Cuisine de Garden BKK is a French restaurant, the second branch of "Chef Nan Lilawat Manakongtiphan". The first branch is located in Chiang Mai. The Bangkok branch is located in Ekkamai Soi 2. Enter the alley, the shop will be on the right hand side. You can park your car at the Sommerset Hotel, a little further down from the shop.

The restaurant recently opened in July. This time, we were invited by a food website to try the tasting menu.

Chef Nan is also a molecular chef. Today, she said that her food will incorporate a touch of molecular gastronomy. Let's see what she has in store for us!

For the interior design, the restaurant adopts a minimalist and luxurious style with black furniture such as tables and chairs, and gray exposed concrete walls. However, the warm brown tones of the wood create a cozy atmosphere. Due to the limited space, mirrors are used to make the restaurant appear larger. The emphasis on natural elements is evident in the use of wooden floors and the inclusion of actual trees within the restaurant, creating a unique and authentic natural ambiance that aligns perfectly with the restaurant's concept.

Despite its modest size, the restaurant boasts an efficient layout that accommodates both a dining area and a bar. The bar area features a gravel floor, while the dining area boasts sleek wooden flooring, creating a distinct contrast and enhancing the natural ambiance. The bar zone is adorned with trees and fairy lights, which illuminate the space with a romantic glow at night. The twinkling lights and lush greenery create an inviting atmosphere, making it an ideal spot to unwind.

Cuisine de Garden: A Culinary Oasis of Freshness and Inspiration

Cuisine de Garden, a French restaurant, offers a unique dining experience that celebrates seasonality and freshness. The menu, though concise, showcases Chef Nan's commitment to using only the finest seasonal ingredients. This dedication to quality extends beyond sourcing, as Chef Nan artfully incorporates Thai herbs and vegetables into her dishes, creating a harmonious blend of French culinary tradition and local flavors.

Each plate at Cuisine de Garden is a testament to Chef Nan's artistic vision, drawing inspiration from the beauty of nature. The menu itself is a dynamic entity, changing every three months to reflect the changing seasons and the chef's evolving creativity. This commitment to constant evolution ensures that every visit to Cuisine de Garden is a fresh and exciting culinary adventure.

The price is relatively high, with each course costing 1590++ baht. However, the ingredients are of high quality, and the chef's concept and culinary techniques are truly creative and impressive. It is definitely worth the price, especially for a special occasion with someone special.

Food ordering: You can order food as a course or à la carte (but it is recommended to order a full course, which is cheaper and more enjoyable). The full course dinner consists of 4 chapters. Before the course starts, 4 small appetizers will be served, which are delicious.

The meal begins with a warm Brioche served to each guest. The Brioche is shaped like a leaf, inspired by the trees behind Chef Nan's house. It is served on a large leaf (which may have been plucked from the backyard). The bread is easily broken into pieces along the scored lines, making it convenient for dipping into the smooth, tangy, and creamy sour cream. The bread is best enjoyed warm, as it is crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and fragrant. It is delicious even without the cream.

Before entering Chapter 1, as mentioned earlier, there will be bite-sized snacks served as an appetizer. These are:

Nationwide ( 190++ )

The dish features four types of seafood served on a wooden tray lined with stones. Each piece is decorated with a marine theme, including shrimp, shellfish, crab, and fish. The restaurant recommends starting with the mildest-flavored piece and working your way up to the most intense flavor.

The first bite reveals a shrimp nestled in a shell, accompanied by a subtle kaffir lime cream that perfectly complements the shrimp's flavor. The delicate aroma of kaffir lime gently wafts through the air.

Mussels in Charcoal Shell with Bergamot Foam

This dish features mussels served in their charcoal shells, accompanied by a light bergamot foam. The foam adds a subtle aroma without overpowering the delicate flavor of the mussels. The addition of crispy charcoal powder provides a textural contrast, making each bite a delightful experience.

The third dish, **crispy salmon on kaffir lime leaves**, is topped with salmon roe, offering a delightful combination of the zesty aroma of kaffir lime and the rich, buttery flavor of salmon.

The final bite: The chef cleverly used a kaffir lime leaf instead of a spoon. The crab meat was topped with caviar, served on a kaffir lime leaf that was sliced and used as a spoon. Before eating, squeeze the kaffir lime to release its juice. This bite was sweet, fragrant, and sour, with tender crab meat that was slightly creamy.

This dish is a personal favorite. The seafood is incredibly fresh, and the use of Thai bergamot adds a unique and refreshing touch.

We were fortunate to have the opportunity to sample every dish on the menu, thanks to the restaurant's generous offer. This allowed us to share our experience with other food enthusiasts and provide them with some insights. Let's take a look at what we tried.

These three dishes are featured in Chapter 1 (choose one dish).

The top dish is Seacret, the left dish is Rain Forest, and the right dish is Terrarium.

** **

Seacret ( 320++) Hokkaido scallop with lime foam, served in a large seashell with a light ponzu broth infused with seaweed. The presentation is impressive, with the broth poured from the shell onto the plate. The scallop is fresh and bouncy, and the lime foam and light seaweed-infused broth create a delicate and refreshing flavor reminiscent of the ocean.

Rain Forest ( 320++) This dish is meat, which we don't eat. It's Beef Tartare, which looks very good. At first, I thought they were serving dessert. There is a crispy rolled sheet of meat sprinkled with parsley powder, like a log in the forest covered with moss. It is served with a miso egg yolk sauce. Those who eat meat say this dish is delicious.

