N L.
Google
The ambience and service at Charmkrung were definitely the highlights of our visit. The staff were warm and attentive, and the setting was comfortable and vibey, these really helped us enjoy the evening overall.
That said, the food didn’t quite live up to expectations. The cured fish appetiser was interesting, and the pani puri was decent, though nothing particularly stood out or wowed us.
The liver pate dish came with a boiled quail egg, which I felt didn’t quite complement the dish. Sometimes, less is more, and this felt like one of those cases where keeping it simple could have made it better. Similarly, the watermelon salad lacked cohesion, the melon cubes just didn’t blend well with the rest of the ingredients.
I wasn’t expecting the smoked beef to be like pulled beef jerky or beef floss, it felt more like a snack to go with your drink than an actual dish at a restaurant. The stir-fried dish also fell flat for me, it reminded me of something I could get at a street side stall in Chinatown, not what I’d expect from a restaurant like Charmkrung.
We ended up adding on the catfish because we weren’t quite full. It was cooked perfectly, crisp and tender, but the flavours were quite flat and under-seasoned on its own. The dish leaned heavily on a thick, hoisin/teriyaki-style sauce for flavour, which felt like a an easy way to give the dish flavour and didn’t elevate the fish.
The espresso martini was a letdown. It lacked the smoothness from the creamy, velvety foam you’d typically get from an espresso martini, instead the foam felt like it was breaking down and the drink itself tasted more like a watered-down americano, acidic and thin. I didn’t know it was possible to not enjoy an espresso martini until this one.
Still, the service and ambience were lovely and definitely helped carry the experience. I’d return for the service and vibe, but the food could use more thought and refinement.
