Reflexions at Plaza Athenee hotel used to be at the top of Bangkok contemporary dining pile when it opened in the 2000s. New head chef Roxanne Lange, who arrived in Bangkok several years ago as the no. 2 for Henk Savelberg, brings some of the sparkle back.

 

Her total revamp of the a la carte menu has also introduced a range of tasting menus from 4-10 courses (B2,500-4,200) with the ambition to compete with Bangkok’s best.

 

Dishes like the majestic oyster topped in lime granite and ribbons of cucumber (B200 a la carte) would feel at home on one of House on Sathorn’s experimental menus, while the succulently rich pigeon breast dressed in quail jus and blackcurrant (B1,150 a la carte) delivers ballsy old-school comfort. The menus are also a work in progress, reflecting Lange’s favorite dishes at any given time.

 

Now a decade old, Reflexions was one of the first restaurants in Bangkok to have a pop at molecular gastronomy. The space arguably reached its zenith under head chef Daniel Bucher (now at Marriott Queen's Park), who would hold elaborate tasting dinners that charted the whole hotel (from service elevators to bathrooms) and include dishes hidden in goldfish bowls and tubes of toothpaste. 

 

Lange joins the restaurant straight from Savelberg, which opened in Bangkok after its owner Henk Savelberg closed down his Michelin-starred restaurant of the same name at the Hague in Holland.