LOCATION The Mandarin Oriental is approximately a half an hour’s drive outside of Bangkok city. It is located on Soi Oriental (Oriental Avenue), adjacent to the Oriental Pier in the neighbourhood of Bang Rak.
DETAILS The restaurant can be reached via a private entrance from the Mandarin Oriental, and upon arrival the old-world opulence of the building’s interior is a grand sight to behold. Guests are guided into the Red Chamber Room by the sensual light of 100 overhead scarlet lanterns, creating a sense of mystique and intimacy. The low-key lighting within the chamber provides a subtle amber glow, extenuating the lacquer lace screens that envelope the two-storey space, and the mahogany woodwork and furniture with their plush red finishings. Delicate netted spheres of light hang from the ceiling, creating a sense of grandeur and modern elegance. The Blue Bar sits adjacent to the chamber, which also utilizes the lacquer lace screens in hues of blue and green to provide an equally stylish setting for private conversation and drinks.
FOOD & BEVERAGE There is an old Cantonese saying that goes ‘anything that walks, swims, crawls, or flies is edible’, and by taking a glimpse at the sizeable menu of The China House, one could vindicate this proverb with ease. With its extensive list of exotic soups and broths, signature seafood dishes, classic meat and poultry delights and delicacies of abalone and birds nest, this fine diner is definitely spoilt for choice.
As the zenith of Cantonese fine dining, The China House offers a culinary experience of sophistication, extravagance and tradition. Led by executive Chinese chef Andy Leong Siew Fye, the extensive menu is both indulgent and tasteful. Menu highlights include the traditional Cantonese-style, oven-roasted Peking duck; slow-cooked shark’s fin in a golden broth of sea cucumber and ginseng; Szechuan-style hot and sour soup with fresh lobster; and a homemade tofu topped with roasted eggplant, garlic and oyster sauce.
Keeping in line with traditional Cantonese culture, the restaurant also offers a Sunday lunchtime dim sum menu with vegetarian and more traditional meat and seafood options available. The China House also has an opulent Tea Apothecary, which houses well known Chinese blends of fragrant Jasmine, Darjeeling, and Oolong, and also showcases other flavoursome teas by Mariage Frères from Paris.
FUNCTIONS The China House can be transformed into an after-dinner venue for private functions, as high-tech sound and lighting systems were introduced with its most recent renovations.