Sirocco, Vertigo Host Food Fight at 60 Stories: Bangkok Dining
By Lee J. Miller
July 27 (Bloomberg) -- Bangkok's outdoor dining is dominated by colorful, unnamed stalls and hawkers that cram the sidewalks across this metropolis of 10 million. The addition of the Dome and Vertigo has taken open-air dining upscale -- more than 60 stories up.
The Dome is actually home to five restaurants and bars on the top floors of State Tower, a hotel and apartment building that sat unfinished for a decade because of the Asian financial crisis. The building was sold by its original developer, an architect known for crowning his Thailand projects with neoclassical domes, to Rasri Bualert, a property tycoon and widow of a weapons dealer. Rasri's daughter, Rattawadee, then put together an array of towering entertainment venues.
The centerpiece is Sirocco, which specializes in Mediterranean cuisine. To get to Sirocco, you walk through the mostly spartan lobby of the Lebua hotel, get in an elevator and press 64, the top button. A minute later, the world changes. A bevy of elegantly dressed Thai hostesses and security personnel escort you through the dark, DJ-playing, smoke-filled Distil bar, across a corridor and, finally, outside to the real rooftop.
Unless you have no pulse, this is a genuine ``Dorothy, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore'' moment.
The View's the Thing
Suddenly, you're sky-high in a restaurant unlike any you've ever visited. Forget the food, the service and even the price for a moment. Sirocco is all about the jolt of walking onto the stadium-size platform more than 200 meters (650 feet) in the open air, surrounded by a golden dome, fairy-lighted stone staircases, fountains and a 270-degree view of Bangkok, with its sprawling suburbs and the Chao Phraya River snaking into the Gulf of Thailand.
To the left is a jazz band that sometimes features a Russian trumpet player or an American gospel singer; Tecora Rogers was the angelic voice on a recent visit. To the far right is the neon-tinted, circular Sky Bar, a raised platform where people can wait for their tables or simply stand around in awe, taking turns taking pictures. Walk to the edge and you can do a Leonardo DiCaprio ``king of the world'' shout.
Am I missing something? That's right, this is a restaurant review. Sirocco's Mediterranean dishes sometimes have an Asian twist. Starters include ricotta and spinach ravioli, pan-fried scallops and warm Maine lobster carpaccio.
The 15 main courses on the regular menu offer a wide choice of seafood, including ``Sirocco'' stir-fried black pepper crab casserole; seared Scottish salmon filet with roasted eggplant; braised lamb shank with Greek vegetables and several types of steak imported from the U.S. In the three times I've eaten there, I've generally had middling service, undercooked meals and forgettable dishes.
Not About the Food
Yet none of this really matters. Sirocco isn't about the food, even if Michelin-starred chefs have been flown in from time to time. If it were half the price but in a second-story venue, it wouldn't be on my radar. Indeed, I've been there twice on nights it rained, forcing my parties inside to the adjacent Mezzaluna for Italian food. Mezzaluna is elegant and offers impressive vistas of Bangkok -- from behind glass windows.
On a dry night, though, Sirocco is an open-air restaurant worth a visit by even the most jaundiced world traveler. If you don't want to pony up for an average-to-mediocre dinner, just pop over for a drink or two at the Sky Bar.
The bar is standing-room-only but surrounded by plenty of space, railings and dozens of stairs on which to perch. On my most recent visit, guards did stop our group from standing at some of the most scenic spots. One of my guests quipped that the netting below the low railings ``doesn't look strong enough to catch my olive.''