Disclaimer: In exchange for dinner, I am writing this review of Uno Mas Bangkok.
When you want to give Thai food a break, why not give Spanish a try?
Located on the 54th floor of the Centara Grand hotel right behind the CentralWorld shopping center, Uno Mas Bangkok not only offers patrons a quality blend of Spanish and Catalan fare, but also excellent views of the sprawling Bangkok cityscape. The head chef, Roberto Gonzalez Alonso, comes with years of experience at kitchens throughout his native Spain, as well as the United Kingdom.
The 120-seat restaurant, replete with an open air deck, wine bar, and indoor/outdoor seating (depending on the weather), is open daily from 12:00 – 23:00.
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The Food (and one Drink)
To drink, I ordered a Sherry Passionate cocktail. Not typically a name that would entice me, but I do like passion fruit. This cocktail had Lady Trieu Contemporary Gin, Colosia Manzailla sherry (after all, sherry is Spanish), honey, lemon juice, and passion fruit. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of the glass.
On with the food! I was told in advance that my menu was already set, but that it (unsurprisingly) also included some of restaurant’s highlights.
For instance, here we have paella, a staple of pan-Spanish menus:
Commonly associated with the Mediterranean city of Valencia, Uno Mas’ paella had a mix of saffron-rice, shrimp, calamari, chicken, and vegetables. Fortunately, the saffron wasn’t so strong a flavor that it overpowered the well-grilled seafood and chicken. Rice can get monotonous to me, so having the lemon slices, and variety of ingredients helped mix up the tastes and textures of each bite.
The above is called zarzuela, which can actually refer to a couple of things. The original mean concerns a type of performing art that incorporates speaking, singing, and dance. At some point, that gave rise to a Catalonian stew made with whichever seafood was freshest on the day of its preparation.
The broth was also made of different shellfish and finfish, with an extra element of tomato and garlic. Sop up the broth and clams with the ficelle from the bread basket, and you’ve got a welcome concoction to break up the party between the paella and … what comes next.
Perhaps you were wondering why the restaurant name is “Uno Mas Bangkok.” Uno más, meaning “one more,” implies that you probably won’t be able to stop at one tapa. Given the huge amount of tapas out there, it makes sense to me.
Hence, 2 feet of tapas.
With a range of tastes for almost any taste bud, nearly every tapa was delicious, save for one surprising exception.
What was included in the feast, you ask?
- mushroom croquettes (possibly my favorite one, these were creamy, earthy, yet all too easy to enjoy in one bite)
- smoked salmon (not overly salty, and paired nicely with the nam chim jaew the chefs prepared on the side)
- Fried calamari (squeeze some lemon juice and pinch a hint of sea salt to go the extra mile)
- White anchovies (slightly salty, slightly sweet, mostly fun)
- Grilled octopus (love that grilled flavor, not too salty either)
- Spanish meatballs (the tomato sauce was sweet, and greatly overpowered the albondigas
- Blistered Padrón peppers (the best analog to these would be the Japanese shishito pepper, wherein 1 out of every bunch might be spicy)
- Papas bravas (potatoes with olive and paprika)
- Excellent green and black olives
- “pil pil” shrimp (could have eaten this on an infinite loop along with the mushroom croquettes. Grilled peppery shrimp served in an olive oil jacuzzi and accompanied by lots of garlic)
- Jamón Ibérico (“Iberian ham”) thin cured slices of aged pork. Melt in your mouth brilliance, and a good partner for–>
- Tomato bread, simply put, “mmm”
and the one exception to the rest
- Spanish tortilla (a slice of omelet stuffed with potatoes and onions) this was way too sweet, likely because of the sugar content in the onions. Not at all fan of this version.
Wow, those tapas were something else. You had your salty, earthy, umami, and even spicy. Nothing sweet, save I suppose for the tortilla.
Well then, how about a Spanish dessert?
What else but churros?
The chocolate sauce was a really good time, just wish I knew the brand.
As for the churros, meh. They weren’t chewy, and in fact, were too crunchy. The chocolate sauce easily stole the show.
In all, good service, quality food, neat views, and a pleasant evening were all had at Uno Mas Bangkok. Can’t wait to return to create my own tapas platter.
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