Nahm and Le Du: Thai Cuisine (Bangkok, Thailand)

That Bangkok is truly a food lover's paradise, is just one of many reasons to visit the city. During my visit, this food and travel lover visited many historic sites and learned to cook Thai favorites like green curry, pad thai, tom kha and mango sticky rice. In addition, I shared about my street food adventure where I tried more than 15 different types of street snacks, in four different parts of the city.

Now it's time to sit down and be pampered by great service and even better food at two of Bangkok's best, fine dining restaurants, one of which is on the list of the World's 50 Best Restaurants. Both Nahm and Le Du were so good, that in addition to including them in this Bangkok series, I am adding them both to my "Greatest Hits" series.

Nahm

Nahm

Anyone remember my paradoxical review of Michelin star, Thai restaurant, Nari in San Francisco? It was scathing as to service and glowing as to food. In that post, I mention Kin Khao and Nahm, other Michelin star restaurants by the same chef, Pim Techamuanvivit. Well, several years after eating at Kin Khao and Nari in San Francisco, I made my way to Bangkok, Thailand to eat at Nahm, and was blown away.

The food and service at Nahm were exceptional. Chef Techamuanvivit nailed every dish with bold flavors and fragrances that were intricately layered and authentic. Each dish was made with ingredients sourced from local, small, Thai producers. I opted for the tasting menu so I could taste the spectrum of dishes Nahm offers.

Amuse Bouche

To start, Nahm offered an amuse bouche made with banana prawn, topped with shredded ginger and served on a shrimp wafer.

Dak Khajorn Nha Gung and Miang Plan Sa-Er

Next, I had two appetizers. The first, dak khajorn nha gung, was made with minced prawn, tonkin jasmine and whole prawn drizzled with a peanut gravy and placed on a crispy, rice cracker. The second, miang plan sa-er, was a kanpachi ceviche seasoned with white turmeric and green mango and served on a betelnut leaf.

Saeng-Wa Pla Duk Fuu

After those two appetizers, the parade of entrees began. The first was a wild prawn and savory fish with crispy shrimp floss, tamarind, ginger and somsa.

Sao Nahm Pollamai

I was told that the sao nahm pollarnai was a fermented rice noodle dish. That would have been enticing enough. What was presented, and ornately so, was coconut cream with citrus fruits, chilis, scallions, radish and dried prawns. Ironically, the only item I was expecting, the fermented rice noodles, seemed to be missing.

That is, until I began stirring all the ingredients together as my server instructed. At the bottom of the bowl, I found my noodles. They were drenched in the slightly sweet and creamy sauce and enhanced by the flavors of tart, spicy and salty that came from all the toppings and fermentation.

Gang Jued Bai Gaprow Mog Sop

To balance the creaminess of the last dish, the next course was a very light broth flavored with holy basil. Inside the broth were fluffy, minced pork meatballs that added a depth of flavor and texture.

Pla Muek Pad Kai Khem

Perhaps my favorite dish of the meal was the spicy, pla muek pad kai khem, a charred squid that was tender and savory. It was flavored with chunky garlic pieces, salted egg and wild cardamom shoots.

Kua Gapi

When I think of Thai comfort food, I immediately think of warm, coconut curry. The next two dishes fell squarely in that category. The first, called jua gapi, was a savory, coconut curry made with charcoal-grilled catfish and fresh vegetables, all topped with thin ribbons of krachai, also known as finger root, or Chinese keys.

Gang Pu Bai Cha Plu

The next curry was called gang pu bai cha plu. It too featured a creamy coconut milk base that was flavored with turmeric. Hiding inside the curry were succulent chunks of sweet, blue swimmer crab. The garnish for the curry was a chiffonade of betelnut leaf and calamansi lime.

Hom Mali

Both curries were served with hom mali or Thai jasmine rice, known for its soft, fluffy texture and floral aroma.

Pad Pak Goot

The last of the main meal dishes was the pad pak gook. This dish of stir fried, young, fiddlehead ferns was exceptional. The vegetable was tender, but cooked so that it maintained its crispness as well.

