Australian-born chef David Thompson has two restaurants called Nahm to his credit.  The first, opened in 2001, is in the Halkin Hotel in London and has a Michelin star.  The second, at the Metropolitan Hotel in Bangkok, opened in late 2010.  A few months after the opening in Bangkok I had a memorable dinner there and wrote about it here last year.  Lunch a little more than a week ago was also excellent.

We started with an amuse of a pineapple wedge topped with sweet pork, followed by a couple of appetizers:  satays of mussels and minced spicy pork to be rolled into a betel leaf.  The pineapple amuse is above; here are the appetizers:

Mussel satays

Minced spicy pork with betel leaves

Three main courses followed.  A spicy curry called Gaend Dta Pla (we learned later that it's made from preserved fish innards), served with a pineapple relish and a plate of sliced Thai fruits and vegetables; a lemon grass salad; and scrambled eggs with pickled garlic, shrimp, and chicken.

Gaeng Dta Pla

Pineapple relish

Sliced fruit and vegetables including rose apple and fresh green peppercorns

Of course we had room for desserts developed and overseen by Thompson's Thai partner, Tanongsak Yordwai.  As delicious as they were unusual, the sweets were a type of crisp pancake molded into a taco shape and filled with a delicate ice cream and golden Portuguese style egg threads that have become a standard Thai sweet.  There was also a cold sweet noodle soup covered in shaved ice (we could have used some shaved ice with the curry) and served with a banana leaf package containing coconut sticky rice topped with rich, solidified coconut cream.

Crisp pancakes

Sweet noodle soup

A couple of days later I returned and spent some time with Tanongsak Yordwai photographing and discussing some of his Thai sweets for an upcomong article in Dessert Professional magazine.

Next:  Bangkok restaurant roundup

 

Comments

[Sandy]

These photographs are so evocative. Yes, the number of chilis in that curry make it a fine candidate for shaved ice. And the green peppercorns are so chouette, I want to wear them. Keep these posts coming!

[Michael Tuohy]

nice post! makes me hungry......

[Mark Mullaney]

Oh man. I'm literally dripping over these dishes. They are unlike any Thai Food we usually get outside Bangkok. Very unique and authentic. Thanks for the info, will definitely try them on my next trip to Bangkok