Food with a view at Cape Sienna
Cast adrift for dinner: the Plum Restaurant.
With Cape Sienna having won two accolades from Tripadvisor recently (the only hotel in Asia to do so), it seemed a good time to visit the place. And since the delightful Riz (it’s easier to say than Tipwarintron Tanaakarachod), former local TV star now doing marketing for the Millionaires’ Mile five-star, offered to throw in supper, any resistance we might have had crumbled immediately.
The first thing to realise about Cape Sienna is that it has – gasp – no beach. But it more than makes up for this with huge views across Kamala Bay and chic minimalist architecture and decor. Less than a year after the hotel opened, its restaurant is near full most nights, especially on Fridays – tapas night.
Fusion doesn't work: Indrajit Saha.
This is a great place to watch the sun dive into the sea. On the evening the Observer was there, a gleaming gin palace slid across the face of the bay as the sun sank behind it. Sitting in comfort on the classy restaurant terrace with a good cold Mojito to hand, it’s possible to image that this is something the management arranges every night just to add to the sunset experience.
Helping to appreciate the food was Indrajit Saha, Director of Kitchen & Service Operation (ie, “Chef”). For a 35-year-old, he’s been around a bit. A chemistry graduate, he started out with Oberoi in his native India, then joined the opening team for the Anantara in the Maldives as Chef de Cuisine.
From there he want to the Caribbean, working at the Jalousie Plantation on St Lucia, helping to make the transition away from Hilton management. Next was Africa, as exec sous chef at the new Kempinski in Djibouti for a couple of years, before being invited by Cap Sienna GM Frank Dreist, late of the Phuket Pavilions, to join as Big Boss of Food.
Indrajit has some forthright opinions on food, coloured by his background in chemistry. For example: “Fusion doesn’t work,” he says. Shock! Horror! That’s about half the chic restaurants in Phuket. He explains, “Things that work have a logic and a philosophy. For example, what goes with fish?” “Er, lemon and white wine?” “Correct. It’s fish plus sour. There are hundreds of ways to achieve this.”
Not for the faint of heart: The Lamb Trio.
Once we are seated in a sunken area in the middle of a pool – a novelty in itself – he chooses the food for the evening. Plum Signature (the restaurant is called Plum) followed by Lamb Trio, then a simple dessert. All served with a very pleasant Chilean Chardonnay.
The Plum Signature consists of four bites: panfried scallop, softshell crab tempura with sambal, raw prawn marinated in mango and chili, and tuna wrapped in Parma ham with green papaya chutney. Yes. Thank you.
On to the Lamb Trio. This is for carnivores; the only greens in sight are a couple of sprigs of spring onion. The trio consists of rack of lamb (never to be called “chops”) and some chunks of lamb loin plus a sauce – a tajine – a kind of stew that Indrajit discovered in Africa and made from, yes, lamb.
Delicious, but not for the faint of heart – your reviewer ended up with no room for dessert. So bring a hearty appetite, enhance it by lingering over the sunset, then tuck in.
Book a room at Cape Sienna here. The Plum restaurant is open from 8 to 11pm. For reservations, call +66 (0) 7633 7300.
