Only till days before our reservation, I started Google about Sühring. It's run by twin chefs, two Michelin stars, Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, World's 50 Best Restaurants, that I probably heard of before, that's why there's a voice telling me "need to book Sühring" in the first place. What I didn't realize, is that Sühring serves modern German cuisine.
Truth is that I haven't really had a wonderful experience with German food. Partly because that I don't know it that well. I can probably count how many times I had German food with both of my hands. Fine dining or not, I do have good German food before, but never like "wow" or "it blew my mind" moments.
So was I scared about dining at Sühring? Nope, I hope it'll take me to a different realm, perhaps gaining more appreciation about German food, it's possibilities and all that.
Sühring only opens for dinner during weekdays. We went there over the weekend, so luckily we get to try their weekend lunch set. Preset meals only for weekend lunch by the way, but you get to choose between full set, or three courses less short set.
Short sets for us, also short wine pairing (don't drink and drive, taxi is rather convenient in Bangkok, just be aware of taxi drivers scamming the fare not using the meter). After lunch, we still plan heading to probably the biggest weekend market in the world, Chatuchak Weekend Market. Need to treat this meal like an energy boost before we're about to over-work our feet.
Surrounded by trees and garden, Sühring is like an oasis sitting in the center of Bangkok, the city with all-time heat and much car exhaust. Imagine how relaxing it was stepping into the restaurant filled with woody scent.
Wooden ceiling beams and business casual setting, even though it's a fine dining restaurant, it's not overwhelmingly serious, but in a way cozy and comforting. Actually, the whole vibe is kind of like going to someone's home as a guest, someone in Europe of course.
And we sat by the window, taking in the view of this small forest in front.
Mini stein glasses -
Something fizzy and refreshing, almost like a cider.
Served alongside with this mini burger.
I tried to understand the dishes as the waiter elaborated on the ingredients, cooking method, etc. Had a hard time though, most of the waiters had an accent, I'm guessing most of them are from Germany. On top of that, most of the dishes on the menu were written in German. However, one thing can be sure is that the food tastes great, way beyond my stereotypical impression about German food.
Brathering -
Slightly sourish flavor, like a light pickle so to speak. Beet root and buckwheat cracker on the bottom.
Back to the waiter talk, not sure if the attire changes at night, but during my weekend lunch, they all dressed with suit jacket, jeans, and leather shoes, formal yet casual in a way. One of the waiters even reminded me of Tom Hiddleston. Pleasant meal yep?
Chicken salad -
Can't really tell?
This following dish looked more like a chicken salad -
With herb sauce hidden inside, also sour cream kind of acidity and texture. Paired with crunchy element on top. To a point it felt like chewing grass, but in an appetizing and healthy way.
First wine pairing, this part German restaurants never disappoint. Not champagne, not white wine, but start with my favorite Riesling -
Dry Riesling, worked really well with first few courses, clean cut and sharp.
Aal Grün, a trout dish here, also my favorite of the day -
Grün means green, continue on with previous herbal theme.
Traditionally this dish usually served with cucumber salad, also some dill and parsley. These ingredients took a new form here, with tiny bits cucumber on the bottom of the fish, decorated with parsley oil.
Slightly smoky aroma with creamy filling. That smokiness balanced well with its filling, one compliment the other. Pleasing dish with its fuller elements, towards the end still finished with clean cut sensation perhaps due to the herbs.
This is the type of dish that not only wow you at first, but also make you yearning for more days after.
Bread, pickles, aged ingredients -
Also presented with a jar of...creature? Didn't get a change to take a picture, but a jar of yeast was brought over to the table. 4.5 year old yeast that was also used to make the country sourdough bread.
Served with horseradish cream and pâté.
But what truly drew my attention was that jar of light pickles, so good and so addicting. Just the right amount of acidity and crunch, you'll never get tired of it, just keep eating one bite after another. Sadly the waiter told us that pickle is available at the restaurant.
Towards the end I had to reluctantly let the waiter took away the remaining bits of pickles and delicious pâté. Too little bread to eat along with but still many courses ahead. Only hoped that my tummy could stretch and stretch.
Hungarian duck -
Runway show first. I was expecting some sort of roasting scent permeating the whole dining area when this came up, but mainly only that rosemary scent lingered.
