During a recent
trip to Bangkok with my brother and a friend I was able to visit Chef Ian
Kittichai’s well-known modern Thai restaurant called Issaya Siamese Club. The
restaurant is unique as one is transported from the bustling city to a home
restaurant reminiscent of a relaxing countryside home.
 |
| Issaya Siamese Club restaurant A 100-year old Thai villa turned restaurant in Bangkok by Chef Kittichai |
Issaya is a Thai word which means “rainy season”. The name was inspired by the garden of the restaurant which flourishes because of the rainy season. To pay homage to the rainy season that keeps the 100-year old villa’s garden lush and green, the name Issaya was chosen. Apart from being a charming place for bonding with friends and family and a welcome escape from the busy city life in Bangkok, Issaya is also a great culinary experience since it has been consistently included in the prestigious Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants from 2014 to 2018.
 |
| The outdoor dining area at Issaya |
 |
| Interiors of Issaya restaurant |
It features a
lovely garden and the ground floor dining outlet is very homey and includes
both a dining room and a large outdoor terrace.
 |
| The lovely garden area at Issaya |
 |
| Issaya's garden lounge area |
Chef Kittichai, the restaurant owner and
Thailand’s first international celebrity chef, came from humble beginnings. As
a child, he helped his family earn a living by pushing a food cart and sell
curries made by his mother through their neighborhood in Bangkok. With hard work and perseverance he was able to
get a culinary school scholarship.
He had his apprenticeship at a French fine dining restaurant called
Claude’s in Sydney and this pushed him further to learn more and eventually he
became the Executive Chef of a 5-star hotel, the Four Seasons Hotel in Bangkok.
Today, Chef Kittichai is truly successful since he is involved with
13 food and beverage outlets offering different cuisines in 4 different countries.
During our visit to Issaya, we were able
to try the Issaya Set menu which included the following dishes:
 |
| Issaya Siamese Club Amuse bouche (complimentary appetizer) |
 |
| Salmon and Pad Thai salad |
 |
| Banana blossom and heart of palm salad with crispy shallots and roasted peanuts in a chili jam dressing |
 |
| Khao Yai chicken with Issaya spice rub charcoal grillled and flambeed when served |
 |
| Issaya spice rubbed pork baby back ribs with house blended chili paste |
 |
| Mussaman Gae Australian lamb shank simmered in Mssaman curry and served with picked cucumber salad |
 |
| Goong Pad Cha Dry boat caught tiger prawns in a house-blended pepper and holy basil sauce |
 |
| Khao Aob Inspired by a dish from Chef Kittichai's father - Wok sauteed GI asian multigrains, Chiang Mai mushrooms and garlic sprinkled with mushroom scented oil. |
 |
| This dish simply reminds me of rice with truffle oil. |
 |
| Kanom Dok-Mali Jasmine flower panna cota served with Jasmine rice, ice cream and Jasmine rice tuile |
Among the various dishes we had, the top 3 that we liked were the Mussaman Gae(which was super tender and was very flavorful), Issaya's pork baby back ribs(which was marinated perfectly and was so tender) and the Khao Aob (which is like eating a really healthy truffle flavored rice). The servings were quite generous that we felt so full after our meal.It is the type of restaurant that one can surely recommend to friends.
To know more about Issaya, you can visit their website via this link: Issaya restaurant Bangkok