Terrarium (320++)

This dish features shredded duck paired with crispy puff pastry, adorned with beautiful flowers and served with a colorful salad in a jar. The jar is smoked with applewood and the dressing is extracted from salak oil and flesh. When served, the staff opens the lid, releasing smoke for a visually stunning presentation. However, the duck flavor is somewhat weak and not particularly impressive. The dish is also overly sweet. Pairing it with the salad tossed in the sour salak dressing improves the flavor somewhat.

Chapter 1 is complete. Let's move on to Chapter 2.

Chapter 2: Choose one of the following three options: Nest, Eclipse, or Harvest.

Nest (350++) Signature Menu An organic egg cooked sous vide, served whole on a nest of crispy rice noodles. Beneath the nest lies another layer of deliciousness: shredded chicken tossed in chicken sauce, three kinds of mushrooms, and truffle oil. The accompanying crispy strands are fried gobo root.

Crack a chicken egg on a bird's nest and scoop up all layers to eat together. The taste is well-rounded, but there is not much truffle scent.

Eclipse (350++)

This dish features barley risotto with dried anchovies, topped with a sprinkle of Thai sunflower sprouts, known as gaen ta wan. The chef's creative touch shines through in the thinly sliced, crispy gaen ta wan that adorns the risotto, as well as the velvety smooth gaen ta wan cream drizzled over the plate. The combination of flavors is surprisingly harmonious, showcasing the chef's ability to elevate simple ingredients into a culinary masterpiece.

Personally, I like it. It's not as watery or mushy as other risotto, but it has a creamy, savory, and fragrant flavor from both the fried sunflower seeds and the sauce. There's a slight saltiness from the anchovies, and the barley rice has a slight chewiness. It's delicious.

This dish costs an additional 300 baht from the course price of 750 baht.

Canadian lobster, succulent and perfectly roasted in hay, exudes an enticing aroma. The bouncy, sweet lobster meat is adorned with a delicate, crispy corn husk-shaped cracker, crafted using a unique technique that involves thinly rolling out shrimp paste. Smoked corn purée accents the dish, adding depth and flavor. This visually stunning and delectable creation showcases impressive culinary techniques.

Chapter 3 Choose 1 menu from 3 menus: Water Lilies / Vermillion / Swamp (+300 baht)

Water Lilies (580++) This dish is inspired by the water lily, incorporating various parts of the plant into its composition. Ingredients include lotus seeds, lotus petals, pickled lotus stems, and a vibrant green purée of Malabar spinach leaves, resembling taro leaves. The dish is crowned with grilled halibut, sprinkled with finely crushed, lightly toasted brioche crumbs. Overall, the flavors are somewhat subdued. Personally, I found the Malabar spinach leaves unappealing due to their pungent, grassy aroma. However, the pickled lotus stems were a delightful addition, offering a delightful balance of crispness, acidity, and richness.

Vermillion (580++) This dish is adorned with the vibrant colors of beetroot, sliced into thin, crispy chips, round beetroot chunks, and beetroot sauce. All of these elements are artfully arranged on top of Duck confit. While I am typically indifferent to beetroot, it pairs surprisingly well in this dish. The Duck confit boasts succulent, non-dry meat that is incredibly tender. The skin is slightly crispy, not overly so, and overall, the dish is quite enjoyable.

Swamp (+300 for course) / (880++ A la Carte) This dish is an additional 300++ from the course.

This dish is a dry-aged local beef tenderloin that meat lovers一致认为is delicious. However, I did not try this dish myself as I do not eat beef.

Chapter 4 ( Choose 1 menu from the following 3 menus: Bloom / Coral / Farm )

Sorbet of Pickled Guava with Toasted Brioche

This dessert features a sorbet of pickled guava, offering a delightful balance of sweet and sour flavors. The sorbet is accompanied by toasted brioche, adding a satisfying crunch. The dish is further adorned with pickled guava flesh and white tapioca pearls, providing textural contrast. A variety of dried herbs, including guava leaves and mint, add a refreshing aroma and enhance the visual appeal. This dessert is a healthy and flavorful option, sure to please the palate.

Coral ( 250++) Black sesame sponge cake and thin crispy pastry, shaped like coral. It has green tea mousse and fresh orange flesh at the bottom. The side that looks like an egg yolk is a yuzu orange sphere, with a sour taste and a hint of sweetness. This dish is beautifully decorated with a small Molecular technique, but the taste is not very good. It goes in different directions. The sponge cake is bland, the green tea mousse has only a bitter taste, and when you eat everything together with the sour orange, it's hard to describe the taste.

Farm (250++) Signature Dessert

This dish is a true standout, featuring goat's milk as the star ingredient. The goat's milk used here is exceptionally delicious, devoid of any strong odor. The chef masterfully presents the goat's milk in a variety of textures within a single dish, including panna cotta, crispy milk foam, and milk snow, all drizzled with honey, honeycomb, and macadamia nuts. Every element of this dessert harmonizes perfectly, showcasing both innovative technique and exquisite flavor. It is truly deserving of its status as the signature dessert.

Stone (100++ / 2 pcs.) The meal ended with eating stones !!!! Oh my god.....it's so similar!

Seamlessly blended to the point of being indistinguishable, but it was fun trying to figure out which rock was edible. What is this rock??? >>>>>> Noooo...tell meeee.....I have to try it myself.

Overall, I was very impressed with the chef's creativity and culinary techniques. The dishes were beautifully presented and exciting to try. The service was also excellent, with the staff being very attentive and helpful in explaining the menu. Thank you for following along. Goodbye.

Shop Address: 12/6 Ekkamai Soi 2

TEL. 02-053-3059, 061-626-2816

www.cuisinedegarden.com