was the Retro Prawn Cocktail. From the name, we were expecting to see the starter that graced “fine” dining tables in the ‘80s: a half-dozen chilled shrimp hanging creepily over the edge of a champagne saucer with spicy red sauce in the center. What arrived was much better. Several shrimp were tossed with mashed avocado and layered with radicchio in rosé mayo. It was rich, fresh-tasting, and filling.
For mains, Barman said that the Festive Roast Chicken, from the recently organic-certified Sirin Farm, is the most traditional. The herb-heavy poultry sits on a bed of velvety celeriac puree and has a long sausage — from local producer Sloane’s — wrapped in bacon and draped over the top. Osso Bucco Alla Milanese is slow cooked and falling apart, a hearty piece over saffron and sage risotto that more than holds its own against the meat.
The Salmon Fillet arrived swimming in a sea-flavored tomato broth with mussels, clams, and squid.
Vegetarian diners can try the Mushroom & Truffle Ravioli made with homemade pasta and topped with creamy mushroom sauce. The one item on the menu that costs extra is the Fillet Steak (+THB250), a chunk of Angus beef doused in red wine sauce with wild mushrooms and black truffle with a side of roasted bone marrow.
Though the meals are served as single entrees, sides like Yorkshire puddings, roasted potatoes, parsnips, and carrots, and greens are included and served family-style for each table.
The sweet course also didn’t disappoint, with a Cheese Plate featuring selections from Chiang Rai a good option for those that aren’t into sugar. The cheese spread was eye-wideningly large — a dish like this would go for THB600-800 on its own at most Bangkok tapas spots.
Aside from the pudding mentioned at the beginning, there is also a Dark Chocolate Tart with honey ice cream, hazelnuts, and cherry compote; a light and smooth Black Forest Panna Cotta with mint and cherries; and a Festive Sundae with honey and cherry ice cream and huge lumps of fresh fruit, cookies, and dehydrated orange on top to create a pretty presentation.
If you can’t get home for the holidays, having one of these meals might make you feel a bit closer to the traditions. They’ll be serving this menu daily as well as on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day, but you’ll probably want to make a reservation if you hope to get a table at those high traffic times.
FIND IT:
Jamie’s Italian
Siam Discovery, Rama 1 Road, ground floor
Open Daily, 11:30am-10pm
BTS National Stadium
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