Palate Cleanser

Between the savory and sweet course, Nahm offered a palate cleanser of watermelon and ginger sorbet.

Life Cycle of the Coconut

The first dessert was more like three desserts in one. It showcased the various ways coconut can be enjoyed. There was a coconut milk infused rice, drizzled with coconut nectar and rice powder, a coconut jelly with chunks of young coconut inside, a cooling and refreshing coconut granita with ribbons of young coconut on top, and lastly, packaged inside the upright banana leaf was ...

... a coconut dumpling. This dish is called kanom tian. Inside the glutinous, rice wrapper is a sweet coconut filling made of shredded coconut and palm sugar.

Like the kanom tian, that wraps up my meal at Nahm and solidifies my opinion that this restaurant deserves every one of its nine consecutive Michelin stars. The food at Nahm is extraordinary, the surroundings are elegant and the service was superb. You can't go wrong booking a table here.

Le Du

Le Du

The next fine dining restaurant I visited in Bangkok was Le Du. Le Du's name is taken from the Thai word for "seasons."

The name is very appropriate because this restaurant's rotating menu features the freshest ingredients of each season.

Le Du was founded by Thitid "Ton" Tassanakajohn who is an alum of both Eleven Madison Park and Jean-Georges in Manhattan. With a resume like that, I was not surprised that Le Du has been honored with Michelin stars and has also landed a spot on the World's Top 50 Restaurants list.

Everything about this place screams excellence. Yes, everything! Just look at the restaurant's striking ceiling installation, for example.

It is comprised of more than 10,000 glass tubes, all filled with Thai spices including soybeans, golden rice and caraway seeds. More than 1,000 bespoke light fixtures illuminate the beakers and their ingredients. The golden hues are meant to mimic the Thai rice fields, creating a multi-sensory experience for you as the diner. Let's jump into my meal.

Amuse Bouche

Le Du presented an amuse bouche of mixed, grilled mushrooms with galangal and burnt egg sauce to start.

Amuse Bouche

The second amuse was a corn salad with a soybean sauce and a corn mousse.

Amuse Bouse

The third and final was a tartlet of smoked barracuda mixed with crab and chilis.

Khao Chae

With that, the meal began in earnest. The first course was a minced pork and salted fish ball combined with khao chae, or jasmine rice soaked in floral water. It was garnished with finger root floss and dried shrimp and served alongside organic, jasmine water ice cream.

Tiger Prawn

The second entree was a grilled tiger prawn drizzled with shrimp oil. The large prawn was draped over a squid ball and rice noodles. Alongside the fish, Le Du served grilled jackfruit, torched ginger, edible flowers with honey and shrimp paste mayo, and a sauce made of tamarind and curry.

Wagyu

The third course was a medium rare, medallion of Thai wagyu beef, sprinkled with pink peppercorn and served with a tamarind-chili sauce. The dish came with a mixed vegetable salad made of ginkgo leaf, eggplant, green okra, and snake gourd with shaved sweet egg and acacia powder. Hiding under the vegetables was a grilled beef ball that nicely complemented the cut of steak.

Sorbet

After the savory courses concluded, we moved to the sweet portion of the evening. For the first dessert course, Le Du served a sorbet of lemongrass and lemon juice with a melon mousse and rose flower powder.

Mango Sticky Rice

The second dessert was Le Du's interpretation of mango with sticky rice. This dessert was made with a lemon custard, sprinkled with shortbread crumble. To that, they added golden mango and toddypalm jelly and small scoops of sweet shallot and fish powder ice cream. Topping it all was a pandan, sticky rice mochi.

To finish, they served a steamed sweet taro square, topped with coconut custard and a coconut palm sugar cake, as well as ...

... some mixed, seasonal fruit including strawberry, pineapple, papaya and dragonfruit. That concluded another exceptional meal and experience in a city of world-class food.

I was thoroughly impressed with Bangkok, a place that blends ancient culture and tradition with modernity including an impressive and comprehensive transportation system, great nightlife and extremely friendly and gracious people. I hope to return for a second visit at some point. Until then, thank you for a wonderful first experience, Bangkok.