Stylish marine spot serves it straight
Lots of restaraunt owners seem to think that diners can read in the dark. Sure, Subdued lighting helps create atmosphere,
But what good is it if the dim sighted patrons can't read the menu?
Watermark, a trendy new spot that is already being mentioned favorably around town, has solved the problemn.
Their menus are transparent, so it's possible to decide what to eat by the backlight from the table top candle.
The result: happy diners and plenty of mood. Whether that was the intention or not, it's a novel treatment.Watermark
actually has more than its share of novel ideas.
For a start, the setting at Boat Lagoon is wuite theatrical. The dinign area and bar merge with the berths for six
large white powerboats. Perhaps 20 metres above the boats, a white metallic canopy soars out to the night skies.
The whole scene is lit like a stage awaiting actors, not eaters.
With some large yachts moored in the distance, it's a dreamy location if you like to eat by the water. The powerboats
are a pleasure to look at, sleek and neat and designed for efficiency, and the sdame kind of philosophy has been
applied to the restaurant.
The brightly-lit kitchen - or perhaps the "galley" is more appropriate in this case - is open to view, some
compensation for diners unlucky enough to have their backs to the water.
There's a robust masculine ambience to the place, and much thought and care has gone into the look and feel.
The sylish cutlery, for example, comes pouched in a heavy lionen napkin and the plates and dishes look as though
they would bounce of the deck in a storm.
Chef David Hamilton, who spend more than five years at the Basnyan Tree, had a big say in the menu and tried for
the brasserie/cafe approach so popular in Australia and California. His description of the style is "Good, clean,
straight food."
Three fo share the starters: Pan-fired goats cheese with sweet poato rosti (265 baht), pumpkin, apple and walnut
salad with Gorganzola cheese and sherry dressing (185 baht) and Goong Sarong, deep fried prawns wrapped in vermicelli
(195 baht).
The mains follow: steamed white snaller fillet i yellow curry with poached yam and snake beans (290 baht),
seafood bouillabasse with tomato chili rouille and pesto crust (465 baht) and poached chicken breast with bok
choy, crisp shitake mushrooms, ginger rice and Dashi stock sauce (285 baht).
The desserts, or "afters" as they call them here, proved equally appealing. We agree that good, clean, straight food
just about sums it up, with the possible exception of the snake beans. They are tied in a stylish knot.
Two rare and pleasant signs: plenty of bread rolls and sticks arriove in a basket, and a team of waiters, dressed in
de rigeur black, who are actually attentive and at times even pro-active.
Great care has also been taken with the cocktail list. i sampled a large blood red drink called a Berried Treasure
and it almost tore me away from the Chilean house red. Consultants were called in to produce a fresh line of cocktails
and break with the conventional line up. it seems to have worked.
Hamilton's two partners in Watermark have explained their affinity with waterfront locations just a short distance from
the bakery, already a popular eating spot for yachties at the Boat Lagoon.
Lunch at Watermark now offers incestuous competition, with a very tight menu that includes a rock lobster open
sandwich (195 baht) and a sesame, tahini and vegetable burger (170 baht). Throw in the keys to one of the gotgeous
powerboats for a lunchtiem lottery, and there shouldbe no contest.
It is hoped that this team can continue to enliven waterfrot dining around the island. Come to think of it, there are
plenty of hill-side and cliff-top locations that could also do with this kind of novel approach.
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