Hello, everyone I am Chifumi Maeda,
a Japanese female president living in Bangkok.
Thank you, guys, for visiting this
“True comments from Japanese female presidents living in Thailand” blog
Michelin 1-Stared restaurant, Blue by Alain Ducasse is what I want to talk about today.
There are many Michelin Stared restaurants nearby our residence
and we had quite many chances to visit French restaurants.
This is how it started to dine at Michelin Stared restaurants which mainly are the French restaurants.
Here are the Michelin Stared French restaurants that I’ve wrote about before.
We stayed at The Mandarin Oriental Bangkok for the 3rd time.
There is ICON SIAM diagonally opposite side of the hotel and the restaurant that
I am going to talk about today,
Blue by Alain Ducasse is located on the ground floor of ICON SIAM.
It is, as a car user, troublesome to cross the Chaophraya River to go to ICON SIAM
when you think about traffic jam and thus we stayed at The Mandarin Oriental by hotel ferryboat.
（Here is my blog on our previous stay at The Mandarin Oriental.）
So, let me go ahead and talk about Blue by Alain Ducasse.
The Journey of Alain Ducasse’s Michelin-Starred Blue in Bangkok, Thailand
Blue by Alain Ducasse is a Michelin 1-Stared restaurant
opened in 2019 by a Frenchman Chef Alain Ducasse.
Chef Alain Ducasse is called the master of French cuisine
and earned 3 Michelin Stars at the youngest age in the history of Michelin
and is the first chef who earned the Stars in 3 different countries.
I’ve been several times to “BEIGE Alain Ducasse Tokyo”
where the chef opened the restaurant in collaboration with Chanel
and was looking forward to the restaurant to open one here in Bangkok.
It is located on 1st Floor at ICON SIAM.
The executive chef at Blue by Alain Ducasse is Chef Wilfrid Hocquet
who has been cooking under Chef Alain Ducasse.
My Experience: Dining at 1-Michelin Star Blue by Alain Ducasse, ICON SIAM
An Inside Look: Ambiance and Decor of Blue by Alain Ducasse, ICON SIAM
When you enter, there is a lounge before you reach the restaurant.
Here you can enjoy aperitif prior to your meal.
The lounge is based on brown built with wood grain that gives warm feeling.
You will see the restaurant after making through the lounge.
Inside of the restaurant makes you feel as
if you are in the deep sea just like its name “Blue by Alain Ducasse” suggests.
With shining white table cloth and deep blue in the restaurant,
and beautiful ceiling designed as if there is sea wave above our head is very impressive.
When you visit their Home-page,
you can see that Chef Alain Ducasse is very particular about the interior of the restaurant.
The restaurant staffs are dressed in dark blue uniform to match the atmosphere.
The tables are set along the huge window where you can overlook the Chaophraya River
and the space between tables to another is very spacy and relaxing.
The time passes slowly and quietly with the flow of Chaophraya River.
Savoring French Cuisine: Food Quality and Taste at Blue by Alain Ducasse
We come at the Lunch time and had “SET LUNCH (2,550 THB)”.
A 5 course menu.
We skipped our wine pairing this time.
Because the last time we had dinner with Wine pairing, my dear hubby and I,
we were quite drunk and we learned our lesson and decided not to drink alcohol when the sun is still up there.
While waiting for an appetizer, started with canapé Amuse Bouche is served.
There are 4 kinds of Canapé before the meal, and 1 kind of Amuse Bouche.
The restaurant often has Canape and Amuse Bouche of the day
which is not mentioned in the menu.
I as a Blogger should have taken memo of them
but couldn’t catch up with the menu name being mentioned.
Canape or Amuse Bouche is where chef can show off his or her skill
and is the intro of the meals to follow….
Your imagination grows thinking what kind of dish is going to follow.
Very unique where well balanced sweetness, sourness, and saltiness spread out in the mouth.
And now, the lunch starts.