Zander, with added 400 baht for the caviar -
Cooked over cedar wood, but that woody scent was more like a gentle brush. It's the foamy cream sauce that prevailed, along with the saltiness from the caviar. Together with the caviar and cream sauce, the zander itself seemed just melt in mouth. Thinking about it now, the fish was somewhat like silken tofu, just glided down my throat.
Extra order of spätzle, also extra Alba white truffle topping -
I know I was aiming for an easier meal, but it was too hard to let go the spätzle plus white truffle combo. Proved me right, it was my second favorite dish of the day.
So dense, that truffle's earthy aroma and bursting umami sensation. Worked perfectly with soft egg noodles. In fact, few noodles happened to be fully encased in truffle shavings, so the very outer edge oozed together with the truffle.
Perfect serving portion too. With such strong flavor, even one bite more can be overwhelming and surpassed that satisfaction point.
Second wine pairing for the main dish Hungarian duck breast, but we also switched one with Japanese A5 Ozaki wagyu beef.
So a light red for the duck, and a spicy toned red for the beef.
Before that, let's pick a Nesmuk steak knife first -
We both picked the black one, waiter smiled and said you two pick the most expensive one from the bunch. Supposedly the very bottom one used the wood from Central America, middle one from Asia, and the top one from UK.
Ozaki beef is the very first Japanese wagyu beef named after the owner's name, usually it'll go by places. It's from the Ozaki Farm in Miyazaki, Japan.
Hungarian duck, aged 7 days -
The texture was dense, or so compact, but not tough. All the muscles were tightly intact, but when the knife hit, it just separated with ease. Such quality knife has something to do with it too. You'll get a full mouth of meaty tender duck, and juice kept seeping out as you chew on it.
Up till main dish, we noticed that there's been a brown bottle sitting in the ice bucket never been touched. Curiosity kicked in, we asked the waiter.
Instead of just telling us what it was, the water hesitated for a second, then told us to wait and see.
He came back with two little glasses, took out that brown bottle and poured some orange juice-like liquid for us.
It was brewed in-house, a drink that serves with the first dessert plate if you order full set course. A fizzy juice with some alcohol, and some fine pulp remain. With just the right amount of sweetness and a light kick of alcohol, thought it was a great opening with dessert. And thank you our friendly waiter giving us these two complimentary sips to try.
If ordering full set course, this fizzy drink serves with a very tall glass. Very long leg with a tulip-shaped cup, to go with below apricot based dessert -
Also hazelnut and pumpkin used.
Back to our own wine pairing, still ended with my favorite Riesling, but this time sweet spätlese Riesling -
And house eggnog for the following dessert -
Recipe for the eggnog came along -
Too bad I can't read German.
Eggnog goes with white chocolate and cherry dessert, like a sandwich cookie made with roasted rye -
To be honest, I don't remember much about the dessert, but more impression on the drinks served with these.
Hot tea in the end -
Petit four -
Lychee marshmallow, chocolate cake, jelly, bon bon.
Finally our bill arrived, inside the recipe book -
Sühring is probably one of the few fine dining restaurants that I would love to revisit once a while, too bad it's pretty far away.
Usually I prefer to try new places, rarely go back and dine at the same fine dining joints. But something about Sühring, the dishes were delicate and pretty-looking for sure, just like what one would expect from a high-end restaurant, but it was also heart-warming. Food that made you feel delicious at first, but not the over-powering kind that blew away senses. The kind of food that won't burden the body too, and that gentle touch keeps coming back, making you wanting for more.
And yes, I completely changed my mind about German cuisine.
Sühring currently holds 2 Michelin star status.
Sühring
No.10, Yen Akat Soi 3, Chongnonsi, Yannawa 10120 Bangkok
+66 (0) 2287-1799
Website: http://restaurantsuhring.com/
Opening hours:
Monday through Friday
5:30 p.m. ~ 9:00 p.m. (L.O.)
Saturday and Sunday
11:30 a.m. ~ 12:30 p.m. (L.O.); 5:30 p.m. ~ 9:00 p.m. (L.O.)
Extended reading:
The one and only Gaggan Anand (with 25 new courses)