Journal

From the R&D bench to the menu

7 October 2026

Razor clams with tomato butter, one of the R&D plates tested at [CUISINE] in Silom

In September we wrote about the R&D plates: a short list at the top of the menu where dishes were still being tuned, served to real guests at real prices until the kitchen decided they were ready or they were not. That list has now done its job and gone. Here is where each of the five plates ended up, with a picture of each.

Stayed: French Langoustines XL

French langoustines XL with bisque and pecan chilli crisp — Now in the Seafood section, 1,650 baht

Butter-poached, with the bisque underneath and the pecan chilli crisp on top for crunch and heat. This was the plate that needed the least work. The langoustines come in large, the bisque uses the shells, and the chilli crisp was the one addition that took it from good to finished. It went onto the main menu as it was.

Stayed: Vacherin meringue

Vacherin meringue with lemon basil sorbet and yoghurt mousse — Now in the Pastry section, 350 baht

Lemon basil sorbet, yoghurt mousse, meringue. It joined the pastry list next to the strawberry, the madeleine and the chou. Same plate as on the bench, now a fixed part of the sweet end of the evening.

Changed shape: bone marrow

As it was: in the bone, gremolata, morels

As it is now: the flatbread, hot bites, 550 baht

The bone marrow did not go on the menu as it was. The marrow, the gremolata and the morel mushrooms now sit on a blistered flatbread, charred at the edges, as a flatbread bone marrow in the hot bites section, 550 baht. The flavours are the ones that worked on the bench; the bread makes it easier to share across the table and quicker to send out from a busy pass.

Came off: razor clams

Razor clams with tomato butter — Razor clams, tomato butter, 550 baht on the R&D list

Grilled in the shell under a tomato butter crust, with the first of the herb and flower garnish from the garden. A plate a lot of people enjoyed. It came off for now rather than onto the menu. It may come back in another form.

Came off: saba mackerel

Saba mackerel with harissa and labneh — Saba mackerel, harissa, labneh, 620 baht on the R&D list

Mackerel on harissa with labneh, herbs and flowers. Like the razor clams, it did its run on the bench and came off. That is the point of testing in front of guests first: not every plate makes it, and the menu you see tonight is the one that did.

What this means for the menu

The R&D section itself is gone from the menu for now. The dishes that earned a place are in their proper sections: langoustines under Seafood, the flatbread under Hot Bites, the vacherin under Pastry. The next round of testing is already happening at the pass. We will write about it here when there is something ready to eat.

Open every day, 5:30pm to 11pm, Silom. Book a table and ask what is new.

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