It is 5 course lunch, i.e. 3 plates of appetizer and 1 main dish.
And the dessert, you can choose from 3 choices.
The concept of the course is “BRINGING TOGETHER THE BEST OF FRENCH AND THAI CULTURES”
and is French contemporary.
The first plate of the 5 course is “HOKKAIDO SEA SCALLOPS, rhubarb and rose bud”.
It is a beautifully presented dish that images shining red color of roses and pale red color of rhubarb.
Surface is covered with rhubarb and there is layer-like of scallops laid under.
A dish with crispy texture of rhubarb and sweet taste of scallop,
and slight acidity spread in your mouth.
I have never in my life tasted rhubarb or knew the vegetable yet,
until this dish. It seems that the vegetable is consumed almost on daily bases in Europe
I was told but in Japan, the vegetable is considered as a herbal medicine and is only recently
that Japanese started to consume the vegetable on daily bases.
The texture is quite similar to radish or Japanese Daikon radish.
Then came “LIGHTY-COOKED SALMON FRENCH BRIOCHE, vin jaune sauce”.
Beautiful layers of ingredients, very nice to keep on watching too.
Saltiness of salmon and salmon roe together with smooth taste of vin jaune sauce matches well.
Next came “OSBI BLUE SHRIMP, zucchini flower, Cointreau sauce”.
The shrimp is produce of New Zealand.
It is not row but yet, is not cooked too much, very delicately prepared.
I tried at home afterwards but such way of preparing the shrimp can only be done by the professionals.
I don’t know why but, I felt something of Thailandness in this dish.
The texture and the taste were very similar to local cuisine of Southern Thailand, Kean Som：Thai Sour curry.
It was 3 dishes up to here and they were with some sourness taste I thought.
The main dish was “WELFARE PORK TENDERLOIN, needle beans and sesame”.
Staff recommended to have it “medium rare” so we ordered exactly that.
This was the menu that my hubby and I would strongly recommend if you ever visit the restaurant.
I prepare pork steaks myself at home but it is a challenge to prepare it soft and fluffy.
Texture of this pork tenderloin is very much like a “tuna steak”, very soft and juicy.
I did not know that you can prepare pork so soft. So surprised.
Bitterness of the sauce and the bitterness of green pea match well. We’ve enjoyed the dish very much.
All of the dishes were with light taste and as I am not very good at enjoying salty dish,
it was a perfect dinner for me.
Dessert comes with 3 choices.
As I am not very good at enjoying sweets,
the less sweet one according to the staff is
“VANILLA ICE CREAM ‘FLOOD’ WITH COFFEE from our Manufacture in Paris and praline”,
I went for that.
Even if I am not good in enjoying sweet taste, ice cream is not a problem.
And there is black coffee in this dessert; it almost killed the sweet taste,
if any, of the dessert. It was quite nice.
And finally, we had Petit Four with our coffee to complete our lunch.
The time passed by so very slowly, it was very relaxing dinner we’ve enjoyed.
Bangkok has quite a number of Michelin Stared restaurants compare to other countries in Asia.
Why don’t you try to make time to visit ICON SIAM when you are here on a tour?
What to Wear: Understanding the Dress Code at Blue by Alain Ducasse
The dress-code is smart casual with long trousers and covered shoes required for gentlemen.
Cost Analysis: Budgeting for a Dining Experience at Blue by Alain Ducasse
Budget. Prices of the set menu are as the following.
They have lunch menus and dinner menus.
The menus and prices are as the following.
They are;
Set lunch consists from 5 course menu and the SIGNATURE is 9 course menu.
SET LUNCH menu comes with following DRINK Package.
Wine pairing is possible with SIGNATURE.
We paid 6,900 THB when we had our SET LUNCH for 2 persons.
Essential Details: Contact and Location Information for Blue by Alain Ducasse, ICON SIAM
Place： Unit L101, 1st Floor, ICONLUXE, ICONSIAM Shopping Centre,
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