Review: Vilas Bangkok

Can a dish inspired by a Spanish recipe using Japanese ingredients still be considered Thai? For chef Prin Polsuk, one of Bangkok’s most acclaimed Thai chefs, it most certainly can. At his latest restaurant, a pared-back, pint-size dining room at the base of Bangkok’s landmark King Power Mahanakhon tower, he draws inspiration from King Chulalongkorn’s 1897 journey around Europe and the foreign ingredients and cooking techniques he subsequently added to the royal cookbooks. With the help of Spanish chef Pepe Dasí Jiménez, Polsuk creates seasonal 12-course menus that blur culinary borders. Expect plates such as southern Thai pork belly with coffee kombucha, jellied nam pla waan fish sauce with strawberry, and jamón-like salted tuna with honey-pickled melon.