The Blue Elephant prides itself on providing 'Royal Thai Cuisine'. It certainly projects that image with attractive, well proportioned teak furniture in the restaurant's luxurious interior. If you want a view, you can sit at the entrance to the restaurant on the mezzanine that serves as Novinsky Pas­sage's second floor, and take in the sights and sounds of the fountain and statue castes down below. Either way, you can relax in style while your culinary whims are pandered to within a Thai framework.

The food is what you would expect from the sumptuous and oriental atmosphere. Beautifully presented dishes are brought out one after another and laid before the diners. The dishes do look a little minimalist at first, but they are deceptively rich so you are unlikely to leave the table hungry. Thai meals are generally communal affairs, and thus a good opportunity to take friends out. The dishes are readily shared and a sociable way to enjoy good food.

Thai cuisine is somewhat eclectic. It incorporates influences from neighboring countries, most notably stir fries from China and curries from India. Add to this an unmistakable stamp of its own, with delicately balanced yet pungent flavors, and you get the enticing and slightly mysterious blend that is Thai Food. 

"Blend" is very much the ethos behind Thailand's recipes. Quite apart from bringing together foreign influences, Thai food's basic raison d'être is to balance the fundamental spicy, sour, sweet, and salty flavors, with an occasional appearance of bitter. It is this balance of tastes, which would be incongruous in other cuisines, that makes Thai food special. Like Vietnamese cooks, Thais make liberal and enthusiastic use of fresh herbs and spices (as opposed to dried, very often found in Chinese and Indian cooking). This contributes to the pungent vigor of the flavors.

Where western food usually has a single main dish as the focus of a course or meal, and maybe a couple of side dishes, the format of a Thai meal is a little bit different. It comes in one of two forms: either a central dish combining a wide range of ingredients, or rice with many other dishes served concurrently. 

Inevitably the integrity of either form gets corrupted in its export version, and a combination of the two makes for the sociable and varied meal with which European diners are familiar. Very often what should really be served as a single dish is a tasty accompaniment to another. Proper accompaniment to this Thai meal is, naturally, Thai tea.

The Blue Elephant meets all the expectations that western diners and Orient aficionados might bring to a Thai restaurant. The Satay Chicken is suitably tender and a range of flavors and spices compete for attention. Accompanying sauces set the meat off to full effect, allowing diners to bring out their own favorite tastes, although on the occasion your correspondent went he would have been more appreciative if he'd arrived before half of the chicken had been eaten. The Dim Sim represents some of the best of China's influence; Thai chefs really make it their own with delicate and slightly difficult-to-pin-down aromas. 

For those hankering for a bit of heat and spice after the slightly bland food available in Moscow, the Blue Elephant is a good place to start. The chefs prepare a suitably heated and spiced Pad Thai which, although not as adventurous as versions you would encounter in Bangkok or even London, does leave a definite tingle on the palate. At the very least it looks beautiful and combines a tantalizing range of noodles, chopped peanuts and seafood.

The Thai Green Curry and Paneng Nua are two other substantial dishes that lend a bit of fire. Good quality meat and fresh spices make these tasty and relatively spicy. The curry is worth special mention for the attractive earthenware pot that it arrives in and the juices the meat swims in, which go very nicely with Jasmine rice.

In keeping with the Thai tradition, alcohol is not a central part of the meals at the Blue Elephant.  A range of Thai and Chinese teas are available with your meal. If you do particularly want to unwind with a drink, then a variety of aperitif and liqueurs are offered, from Cognac to Calvados to Chartreuse Verte.

This is high quality food in a luxurious setting, and you can expect to pay for it.  The smaller dishes, listed as starters yet served with the mains, typically cost between $10 and $12,
the main dishes from $20.  Prices are quoted in dollars; whether this is for the benefit of western diners' calculations, or to eliminate the shock of seeing multi-figure ruble prices on the page, is a matter for the individual imagination.

The Blue Elephant is based upon a very clear concept, Royal Thai Cuisine.  A spokesman for the restaurant said, "We want our customers to feel like they are in Thailand. In this we are unique. There is no other restaurant like this in Moscow." This appeals to ex-pats, who make up a sizeable proportion of the customers. The restaurant says that about 30 to 40 per cent of its customers are foreigners.

Catrina Stewart, an ex-pat professional working for a large international firm, is a fan of Thai food and has tried it in a variety of different establishments and countries. She is basically enthusiastic: "I think the food's delicious, although perhaps the green curry could have been a little spicier." The inviting interior and exotic promise of a Thai restaurant were what attracted her to The Blue Elephant in the first place. "I walked past it several times in the business center, and it always looked like a nice place to enjoy a meal." 

BLUE ELEPHANT INTERNATIONAL PLC
4-6 Fulham Broadway, London SW6 1AA, United Kingdom
Phone: +44 20 7385 6595 Fax: +44 20 7386 7665
E-mail: info@blueelephant.com