New culinary shack from the man behind Gaggan
Chef Gaggan Anand’s new culinary shack on Ekamai will get your taste buds juiced up with reinvented tastes from Latin America
Elaborately presented food, a futuristic kitchen, an expensive wine list and a soft-spoken crowd are among the things you won’t find at the brand new yet ever-packed eatery by the chef/owner of 2015 Asia’s Best Restaurant, Gaggan Anand.
The congenial Gaggan built this new food shack, Meatlicious, located a few footsteps into Ekamai Soi 6, for his yearning to offer comfort cuisine with humble service in a totally nonchalant ambience.
Thus his three-week-old venture, managed by his amiable maître d’ wife, is proud of its motto that reads “Burnt, Beer, Burp”.
To validate Meatlicious’ casual vibe, its décor plays on the concept of roughness that centres around unpolished wooden furniture, rustic enamelware and harsh-finish fabric.
Food-wise, Meatlicious offers a variety of beef-centric fare that is cooked before your eyes in the open kitchen with woodfire heat — either in the old-fashioned brick oven, on the iron griddle over burning wood, or on a tailor-made Argentinian wood-flame grill.
Conducting t he activities in the crazy kitchen are Pierre Tavernier, a humble French chef who has worked at a number of Michelin-star establishments; and Jorge Grande, a brutal-looking yet chatty chefcum-beef specialist from Honduras.
Lusciously starting off our dinner was the foie gras breakfast (390 baht), featuring creme brulee-like foie gras custard with a crusty burnt caramel face and cherry compote topping. The rich and velvety duck liver cream worked great as a savoury paste on the accompanying toasted buttered brioche while the cherry lent a lovely fruity finish.
As an eatery that apparently highlights the butchery flair of Latin America, Meatlicious’ menu features a number of entrées that also take inspiration from the flavours of the region.
You can’t afford to miss some of the house-rendered ceviches.
The mildly sweet and springy quality of hamachi (yellow tail) makes this fish one of my all-time favourite choices for sashimi. And when the delicate-tasting hamachi was the centrepiece of the sharp yet refreshing ceviche (390 baht), it proved to be a perfect matrimony.
Five thick, translucent slices of the fish came with avocado wedges, corn and red onions — the classic garnish of traditional Peruvian ceviche — in tangy and peppery, goldenrod-hue dressing that took a flavourful cue from the Peruvian yellow chilli and lime curing sauce.
Salmon ceviche (290 baht) is another option and probably the mellowest of the tree choices of ceviche on offer. Fresh slices of Tasmanian salmon were seasoned with onions, dollops of avocado purée and creamy green marinade.
Those looking for an option with more a piquant mouthfeel should go for the tuna ceviche (330 baht). Fresh sashimi-grade tuna from Tokyo’s Tsukiji fish market was cut into neat slices and served flash-cured in a fiery, spicy and fusion-style marination seethed with plum honey, grated wasabi, yuzu zest and fresh Thai chillies.
The zesty parade of chilled seafood starters was given a comforting contrast by an order of corn on the cob (80 baht), in which a sweetcorn, roasted to deliver an aromatic burnt touch, was served with Indian rock salt and a lime wedge. The next dish was another of my favourites, the scrumptious B&B (300 baht) is it. This appetiser plate features the juicy flesh of burnt onion topped with beef brisket and Indian-style chilli-ginger curry.
The vongola pot (250 baht) prepared with local clams in spiced wine and cream bouillon also sells best here. On that day, the key ingredient, hoy bid, had arrived fresh from Surat Thani province. The sizeable diver’s shellfish, which is uncommon in Bangkok gastronomic scene, exhibited the gummy texture of a hoy khraeng (bloodcockle) but with the mild briny taste that is more similar to mussels.
From the list of main meat courses was Meatlicious’ signature roast chicken (440 baht), into which the first bite caught our party of four by a pleasant surprise as we didn’t expect to find such marvellous poultry fare here.
Arriving on a bed of rustic-style vegetables on a large enamel tray was a golden-skinned, spice-rubbed roasted whole country chicken from a free-range farm. The chickens there feed on native herbs particularly turmeric, green chirayta ( fah thalai jone) and cassumunar ginger ( phlai) thus its meat was lean yet so tender and flavourful that it needed no help from condiments (namely Isan-style jaew sauce and Dijon mustard) which nonetheless came on the side.
You can’t miss having red meat as a main course here. The mouthwatering options include gaucho-styled steak with Argentine chimichurri sauce, Iwate wagyu strip loin steak with kobosu chilli paste and grilled lamp cutlets. Occasionally there’s also a champion-grade, intricately-marbled Miyazaki beef available (unfortunately this was not the case on my visit).
Three beef loons at our table decided to have a 1kg Tomahawk steak (2,800 baht) to share. Arriving on a wooden cutting board was the hefty bone-in, char-crusted steak that was to be sliced before our eyes by the chef.
The steak was prepared with grain-fed Australian beef, slow roasted then chargrilled to showcase the juicy, medium cooked meat that went superbly well with the garlic, parsley and olive oil, aka chimichurri, sauce. Mustard and jaew sauce were also available.
A seafood-addict friend found joy in the Provence-styled roasted sea bass (790 baht) with fresh tomatoes and basil and Hokkaido scallops à la plancha with truffle cream and cognac reduction (490 baht).
Who said you can’t wrap up your Western-styled steak dinner with khao tom (boiled rice soup)? And who said there’s no such thing as khao tom nuea (beef khao tom)?
Come to Meatlicious and order its tasty rendering of boiled jasmine rice soup with succulent beef briskets and tendon in French-styled beef bouillon, touched up with Japanese chilli oil (60 baht) and you’ll be in culinary paradise.
Our leisurely feast was complemented by an extensive line-up of beers from across the globe.
While for a sweet ending, we sampled what’s called burnt ice-cream (310 baht), featuring a large ice cream bombe tucked inside a freshly-baked, slightly-burnt French meringue, and were all delighted.
Meanwhile, bread & butter pudding (300 baht), a homely rendition of bread, butter, raisins and stewed apple, all slowbaked and served topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, was given an aromatic exotic attribute by a touch of wonderful cardamom.
The dinner was nicely capped by prompt service from the kitchen crew and the front of the house staff alike.