Uno Mas
Centara Grand, the towering five-star hotel and exhibition center behind CentralWorld, has smashed down the windows of what used to be its top-floor fine-dining restaurant, Fifty-Five, to create this new, semi-alfresco tapas bar and restaurant where casual sharing plates meet with premium produce and swanky hotel service.
Anyone familiar with the austere, starched white tablecloths which used to occupy the space won’t recognize much in Uno Mas’ blend of bamboo ceilings, rustic sofas and a warm palette of orange, chopard replica yellow and marine. Capitalizing on the massive success of upstairs’ Red Sky rooftop bar, the space has been opened to the elements. There’s still a roof over your head, but those panoramic city views are even better with the glass removed and the 54th-floor breeze allowed through. A new bar’s been built around the vast, 2-story-tall walk-in wine cellar (always the space’s trump card), while for dinner you can choose between more formal seating beside the cold tapas station and a terrace where they grill the meat.
Some 40-odd hot and cold tapas dominate the menu, alongside a selection of very fancy cold cuts like Joselito ham (self-described as the best Iberian ham in the world and recipient of some serious foodie praise too, B790-1,290) as well as live Boston lobsters (B1,200 for tail sashimi) and all the big-name oysters (B160-190). But the really exciting stuff happens out on the Josper charcoal oven, where they roast up Cochinillo suckling pig the Spanish way: halved down the middle, perfectly salted and permeated with the flavor of fresh rosemary (B1,490, serves 2-4 people). From the tapas menu, don’t miss the wild porcini mushroom croquettes (B190), raw Galician razor clam ceviche (B490) or what the chef calls “Mock Tuna” (B290); cubes of Sangria-drenched watermelon on ice—perfect to cut through the fatty profile of some of the other tapas. Oh, and that 36-month-cured Joselito ham: it’s worth the hype.
A top-drawer list of Spanish reds and whites, with a total 36 wines offered by the glass in both 9cl and 15cl pours (priced from B170-820). Try the minerally, almost-Riesling-like 2013 Alberino from Martin Codax (B190/9cl, B320/15cl, B1,600/bottle), or the La Vendimia 2013 Rioja (B170/9cl, B280/15cl, B1,400/bottle) for a characteristically Spanish red. There’s also a new menu of fruit-heavy cocktails at B390 each.
For one, much of the pricing remains on a level that’ll not alienate us locals. Sure, the fancier stuff like lobster and Iberco ham costs a fair whack, but there’s plenty at the B200-350 mark too, and that roast pig will stave off anyone’s hunger. There’s some serious flavor behind the dainty plating, too. Competitors? It begs comparison with Dusit’s 22 Kitchen & Bar, not for the food (one’s Spanish, the other’s Nikkei) but the fact that both are top-floor hotel restaurants doing casual small-plates. By virtue of the open-air setting, this one kinda wins out.
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Getting There:
Get BTS Skytrain until Siam Station then walk inside Central Wold Mall until Centara Grand Hotel restaurant is at 54 Floor in Hotel
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Address: Uno Mas, 54/F, Centara Grand
CentralWorld, 999/99 Rama 1 Rd., Bangkok, Thailand Te!: 02-100-6255
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