Reviews
www.travelthailand.com (undated)
Here’s the scenario. You have been invited to lunch or dinner at Chesa, the Swiss restaurant on Bangkok’s Sukhumvit Soi 20. What do you expect? Will it be full of quaint, Swiss mountain folk communicating in some unrecognizable dialect? I mean is Chesa mostly for the Swiss community of Bangkok? Sorry to disappoint you but Chesa’s Swiss diners make up only about 10 to 15% of the place at any specific sitting. In fact a truly International crowd, peppered by Thais with a generous seasoning of foreigners from all over the globe is the rule rather than the exception. Not one of your “hi so” restaurants, Chesa is not a place to see and be seen.
Instead over the eight or so years of its existence, Rene and Thomas, the Swiss owner/managers have developed a loyal, easy going, casual clientele; a clientele that obviously enjoys being there. So why Chesa? Naturally the consistency of the food is a great reason. There is variety on the menu and care in the kitchen, but lots of good restaurants have that. No there is another reason for Chesa’s popularity and lo and behold I am darned if I can put my finger directly on it. Is it the management? Well, possibly. Possibly. But that isn’t the only reason. What about the staff? This too is getting close to the mark. Always present but never hovering if you get my drift.
Always friendly too, everyone says that. So we have got an excellent menu, great, friendly, staff and seemingly laid back but always there and always on top of things, management. Reason enough sure, but is it enough reason if you get my drift? Perhaps though I can, in my own, regular customer and friend way, clear it all up.
Chesa is the closest thing to a “local” that I have. It is a place I can go anytime from 11AM to 11PM by myself or with friends and eat almost what I want, when I want without pressure of any kind. It’s a place where I can walk in, almost any day and know some of my fellow diners and certainly 95% of the staff; a place where I can be left alone to read the newspaper or join or be joined by management, other friends, or both on a very good day. Chesa is where I like to go to eat and drink. Period.
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TTOasia magazine
September 2008
Chef Thomas Nowak interview
“I am from the Swiss canton of Berne. I had been working aboard QEII, finished my duty and headed back to Europe. I found I couldn't settle, needed some adventure and came to Thailand in 1993 to work at the Montien Hotel. From there I moved to the New World Hotel Kowloon in Hong Kong, then came back to Thailand as Executive Chef at The Rembrandt Hotel. I found a property on Sukhumvit Soi 20 where I opened 'Chesa’ with my business partner and renowned Swiss Chef Rene in Iuly 2000. Chesa offers the finest Swiss cuisine and the most comfortable dining experience in Bangkok.
Chef Thomas Nowak’s Signature Dish: Capuns - Swiss chard dumplings with bacon, onions and cheese in a creamy sauce A very traditional farmhouse dish from the Grison area of Switzerland, where almost every house will have its own version. The filling is made of flour eggs and milk, made into a gnocchi style dough. Small cubes of bread, onion, bacon and herbs are sautéed and added to the dough. It’s then cut into bullet sized pieces that are then wrapped in Swiss chard leaves. The sauce is made with a beef or chicken stock with fresh cream and just a touch of butter. To finish the dumplings are sprinkled with grated Sprinz, a Swiss parmesan style cheese.
Sliced veal’s liver Served with a raspberry-port wine sauce and fried onions and Roesti Potatoes Similar veal dishes can be found all over Switzerland but this style, cooked with sliced liver, is more typical of the German region of the country. The slices of fresh local liver are pan fried with shallots raspberry vinegars and port wine. I use raspberry vinegar to cut the sweetness from the port. Served with Roesti potoes.
Raspberries marinated in Framboise liquer served with Mövenpick vanilla dream ice cream Imported fresh raspberries are marinated in Framboise a raspberry based liquer. The coulis puree is half raspberry and half strawberry. Now that Mövenpick gourmet ice cream, from Switzerland, is available in Thailand I serve a ‘vanilla dream' with the raspberries.”
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http://www.restaurantdiningcritiques.com/category/bangkok-restaurant-dining-critiques/page/2/
Kit Marshall
Tuesday, May 27th, 2008
Chesa is one of my all time favorite restaurants in Bangkok. It is hidden at the end of a small driveway across the street from the Windsor Hotel Suites on Sukhumvit Soi 20. The place is charming and cozy and the staff is very friendly as are the owners Chef Thomas Nowak and Rene Kuhn who opened Chesa Swiss Restaurant in 2000.
The food is consistently good and I have had many, many enjoyable evenings there over the years. The restaurant has an excellent selection of wines including wines from Switzerland including Fendant du Valais and Dole du Valais and white Chasselas and red Pinot Noir served by the glass.
