[Travel] In the Heart of Bangkok - UNOMAS - Spanish Restaurant & Bar @ Centara Grand Central World

Had the opportunity to dine at UNOMAS, located at the 54th floor of Centara Grand Central World. Thank you Hence for the invitation.

As we were led to our table, I noticed how spacious the interior is. Plus, the restaurant has a good view of the city and boasts plenty of tables for that romantic sunset view. 

sunset view

We went up to explore Red Sky Bar and Restaurant on the 56th floor, and yes, great panoramic views! 

tables at Red Sky Bar

let's scale to greater heights~

on top of the world~

Alright, we enjoyed the skyline view so let's go back to our table at UNOMAS. "Uno Mas" in Spanish means "one more". Play us one more song DJ! Yes, they do have a resident DJ spinning lively music with a playful vibe.

Thirsty? Let's order a drink!

Amber Roof Top @฿290++

Green Punch @฿290++

White Sangria @฿490++

Plenty of options for beverages and my table selected mocktails and cocktails as our preferred drink for the night. With a drink in hand, we are now ready for food.

The bread basket, oh wait... that's a wooden block carved out. Pretty cool, I must say. The breads at UNOMAS is a pretty little selection of assorted bakes. 

bread basket for a table of 4

Salads

Spinach Salad @฿410++

Never thought I'd say this but the salad tasted delicious. Healthy greens quotient for the day, checked!

Tapas

Gambas "Pil Pil" @฿720++

I have no idea what "Pil Pil" means but those prawns were of a good size. Firm and succulent. 

closer view of the gambas

Iberico Presa Pork @฿840++

The black ink crust on the pork was visually interesting. Crust was crisp and pork was incredibly tender. Tasted premium. The Presa cut comes from the area where the shoulder and loin meet, near the head of the loin. A prized cut, if you like.

closer view of the pork

Next, we had a plate of baked octopus as well. 

Baked Octopus @฿890++

The bottom were lined up with sliced potato and these were yummy too! The octopus, didn't disappoint. Superbly tender. 

Paella

Arroz Negro @฿1690++

It has been so long since I've last tasted a paella. The Arroz Negro at UNO MAS with the addition of snow fish and those little dots of aioli, were a nice contrast in terms of visuals. Buttery snow fish, with strong umami flavours in the black ink rice, deliciosa! 

Mains

Suckling Pig "Chochinillo" @฿1990++

We can't resist the half-roasted Segovian style suckling pig. Staff asked if anyone of us would like to 'cut' the pig with the plate, and all of us politely declined. He smiled and proceeded with the task.

easy does it

One could see how tender the suckling pig was, as it took probably about 5 minutes, for the staff to complete the task.

Then the plate would be handed back to the guest to smash it, of course into a prepared container. 

perfectly roasted, perfectly tender

sauces (top to bottom); gravy, green mojo, nam jim jaew

The suckling pig was good on its own. It was fun to dab a bit of the sauces just to see how each would taste like with the meat.

Desserts

UNOMAS Cheesecake "Tarta de Queso" @฿350++

For desserts, my wish came true as we ordered the Basque Cheesecake. Can't say no to cheesecake!

savoring each bite

Keke, the churros were presented cutely. Almost wanted to play 'tic-tac-toe' with it. Classic fried dough with sweet sugar sprinkles to be dipped into the thick Valhorna chocolate sauce. 

Churros @฿350++

The next dessert was unusual, the Brazo Gitano. It's sponge cake and ice-cream. But, I must say that I was impressed with its presentation.

Brazo Gitano @฿350

The most unexpected, was the Spanish Style French Toast. It came with gold foil! Other than that, it looked ordinary but tasted so good. The combination of warm and cold (bread and ice-cream), and the sauce was just right. A comforting dessert.

Torrijas Spanish Style French Toast @฿350++

Overall, we enjoyed the bold strong flavours of the dishes, the nice ambiance and fun vibes at UNOMAS. Kudos to Chef Borja Terry and UNOMAS team. 

ps: I think Chef was quite impressed we managed to finish 4 desserts after all the food.

UNOMAS - Spanish Restaurant & Bar อูโนมาส เซ็นทาราแกรนด์ฯ เซ็นทรัลเวิลด์

Address: 999, โรงแรมเซ็นทาราแกรนด์ฯ เซ็นทรัลเวิลด์ 99 Rama I Rd, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand

Website: https://unomasbangkok.com

Business Hours:

Daily: 12–11 PM

Don Lechón @ Grandlink Square 511 Guillemard Rd

It all originated from having a theme of "suckling pig" and then to choose a place that has it for our monthly dinner gathering. Hence, Don Lechón came up as an option plus its online review was really good, so we just got to try it for ourselves. Thank you Ivan, Kris and Alvin for suggesting the theme, the place and for making the reservations, respectively.

