1 Fan

Antonio

 Harry 

Harry is one of the great chefs of the world.

Peter

 Wok and Satay at "The T" - January 2008 

To classify the restaurant as "Asian" is, perhaps, not quite correct. It would be better to classify the food as "Asian influenced nuevo latino"....

Nah, that's way too much of a mouthful. We'll say fusion.

True, there are directly Asian items (the satay, a number of the stir-fries, a serviceable phat Thai with my neighbor) but of greater interest (at least for me) were the Columbian dishes that had been taken sideways with Thai, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese twists (I may have missed a country or two there, sorry).

For instance, the steak tartare that I opened with was a nice piece of very good meat was in part a ceviche (lime, cilantro/coriander but no shallot or chili), and in part Japanese, taken with wasabi and enjoyed wrapped in some freshly roasted nori. Not bad. Perhaps a little fussy, with a touch too much squeeze bottle action of mustard sauce, but not bad.

Nearby there was a ceviche of corvine, but adjusted with sesame oil and added to with bamboo shoots and sprouts. Not as aggressive in the lime as I'm used to (the reason why Rodriguez always said to have popcorn on hand.....an arepa, the flat maize cakes, take care of that nicely here), but a good way to enjoy this fish.

As a main, I had gone looking for meat to set off the Terrazas de los Andes Malbec that we'd ordered. The wine took precedence in this instance. What I settled on was a 600gm veal steak, a chuleton de Res a la Lena, served with toasted garlic flakes (a nod there to the Thai), peppers, and herbs. Just a little different from traditional, with some of the Asian flavours coming in the sauce (remind me to write some day about marinating a turkey in nam pla and salt doming it).

There were pork ribs, as well, that had been done with an Asian approach to marinating. One of the fellows at the table ordered that, and it was excellent (but didn't work as well with the Malbec).

I led rather peremptorily into the food, and neglected to describe the restaurant itself.

The restaurant is split on two levels, and, as we were a large business group, we sat upstairs. Unfortunately, this took us away from the hustle and bustle downstairs, which was a lot more fun, with the open kitchen providing a free show of fire and storm. Open seating, with a balcony that allowed the sound from below to carry upstairs to us.

However, the service upstairs, removed a bit from the action, was very good, well mannered and well paced, so I won't fault my hosts for their decision (it was the first day of business, after all - other nights with them were another matter).

The neighborhood is much to the credit of Chef Sasson himself. He was one of the first (if not the first) back in here in the mid-90s, working to revitalize the dining in Bogota. Back then it was another matter to venture out for an evening's meal, whereas now security is fairly well restored in Bogota, and the rougher elements being brought under control (and we noticed the restaurant next door was closed, seized by the government for "reasons related to criminal activities".)

Coming out of H.Sasson Wok Satay Bar (I have to use the full name somewhere in here) you're caught by the sophistication of Bogota. Well dressed people spilling out of the cafes and bars, people hailing their friends in the pedestrian-only street, catching up on gossip and details.

Overall, a good meal and a fine evening. My only complaint is that I didn't have the time to investigate this neighborhood to a greater extent.

Although I did get to another of Harry's ventures before we had to leave.....

But that's another story.

Antonio

 Harry 

Harry is one of the great chefs of the world.

Peter

 Wok and Satay at "The T" - January 2008 

To classify the restaurant as "Asian" is, perhaps, not quite correct. It would be better to classify the food as "Asian influenced nuevo latino"....

Nah, that's way too much of a mouthful. We'll say fusion.

True, there are directly Asian items (the satay, a number of the stir-fries, a serviceable phat Thai with my neighbor) but of greater interest (at least for me) were the Columbian dishes that had been taken sideways with Thai, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese twists (I may have missed a country or two there, sorry).

For instance, the steak tartare that I opened with was a nice piece of very good meat was in part a ceviche (lime, cilantro/coriander but no shallot or chili), and in part Japanese, taken with wasabi and enjoyed wrapped in some freshly roasted nori. Not bad. Perhaps a little fussy, with a touch too much squeeze bottle action of mustard sauce, but not bad.

Nearby there was a ceviche of corvine, but adjusted with sesame oil and added to with bamboo shoots and sprouts. Not as aggressive in the lime as I'm used to (the reason why Rodriguez always said to have popcorn on hand.....an arepa, the flat maize cakes, take care of that nicely here), but a good way to enjoy this fish.

As a main, I had gone looking for meat to set off the Terrazas de los Andes Malbec that we'd ordered. The wine took precedence in this instance. What I settled on was a 600gm veal steak, a chuleton de Res a la Lena, served with toasted garlic flakes (a nod there to the Thai), peppers, and herbs. Just a little different from traditional, with some of the Asian flavours coming in the sauce (remind me to write some day about marinating a turkey in nam pla and salt doming it).

There were pork ribs, as well, that had been done with an Asian approach to marinating. One of the fellows at the table ordered that, and it was excellent (but didn't work as well with the Malbec).

I led rather peremptorily into the food, and neglected to describe the restaurant itself.

The restaurant is split on two levels, and, as we were a large business group, we sat upstairs. Unfortunately, this took us away from the hustle and bustle downstairs, which was a lot more fun, with the open kitchen providing a free show of fire and storm. Open seating, with a balcony that allowed the sound from below to carry upstairs to us.

However, the service upstairs, removed a bit from the action, was very good, well mannered and well paced, so I won't fault my hosts for their decision (it was the first day of business, after all - other nights with them were another matter).

The neighborhood is much to the credit of Chef Sasson himself. He was one of the first (if not the first) back in here in the mid-90s, working to revitalize the dining in Bogota. Back then it was another matter to venture out for an evening's meal, whereas now security is fairly well restored in Bogota, and the rougher elements being brought under control (and we noticed the restaurant next door was closed, seized by the government for "reasons related to criminal activities".)

Coming out of H.Sasson Wok Satay Bar (I have to use the full name somewhere in here) you're caught by the sophistication of Bogota. Well dressed people spilling out of the cafes and bars, people hailing their friends in the pedestrian-only street, catching up on gossip and details.

Overall, a good meal and a fine evening. My only complaint is that I didn't have the time to investigate this neighborhood to a greater extent.

Although I did get to another of Harry's ventures before we had to leave.....

But that's another story.