The first thing I noticed about the hotel is that the design is very modern, clean and sophisticated. Lunch is served on the 3rd floor, Latest Recipe while the dinner buffet at the hotel is located at Bamboo Chic. According to the receptionist, Latest Recipe offers a more international variety of food choices while Bamboo Chic sticks to Japanese, Thai and generally Asian cuisines.
Hotel Lobby View
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On the way up I stopped for a short bathroom break, and although I had second thoughts at first, took a photo of the men's bathroom. It's simply put, great. The hand towels were a nice touch and even though I have been to many other 5 star hotels in Bangkok, the restrooms here are really a step up from the rest.
The Restroom
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We arrived a bit early for the buffet, which starts at 12:00PM, so I managed to take a few photos of the buffet setup. The table felt a bit empty, but that meant more space for our dishes! The staff were very welcoming and even came to check if we wanted our complimentary coffee/tea/soft drink while we waited for the buffet to be ready.
Our Table Layout
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Dining and Seating Area, Latest Recipe
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The first thing we noticed was that the selection of food was quite large. The buffet was separated into a few sections and during the course of lunch we didn't have to queue for anything.
Appetizers and Sashimi
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Cooking Station - Pasta / Noodles / Pizza
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Breads and Cheeses
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Roasts
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Hot Dishes
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Desserts
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When the buffet finally started and we had our usual first round food survey. We did notice that some things were missing. For example, the Caesar salad station did not have any bacon bits. or other usual condiments. There was not a single dish made with beef or lamb, or any chocolate desserts. I love my beef, I love my lamb and I definitely love my chocolate, so I was very disappointed. This also seemed a bit odd but we were hungry and started digging in.
Smoked Salmon
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Honey Glazed Duck, Chicken Tikka Masala, Pork and Roasted Chicken
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Pizza, fish, and other unmemorable dishes
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Spaghetti Aglio Olio
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To sum up the buffet at this point, it was very bland and lacked taste. If I enjoyed a buffet, I can remember a number of dishes that were served. I don't remember going back for seconds on anything here. However, the pasta quality was very good, and I managed to finish an entire plate even though I knew I shouldn't. The Squid Ink "Paht Kee Mao" Spaghetti is also very popular so give that a try if you're here. Pizza choices were also large. Sashimi wasn't very fresh and the cheeses tasted a bit off. The smoked salmon and parma ham were so-so as well.
I was ready to go home, unhappy with the results until it was time for desserts! Now, the cakes and tarts were nothing to shout about, what you would usually get at a 4 star hotel, but I would go back to Latest Recipe, Le Meridien just for the Ice Cream Teppanyaki bar.
Ice Cream Teppanyaki
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Choice of Fillings
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You can choose from 8 different flavors of ice cream, 20 or so condiments (Oreos, Butter Cookies, Chocolate Bits, Jelly) and have the "Chef" behind the bar mix them up for you over a slab of cold metal.
Oreos and Vanilla Icecream, To Which I Added M&Ms and Cookie Dough Later On
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Ice Cream Being Made
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Voila! Best Tasting Ice Cream Flavor in Bangkok
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Although the food here may be sub-standard, the Ice Cream Teppanyaki made up for all the things this buffet lacked. Would I come back here again? Not anytime soon, but whenever I feel like being 12 years old again, creating my own pastas, pizzas, and ice cream flavors, I will definitely drop by. Actually, just take your kids here if you don't have anything planned for lunch. 935 Baht Nett Per Person, (With KTC Credit Card, 2 for 1)
Latest Recipe - Le Meridien (3/5) BBBB
(http://www.lemeridienhotelbangkok.com/)
Surawong Road
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I am very disappointed with the buffet at the Latest Recipe. The sashimi section was not that good, and the food was so plain. The grill section has no fish, and the dessert section has no chocolate AT ALL, except for the toppings of ice-cream. However, I am surprised with their ice-cream section. They serve ice-cream in a large cold bowl and they mix the toppings inside the ice-cream for us. Although their ice-cream is better than at other buffets, it is not worth the pay. I will never go back there again.
ReplyDeletePerhaps I shall give it another chance in the near future, maybe the Buffet was just having a bad day =D
ReplyDeleteI will agree that the only part of Latest Recipe that I enjoyed was the Ice Cream, and for the price I would rather eat at The Square, Novotel Siam Square.