If you crossed Eat Me with a Greyhound Café, not that they’re galaxies apart anyway, you’d get Wanara. Located in the Tenface serviced apartments, the restaurant’s requisite Greyhound (same interior designer) minimalism—white walls, wood floor, black leather couches, marble tabletops—has been augmented with very local pieces that range from surreal prints of brick eggs walked by tiny elephants to iron Thai letters protruding from a wall. We expected bistro service but the whole experience is closer to fine dining thanks to a real attention to detail: the gray-uniformed staff hover at a polite distance, the wet towels smell wonderful and the breadsticks and focaccia come with plump baked garlic and two different tomato sauces. The menu is just as modern as the décor. The spring rolls get some succulent sirloin steak in place of the usual shrimp. Fresh, generous and tasty, the rolls come with a sweet, fragrant tamarind sauce. Or how about some Italian sausage in that yaam? Zesty, spicy, and fresh, it’s another appetizer that works. Things get more complicated with the mains: purees, boiled vegetables, fillo sticks, sauces, bacon wraps—all good stuff but there is a definite lack of chemistry. The snow fish ends up tasting a bit dull compared to all its trimmings. A stronger meat might work better, like the tender, expertly cooked veal. Of course, you could halve your bill with a less pretentious dish: the fettuccine with seafood in a yellow curry sauce is cooked al dente and the seafood is fresh. For dessert, the banana and Camembert in fillo may look and sound exotic, but tastes like leftover roti with vanilla ice-cream on a cookie. Stick to the classic, but reliable, chocolate soufflé. With a 10-minute wait to get a cab home (this place is really lost in a maze of sois) and the bad economic situation, the near empty dining room is unfortunate but forgivable. Order simple dishes and keep your bill under control and Wanara will make for a great evening. Corkage B500 (750 ml), B1,000 (1 L).
