Few things beat the smokey flavour of food hot off a charcoal grill. To add to the sizzle of the fire is Taahra, a new charcoal fine dining restaurant on a small alley off Charoen Krung Road.
Using charcoal as the only source of energy to cook, the kitchen is headed by Pat-In "Knock" Promsawadi, who says "At Taahra, we don't have any electric appliances. It's going back in time when everything was old school. The charcoal is local from the south of Thailand. Though the cuisine concept is using Thai flavours and recipes, some of our premium ingredients are imported, except for the fish, which comes from Phuket."
The kitchen uses a Japanese robotoyaki grill, which has been modified to suit Taahra's needs. Another part of the grill is layered, with a place to warm the sauce and a place for slow cooking. The grilling takes place on the bottommost layer, with the resting on the second layer, which also allows for slow cooking, while letting the produce smoke, and the topmost layer is for basting, smoking and fat rendering.
Taahra uses the best of ingredients from around the world, so expect Monsieur Jean-Paul oysters from Utah Beach in France; Challans duck and Pigeon de Bresse. The 13-course menu is inspired from local Thai dishes that are reinterpreted into something more contemporary and modern. Vegetables come from an organic farm in Nakhon Pathom and organic microgreens from Chiang Mai can be found throughout the menu.
Challans duck with a pineapple red curry.
Begin with Chicken liver with toasted rice and Thai herbs. "The chicken liver pate is lightly smoked using apple wood chips and Thai herbs, and is served with a gel and pickled mustard leaves," says chef Knock. The dish is a deconstructed mix of tub waan or the Thai spicy sour liver salad and liver pate, and the cracker it is served on is a spring roll cracker. Another starter that highlights the best of Thailand's organic produce is Tomatoes, which take inspiration from the fresh tomato relish from the North. "The 'pillow' is made from freshly-ground Thai rice. It is filled with a mousse made from grilled tomatoes and cream. At Taahra, we sun-dry tomatoes and add it to the mousse for more texture and flavour, along with kaffir lime gel. I also add lotus stem and basil powder so when you eat it, it tastes like jaew makhuathet," explains the chef.
The Jean-Paul oysters are lightly grilled and served shucked in their shells with guava, green chilli and coconut milk -- a new version of nam jim seafood. One of my favourite ingredients is octopus and at Taahra the Spanish octopus is slow-cooked until tender, then charcoal-grilled. It is served with finger root, citrus and octopus jus. The star of the current menu is French pigeon, which is served two ways. The breast is served with banana blossom and coconut curry, and the leg is served a la som tum style.
However, the star of the meal for me was the dessert, which has a nostalgic ring to it and not just for me, but for chef Knock, too. Pang ping nom yen is what the chef always orders. The nom yen is the first milk-based drink I had when I came to Thailand and was told it was "haebuboy". It was only when I was window shopping at the grocery store did I release the milk was flavoured with Hale's Blue Boy. A classic Thai moment!
Taahra's design draws inspiration from the aesthetics of coal and charcoal, to create a sleek and contemporary interior defined by rough and smooth textures, crafted coal stones and tiles, warm tones of charcoal grays, and dramatic lighting. The dark interior accentuates the counter seating downstairs and table seating upstairs, enhanced by hints of dark bronze and brass lamps. Taahra is open for dinner from Tuesday to Sunday. Email reservation@taahra.com.
(Photos: Taahra)
