ARTUR Bangkok: French Classics, an Evening to Savour
Words: Pasuta Phongam Photos: Chalad Charoenphongpak
On Bangkok’s Soi Tonson, a Christofle silver duck press offers a clue to the evening ahead. At ARTUR, Caesar dressing is mixed beside the table, roast duck is carved within view and Steak Diane receives a brief flourish of flame. These preparations give dinner its rhythm, keeping the traditions of the French dining room firmly in use.
Opened in 2009, the restaurant takes its name from its Polish owner, whose hospitality career began at the Ritz Paris in the 1980s. He settled in Thailand in the early 1990s and managed established restaurants before opening his own.
That experience informs a style of service that is measured and personable, with enough ceremony to make dinner feel like an occasion.
Appetizer
The menu follows a similarly classical path. Oysters Rockefeller Royale arrive gratinated with spinach and finished with ARTUR’s Champagne sauce, a creamy, savoury opening to the meal.
Burgundy Escargots continue the French repertoire, followed by Pan-seared Foie Gras. The latter rests on the contrast between its browned exterior and soft centre, with careful cooking allowing the liver’s richness to carry the dish.
Pan-seared Foie Gras
Caesar Salad brings the preparation closer. The dressing is made à la minute beside the table, then tossed through the leaves before serving. Watching it come together lends interest to a familiar order and establishes the personal attention that runs through the meal.
Caesar Salad
Lobster Bisque
Angel Hair Pasta with Lobster shifts the focus back to the plate. Fine strands are tossed with garlic, olive oil and pimento peppers, then combined with generous pieces of lobster. The composition is straightforward, its appeal in the contrast between delicate pasta and substantial shellfish.
The highlight is Canard au Sang, or pressed duck. The roasted bird is carved tableside before its carcass is placed inside the French-made Christofle press. The extracted juices, blood and marrow form the base of a sauce prepared with red wine, Cognac and butter.
The silver apparatus gives the service a striking focal point, but its purpose is practical: recovering flavour from the carcass and returning it to the meat through the sauce. Carving, pressing and reducing become successive stages of a single preparation, each dependent on timing and an experienced hand.
Duck à l Orange offers another of ARTUR’s signature preparations, also presented tableside, while Côte de Bœuf reflects the restaurant’s parallel identity as a steakhouse.
Duck à l Orange
Steak Diane continues that thread with premium-grade beef fillet, seared and flambéed beside the guest. Mushrooms and shallots form the basis of its cream sauce, with mustard and Worcestershire sauce adding savoury definition. The flame lasts only a moment; the sauce and the tenderness of the meat hold the attention.
Dessert moves towards contrasts of texture. Chocolate Fondant breaks open to release a molten centre, with strawberries and blueberries arranged around the plate.
Nougat Glacé arrives as a pale, nut-studded slice, accompanied by berries and fruit coulis. Both offer familiar forms, simply presented, following the more elaborate preparations of the savoury courses.
Crêpes Suzette
ARTUR’s character is clearest in the work carried out beside the table. Mixing a dressing or finishing a sauce brings an element of conversation and anticipation to dinner. Since 2009, the restaurant has made these gestures part of its everyday service, giving French classics an enduring place on Soi Tonson.
ARTUR Restaurant
Reserve: +66 (0)89 000 1288
Location: 9 Soi Tonson, Lumphini, Bangkok ( BTS Chit Lom )
Hours: 17:00 - 22:00 PM Socials: @artur_restaurant
Website: arturrestaurant.com
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