It's great to see the old Imperial Queen's Park Hotel back in business after a three-year, reportedly 3.5 billion baht rehab, as Bangkok Marriott Marquis Queen's Park.
The transformation is quite stunning and there can no longer be any doubt as to how many stars the property merits. Only one of its twin towers of rooms is open as yet but the brassy, blinged-out lobby is breath-taking and the several restaurants are easing on stream, with the all-day dining and buffet outlet -- Goji Kitchen + Bar -- already feeling like an established fixture on the local dining scene.
One of the challenges the original hotel didn't always succeed in surmounting was its sheer scale. Besides extensive events spaces, including three grand ballrooms, that rival national facilities, there are some 1,360 guest rooms, the most in Bangkok, to sell. Yet the Marriott-esque makeover is so sumptuous that it seems certain to draw commensurately brisk business.
But it's not just the savvy style with which the project has been executed. The proportions of Goji -- the anchor dining outlet -- are consistent with the rest of the hotel. Boasting up to 500 covers when all of the five zones are united by sliding away partitions, imagine constructing a buffet on that scale, not knowing whether you'll be busy as heck or snail slow.
Nevertheless, the designers have cracked it with a concept that is almost all a la minute interactive. You've heard of theatre kitchens and prep-counters where the real work still goes on in the back. Well Goji turns that on its head. The behind-the-scenes kitchen is the size of a prep counter and almost all of the actual cooking is done in full view on sophisticated but practical industrial catering installations.
Arrayed like batteries that diners mosey straight up to (and even walk through where the chefs are cutting up and cooking, though they really oughtn't) this is culinary creativity stripped to its skivvies. It's like you're in the kitchen at home but with your personal chef doing the business for you. It also jives with craft phenomenon: small bespoke batches of everything rather than one-size fits all.
Other sections feel like a bakery shop, delicatessen or bistro: precious gateaux, charcuterie (including Iberico pork leg in the evenings), cheeses and whatnot are kept in refrigerated glass counters. When you've been trawling the long buffet line a while and finally get to the colourful afters you don't hesitate wondering how long the Red Velvet etc's been standing there. There's even a fully-stocked bar.
It's labour intensive but that's it's saving grace. The diversity needed to satisfy an international crowd, including, as the name points to, lots of FITs and tour groups from the region, is achievable without undermining the enterprise's economics.
The interior design features sketchy cabanas dangling spot-lanterns illuminating lustrous wooden tables kneed up to by biscuit-hued faux saddle leather seated, cow hide backed chairs. The spaces feel intimate wherever you sit. Being large doesn't make it dingy as the back wall is of floor-to-ceiling glass scoping the arbours of neighbouring Benjasiri Park (commemorating the 5th cycle birthday of Queen Sirikit). A trendy deck makes possible sitting out in the cool of the evening.
The chefs line-up is similarly impressive, including Executive Chef Michael Hogan (remember him from JW Marriott?), Le Cordon Bleu Paris graduate and Michelin-experienced Executive Sous Chef Itti 'Aum' Nitayaporn, Head Thai Chef Jasvir Sanghera, and Executive Pastry Chef Alfred Merkel.
At first encounter, the head spins with the gastronomic possibilities, so it's not a bad idea to be appraised of the signature items that provide gratifying starting points for further exploration.
Thai Chef Dhu, who learned cooking from her mother who cooked for Thai diplomats in Delhi, is personally on-hand to prepare superb beef noodles. The stock is triple reduced over three days during which 20 kg of beef is added and reduced three times. The resulting deeply beefy soup creates a perfect base for maws of melt-in-the-mouth beef. Along with fresh, finely diced green chilli sauce, the noodles, veggies and whatnot are indeed exemplary.
Chef Dhu would also have you try her grandma's somtam recipe in which papaya is reduced to a bit part as tamarind sauce, palm sugar, dried shrimp, rose apple, apple, pear and lime share the limelight. It certainly makes a difference and the top notch grilled chicken and sticky rice are worthy of their co-starring roles.
Another signature treat, only available on the dinner and brunch buffets and a la carte, is Spanish suckling pig with crusty skin and lean meat. The tiny pigs are immersed in a salt/paprika blend for 45 mins to draw out the moisture and embed paprika flavour. Ultimately it is cooked on a Parrilla Spanish grill. Mint sauce goes a treat with this.
Nor will Goji disappoint if seafood is your thing. It accounts for another signature section featuring on-ice and sushi-sashimi, smoked and gravlax. These are not token lobsters on the festive buffets, nor Alaskan king crab legs and oysters, also on the dinner buffets, etc.: they're plumb, supremely fresh and perfectly prepared.
A couple of signature desserts are an authentic nam khaeng sai (crushed ice, syrup and toppings) stand and ice cream teppanyaki.
All that's just the tip of the shiny worktops. On this particular buffet hound's visit there was a wonderfully sharp lamb rogan josh among the Indian selections and a lyrical lamb stew among the Western counterparts. Not to mention: whole salt-crusted baked salmon; pork belly; pasta station; soups; interchanging tomahawk, flank and rump steaks; antipasti and deli counter; a wonderful Chinese corner with steamy sia long pao (molten) dim sums; and a pulled pork section where the chef piles the well-stewed pork between toasted or soft buns and layers over the likes of cheese; gherkin, caramelised onion, tomato and dressings such as homemade chilli paste mayo.
Then there are the resplendent desserts such as spiced pineapple crumble, apple charlotte, mango-passionfruit cream, tiramisu, chocolate mousse, banoffee, snow egg, crème brulée, orange baba, crème caramel and a superb chewy carrot cake that really merits elevation to the signature ranks and some fancy French name.
And yet it's not all about conspicuous over-indulgence. A major effort is made to leave the least carbon footprint, including sourcing locally cultivated beef (a Hereford-Angus hybrid treated to a 300-day grain diet). Rice is sourced from selected environment-friendly farmers' gates. Prawns are source from a supplier who uses rice converted into protein for feed thereby sparing the oceans' dwindling resources.
Don't even think of trying everything. Achieving one or two items from each section would be remarkable.
As Michael says: "It's like Disneyland – you can't cover it in one visit or even two."
GOJI. Bangkok Marriott Marquis Queen's Park. Sukhumvit 22. Tel. 02 059 5999. Email: restaurant-reservations.bkkqp@marriotthotels.com.
A Fine Festive Feast Goji Kitchen + Bar gets into party mode on New Year's Eve. Bt1,800++. Add Bt950++ for free-flow soft drinks, juices, beer, wine and cocktails.
