Apsara French restaurant

Status
Not open for further replies.
Dad served in the Commandos during WWII, and finished up in Hong Kong just as the Japanese surrendered the island. He stayed on in HK until 1947 before returning to Britain, and always said that he enjoyed Chinese food as well as the Indian food he'd tried elsewhere in Asia. There were very few "foreign" foods sold in Britain during the 50s, and I can remember being taken to the Chanticleer (Chinese) restaurant on the Rows in Chester when I was 8 or 9 years old. I had "Sweet and Sour Pacific Prawns" which were served with water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, noodles and rice. It really was that memorable! Mum was an SRN, and had been training in Manchester during the war, where she'd eaten at the Kohinoor Indian restaurant, enjoying (she said) curries so hot that sweat broke out when they were eaten. That appealed to me, though I had to wait several years longer to try curry of any kind.

Dad fancied himself as a bit of a dab-hand with a cookbook, and decided to make spaghetti Bolognese one Saturday night. There were to be just three of us there, but two unexpected guests arrived, and it would have been impolite to turn them away without feeding them first. However, the adults were all chatting away long after the food was ready, and it was a bit congealed when it was eventually served. The visitors were both country folk who'd rarely crossed the road, let alone travelled abroad, and "foreign food" was a complete mystery to them. Armed with a fork and spoon each, we sat down to eat, only for them to still be studying their plates half an hour later, obviously wondering how to get the food up and into their mouths. Not wishing to infer that they were incapable, they were left to get on with it, and left most of their dinner on the plate. As did my mother and I because of it having become a solidified mound of brownish Polyfilla on the plate by then, and Dad never made spaghetti Bolognese for us again.

A few years later, still at school, and I entertained a new girl-friend at home one weekend when my parents were away. Seeking to seem sophisticated, I served spaghetti Bolognese for us... on toast, straight out of a Heinz tin. The relationship didn't survive!
 
My father cooked for us only once when my mother was in hospital. Even I couldn’t turn bangers and mash into something inedible like he did and we probably settled on jam sandwiches
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Butter and jelly sandwiches on white bread were my Dad's specialty.

I think I either had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or bologna sandwiches for three consecutive years in my youth at lunchtime.
 
I spent a week in Megeve, France many years ago. A beautiful place but I was taken aback by the high prices
 
Last night's "soft opening" at the Apsara was an interesting affair. We arrived at 6.30pm, and were greeted with a couple of G&Ts in the spotless dining room. Being two of the first few to arrive, menus were distributed as we sipped our drinks, and we placed our orders.

Interestingly, we were asked if we wanted everything served together, Thai style, or whether we wanted individual courses served separately - a nice touch when other restaurants simple serve dishes as they appear from the kitchen - in any order they choose.

My Jamon Serrano was excellent, served with a mixed salad. Francois' team also provided good bread to accompany a nice tapenade for both of us - very good, and complimentary. My better half thought her Salmon Trio - salmon rillettes, gravlax, and tartare were delicious, and suited the glass of house white (a Chilean Sol y Mare) perfectly.

After enjoying great steak in Argentina, choosing a large piece from the Argentinian fillet which was cut at our table before being cooked, was predictable, and it was predictably good too, served very rare as requested with sautéed potatoes and vegetables. MBH had duck with orange sauce, baby carrots and leaves. More bread was welcome too. By then, the SE Australian red was a perfect match for both dishes.

By now, the restaurant was full, including one large group of a couple of dozen or so farang and their wives/partners who were intent on having a great night out. They kept the staff very busy, which is why we had a lengthy wait for our choices of dessert. Madam chose the Mango apple crumble with crème Anglaise that had never been near a tin of Bird's, happily! I had a plate of several perfectly ripened cheeses, invluding the creamiest blue cheese ever. Quite delicious.

The party was in full swing by now, and it was difficult persuading the staff to take our money for what had been a memorable meal, all the more so for it being in Surin! The total, including some fine old Armagnac for me, and soda for a by now sleepy wife, came to around 2,700 Bht in total - or just £65. We would have paid at least that much EACH had we been in Europe, so it represented great value for money despite being quite a bit more than we might normally pay for Thai food here that would have been far less satisfactory for western tastes.

The menu prices were discounted by 50% for the food items as a part of the Soft Opening offer, but it wouldn't have increased our bill hugely had it not been available - much of the total cost being for the drinks we ordered.

The Aspara might not be a restaurant that we would eat at every week - I'm a poor OAP you know! - but it is certainly somewhere that we'll go to again at the slightest excuse for an excellent night out!
 
Merlin said:
Last night's "soft opening" at the Apsara was an interesting affair. We arrived at 6.30pm...
Click to expand...

A most excellent review, Merlin.
I hope you'll continue on other threads for review.

So basically B2700...did this include a gratuity (as food was discounted 50%) ?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top