Sra Bua finally opened last month at Siam Kempinski, and we went there to have their full she-bang set dinner menu, and were not prepared at all for what we found. We thought we'd do a nahm vs. Sra Bua head to head, but the two, we are sort of relieved to report, are completely different ball games.

Where nahm goes for painstaking authenticity in recreating ancient recipes, Sra Bua turns Thai cuisine on its head, deconstructing the flavors and re-presenting them in crazy ways that somehow still taste very Thai.

In case you've been living under a rock, Sra Bua is the sister of Michelin-starred Thai restaurant in Copenhagen, Kiin Kiin, now adding an ultra-contemporary twist to Thai cuisine with its unique, experience-driven menu.

It looks like the kind of peaceful, impressive space where, in a few minutes, a fight sequence from the Matrix might break out. A heavy, ten-foot wooden door leads into Sra Bua, which is all soaring ceilings, tall wood paneling interspersed with Thai silk columns and soft, shimmering lighting. The seating ranges from high-backed, purple-clad booths, to elongated darkwood dinner chairs. The space is reminiscent of a terraced rice field, with botanical partitions scattered throughout.

Okay, finally on to the food: this is not fusion, folks. Everything is Thai. It is the preparation that is unexpected. The words deconstruction and molecular come to mind, though handsome Chef Morten would disagree with the latter. Sra Bua takes classic Thai dishes and re-presents them in surprising, sometimes breathtaking ways. Think gaeng kiaw wan as a plant pot of green curry mousse with fresh carrots sticking out the top, tom yam separated into a simple broth to be sipped with bite-sized herb jellies, red curry whipped into ice cream form, presented in a mist of liquid nitrogen, lime-mint sparkles that go pop in the mouth…we could go on. They offer a couple of multi-course set dinner menus (B2,400 or B1,800). They also do a lunch set (B1,500).

As for drinks, you can choose from the extensive hotel wine list, with several options by the glass. Or, opt for their recommended wine pairings (B2,400) which come mostly from chilly European countries like Austria and Germany.

The price tag means folks here are the very moneyed. Lots of farang groups, though we wonder what Thais will think of this interesting and faithful deconstruction of their ancient cuisine. There’s already been a wedding proposal here, so the omens are good.

1/F, Siam Kempinski, 991/9 Rama 1 Rd., 02-162-9000.