Update: July 2018
Freebird Bangkok is now an All-Day Modern Bistro. They are now open from 11.30am to 9.30pm (10.30pm on Fridays and Saturdays) every day except Mondays. Here’s a good news for AroiMakMak.com fans. As long as you dine in between 11.30am to 5.30pm on any day (except Mondays as they are closed) and mention that you are FRIENDS OF AROIMAKMAK.COM, Chef Top will give your table a free dessert!
What? Another post for Freebird Bangkok? Yes, you didn’t read wrongly. Eddie first reviewed Freebird on AroiMakMak.com last year and ever since he has been returning as a very regular customer (10 times in 8 months). I thought to myself, “the food there must be so good that it kept attracting him back again and again.”
Moreover, Chef Pongcharn “Top” Russell, head chef at Freebird has recently been awarded the winner of Best Young Chef in BK’s Top Tables 2018. Now, it makes sense for me to come and try it for myself since Chef Top is upping his game by making changes to the already popular and stable menu. Plus, I’m really curious about what Modern Australian Cuisine is.
Freebird is located at the end of Sukhumvit 47 and I guarantee that you won’t be here unless you are visiting Freebird.
Fine dining? Not really, it seems casual.
The kitchen is always so busy, getting ready the orders for the night.
I finally got to meet Chef Top personally. He told me that he was a fan of AroiMakMak.com and it indeed helped him a lot during his time in Bangkok. As always, am grateful that my humble travel site is making somebody’s day better. Alright, time to get down to the food proper!
Spiced Cashew Nuts. I tell you, this is really addictive, thankfully the other dishes came out fast enough before I was able to finish this all by myself.
Grilled Ciabatta with House Dips. The generous portion of ciabatta was drizzled with olive oil and then grilled. The house dips actually went well with the ciabatta.
Oysters. After eating my portion of oysters, I was flipping the other shells to see if there’s any more for me.
Soft Shell Crab with Sweet Pepper Dip and Burnt Lime. Frying may be easy but it’s probably not easy to perfect it. The chunky soft shell crab with the lightly crisp batter, not looking oily, is a job well done for me.
Tea-cured Sea Bream with Mango Salsa, Herb Dressing and Pickled Daikon. Thick slices of sea bream with tangy mango dressing is indeed a refreshing starter to open our palettes.
Yes, we haven’t really started actually.
Pan-seared Scallops, spiced butternut, pomegranate and guanciale. Fresh and chunky scallops with a very thin slice of cured ham to add another dimension of saltiness to the dish.
Grilled wild tiger prawns with Masala butter and lemon curd. To be honest, I’m not a big fan of Indian cuisine. When I heard Masala, I was like hmmm… I was totally wrong!
This was easily my favourite dish of the night. I will return just for this alone! The prawn was perfectly cooked and the masala butter just created another magic on this dish. MUST-ORDER!!!
King crab Ravioli with seafood broth, Chardonnay gel and basil oil. I personally find that ravioli is a dish that is quite hard to get high marks. Diners at some point of time will easily get sick of it. The version here is indeed upsized in terms of size and ingredients as it’s filled with king crab.
It truly didn’t win my heart because of the saltiness but it may with a little tweak to it like including chunks of crab meat, it might perhaps win my heart next time.
Mushroom Soup? No! Local Jerusalem Artichoke soup with parsley emulsion, paired with celeriac bread and gorgonzola cheese. Hey, this is really good and filling.
Pan-seared Cod, Broccoli two ways, lemon gel, chicken consomme. Eddie told me that he was always impressed with Top’s fish dishes. Let’s see!
In terms of appearance and flavour, one word. Light. The cod was chunky and generous and it did satisfy in a light way.
Pork collar with yellow pepper emulsion and watercress.
I love pork collar and looking at the amount of meat and fats here, I guess I have nothing to complain. The sauce is a combination of “sweet and sour”, so it’s nothing spicy that we are very used to in Thailand. A good change.
48hr short rib, miso eggplant, potato mille-feuille. 48 hours, the ribs sure must be soft. It delivered! The potato here was equally a star because I love the light crisp to the exterior and it was just delicious.
Chef Top, can I have a special order of Masala Butter Prawns with potato mille-feuille?
In fact, at the stage, we were already full but of course, there’s always space for desserts.
Passion fruit, white chocolate and meringue sprinkled with chilli flakes. Sweet and sour, lightly spiced with different dimensions of textures. Nicely executed.
Banana cake. You just have to mix everything together and put every single ingredient in your mouth at once to have a burst of flavours and textures.
Although the desserts were delicious, I personally felt that the desserts could be improved to give a deeper impression.
Freebird’s Chef’s Choice menu for 1950++THB per head. I have been to many fine dining restaurants and each and every one was a different experience. You get to try many new things but it sort of lacked something.
Over at Freebird, you also do get to try many new things but it’s kept simple and not complicated. It’s dishes that you are familiar with, given a little tweak. Every dish comes in generous portions and you are able to feel the “substance” of the dish. You will surely be full and satisfied at the end of the day.
Is it fine dining? No! It’s definitely Casual Fine Dining but very value for money. Your stomach, brain and even wallet will be satisfied without feeling pain which usually comes from the wallet.
[Bangkok] Freebird Bangkok
This was an invited media tasting. As always, all reviews and opinions are entirely my own.
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