Set in a restored colonial-era mansion on South Sathorn Road in the central commercial district of Bangkok, the Blue Elephant Bangkok is one of the most distinguished high-end Thai restaurants in the capital and the principal flagship of an international Thai restaurant network with branches in London, Paris, Brussels, Copenhagen, Lyon, Malta, Beirut and Phuket. The Bangkok flagship opened in 2002 in the converted Thai-Chinese Chamber of Commerce building, one of the few surviving early twentieth-century commercial mansions in the wider Sathorn area. The host building, the Thai-Chinese Chamber of Commerce mansion of 1903, is one of the most architecturally distinguished surviving early twentieth-century commercial buildings in central Bangkok. The three-storey structure was originally designed by an unrecorded European architect working in a hybrid Sino-Portuguese and Thai colonial style, with a substantial central staircase, ornamental cast-iron balustrades, decorative ceiling roses and the various other ornamental details of the late Victorian and early Edwardian commercial vernacular adapted to the tropical Bangkok climate. The restaurant was founded by the Thai chef Nooror Somany Steppe and her Belgian husband Karl Steppe, who had originally established the first Blue Elephant in Brussels in 1980. The Bangkok flagship was opened in 2002 as the principal Thai homeland branch of the wider network, with a deliberate brief to provide the highest-quality presentation of traditional Royal Thai court cuisine in the central Bangkok restaurant market. The menu draws on traditional Royal Thai recipes researched by the founder over more than twenty years of culinary research in the Thai royal palace archives. The cooking school occupies the upper floor of the mansion and provides a daily programme of half-day Thai cookery classes for guests. The classes follow a standard sequence of four to five dishes per session, with each class accommodating a maximum of twelve students under the direct supervision of one of the senior Blue Elephant chefs. The principal sessions include the morning and afternoon options, with the morning class beginning at around eight thirty with an optional visit to the nearby Bang Rak market to select the principal fresh ingredients for the days cooking. The principal restaurant menu covers the central dishes of the Royal Thai court tradition, with a deliberate emphasis on the more refined and elaborate dishes that were originally developed exclusively for the royal palace kitchens. The signature dishes include the famous Royal Thai green curry with chicken and aubergine, the steamed sea bass with chilli and lime, the deep-fried king prawns with tamarind sauce and the famous coconut sticky rice with mango for dessert. The wine list, supplementary to the standard Thai beer and soft drink offerings, includes a substantial international selection particularly strong in the central European white wines that pair well with the various Thai dishes.

Type: Restaurant

Address: South Sathorn Road 233, Bangkok, Thailand

Website: https://www.blueelephant.com/bangkok

Opening Date: 01/01/2002