At noon on a Thursday when we arrived at the Capital by Water Library, the three-week-old eatery still waited for its final sets of draperies to arrive.
The steakhouse restaurant mimics Manhattan in the 1930s.
Yet the crowd of well-dressed business executives, who came to partake in a semi fine-dining lunch, didn't seem to mind the tropical Sun-bathed ambience. The atmosphere was vital with a somewhat "Wall Street" feel and the food looked as if we were really in the Big Apple.
The Capital is the first steak-focus restaurant of the innovatory Water Library brand. To jibe with its Bangkok financial district location and New York steakhouse-style of cuisine, the 80-seat establishment is designed to mimic a Manhattan bank from the 1930s.
A dark wood counter bar, glossy monochrome marble flooring and brass safety deposit box-inspired panels lent a monumental feel to the casual steakhouse affair. While a group of up to 12 diners are promised comfort in a bank vault-like private room.
The Capital's culinary concept is helmed by Water Library's Singaporean executive chef Haikal Johari, who works hand-in-hand with the restaurant's German chef de cuisine Sebastian Schäfer.
Johari ditches his modern cooking techniques, which he's famous for, and returns to the very traditional method of meat grilling.
The Capital's menu is an extensive compilation of classic steakhouse grub. Though many items may sound ordinary, their taste and quality promise otherwise.
From 10 choices of starter, we waived the likes of Maryland-styled crab cake, freshly shucked oyster, beef tartar and empanadas (stuffed corn dough pastry).
Instead, we settled on Johari's recommended prawn cocktail (380 baht). Unlike the typical chilled prawns in a martini glass, the dish here featured three decent-sized, poached Andaman prawns on a chilled metal plate. The firm, supple and naturally sweet shelled prawns were complemented beautifully by a tiny portion of rocket salad and homemade burnt-pepper mayonnaise.
Baby cos salad (330 baht), which followed, was the restaurant's scrumptious rendition of classic Caesar salad (and proved one of the best in town) prepared with organic baby cos lettuce hearts, a 64-degree poached egg and creamy Parmesan-cheddar dressing.
The restaurant has an impressive variety of beef cuts to cater to different preferences, from tenderloin to Porterhouse, US Black Angus to Japanese kamichiku wagyu, plus grain-fed and grass-fed. To help retain its flavour and juiciness, the beef is flame grilled over imported US hickory wood and Binchotan oak wood white charcoal.
My dining companion and I shared a platter of 350g Black Angus rib-eye steak (1,750 baht). The medium-cooked steak exhibited an exceptional quality with captivating charred aroma, succulent texture and flavourful taste that needed no more seasoning than a sprinkle of salt (an assortment of UK fleur de sel, Merlot-Himalayan sea salt and cigar-smoked habanero salt also accompanied the steak).
To complement the steak, there's a vast variety of side orders (150 baht each), including corn muffin with bacon jam, German-style rosti potato, sautéed field mushrooms and baked cauliflower. We went for mashed potatoes, crispy onion rings and broccoli with roasted almond butter and found all of them brilliant.
Choices of lamb, pork and spring chicken are also available.
For those looking for a quick personal dish, try the blue swimmer crab pasta (390 baht). This well-round tasting dish with Asian-style fiery dash featured homemade semolina noodles tossed with chilli, confit tomatoes, Parmesan cheese and chunks of blue swimmer crabmeat.
Beef fans should not miss the Capital's best-selling wagyu beef burger (390 baht), featuring a flavourful, hand-chopped beef patty with cheddar cheese and the works on Water Library's famous house-baked bread.
Unlike that of the savoury cuisine, desserts, which carry on the restaurant's New York theme, are presented with a cutting edge approach. Deconstructed red velvet cake (290 baht) was a heavenly jumble of red velvet brownie cubes, white chocolate ganache, beetroot purée, yoghurt sorbet and cream cheese espuma.
While the truly addictive banoffee (290) showcased poached banana with salted caramel ice cream, banana cream, roasted peanuts, chocolate biscuit, warm chocolate ganache and freeze dried banana chips.
As a bar, The Capital carries an eclectic range of wines, martinis, craft beers and cocktails. The non-alcoholic elderflower cold tea cocktail (160 baht), a blend of peach-passion fruit tea, elderflower syrup, lime juice and sugar cane syrup, was superb.
Service impressively blended five-star efficiency with American-style cordiality.
The Black Angus rib-eye flame grilled over US hickory wood and Binchotan oak wood white charcoal.
The wagyu beef burger on house-baked bread with home cut fries.
The poached Andaman prawn cocktail with burnt-pepper mayonnaise.
