Hua Hin has come to become a natural hub of fine dining. Catering to the demands of its select clientele, the town has developed establishments of impeccable gastronomic excellence across the years. One of the most recent ones to open is Andreas, a top notch restaurant to which the HOT Magazine’s review team had the pleasure of being invited. Opened by Chef Andreas Bonifacio who previously worked at La Grappa, this wonderful place provided us with a memorable evening.
The first aspect that was brought to our attention was the attentiveness in the service. Duly seated, the waiter placed the serviettes on our laps and immediately asked us for the choice of wine we desired. As we were brought the extensive menu, we settled for a fine Italian red, a Primitivo di Manduria from 2010, whose ruby shades and aromatic pine hints provided the perfect complement to our dishes for the rest of the evening.
After some complementary antipasti of fine molten cheese on a tomato base, the first dish Chef Andreas graced us with were the tiger prawns and Hokkaido scallops wrapped in pancetta and served with stewed lentils. A magnificently pieced dish, with a defining aroma that prolonged itself as we took the first bite. Smokey to the palate, with a great balance between the prawn and the scallops, it was perfectly accompanied by the base of the lentils. The pancetta’s tenderness provided a beautiful texture which made the bites melt in your mouth.
Chef Andreas didn’t wait much to provide us with one of the house’s signature dish: the Pizza Chef. Folded in half, filled with Parma ham, black truffle paste, mascarpone and mozzarella cheese, it was a truly special treat with a wonderful flavour. The defining after-touch of the truffle gave the initial combined taste of the mozzarella and the mascarpone a beautiful accentuation, which in turn highlighted the smoky aroma of the Parma ham. It’s no wonder this is a praised asset at Andreas’s.
Next would come the house’s other signature serving, in the form of a wonderful pasta dish. The Spaghetti Alle Aragostine e Pomodori was a delight that included rock lobster in cherry tomato sauce with Italian salad. Characteristically Al Dente in texture, It bore a defining and distinguishing taste from the lobster, which was accentuated towards the end of the bite, something that complemented the tanginess of the tomato sauce to perfection.
We were then served the main course – and what a course it was! It began with the Merluzzo Dell’Alaska Su Asparagi di Mare. An oven baked snow fish fillet served on sautéed asparagus with a reduction of lobster sauce. What struck us from this dish was the tenderness and the fresh quality of the fish, which effortlessly dissolved in the palate, releasing the beautiful, almost sweet aroma that the lobster sauce provided it with. This was wonderfully complemented by the garden-fresh asparagus, which gave it a natural flavour and a distinctive contrast.
Then came a mouth-watering treat, comprising of three Australian paddock lamb chop pieces. Incredibly well prepared in a tender medium rare, it infused the palate in a delicate smoky aroma that permeated the senses. Quality meat is always a well appreciated and Andreas uses nothing but the purest: with a 100% feed of grass, with no hormones and no chemicals. The contrast was evident.
To bring everything to a close, Chef Andreas provided us with a spectacular set of desserts, which was music to the ears of our review team’s sweet tooth. Short of providing a single dish, we were given a delectable array of seven different desserts. The Panna Cotta came first and was a highlight: In a beautiful raspberry sauce and a diced assortment of fruits such as mango, kiwi and raspberry, it was soft, fluffy, well balanced, creamy in the aftertaste, smooth to the touch and aromatic to the palate. The dish came with a confectioned chocolate crown, which provided a contrasting but very complementing taste. The lemon tart was a true delight as well: incredibly fluffy meringue, whose sweetness was the perfect balance to the gentle taste of the crust. Then came the home made sorbet, a wonderfully distinct dessert because of its sensational sweetness and tanginess, which ended on a subtle aftertaste. The tiramisu was for all the coffee lovers, the aroma of which engulfed the first bite. The fresh cream balanced the strike of the cinnamon and provided a rounded and delicious dessert. We were then given a genuine taste of chocolate, with a sensationally well prepared truffle. Deliciously dark, incredibly creamy and resoundingly aromatic, its cracking shell that melted in the mouth combined with the intensity of the chocolate, made for every chocoholic’s dream. We ended in a beautiful apple pie, the moisture and softness of which took us by delightful surprise. The freshness of the apple and the tenderness of the dough was sensational.
Our overall experience was that Andreass was a true delight, a restaurant you cannot afford to ignore if you’re a connoisseur and admirer of haute cuisine.
Andreas is located on top of the Lapa Hotel
4/91 Soi Mooban Nongkae, Hua Hin
+66(0)999 101018
AB@ANDREAS-RISTORANTE.COM