Le Du
Modern Thai Cuisine at Asia's Best Restaurant 2023 in Bangkok, Thailand
Perhaps 80/20 was not a good representation of fine dining Thai style. The second Thai restaurant we tried in Bangkok was a very famous one indeed. It was voted best restaurant in Asia in 2023, and has held a Michelin star since 2019.
The name “Le Du” is the word “season” in Thai. Head chef Tonn Tassanakajohn believes that some of the best produce and meats are produced in Thailand and he partnered with local farmers to source the best seasonal ingredients for his restaurants. In fact, Le Du maintains a list of the farmers, fisheries and supplies that they work with on their website.
Chef Tonn originally studied economics, but ended up following his passion for food to study at the Culinary Institute of America, managing to work at legendary restaurants like Eleven Madison Park and Jean George before returning to his home country of Thailand. The idea behind Le Du was formed many years before it opened, and was part of Chef Tonn’s graduation project at the CIA. Years later, after the young chef returned to Thailand, Le Du, as well as its sister restaurant, Nusara were both opened to much acclaim.
Conveniently located near a BTS skytrain station, Le Du sits just off the main road on a small, single floor building.
The architecture of the room is clean and contemporary, with hanging glass candles off the ceiling forming multiple chandeliers and lighting up the space. Just behind the dining area is the show kitchen, separated from the patrons by a pane of glass.
Seated at the our table a single tablet of towelette and a small well of water was waiting for us. Neat presentation!
We were presented with a postcard with pictures and description of the dishes and the menu.
We decided to go with the four course menu, instead of the six course as we were still feeling a bit full from our lunch. We also added the signature river prawn and I ordered the wine pairing, while my teetotaling companion ordered the tea pairing.
She was presented with a menu describing the teas that would be served with each course.
The meal started with canape, a barramundi, watermelon and pickled radish ceviche on a crisp tart on a bed of sea salt. Refreshing, well balanced and a good start to the meal.
This was served with a wild mushroom salad with a light sweet corn foam on top. There was just a hint of a spicy aftertaste to this one, and it was very well prepared (and received).
The next canape was a bacon ravioli, served with a sour northern broth, made using calamansi fruit. I was a bit afraid of another terribly intense broth after the Balinese one at 80/20, but this one was well-balanced. There was sour, but also richness and umami. I ended up finishing the broth. The dumpling was seared on the top and slightly bland, pairing well with the flavourful broth.
The final canape was a sweet potato cracker, with northern Thai yellow sausage puree and avocado and lemon paste topped with microgreens. Largely, this tasted like a rice cracked topped with guacamole. Not what I’d expect from Thai cuisine, but not bad at all.
The first course came with a glass of champagne from the town of Ay and made with Pinot Noir grapes. Perhaps more revealing my unsophisticated palate than a jab at the bottle, but I couldn’t really pick out any of the details beyond dry and bubbly.
My first appetizer was a raw squid and aloe vera salad, topped with seaweed and morning glory, with a fermented red tofu sorbet.
Neat concept, but raw squid really isn’t my thing. Chewy, a bit slimy, the seaweed added a bit of brininess and texture and the fermented red tofu some sweetness, and savouriness, but this really wasn’t up my alley.
My companion had fish and tomato in a banana broth, with tomato “caviar” and drops of basil oil. I couldn’t really taste the banana, but there was definitely some fermented fish sauce in the sauce, as well as flavours of salted fish as well.
The wine pairing for the second course was a German Riesling. It was a Spatlese which indicates a late harvest wine which usually trends sweeter, but it had some balancing acidity as well. A good pairing with the next dish.
The next course was crab and oyster, in the form of large lump crabmeat, one dusted with chili and the other with a bitter green herb. In the middle was an oyster and bean paste dumpling wrapped in a Thai basil leaf. This was sauced with a spicy crab yellow curry sauce and a light and refreshing rice noodle and coconut foam. The dusting on the crab meat was a bit heavy and I ended up inhaling and choking a bit on it. The crab meat was bit mushy and didn’t have that firm meatiness I’d expect from fresh crabs. The oyster dumpling was very well done, balancing bitter, spice and herbal flavours well.
The signature dish at Le Du, and an addon to both tasting menus, was the signature river prawn, dressed in a thick tom yum sauce, with deep fried shredded egg and served with a glutinous black rice cooked in the tamale and roe topped with some yam and sour mango puree, shallots, ginger, sliced green beans and a slice of lime.
The rice on the side was amazing each of the other condiments adding a an additional flavour or texture - sour from the lime, sweet from the yam, crunch from the green bean, heat from the raw shallot.
As we were removing the tail meat from the shell, we realized that the meat was extremely mushy and falling apart, and absolutely not what we’d expect from fresh shellfish. We asked the waitress if the prawns were cooked from frozen, but we were told that the prawns were delivered fresh each day. We asked if the prawns were still alive before being cooked, because something was really, really wrong, and the waitress shrugged and left. Well, that answered our question. For a signature dish, that was extremely disappointing.
Moving back into the tasting menu, we were moving into the mains, so a red was coming next. The Les Creisses 2021, a blend of 50% Syrah, 40% Grenache and 10% Cabernet-Sauvigon. Concentrated, dense with a long and sweet finish. Quite good with my next course of duck.
For the main, I had the charcoal grilled duck breast, presented with roasted vegetables covering a crispy hash brown and pumpkin puree, sauced with a sweet turmeric curry sauce which added a bit of complexity to contrast the duck. The duck was dry aged for 7 days, and that aging process concentrated the gamey flavours. Really well-executed and the highlight of the meal.
My companion went with the steak, from locally raised cattle that had 50% linage back to Japanese Wagyu cows and 50% local Thai breeds.
The pre-dessert looked quite neat, and it was a fermented rice wine sorbet that looked a bit like a poached egg, on top of a sour granita that added a bit of crunch and texture. Light, mildly sweet and refreshing.
The final wine pairing with dessert was a fortified Muscat from the Rhone Valley in France. Intensely sweet, thick, golden yellow with lots of fruit flavour and aroma. Great choice.
Dessert was a pandan sticky rice marinaded in a sweet rice liquor topped with bed of dark chocolate. This was covered with a sheet of coconut, and a scoop on fermented rice ice cream placed on top on a bed of crushed black sesame and cocoa nibs. Great dish, a reference to the classic Thai sticky rice dessert (albeit short of Mango). The dessert was a bit more subtle and mild and paired well with the intense sweet of the muscat pairing.
Finishing off the meal, some petit fours. A fresh fruit salad with a sour plum jelly, and a sticky sweet potato mochi with caramelized coconut and fresh grated coconut on top.
As the bill was being presented, we also received a parting gift, a tin of black tea blended specifically for Le Du. We ended up drinking it when we returned home and I wish they mentioned it during the meal because it was great! I would’ve liked to purchase a much larger tin.
Overall, Le Du was much more enjoyable than 80/20. Flavours were more balanced, there was a bit more variety. If we didn’t order the signature river prawn, it probably would’ve been a really good meal with a small miss on the crab. Le Du had a few really well done dishes - the duck and dessert particularly, but I still can’t say I’ve been convinced on Thai fine dining. I’ll have to return to try Sorn and R-Haan another trip.
Total damage: 16k THB/2 people