This Le Normandie Bangkok Restaurant Review is from our recent visit. The restaurant is located in The Mandarin Oriental Bangkok and has 2 Michelin stars. See all posts tagged Michelin Star Restaurants for our other Michelin restaurant reviews.
Le Normandie Restaurant Location, Hours and Reservations
The Mandarin Oriental Bangkok, where Le Normandie is located, is at 48 Oriental Ave. in Bangkok, on the bank of the Chao Phraya River. Once you enter the hotel lobby, turn left and descend the short flight of stairs, bearing slightly to the right where you'll find the Author's Lounge on your right. There's a small alcove with an elevator that takes you to the 5th floor, where Le Normandie is situated.
Le Normandie is open Monday-Saturday for lunch 12-2pm, and for dinner 7-10pm, and closed on Sunday. Be sure to make an advance reservation to avoid disappointment. Note that children must be at least 7 years old, and an elegant dress code is in effect: no shorts, t-shirts, denims, sandals, flip flops, or sport shoes, and a jacket is required for men, at dinner.
The Scene
On our recent lunch visit, we were one of two families, the other one being a French speaking family. All other tables were couples, or in one case, a solo diner. The dining room is elegant, with a bouquet of lovely roses at each table. We particularly enjoyed the river view from our table, a nice touch as I hadn't even made a special request for a view, and we weren't celebrating any particular occasion.
Le Normandie Menu and Food
We chose the 3 course lunch discovery menu for THB 1800 (~$55) per person; you can also choose a 4 course menu in which you'd select 2 appetizers, and you have the option to replace the dessert with cheese for an extra THB 400, or to have both dessert and cheese for an extra THB 800. Otherwise, expect to spend THB 6800 per person for the 8 course lunch tasting menu, or THB 2550-4800 per person for a la carte main courses.
Our server, after introducing himself, offered us a choice of water, as we perused the menu. After ordering, we enjoyed an amuse bouche trio: parsnip puree with walnut and a crispy chip; a caramelized onion amuse bouche; and my favorite, fresh crab on a buckwheat wafer, topped with powdered dried tuna.
We also enjoyed the sourdough bread, which our server said was made from a 9 year old sourdough starter. The brioche, however, was unremarkable, and we've had better seaweed butter at Le Cinq, at the Four Seasons George V, Paris.
My favorite savory item of the meal was yet another amuse bouche, a plump, very fresh oyster enveloped in a Camembert cheese cream, punctuated by piquant apple vinaigrette. It would have been right at home at any top Michelin restaurant in Paris or Brittany.
We each got a different appetizer, and all of them were fantastic. I enjoyed my Paimpol bean ragout with silky, slightly sweet foie gras:
My husband's cauliflower cream soup sounded a bit boring on paper but was the most delicious preparation of cauliflower I've sampled to date:
And our son's Confit of Wagyu Beef Cheek with potato and egg was at once sophisticated yet utterly satisfying comfort food.
For my main, I'd chosen the wild caught Red Mullet from Brittany with fennel and chamomile, mostly because my husband and son were already getting the lamb dish, and I don't like licorice, which was used in the chicken dish. I liked the fish, which was cooked to perfection, but wasn't a huge fan of the fennel and chamomile flavors that accompanied it.
Our son's lamb was delicious and cooked medium, exactly as requested and as the chef recommends it. Again, I can't say I loved the chickpeas and lavender that accompanied it, but the meat itself was succulent. My husband regretted ordering it medium-well–best to follow the chef recommendation in terms of the level of doneness.
Among the desserts, my favorite was my husband's Praline Souffle, which looked elegant, with its design, and was perfectly cooked–ethereally light and delicious.
I was somewhat disappointed that my Crepes Suzette was brought to me already plated (since I was planning to capture the tableside preparation on film), but the team, upon hearing my disappointment, recovered admirably. They provided a tableside preparation so I could capture my footage, and would even have given me the resulting second portion, although I wasn't hungry enough for it.
Our son, who loves cheese even more than dessert, enjoyed his cheese plate tremendously. Our kind server helped select the mild, creamy cheeses he adores most, adding his desired accompaniments of dried apricots and fresh grapes, alongside the bread.
Some of the top highlights were at the end, but as we were quite full, we chose to take them with us. Le Normandie's Kouign Amann tops Dominique Ansel's, in my opinion, and the chocolates that were served as mignardises were fantastic as well, even a couple days later.
We were also given macarons as parting gifts.
The Verdict
We loved the beautiful Le Normandie dining room and view, the oyster and camembert cheese amuse bouche, all of our appetizers, the praline souffle, the kouign amann and the chocolates. I was also impressed that Chef Arnaud personally greeted all his guests in the dining room during our lunch. While I was less taken with our main courses, it's also a matter of personal preference, as I'm not a huge fan of the fennel and chamomile flavors used in my fish dish, or of the chickpeas used in my husband's and son's lamb dish. Everything was cooked perfectly, however.
If you've dined at Le Normandie at the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok, what was your experience?
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