Friends and I paid a visit to Sirocco while visiting Bangkok on the recommendation of friends who had been when visiting Bangkok previously.
You strangely enter via a seemingly abandoned shopping mall with vacant retail tenancies and black feature mould on the ceilings - not...the entrance to one of Bangkok’s premium dining experiences that you’d expect!
You’re then welcomed by a friendly host who ushers you into the lift up to the 64th floor where you’re greeted by further friendly hosts who offer you some fancy cocktails out on a terrace. Prior to escorting you to your table they provide you with the opportunity to photograph from every angle you desire, the most spectacular views of the city and the restaurant / bar below. The view is amazing. The whole city in panorama.
Once seated you’re presented with the menu for the chef’s six-course tasting menu. Which as far as we could tell was the only option! Essentially this is where you agree to spend a fortune, like some kind of fancy hospitality way of signing a memorandum of understanding.
Now before we get to the food itself, recognition here for the service. The staff are super attentive and friendly. They pull out your chair for you, they point out every step to you*. The water and bread is replenished frequently without fail. Service is impeccable from start to finish.
Now to the food component. The food is excellent. Each course was delicious and flawlessly prepared (the asparagus gnocchi with shaved truffles a particular highlight). After all the courses including some additional mini desserts that weren’t on the menu, compliments of the chef, we were satisfyingly full. However, while the food is great and the technique on display was clearly the best we’d see on our holiday there is a but. And this is a big but. It’s still not as good as the view.
The view is so clearly the main attraction, which of course is perfectly fine and completely understandable. I can tell you though that if you’re dining here you’ve likely had better food at other restaurants, in other major cities, where the view has been this impressive yet crucially more affordable.
The price in the context of Thailand is just eye watering. It cost us A$50 just for still water (Yes, beware - Even the still water is not complimentary - I really wished I’d noticed this in reviews beforehand!) When you pay less the previous night for 6 courses and 4 giant beers (A$20) than your current bill for still water you know you’ve paid a premium.
Which you may say is fine, considering this is a fine dining experience but it does become a bit of a surprise then that for such an expensive establishment the place is beginning to show significant wear and tear. For one, it’s necessary to enter via the aforementioned deserted shopping mall that looks like it’s been taken directly from a zombie apocalypse movie and then there is the tower itself. It too is really beginning to reveal its age. Walls and soffits are tired and cracked while birds nest in the eaves of the golden dome above. Funnily enough the Hangover 2 was filmed here and to keep with the movie analogy, the building is probably suffering from a bit of one too.
All in all, would I recommend Sirocco? For the impressive views, yes. For an expensive, fancy drink (or just a still water perhaps?!), then perhaps yes also but for dinner, no. Save your money and go somewhere else a little more reasonable. Chances are, there are fresher, better value, but equally premium dining options in the city. A better option is to just go for drinks. Go to the bar, look over the edge (literally rather than fiscally!), jostle with the influencers for the best photos and take in the views, all the while remembering how fortunate you are to spend so much on a cocktail!
*NB. This restaurant features lots of steps up and down a variety of levels and so disabled access maybe quite the challenge.More
