Restaurant-Dining Critiques

Les Quatres Garçons (4 Garçons)
1/F, Oakwood Residence, 113 Thong Lor 13,
Sukhumvit 55, Wattana 10110 Bangkok, Thailand
Tel 66 (0)2 713 9547
Opening Hours: Lunch 11:30am – 2:30pm; Dinner 6 – 11pm; Open Daily
Website: www.4garcons.com
Prices: Moderate-Expensive

It comes as a pleasant surprise that the cooking at 4 Garçons is unexpectedly good, with only a few grumbles, especially as it is operated by four Thai business professionals, with no specific training in the restaurant trade, and a medical doctor behind the stoves to boot. Meanwhile, down the road at a French bistro with a professional French chef at the helm, I tried to have a meal that I could write about in a favorable light, and after several attempts it became apparent it was not to be, and for the present I have abandoned it.

Now back to the main subject of this post, 4 Garçons. It is quite normal in Thailand to find a restaurant bar with no bar stools and a bar top, so cluttered with non-essentials that it is difficult to find space enough to set a glass down, and the large bar at 4 Garçons is no exception. Why not put these service bars in the kitchen, or somewhere else outside the perimeters of the dining room, if customers are excluded from using them anyway? If a diner simply wants to have a casual drink before lunch or dinner while waiting for other guests, or for any reason at any time, they have no alternative choice but to sit at one of the large tables or on a banquette with a neatly arranged profusion of pillows which, quite frankly is a pain to get in an out of; while alighting from a bar stool is almost instantaneous.

I have almost forgotten to mention a colorful character called Khun Pop, who you might spot walking around the dining room floor wearing anything from unconventional costumes to sometimes what can really be an outlandish getup, depending on the day, and mind you these are of his own choosing.

As for the decor, I enjoyed the clean open spaces and airy architectural lines of the dining room, in spite of comments from the odd diner who hinted to it being “too cold” or “impersonal”.

Bread was served very nicely on a small plate with a square of molded butter, however when broken apart the bread was so dried-out it shattered over the table. Frog legs were excellent, with the exception of crystals of rock salt sprinkled into the dish, they reacted similarly to a mine field, making for very salty explosions or large areas without any salt at all. The Navarin (lamb stew with vegetables) suffered from the same symptoms (overly salty) due to too many lardons that outnumbered the vegetables in this dish. Granted, I realize that most Asians probably would not find the amount of salt disagreeable, and I am most likely in the abject minority. However, every dish that I sampled from the à la carte menu: savory dishes were too salty and sweets were too sweet to my taste although, there again I am swimming against the tide as Thais love salt & sweet!

At 4 Garçons they offer a three-course lunch at THB 580:

A Choice of Appetizers: Pate de Campagne, Soup de moule au curry, Salade de Foies de Volaille, Roquette au Confit de Canard Rapé

A Choice of Mains: Beef Ragu or Lamb Ragu Fettuccini, Croque Monsieur/Madam, Tripes a la Mode Lyonnaise, Coq au Vin, Épaule d’agneau à la bière.

Summary: Overall, I liked this restaurant and anticipate returning. I can always ask for the rock salt to be omitted from the dishes that are made à la minute; for the many pre-prepared dishes I am out of luck.

Tags: 4 Garçons Restaurant Bangkok, bar has no stools, large airy dining room, Oakwood Residence

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 19th, 2010 at 10:38 am and is filed under Bangkok. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.