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tomcat · 1st December 2007, 17:56

The restaurant bills itself as "international" because James, the friendly owner-manager, wasn't sure what else to call a menu that has Thai, Italian and North African. James cheerfully admits he has no kitchen training (though he loves to watch the Food Channel when he's in California), preferring the management/business side of food service. All the cooking is done by his Thai staff. Given the awkward location and his lack of restaurant experience, I wondered why he would choose to open a business so far from home. Answer: he loves Bkk.

SD and I dropped in specifically for the Moroccan dishes promised in his advertising. We started with the hummus and "eggplant caviar", or metebel. The former was fairly good while the latter was dry and totally uninteresting. The little rounds of pita bread were, however, very good...far better indeed than most pita I've had in Bkk. I moved on to a tabouleh salad with salmon that bore no resemblance to tabouleh I've ever had: no bulgar wheat, little parsley, some chopped cucumbers, a bit of very dry couscous, and chunks of smoked salmon. Bland in taste and texture. This is one innovation that definitely didn't work. SD tried the Italian seafood soup: a thick marinara sauce poured over steamed shellfish. Consistancy-wise neither a soup nor a stew, it was edible, but not very appealing.

The last dish, purportedly Moroccan, we shared. It was a chicken leg stewed in a yellow sauce with 3 olives and a quarter lemon. In my year of living in North Africa I had never come across a dish as flavorless as this. It turns out that James included these "Moroccan" items because they had been on the menu of the restaurant's previous owner and the Thai chef knew how to prepare them. He did, however, note that he had once driven past a famous Moroccan restaurant north of LA. I wish he had told us all this before we ordered.

By this time, I was on my 3rd (rather generous) glass of the house Italian merlot that was very smooth (B170). SD decided to try the mud pie for dessert. At last we had on the table something that at least one of us enjoyed: chocolate ice cream on an oreo crust, covered in a chocolate sauce with a side of whipped cream. SD thought it was magnificent.

Unfortunately, James has given up his day job to become a restauranteur. I wish him well, but fear the client base he hopes to impress will not beat a path to his door.

Checkbin: B1800 (with 3 glasses of wine).

1st December 2007, 17:56	#1 (permalink)
tomcat tomcat is a perfectly content pussy, thank you Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 6,318 vCash: 100 Rep Power: 919	Jamesense, Sukh soi 16 The restaurant bills itself as "international" because James, the friendly owner-manager, wasn't sure what else to call a menu that has Thai, Italian and North African. James cheerfully admits he has no kitchen training (though he loves to watch the Food Channel when he's in California), preferring the management/business side of food service. All the cooking is done by his Thai staff. Given the awkward location and his lack of restaurant experience, I wondered why he would choose to open a business so far from home. Answer: he loves Bkk. SD and I dropped in specifically for the Moroccan dishes promised in his advertising. We started with the hummus and "eggplant caviar", or metebel. The former was fairly good while the latter was dry and totally uninteresting. The little rounds of pita bread were, however, very good...far better indeed than most pita I've had in Bkk. I moved on to a tabouleh salad with salmon that bore no resemblance to tabouleh I've ever had: no bulgar wheat, little parsley, some chopped cucumbers, a bit of very dry couscous, and chunks of smoked salmon. Bland in taste and texture. This is one innovation that definitely didn't work. SD tried the Italian seafood soup: a thick marinara sauce poured over steamed shellfish. Consistancy-wise neither a soup nor a stew, it was edible, but not very appealing. The last dish, purportedly Moroccan, we shared. It was a chicken leg stewed in a yellow sauce with 3 olives and a quarter lemon. In my year of living in North Africa I had never come across a dish as flavorless as this. It turns out that James included these "Moroccan" items because they had been on the menu of the restaurant's previous owner and the Thai chef knew how to prepare them. He did, however, note that he had once driven past a famous Moroccan restaurant north of LA. I wish he had told us all this before we ordered. By this time, I was on my 3rd (rather generous) glass of the house Italian merlot that was very smooth (B170). SD decided to try the mud pie for dessert. At last we had on the table something that at least one of us enjoyed: chocolate ice cream on an oreo crust, covered in a chocolate sauce with a side of whipped cream. SD thought it was magnificent. Unfortunately, James has given up his day job to become a restauranteur. I wish him well, but fear the client base he hopes to impress will not beat a path to his door. Checkbin: B1800 (with 3 glasses of wine). __________________ Majestically enthroned amid the vulgar herd.... Last edited by tomcat; 2nd December 2007 at 17:35.