It's a force ... pulling us in! Back at Cyan, the Met., Bangkok

Only hours have passed and we find ourselves drifting back towards the Met. for todays lunch. Also hard to beat the fact that they too are offering crazy lunch deals like we had been finding here and here. Cyan was offering a 3 course lunch set for around 700B. We like lunch deals like this, it let's us go crazy on wine and other extras ..... to which we started out with a glass of white and of red wine.



They came in cute little cylindrical glasses, the white even in it's own ice bucket. These were then poured into our wine glasses waiting on the table, which allowed us to share first the white wine, and follow with the red.



A basket of bread is then placed in front of us, with 2 slices each of sour dough, rye and 7 grain. So soft and fluffy, a scraping of soft butter the perfect accompaniment.



We then tackle our choices. The first choice, salmon carpaccio. The salmon beaten out to a perfect this circle, topped with lemon, capers, parsley, olives and 2 slices of grilled bread. Another familiar dish from our days in paradise but a fine example of great produce speaking for itself.



Next up, an incredible salad of buffalo mozzarella, grilled zucchini ribbons, roasted peppers, parsley, basil pesto and pine nuts. The pesto running down through the salad and coating each bite. Another fine example of exemplary produce.



For main course we choose the chicken and the beef. The chicken is a perfectly cooked breast supreme, crispy golden skin but so moist and succulent on the inside. It's sliced into long lengths, and layered with pieces of crisp prosciutto and a salad of rocket, red grapes, pine nuts, herbs, more pesto and pearl barley. A very satisfying dish, so tasty and delicious. Great comfort food!



The beef, Australian Angus cooked to a blush pink in the centre but the taste of the coconut charcoal grill apparent on the crisp outside. There are 3 'chips' of golden polenta, fried to a golden crisp, but encasing a creamy centre with a touch of parmesan. A medley of grilled vegetables is sitting underneath, including asparagus, red onion, red & yellow peppers, mushroom and a few leaves of fresh rocket give it some life. A caper and anchovy butter giving a nice little bit of saltiness and extra richness as it slides down and over each component.



We had selected our desserts, but Shannon brings out 2 little coconut pannacotta with strawberries, and to hello. A few other 'special' things are on the way ....



The blueberry cheesecake, oh wow !! A biscuit like base but full of nuts holds a creamy cheesey centre, resembling a curd ... plump blueberries are then suspended in a rich blueberry syrup, sprinkled with roasted pistachio nuts with a scoop of blueberry sorbet adding to the decadence.



Sticky date pudding. A classic, but often stodgy and way to heavy. What graces our presence is indeed a show of Shannon's genius; a super light, fluffy, cloud like pudding. A piece of pudding is resting on a chunk of grilled pineapple with caramel sauce and ice-cream. Wow, the pudding though, how to describe the lightness ... definitely some molecular gastro-geniusness.



The last sweet treat to grace our table, something that looks rather familiar. At first glance looking like a profiterole filled with ice cream and topped with chocolate sauce. But it was so damn good, I was seriously in a daze of gastro-pleasure and can't really remember what it was but it wasn't as it seemed. There was some delicious hazelnut, some praline, flavored pastry cream and mmmmm



Another outstanding meal had within the Metropolitan hotel. But now I need to lie down ..............

Cyan Restaurant
the Metropolitan Hotel
27 South Sathorn Road
Tungmahamek
Sathorn
Bangkok 10120
Thailand

Breakfast at Cyan, the Met., Bangkok

We try to always find a few nights to stay at the Metropolitan hotel in Bangkok. It's one of our favorites! And having the amazing brother team of Daniel and Shannon Moran working downstairs in the kitchen was always a bit of a drawing card ..... The brothers have both moved onto Parrot Cay now, also a COMO property Kim and I have worked at. Good luck guys! Anyway, the first of a few posts at the Met., our first meal was breakfast at Cyan.

The buffet is an amazing spread, but we start with coffee and fresh juice which is bought to our table before heading over. First up, fresh tropical fruits, including mango, pomello, watermelon & pineapple;



Then the little iced cups of yoghurt and fruit, fruit salad or little bircher muesli cups;



There's also the house made toasted muesli and choice of milk;



The cold cuts include ham, smoked salmon, avocado, sliced tomato and a few cheeses;



Fresh baked pastries, muffins, breads & croissants;



5 varieties of fresh baked bread along with 8 home made spreads, including strawberry, watermelon and pineapple jams, marmalade, peanut butter passionfruit curd and chocolate hazelnut spread.



The buffet spread is all amazing, between the two of us we manage to sample a little of just about everything.

But then we also get to choose one item off the al a carte menu. I select the big breakfast. The scrambled eggs are so creamy, and delicately folded, with pork sausage, roast tomato, mushroom, bacon and potato cake. All delicious, all be it very filling ....



Kim selects the poached egg on a giant home-made fluffy English muffin with roast tomato, sauteed spinach and hollandaise sauce. The hollandaise has been gratinated to a perfect bubbly golden.



