The Garret

Hi there,

You all must know by now that I’m a sucker for rooftop dining and pretty decor. Therefore, I was excited to try the Garret, a sister restaurant to Fuzio, hidden away on top of the Mini Showroom on Ekamai Rd – one of the newest additions to the budding bistro scene in Bangkok. It has a cute theme of being a secret bistro bar, and the decor and location fit nicely into that concept. Since it’s tucked away on top of an unassuming car showroom, once the elevator opens and leads you into a dark glasshouse decorated with bits and bobs of pretty vintage pieces from, you feel like you just stumbled across a secret treasure chest.

One our table three huge color-coordinated menus were laid out. Needless to say that their menu offerings here are pretty extensive. The menu features a lot of American comfort food with a haute twist such as truffle fries and wagyu burger topped with foie gras. I was excited to read through all the delicious descriptions and had a hard time choosing. None the less, I feel like the dishes did not excite me as much as the menu did.

The meal started of on a good note, the foie in a jar (spreadable seared foie gras, grape jelly, toasted raisin brioche – 330 ) came nicely presented and was smooth and delicious. The grape jelly added an interesting touch that kept the foie gras from being too intense. But then came the truffle fries (100) which were extremely soggy that I had to send it back. (I rarely send food back, considering I went to the hotel school and knew the pain of dealing with difficult guests.) They later brought us some new fries that were crispy and explained that it’s because they put a lot of truffle into it which moistened the fries, so needless to say that the second batch just tasted like plain fries. The tangy autumn green salad (walnut, dried apricots, dried figs, apples, ranch – 200) was nice but expected, you could not go wrong with tossing some dried fruits with some greens. And I felt that it would go better with a vinegrette rather than a creamy ranch dressing. The seared raw wagyu (MBS 5-6 points – 950) has a very strong smoky aroma to it that completely covered the natural taste of the steak, but the wasabi mashed potato and the accompanying salad was nice. However, the dessert helped save the day since the sticky coffee bread pudding (with apricot cashew brittle and cool malted anglaise- 220) was warm and delicious with a nice contrast of texture/ flavor between the sweet and brittle-ly nut toffee and the gooey pudding that’s slightly bitter from the coffee flavor.

I think we would have better luck if we went with the recommended dishes on the menu (foie in a jar was one of them.) I want to pay The Garret another visit with a larger group of friends so that I could try more of their dishes from the extensive menu, especially their foie gras burger. I really really want to love this place, so I hope I’ll fall in love with it next time. But I certainly already adore the decor of this place and would definitely go back to grab some drinks and relax on their beautiful rooftop garden.

Bon Appétit!