DINING OUT - ENTERTAINMENT

The Grill Room
at the Royal Cliff Beach Resort

by Miss Terry Diner

It had been some time since the Dining Out Team had been to the Grill Room, which is located in the main building of the Royal Cliff Beach Resort. We arranged to meet Andrew Wood, the general manager of the Royal Cliff and Ranjith Chandrasiri, the resident manager of the Royal Cliff Grand for dinner, meeting at the Piano Bar, which overlooks the Grill Room itself.

Some words about the Piano Bar will not go astray - as a pre-dinner meeting place it is an excellent choice. Quiet, comfortable and attentive staff. We did enjoy a bottle of the Italian sparkling wine, Ca del Bosco - very refreshing and not a sweet wine compared to most Italian bubblies. Having Ranjith, the guru of the Wine Club with us, certainly helped in wine selection.

You go downstairs to the Grill Room, passing the Wine Cellar on the way. This is now the largest wine cellar in Thailand, if my spies have got that correct, and with some wines up to 240,000 baht, the reverential air of the staff is warranted! However, there are “affordable” wines there too, for the likes of Miss Terry!

The restaurant proper is done out in a golden teakwood, with dining alcoves set beneath teak eaves, while the high curved ceiling is also teak. The ambience is sumptuous, and the staff makes sure that your every need is catered for. There is something about the Royal Cliff service which does place it apart from other restaurants. The words flawless and impeccable spring easily to mind.

The table settings are also worth mentioning, with specially designed hand blown crystal glasses just waiting for your wine choice. We left the choice of wine to Andrew and Ranjith and we were presented with their new range of exclusively blended wines which are now under the Royal Cliff “house” label. There are 10 varieties in all and we tried the Riesling/Gewurztraminer 2001 and the Chardonnay/Semillon 2001. Both were excellent and at 800 baht a bottle not over the top in any way.

There was a new menu in the Grill Room since our last visit and it begins with Cold Appetizers (150-360 baht) with such choices as smoked trout on cucumber salad and saffron-mayonnaise through to half a dozen fresh Tasmanian oysters. Soups are up next (B. 95-130) including an interesting scampi-bisque flamb้ed with cognac.

Warm Appetizers follow (B. 220-310) including baked snails in herb butter. After these it is into the grills themselves, with seafood first (B. 310-580), then lamb and other combinations (B. 350-620). After these comes the beef grill selections (around B. 520 plus a Chateaubriand for two at B. 1150, followed by the flamb้ choices (B. 550-560). If you still have room, there are also many choices of desserts of wickedly indulgent natures. However, it does not end there, as there is a daily special menu, which at 750 baht per head for 5 courses (including river trout, sole fillet and oven roasted lamb on our evening) plus coffee and pralines, represents sensational value for dining at this level.

We had a varied selection which included the freshly opened Tasmanian oysters, which came on a frozen ice “plate” and the snails, complete with special snail tongs (the Royal Cliff misses no minor details). Madame shared a Chateaubriand with Ranjith and declared it a tour de force, while my roasted middle-cut fillet served with cabernet jus was done exactly to my order and literally fell apart. The saut้ed vegetables were also done correctly.

Desserts? There was no room, and Ranjith’s wines were starting to make their presence felt, so it was time to adjourn (but not till after coffee and a cheese platter)! Altogether a sensational evening, thank you Andrew and Ranjith.

So how do you define excellence? The food was superb and the service exemplary. Somehow the Royal Cliff always makes you feel important, and with the new daily special B. 750 menu, the evening is eminently affordable too. It is impossible to award the Grill Room anything other than First Class and very highly recommended.

The Grill Room, Royal Cliff Beach Resort, 353 Pratamnak Road, tel. 038 250 421 email [email protected]


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