Besides food, a new addition to my ‘must-try’ list whenever I’m in a new city is a local microbrewery. On my first day in Bangkok, as a small celebration of my first ever solo backpacking trip in a foreign country, I decided to indulge myself and went over to Mikkeller Bangkok (MB) in the evening. Located in a more fancy part of the city, MB impressed me from the moment I stepped in. The first thing that hits you is the chalk board that showcases thirty varieties of home-brewed beers. Yes! THIRTY! I knew I would be leaving a bit disappointed not having tried all thirty flavours. This is one of the drawbacks of travelling by oneself, no company to try out more food and drink.
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| 30 varieties of beer |
After a long day of walking around in the humidity of Bangkok, I ordered the strongest beer that they had on the menu. I started the evening with a glass of the Big Worster BA Chardonnay, a barley beer with wine, strength at 18.3%. While I give the beer full marks for being strong, the taste was a bit confusing as the brew combined the flavour of both beer and Chardonnay. Not the best thing I’ve had, but definitely the strongest. I switched to a more familiar flavour with the Georgen Imp Stout, 12.12%. Now this was something in familiar territory. With a dark cocoa flavour suppressing the previous brew, my evening was back on track. I ordered a plate of Pizza Dip, which was Paprika beef, marinara sauce, and mozzarella cheese with some nice crunchy bread on the side. The dish was essentially pizza made into a dip. While the quantity was a bit much for one person, I took my time as I let the flavours of the marinara sauce and the beer play around with my taste buds. It was early evening, and I had a long night ahead of me.
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| Big Worster BA Chardonnay |
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| Pizza Dip |
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| Georgen Imp Stout |
The next beer I tried was the Nuclear Hop Assault DIPA, 8% which was a light Indian pale ale with a very refreshing taste. I ordered a salad which consisted of scallops, fresh watermelon and goat’s cheese dip. I’m not a big fan of salads; but I simply loved this particular dish. Absolutely refreshing in taste, the saltiness of the scallops with the fresh water melon just melted away in my mouth, cleansing it of the taste of the strong marinara sauce from the previous dish. Absolutely elegant in flavour, this simple salad got two thumbs up from me.
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| Scallop and Watermelon Salad |
While I waited for the main course, I got a little adventurous and sampled the Raspberry Tripleback, 13%. Let me put it this way, a bottle of beer got drunk one night and totally did it with a bottle of Raspberry Jam. Nine months later, the child of that one wild night was what this beer tasted like. I’m delighted that I took only a sampler and not an entire glass. Clearly, as far as experimenting goes, the night was not going my way.
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| Raspberry Tripleback |
The main course….oh, the main course! I’m drooling just thinking about it. My main course was a 12-hour braised short rib with pumpkin done three-ways with lentils. If one ever wants to appreciate the beauty of braised pork, this is the dish to have. Braised to sheer perfection, the pork could be had with a spoon almost as though it were some sort of a dessert. Yet, the juiciness of the meat once you pop it into your mouth was ….. OMFG, I died! Giving it a lovely contrast was the excellent pumpkin done three-ways. Nice salty pork with sweet pumpkin…. This dish is definitely among one of the best I’ve had. I paired that with a Beer Geek Imp Stout,10.9%, which had a lovely coffee bean after taste to it.
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| 12-hour braised short rib |
If I thought the main course was going to be the highlight of the meal, I had no clue what was going to hit me when I ordered dessert. Yes, I ordered dessert. Yes, all that food and beer went into one person. I don’t care if you judge me. I was having a ball. Dessert was a recommendation from the owner – Warm doughnuts. While the name comes across as boring, the dish was the crescendo of the good food at Mikkeller. Filled with a dark beer chocolate that simply oozes out as you bite into it, this dessert had me forget all my table manners. I munched away at the doughnuts allowing the filling to run over my fingers as I shamelessly sucked on them to ensure that not a single drop made its way to the napkin. The sheer joy of having this dessert cannot be captured in words.
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| Warm Doughnuts |
Before I hit the road, I chugged down a final glass of the Arctic Sunstone APA, 6%.
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| Amen... |
Overall, this was a fabulous evening at Mikkeller and I only wish that I had familiar faces to experience all the great food and beer of the place. But not regrets of going there. Mikkeller Bangkok is on the pricier side and those on a budget vacation may want to rethink going here. But if you are going to spend good money on a night on the town, this place would be my first pick. Kudos to the folks for setting up this fabulous watering hole with some fantastic food which set the tone for the rest of my vacation.
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