We both appreciate a great breakfast, and this has to be one of the finest examples !!

Cyan Restaurant
the Metropolitan Hotel
27 South Sathorn Road
Tungmahamek
Sathorn
Bangkok 10120
Thailand

Peter Evan's Dinner at the Met., Bangkok

It was all by chance that we happened to be in Bangkok when Peter Evan's was doing a dinner at the Metropolitan hotel, Bangkok. Kim and I both spent a chunk of time working at Hugos while in Sydney, and it had been a while since we'd seen Pete. We always enjoy going to Met. as well, to catch up with the genius (and crazy!) brother pair of Daniel and Shannon, the Executive chef and Pastry chef of the acclaimed Cyan restaurant.

We arrived a little early and took a seat in the lobby. From across the room we noticed someone who looked awfully familiar ... he seemed to notice us, also. He makes the first move to come and chat to us and turns out it's John Sussman, Australian seafood pioneer, who happened to be in town as well, but ended up donating a lot of seafood for the dinner. We manage to say Hello to both Daniel and Pete, them both popping out into the lobby before we are all ushered into the dining room ...



We are seated and immediately receive a glass of Queen Adelaide Brut but the thing that has me bubbling in the too-cute little dish of balsamic / oil marinated olives, with a sprig of rosemary that is used for dipping the bread ... and the bread, a choice of about 4 freshly baked breads, I start with the foccacia and do manage to sample the other 3 throughout the meal.



First course is a quadruple of Australian seafood. Snapper tartare with bacon and black bean dressing, smoked ocean trout on betel leaves, Coffin Bay oysters with mirin, sake & wasabi dressing and a sweet corn soup with Kinkawooka blue mussels, basil & chili oil.



The second course is accompanied by a glass of Naked Range Sauvignon Blanc a very nice drop that compliments the pepper seared black kingfish salad with wakami and ponzu dressing. The little tobiko (flying fish roe) that are discovered throughout the dish a pleasant surprise.

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A glass of Black Opal Chardonay carries us through the next 2 dishes. Firstly, Spencer gulf prawns grilled with oregano, lemon and chili. The flavors were nice, but the prawns themselves were quite disappointing. Mushy and rubbery at the same time. Perhaps it was something about the dinner Pete was holding and the sponsorship / donation of Australian seafood, but there is so much local Thailand seafood that would have made much more sense, being in Thailand and all. (~*Same thought on just eating Australian ocean trout and highly acclaimed Hokkaido restaurant .... nani kore?!?! why?? we are surrounded by some of the most amazing seafood in the world right here, anyway ...)



The last of the savory dishes brings back a lot of nostalgia, and I'm not sure if it was all good ;) We cooked I don't know how many thousands of these while at Hugos, and neither of us really understood why ..... the fish was perfectly cooked, sweet and delicious but paired with sweet potato puree and a coconut lime sauce, there's just a severe lack of texture, and an awful resemblance to baby food. But it works for Pete!?



After we'd all finished our main, Pete has a bit of a chat. The crowd is amped, and his side kick Udo is whizzing around taking photo's throughout the night.

Pre-dessert is a Campari (Yum!) and grapefruit granita that is topped with hand-spun fairy floss .... one of Shannon's new toys.



Then dessert, another familiar contender, the Goats curd cheesecake with passion fruit sauce (this one's for you, Jarrod!) A glass of Wolf Blass Frontignac Traminer pairs nicely with the tart cheesecake.



We enjoy a cup of tea after our dinner, before being given a handful of cocktail vouchers for Met Bar.



We check on the boys, there a while off, so we tell them we'll head to Met Bar and they can meet us there. The first round are 2 signature Hugos cocktails (I totally forget what they were) and a bowl of the delightful Met nuts, cashews, macadamia's and peanuts fried with garlic, galangal, kaffir lime, chilli and baby shrimp. Delish!



2nd round is another pair of signature Hugos cocktails.



We still manage a few more rounds, including a delicious honey cocktail and a Hendricks martini before the boys arrive ....



and Udo busts out some sick dance moves before passing out on the couch !!



We pile into taxi's and make our way over to Bed Suppa. Here we meet Paul, the talented head chef behind Bed Suppa's success as a restaurant. He has kindly saved us a 'bed' that is loaded with alcohol ....



Fun times were had by all, including meeting the amazing Austin Bush and talking away with him for hours in the Bed Suppa kitchen ... It would have been after 4am when we emerged and piled into 1 tuk-tuk in search of food. A unanimous decision was made to head towards the Arab Qtr.



We enjoy a fair spread of food ...



and somehow Shannon manages to knock over and break a giant hookah pipe ... ah, it's all in a nights fun when hanging out with the Moran boys in Bangkok.

We wish both Daniel and Shannon all the best on their new venture to Parrot Cay !! Good luck, guys !!

the Metropolitan Hotel
part of the COMO group
27 South Sathorn Road
Tungmahamek
Sathorn
Bangkok 10120
Thailand