More European fare that’s just a oui bit different.
By Aiden Jewelle Gonzales
As any Bangkokian will attest, Wine Connection has long-been a staple of the city’s ever-evolving F&B scene – in fact, I was surprised to learn, it was founded here 22 years ago before it expanded throughout the country, and beyond: to Singapore, Malaysia, and more. Starting life as an affordable wine retail business, the restaurant’s concept and strength lay in serving European- based food to pair with their wine shop; a lunch-time or after-dark haunt for families, a spontaneous pals’ night out (eminently relatable), or even a romantic date (less so). “The whole idea is that you can have a meal, share a bottle or two of wine, and know that it’s not going to leave you with a hole in your wallet,” William Yeh, the Thailand General Manager and Group Vice President – Operations of the brand enthuses. “We may not be a fine-dining restaurant, but we serve good food, and the consumer at all levels of society has an opportunity to try wine at an accessible price range.”
This vision has served the brand well – despite the ravages of the pandemic on the F&B industry, Wine Connection continued to expand, opening six new locations in Bangkok alone over the last two years. “We took the stance of attacking the market during that time,” William tells me. “It shows people that we really believe in what we’re doing.” Masala had the chance to check out one of their newer locations, in thriving Sukhumvit Soi 31, to see the differences for ourselves.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
At first glance, the look and feel of the branch is already vastly different from the ones I went to growing up – it’s more open-plan and modern, with a glut of natural light, industrial-chic fixtures, and luxe touches in their marble tables and gold trim and accents. “We’ve gone through some evolution in the design aspect, which you can see in our locations in Sukhumvit Soi 11 and Soi 31,” I was told. “Here we’ve gotmore feminine touches, while in deference to Soi 11’s reputation as a party street, that location has a more masculine, darker vibe. Future stores are modelled after either one of those designs.” The aim, I was told, was to give that feeling of luxury without increasing the menu price – an elevated experience but still with everything that we love about the brand.
FOOD AND DRINK
“If we were to sum up the menu in a few words, what we tried to do is to expand our world,” I’m told. To that end, their menu – which had been refreshed a few times over the past two years to celebrate every time the city’s faltering F&B scene gained its footing again – adds offerings that have never been served at Wine Connection before, while also going back to its roots of European-style comfort food. Throughout, their focus on high-quality, fresh ingredients remains, while still ensuring that the cost is not passed on to the guest, so I was pleased to find that despite their more ‘gourmet’ offerings, all the price points remain very affordable.
We started our meal with a Wine Connection classic, the Tomato burrata (THB 260), with a generous portion of their creamy burrata that I was informed was made exclusively for the brand. Fresh in the extreme, the vine tomatoes are organic, locally cured and sourced, and add the perfect crunch to the dish. For those who prefer a non-vegetarian starter, the Farmers “Lyonnaise” salad (THB 220) has German bacon and comté cheese, with a perfectly poached egg on top, and is inspired by the French city of Lyon, for a healthy beginning to your meal.
We then sampled one of the menu’s more surprising and quintessentially French options, the French escargot snail (THB 280), comprised of oven-roasted escargot meat imported all the way from France, and dripping in an incredibly moreish parsley, garlic, and onion butter that we couldn’t get enough of. While often considered a delicacy and acquired taste, I would highly recommend trying the dish at least once – even the most sceptical of us thoroughly enjoyed it. Another traditional French dish is the Parma ham & melon (THB 280) with rocket salad, stracciatella cheese, and lemon dressing on the side. The dish uses 24-month-aged ham and not your run-of-the-mill melon, imported from Japan, and the difference in quality of the ingredients was clear in the crisp mouthfeel of the dish.
Tucking into the heartier options, we tried two French duck classics – the Duck parmentier (THB 360) and White bean stew (southwest French cassoulet) (THB 490). The former was a baked duck confit that was completely new to the menu, which was akin to a duck-based shepherd’s pie, and equally as comforting. The latter is a rich, slow-cooked, archetypal French dish, with an embarrassment of choices for the carnivores among us, as it included smoked duck, roasted pork belly, and Toulouse pork sausage, all on a bed of white beans infused with the flavours of the meat.
For those who mostly associate Wine Connection with its smorgasbord of delicious pastas, however, fear not – they still have them all, and one I would recommend is the Canadian lobster spaghetti (THB 590), made with an imported lobster half, which was a unanimous hit among us. The fresh garlic and mild kick of spice make it the ideal dish to cut through the other rich mains on offer.
Other lesser-known but must-sample dishes on the menu include their Frittata with bacon (THB 230) which is especially delicious because of its use of caramelised red onion that pairs perfectly with their German bacon; and their Smoked salmon (THB 280) pizza, which uses only the freshest Atlantic Ocean smoked salmon – one that makes a big difference in its depth of flavour.
Finally, we sampled two of the menu’s newer options that both add a different dynamic to their offerings. First was the Healthy bowl (starting at THB 230), comprised of health food staples such as edamame, riceberry, and fresh avocado, Wine Connection’s acknowledgement of the public’s search for easy, healthy options. The other one was the Croque monsieur (THB 230), an outsized sandwich that had lashings of melted cheese and béchamel sauce, and with toast so buttered it was truly an indulgence. Both were indicative of the menu’s exploration of new directions, while still remainingtrue to their vision of good food you can love without breaking the bank.
MASALA RECOMMENDS
Their new and refined Lasagna (THB 250), which is a far cry from the original dish. Taking over four years to develop and perfect, the comfort dish is everything one could want – packed with flavour, hearty, and rich in the best way.
WINE CONNECTION SUKHUMVIT 31
18 Soi Sukhumvit 31 (Sawasdee)
Khlong Tan Nuea, Watthana, Bangkok, 10110
Open daily from 11am to 9pm
Tel: 02 003 0403
Facebook: @wineconnectionthai
Instagram: @wineconnection_thai
www.wineconnection.co.th
