This past weekend we decided to have a little getaway from our studio in Min Buri and venture to downtown Bangkok.
A few weeks ago, I saw an instagram ad for a sky bar and restaurant called Above 11. The ambiance, food, and drinks all looked incredible. Plus, I hadn't been to a sky bar yet and wanted to go.
We thought it would be a great place to go to celebrate our anniversary and Genie's upcoming birthday. I made a reservation and we also realized that they were on the rooftop of a hotel.
We booked that too.
Saturday we left at about 2:30 for our hour and 40 minute commute to go just under 16 miles.
Yea for traffic.
Genie dropped me off to go check in while she parked. We were met with the usual, quizzical eyebrow lift when we said that we didn't make a mistake about booking a room with one bed. During the concierge's spiel, she also informed us that the gym was open 24/7, glanced at us, and said, "Oh, never mind." Of course, I pipped in with "I've already been to the gym today," which I had.
We were situated on the 10th floor and in a room bigger than our studio apartment. The shower itself was as big as our entire bathroom.
The view wasn't too shabby either.
We both wished that we had left earlier so we could have enjoyed this room for the entirety of the time we payed for it.
Our reservations were at 6:00 so we started getting ready a little before 5:00.
Okay, it might have been a little too early as we then had about 30 minutes to dink around.
Genie always manages to take the best photos of me.
We were not able to access the restaurant via the hotel elevator so we had to go down to the lobby level where a nice Thai man pointed us in the right direction. We had to take a left, a right, follow the yellow-brick road, answer a sphinx's riddle, deliver a ring to Mordor, clean out a hoarder's basement, and divide by zero to find the elevator.
We were met by a host who was the first Thai to ever attempt to say my last name. Props for trying Pyfferoen. After the requisite, temperature scan and metal detector check we were pointed to the elevator that did go to the 33rd floor. This was no ordinary elevator, this was a party elevator. There was dance music blaring and we were surrounded by video footage of the views waiting us.
The view was stunning!
We had a hightop table along the rail next to the bar. We both would occasionally watch the bartenders try out their tricks. The sky was overcast so we were unable to see the sunset...darn, we will have to go again sometime. (wink, wink) However, we did get to see a lightning storm in the distance and that was incredible to watch.
Our lovely server for the evening, Tina, was great. She checked in periodically, gave us great recommendations, and bemoaned her abilities at math with us.
We started the evening with some speciality cocktails. Genie had a lychee, orange and rum cocktail while I had a whiskey ginger beer.
Above 11 is a Peruvian-Japanese fusion restaurant, so obviously we had to try the mix.
Our sushi platter consisted of three different rolls: a traditional shrimp tempura was in the middle, on the right is a sea-bass with onion, carrots, and a lime aioli, and on the left, our personal favorite, was a salmon with a chimichurri sauce on top. The orange 'flower' you see there is a carrot. Genie wants to work on creating these now.
For our second plate, we opted for their classico ceviche, which they affectionately spell as cebiche. This was my first ceviche. According to Genie, my face lit up like fireworks on the fourth of July. There was a dance party in my mouth. Their ceviche was simple, rustic, and I'd order it again. The sea-bass was marinated in leche de tigre and had a scrupulous amount of shallots. We both made sure to save our last piece to enjoy at the very end.
Our second round of drinks arrived as well. Genie opted for a reprise of her Act 1 drink and I went for "Winter BKK" which was an apple and thyme themed cocktail.
For our final plate of the evening we knew we wanted some meat. We are Minnesota girls after all and do enjoy our meat and potato dishes. The 48 Hour Seco Beef was the obvious choice. This slab of meat had been stewing for 48 hours and was served with white beans, steamed rice, an onion salad and topped with a chalaca sauce. Genie has now had this dish on two continents and says this one was the best. The beef was so tender we only needed a spoon to enjoy it.
We were two very full but very content ladies.
After a much needed break we obviously ordered dessert. I already knew that I was ordering their tres leches cake and a Moscow mule. Genie got a panna cotta with a strawberry coolie and a mojito. Genie mentioned to Tina that I make tres leches back home so after my first bite she came to see if their's lived up to mine. Verdict: 7/10. The panna cotta had a sprig of dill on it for some reason...aesthetics yo.
The evening was perfect. Scrumptious food, refreshing spirits, and wonderful company.