Following are some of my favorites and other popular dishes:
Geschnetzeltes Zürcher Art, (traditional sliced veal and kidney in a champignon mushroom sauce
Capuns: Swiss chard dumplings with bacon, onions and cheese in creamy sauce, fresh imported Mache salad (Nüssli) with bacon served on a French dressing with boiled egg and bacon, traditional Cheese Fondue, pan-fried Foie Gras on raspberry vinegar and port wine sauce, beef fondue bourguignon, grilled veal sausage on an onion sauce with rösti potatoes, Geschnetzeltes Zürcher Art, (traditional sliced veal and kidney in a champignon mushroom sauce).
Swiss Chocolate Mousse, raspberries laced with kirshwasser with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream.
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Bangkok Beefsteak & Burgundy
Official account of lunch held at Chesa – July 1 st 2008
As ever, Thomas and Rene had devised a menu that provided variety for even the most ardent fans of Chesa cuisine, starting with great savoury snacks at the bar. Peter Williams rose to the challenge, inviting us to sip Majella Sparkling Shiraz 2005 which in fact was slurped rather than sipped. As the party was rather late getting underway, we found ourselves supping Madfish Riesling 2006 before repairing to the private room at the back where the first course, smoked snowfish with horseradish, was served. Food critic for the day, Peter Williams, was rather kinder about the dish than Thomas, opposite number for wine, was about the wine but few if any complained about either. Second course – white asparagus on fettuccini perfumed with truffle oil – was hot, extremely tasty, and well-presented. Course no. 3 – carrot soup enhanced with celery prompted Peter to turn us loose on Howard Park Chardonnay 2005 which seemed a little flat after the powerful flavours of the reisling. However all were enjoyed, judging by the empty plates and bottles. The main dish was slow-roasted leg of lamb and here, the chefs eventually confessed to having made three attempts at roasting before satisfying themselves we would be served the perfect leg of lamb. It was well-cooked (by that I mean cooked to perfection, not overdone, and there were rare slices available on demand for the vampires at the table to enjoy), juicy, and flavoursome, accompanied by a rosemary and garlic jus that was an excellent complement to the meat. In fact, Glorious Food - to single out the importer of the lamb. Mashed potatoes and wax beans completed the dish and Penfolds 389 Cabernet Shiraz 2004 made an appearance a few years earlier than recommended by Jeremy Oliver. “Not bad” said Thomas about the wine; “excellent” said Peter about the food.
It was downhill after that. Slabs of cheese followed by a compote of berries and cherries and ice cream and cream, which both looked and tasted delicious. Peter produced the last bottle of Pyrat XO Reserve rum to be found in Thailand and, of course, we still had Randy’s bottle of calvados to savour. We drank the cellar almost dry and around half the crowd made their way to the Green Parrot well after 5:00pm to top off the afternoon’s imbibing with …………… yet more imbibing and bell-ringing practice that would have made the Ancient Society of College Youths feel inadequate were they to assemble outside the precincts of St Paul’s or Westminster Abbey, London. top
Masii Gourmet Sept 2006
At present, nice international restaurants in Bangkok are not difficult to find. Every restaurant expresses their own culture and unique originality through many ways. One way, I think the best way, is to show it through decoration. It is important because when people come to restaurant, they don’t only want to eat but they also want to relax after a hard-work day. So now, I would like to recommend you “Chesa”, one of many restaurants in Bangkok with Fabulous Decoration.
I have a date to visit Chesa which is located on Soi Sukhumvit 20, not very far from Asoke BTS station. The shop is in the small alley on the opposite of Windsor Hotel. As I arrive, I saw a nice parking lot, very cosy and private. At the front of the shop, a classic set of wooden table and chairs is simply arranged for people who prefer open-air dining area or people who smoke. The front door is big made from wood that makes it look like antique and, for some reason, makes me feel as if being about to enter a European-style cottage.
As I enter, the first feeling that right comes to me is relaxed, cool and pleasant. Also I can see that most decorations here are not fancy at all – simple yet in style. I meet a nice looking guy in his mid age that I have learnt later that his name is Rene and he is a partnership of the restaurant. We sit in one private dining table with a cute trellis on the ceiling and start our conversation. Rene tells me that Chesa was established 6 years ago and it was designed by his architect friend. The decorating concept focuses on simplicity and serenity. Natural elements such as wooden bar, glass vase and clay tiles can successfully bring customers’ feeling into one with nature. And also the color use is smart. They use Burgundy chair cushion, Burnt Amber furniture and Old Rose sofas to please the customer’s eyes and cool down their moods during dining time.
Moreover, the dining area is spacious. A thick concrete wall is transformed into a mirror to allow soft sunlight to pass through it in the morning. Customers can enjoy their meals while looking out from the mirror to appreciate the beauty of nature outside. The dining areas are also nicely divided into several dining rooms. However, it is not divided by the wall but they use a kind of trellis-pattern wall to cut off one dining room from the other. Through this smart design, customers can see each other and feel the sense of dining in a garden.
Decorating items found here include picture of scenery in Switzerland, Swiss flag and some tiny tribal sculptures and water-color painting on the wall.