Don Lechón is on the left side of Grandlink Square's main entrance and you'll walk pass a Vietnamese place before reaching Don Lechón. It's a good sign when you see the signage of a hog in tuxedo smiling right back at you. Lechón is a Spanish word referring to a roasted suckling pig.

Signage

There are outdoor seats and there are indoor seats. The place was bustling! We opted for indoor seats within the cool confines of the air-conditioned area. The order counter is a small area and there was already a queue formed.

queuing to order

The menu is simple and all are stated on the menu board. Prior to that we already had a good idea of what we wanted to try (from online reviews!). Payment is by cash. The boss himself, Mr Krisanto Bibal was manning the counter with the help of two other lovely ladies, and can also be seen serving the customers. We queued for about 20 to 30 minutes to order.

After ordering and making payment, you'll receive a number tag and food will be served to your table. There are only a few types of canned drinks and bottled mineral water available and all are priced the same at $1.80. The drinks are located in a fridge just right outside the order counter entrance. There's also a cabinet for mugs and a small container for ice-cubes. So please help yourself.

colourful mugs

As there were just 5 of us this time round, we opted for 3 items from the rice set meals and added extra orders of two rice and ala-carte order of half a kilo of chopped lechon.

We tried the Lechon Sisig, Bopis and Lechon Sinigang. These seemed to be the perennial favourites of a typical Filipino meal, yes?

Lechon Sisig @$9.50

Sisig Lechon

Sisig is said to be a Kapampangan dish, typically made from parts of pig head and chicken liver, but nowadays sisig is more of a cooking process rather than a dish. Hence, sisig can be anything. The typical seasoning of a lechon sisig dish would be calamansi juice, soy sauce, onion and chillies and with chopped lechon tossed in. Garnished with a sunny side up.

The size of the Lechon Sinigang pot really surprised us. Is this meant for 1 pax? Wow! Served piping hot, this huge serving of appetising sour and savoury soup was enjoyed by the five of us and yet, we couldn't finish it all. The sour taste of the sinigang is often associated with tamarind. In comparison, to paksiw, which is another type of stew but uses vinegar instead of tamarind.

Lechon Sinigang @$11.50

In the soup, there were sliced brinjals, kang kong (water spinach), radish and thick cut lechon (about 5 pieces). The sourness hits you well enough to keep awake and overall, this tangy soup was really appetising. The version here seemed thicker than other sinigang that I've tasted though.

Lechon Sinigang

There was one item that I insisted to try, and that was the Bopis. The rest were unsure and perhaps with a tad of fear factor? Only $5.50 per set, this was a really affordable tasty meal. You could also opt for the ala-carte and it has two sizes. I found that the smaller portion will do as a side dish to share. Even with the 5 of us, we could barely finish this portion that came as a rice set meal.

Bopis @$5.50

Bopis is a piquant Filipino dish of chopped pork lungs and heart sautéed in tomatoes, chilies and onions. Loved the springy texture and the overall appetising taste of the dish. Not too funky and just delicious with that mouthful of steamed rice.

The heavyweights of the meal would have to be the much awaited lechón. Simple, expertly roasted, well seasoned lechon, chopped in a thick cut manner.

Chopped Lechon @$20 per half kilo

The skin was a clear winner. Crackling and crispy. Sink your teeth into those luscious fatty meat and be swayed by its tender flavorful flesh. Breathtakingly good.

Served with a brown sauce of unknown origins. Ok, it was because I didn't ask what sauce it was. Had tried it with the sauce but for me I'd prefer it without, as the meat itself was already that good!

It was a good introduction to Filipino cuisine at Don Lechón and am glad I was able to share it with Alvin (@o_oican), Ivan (@ivan_teh_runningman), Kris (@msginginly) and Tiara (@tiara_star).

Don Lechón 

Address: 511 Guillemard Rd, Singapore 399849
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/DonLechonSingapore
Contact: 9778 9737
Business Hours:
Daily - 5pm to 11pm

Lechon Pinoy @ Lucky Plaza

Was around Lucky Plaza area, so had lunch at its Asian Mall Food Court. Many stalls offering Philippine's food such as Lutong Pinoy, Lutong Pinoy 2, Tapa King, Jollibee and Lechon Pinoy.

Previously had tried Lutong Pinoy and had their Porksilog. This time round, ventured to Lechon Pinoy and ordered their boneless lechon.

Basically, it's a mound of white rice and some chopped meat. Three types of sauce. The brown one that is sweetish, the vinegary chili and the dark sauce. 

Boneless Lechon @$8.50

closer view of the skin

It was pretty good. With some parts of the meat very tender and soft, and most parts with a chew but not too tough. The skin tend to have quite a bit of fats stuck to it and some parts crispy while most are chewy. Plenty of oil from the meat! Take more of the brown sauce and chili that's more vinegary than spicy. Actually it was not spicy at all.