D'Sens French Restaurant In Bangkok, Thailand

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D'Sens French Restaurant In Bangkok, Thailand

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Pictures speak louder than words so this article is mostly images — images of some of the most impressive food we’ve seen in Bangkok. Chef Philippe Keller, as young as he is, has mastered many different techniques and styles as a chef but his most important accomplishment as the chef at D’Sens French restaurant in the Dusit Thani Hotel is probably his ability to create food that has fresh, distinctive tastes and that use complicated ingredients and techniques, yet communicate flavors and sensations on a very basic level. If he’s not the best chef in Bangkok then it would be hard to say who is. There are any number of very talented people in this city putting together great dishes every night at a number of fashionable and successful restaurants but the food at D’Sens is a bit more transcendent than what other places have to offer.

It’s also interesting that the cuisine at D’Sens is not over the top in terms of price either, with the menu here containing many dishes that are way below the price levels of the high-altitude restaurants in town and about comparable to most of the higher-end places that are frequented by the serious food crowd. A three-course lunch can be had for 1,000 baht and the eight-course degustation menu at dinner is 2,900 baht. Neither of these set prices are out of line, especially considering the product that is presented on the plates. In terms of assessing the quality here it’s instructive to remember that the menu at D’Sens is regularly overseen by the Pourcel twins, Jacques and Laurent, who own the two-star Michelin restaurant Le Jardin des Sens in Montpellier, France and who set up this restaurant as a joint venture with the hotel.

Look at the menu in D’Sens and you’ll probably be hard pressed to find something that looks even vaguely familiar to you, not in terms of the ingredients themselves but rather in how these ingredients are combined and prepared. You’re not going to find anything that is on someone else’s menu so if it’s tried and true “comfort food” that you want, don’t come here.

Unfortunately, that may be working against D’Sens in a way because most of the food here is ahead of the Bangkok curve. By how many years, it’s hard to say. The numbers haven’t been big in the almost three years since the restaurant has been open but the level of creative accomplishment has certainly not lacked. It’s refreshing that a restaurant like D’Sens exists here in Bangkok and eventually, as in all things, the cream will rise to the top and the business side of the restaurant should match the creative side in terms of accomplishment.

In the meantime, the restaurant’s talented chef will continue to prepare interesting and challenging dishes for his guests, diners who love to be surprised and seduced by inspired cooking will enjoy themselves, and the image of the restaurant will continue to develop, eventually becoming more important than any words that can try to describe it achievements.

See http://bangkokdining.ning.com/profiles/blog/list for info on Bangkok restaurants.