Mei Jiang

Mei Jiang Chinese restaurant at The Peninsula Hotel Bangkok made a big statement with their 15,000-baht, 8-course, highly exclusive plant-based dining experience

Prior to the recent COVID-19 restrictions in Bangkok, probably the most expensive dining experience was a vegan, eight-course, Chinese set menu. Such an unlikely thing that you may wonder how it came to be. This news grabbing initiative was the brainchild of management and chefs at the Peninsula Bangkok. Mei Jiang, the furloughed but well-regarded Chinese restaurant, was the venue.

I was invited as a guest for the ultra-exclusive experience by the hotel’s GM, Joseph, and the hotel’s communications director, Khun Khemwanta (Beau). Well-known food and travel writer Jennine also joined in the four-person extravaganza. The food, setting and service were fabulous, as we will get to later, but first I wanted to know how such an experiment was conceived.

Mei Jiang, which had been closed in prior months, never quite gets the accolades it deserves, being missed for recognition by pretty much all of the review guides—impartial and commercial. I never understood that as the setting and décor is quite spectacular; the food by noted chefs top-notch; and the drinks list first-class. Having been closed recently, the Mei Jiang name needed to be kept alive. Rather than fully re-open the restaurant, the idea was to create a super-exclusive tasting menu in a chef’s table setting with seating limited to four per sitting. And to give it that extra buzz, make it a plant-based interpretation of the most famous Chinese dishes with the creativity of Austrian head chef Stefan Leitner and his talented local team.

Chef Stefan Leitner

I asked Joseph, a vegan of three-plus years and a father of an eco-conscious teenage daughter, just what made him want to do this, and how he expected to find enough customers for the (up to) 15,000 baht a head dinner to make it viable. Well, he said, the Peninsula, no longer a new hotel, has to compete with some venerable neighbours and, in addition, is faced with a number of new very high-end river properties all boasting fine-dining options. What better way to stand out than to create something none of the nearby neighbours are likely to contemplate and then do it better than anyone might expect. Create an experience completely different and make it newsworthy. A very positive half-page review that appeared in the Bangkok Post proved the point and resulted in eight reservations within a day or two of the feature. (Score one for legacy print media even though the hotel’s marketing budget is geared heavily towards digital these days.)

So onto the food. Diners are greeted and walked through the empty tables to the kitchen. Along the way, we are shown a re-purposed aquarium that no longer holds live sea animals awaiting their fate but that now houses three types of seaweed—angel hair, sea lettuce and sea caviar—being cultivated for Seascape, one of the signature dishes.

With a welcome glass of Krug (or two) in Austrian Riedell glasses, chef Stefan explains that we will enjoy a seven-course tasting menu and finish with two desserts. After our first course, BBQ, we are taken to a private room with front row seats watching the team at work.

Thereafter we enjoy the next six-courses with detailed descriptions of each dish provided by the kitchen team. Only one of the seven courses (Sweet and Sour) uses alternative meats, all other offerings being plant-based and simulation free. The chefs have taken great lengths to maintain the visual look and feel of a traditional Chinese banquet, which is impressive. Equally noteworthy is the wine pairing, which is nicely balanced for a vegan dinner. For me this was a highlight as I have sat through many a wine pairing geared towards my meat-eating dinner companions in the two years since I gave up eating animal produce.

The meal overall was very enjoyable. The star dish for me was Pumpkin, which is a kabocha squash and pumpkin sushi with the sweetest tofu sautéed with jicama and bamboo shoots, pumpkin seed oil from Austria (where else, chef Stefan) and a sumptuous porcini jus. A close second, Asparagus features seasonal white asparagus with garlic leaves and crispy onions in an XO sauce. There was plenty to eat but I did not feel overwhelmed by the quantity of food as I recall was often the case in the past when enjoying a meat-based Chinese blow-out.

Stefan, Joseph and the team deserve kudos for this original concept dining experience. As a plant-based eater I applaud the effort and hope that more fine dining establishments join the cause and create similar experiences across a variety of cuisines. No effort was spared on the various ingredients that went into the dishes and that shows. Meat-eater or otherwise, this was an experience to enjoy if your budget allows.