In Switzerland, many houses are made from white rocks. Therefore, white color is applied to the color of interior wall here. The white wall when exposed to dim lights which are mainly used in this restaurant creates a very romantic and tender atmosphere.
Finally, Mr. Rene who has experience as a chef for over 30 years adds that the shop menu here is updated every 2-3 weeks. The special dish will be changed according to seasons and special events. However, you can find some rare Swiss cuisines here such as wild rabbit and deer flesh (venison). So, if you are looking to try some Swiss cuisine, come to Chesa. You never get disappointed!
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Sam Worthington:
thailand.samworthington.com/blog/archives/2005/02/chesa_a_very_go.html
Posted by Sam at February 23, 2005
Bangkok European
Chesa: a very good Swiss restaurant in Sukhumvit Soi 20
I am very much a lunch person, by that I do not mean the modern business lunch of a bottle of water and a sandwich in the office! No, I mean several courses and a decent bottle of wine or several. The real problem is that I like to start around 2 pm with no intention of looking at a computer again that day. But the problem of finding a decent place open is getting greater every day. Why I am not sure because most good restaurants need prep doing outside normal opening hours, so why not simply schedule a chef to work afternoons to do the prep and thus be available to serve anybody who wants feeding. The concept was confirmed as practical by Thomas the friendly Chef Proprietor of Chesa, after a splendid all-afternoon lunch that began at 2.30 pm.
This is a comfortable restaurant tucked away down a short alley. It is in a pleasant house with car parking around it. The tables are large and well spaced with some discreet flowers and a couple of not so discreet cows’ heads watching the diners in the non-smoking section. The private room is on the side of the house with a virtual glass side looking onto the garden/car park.
There is a good sized menu with a central European edge to it, as you would expect in a Swiss restaurant. However we did not get further than the specials page at the front of the menu with wild Boar, hare and deer as three of the options - treats indeed this far from their European habitat. In fact we both spotted the hare lion, somewhat cruelly described as wild rabbit, and decided that was just what we wanted. As starters the smoked trout was another unusual Bangkok offering.
The trout was a pleasant melange of smoked trout and smoked salmon. A very pleasant starter that went well with the Sauvignon Blanc we had selected. We had asked for the hare to be cooked rare and really did not expect that to happen. It was described as roasted so it really depended upon whether it was cooked to order or reheated. When the dish arrived it not only looked good but we could see the meat was indeed rare. This was not only a good dish, but a very clever presentation of the hare. The champignon saucing included nuts, lardons and croutons, providing both varied tastes and textures. I have never had hare served this way and it will undoubtedly stay in the memory bank as one of the most inventive presentations. The vegetables included Brussel sprouts and red cabbage as well as a big bowl of spatzli.
We completed our meal with a decent cheese plate and a bowl of rhubarb.
With the hare I played a small game on Lord Toad. I spotted a red wine on the list and asked that it be opened and a tasting presented to his lordship without him seeing the label. After he had tasted it and declared it as excellent, I informed him that the wine was Romanian. The waitress told us that is was a very popular wine and it was not just the price that attracted people to it!
By the time we had had a few Calvas, the evening trade was beginning to drift into the restaurant. A classic afternoon lunch in pleasant surroundings with great food and an interesting mine host!
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http://thai-smile.blogspot.com/2007_06_01_archive.html
Posted by nat98 2007/6/11
One of Top 10 Bangkok restaurants
Down a driveway that leads to the restaurant, Chesa sits on Sukhumvit Soi 20 in a typical-style converted house, situated opposite Windsor Hotel. The restaurant offers a modern look, with bright colors, a "wall" of white pillars with a trademark red wave. There's a private room for 24, along with a dark wood bar. There are no photos of snow capped mountains, no cuckoo clocks or yodelling here. Two quirky painted "paper-mache cows' heads gaze down from their settings on the back wall, a nod apparently to a famous Zurich festival. For an appetizer, capuns, Swiss chard dumplings with bacon, onions, and cheese in a cream sauce are a house speciality popular with the locals. Others may prefer the pan-fried goose liver with raspberry vinegar. Thomas Nowak, the owner and chef, cooks according to the market, so chances are an item will be featured on the menu for a week or so before disappearing. There are many dishes on the menu that exemplify modern Swis cuisine while nearby cultures are incorporated into the cuisine. The gourmet raclette features raclette cheese, cervelat sausages and vegetables. Other choices include; Bundnertella (imported air-dried beef with bacon and ham), veal with pan-fried potatoes, onions, and bacon and Chateaubriand, minimum of 2 persons, this beef tenderloin is served with a Bernaise sauce and fresh vegetables. From the dessert menu there is Schokoladen Mousse (chocolate mousse) with whipped cream and grated Toblerone chocolate - but you could also try a Swiss favorite, deep-fried apple rings in beer batter or the popular Swiss chocolate fondue with assorted fresh fruits.
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