For my final meal in Bangkok I chose to book lunch at the Japanese restaurant Yamazato, because I would be eating a light dinner at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi airport before flying home that night.  Recognised, but not starred, by Michelin, this is described as the signature restaurant of the (Japanese run) Okura Prestige Hotel, in the central Wireless Road area. We accessed it in five minutes in internal/covered walkways and lifts from the Phoen Chit station on the BTS Skytrain.  The restaurant is on the same level as the hotel lobby – on the 23rd floor of a modern and architecturally interesting skyscraper in the commercial heart of Bangkok, so the views and the light from the angled floor to ceiling windows are terrific.

I’m a self-confessed Japanophile and I felt very comfortable in bright modern surroundings with world-beating standards of customer service and design.  From our window table I gazed out in wonder at how Bangkok has developed since I was last there nearly two decades previously, and I convinced myself that Bangkok was trying to emulate Tokyo as a modern and vibrant Asian city for the 21st century. But the Thai capital appears to have built its futuristic tower blocks in a hap-hazard way, as and when small pockets of land become available, and as such it hasn’t been able to address the problems of the high traffic volumes trying to get around the skyscrapers.  Below the elevated expressways Bangkok has a frustrating traffic jam problem!

From the menus we both selected the special set ‘new year’s eve Kaiseki lunch’ at THB1600++ each. For anyone unfamiliar with the term ‘Kaiseki’, it’s a multi course type of cuisine, originating in the Kyoto area, which presents the diner food in a particular order of: raw, steamed, fried, and grilled, followed up by miso soup, rice and pickles and then a dessert.  But this being lunchtime, most of the food was served in bowls, on one of two medium sized lacquered trays, so one had the ability to eat the dishes in whichever order it suited.

I kicked off with a fresh but nutty crab salad with sesame paste and crab roe 7/10 before tucking into a very good sashimi selection of akami and o-toro tuna, yellowtail and clam, all presented on ice with fresh wasabi and raw raddish, and those fragrant Shiso leaves which look like nettles, but aren’t.  9/10 

My 2nd tray had tempura, grilled fish, steamed eel and vegetables, a bowl of rice with oyster and salmon roe on top, some minced daikon and pickles.  It was all very flavoursome and well cooked. 8/10

And then came dessert. Much as I love Japanese cuisine, I’m not a fan of their desserts. Often made with vegetables and beans, they can lack the acidity and natural sugars of fruits and they’re just not my bag. This dessert was sticky chewing-gum-like rice flour balls with bean paste and sliced strawberries. Because I can’t appreciate these desserts I can’t tell if the examples I try are good, bad or indifferent. 2/10 

This was a tasty and authentic lunch, eaten in an hour, costing THB 6261 (roughly £149) for two people, with a bottle of Australian chardonnay and one of San Pellegrino.  The meal wasn’t the most sophisticated or refined of Japanese meals I’ve had (I suspect one would get more refinement in the evening), but this was lunchtime and the Japanese do have a certain way with lunch. Hey, I’ve had a bento box lunch in a 3 star restaurant in Kyoto!  Overall 8/10 

PS Although Yamazato is called the hotel’s ‘signature restaurant’, the hotel also houses a modern French restaurant called Elements, which has 1 star.