Jazzanova – Choose Your Fusion

I’m not going to pretend I like the name, but hey, what the hell! Jassanova says what the owners want the name to say, namely that this club/bar/restaurant on a sub soi of Soi 24 features jazz, and wherever possible, it gives you at least a little bit of bossanova too.

Or to be perfectly clear, the kind of jazz that just might get your foot tapping, the smiles going and the till ringing. Nothing too serious then, and a tastefully organised bar and restaurant that you can really relax in, as the DJ does his best to educate your musical taste buds and get you in a laid back, party mood – Thai style.

And the good news is that there is live music seven nights a week - and yes of course it’s mostly jazz. Tuesdays there is a solo jazz piano player and the other nights there are saxophone bands or bands featuring one or two saxophones, straight-ahead jazz bands doing class covers and more than a bit of bossa. There is even a blues night on Mondays when the Texas Buddy Walker Blues Band takes the stage with its own band of countrified blues featuring the laid back Texan bass player and his sidekicks – Champagne Mike Dupre on guitar, Decibel Dennis Tennis on drums and Geezer Heineken on guitar and vocals.

They are not so special, but it is kind of special that a bunch of young Thais would welcome the Blues to what is a very classy new room, and it speaks volumes for the fact that the owners do know their music and that jazz and blues are part of one and the same thing.

And with the music under control, you can relax and study the menu of interesting and adventurous dishes tagged as fusion food which the partners have basically conceived and designed themselves, fed up with the fusion failures they found routinely around town.

We wasted a few beers first and then got jiggy with the cocktail menu as we scoped the place out and then ordered a delicious Jazzanova salad served in pastry cups to get us underway. It was tasty and fresh with loads of leafy salad and fresh prawns to get the taste buds up and running, after an awesome rum cocktail which was unlike any I have ever seen before, but tasted great.

My Girl had the tortillas replete with ham, cheese and mango filling served with a really spot on, fruity salsa which she loved. But I skipped the luxury of it and went straight for a steak which the captain said I would enjoy as it was unique to Jazzanova. The steak was marinated in a teriyaki blend thus giving my perfect slab of meat a hint of fusion, and with the crisp vegetables and my special fried egg, it was totally delicious, fusion or not! I held the black pepper sauce.

The chef who dropped by our table upstairs recommended the Sea Bass – which was a lovely fish glazed and delivered on tasty Thai noodles with a carbonara sauce which had the lady beaming, delighted she was along once again to sample the pleasures of the idle classes. And the delightful Pineapple Crème Brule kept her smiling all the way to the bill, which was worth every penny, believe me!

The upstairs, lounge-like atmosphere is just the perfect place for a few friends to dine or hang out together with loads of leather sofas and space to spread out. But the cool glass and stone room downstairs is really a great dining area too with its spacious and nicely-lit, elegant layout. Upstairs we had the place to ourselves this early on, but we were not complaining.

Downstairs on the small stage, Winai (Kai) Sotthibandu, the excellent jazz piano player was an easy listening specialist and played some very nice classic jazz tunes, setting the mood nicely for a quiet evening of rest and relaxation. This is definitely a cool place to hang and meet or do the cocktail hours if you don’t want to dine just yet.

This is a young restaurant for the young-at-heart and is certainly run by some very cool souls who want you to have a good time and they take the trouble to see that you do. It is not expensive, with drinks in the range of good cocktails anywhere in town and main courses coming in at 180-300 Baht plus per dish which ain’t bad for food delivered by people who genuinely care about what you eat.

And the cocktails menu is great too and very contemporary, meaning it is a place you can hang just to check out the band or drink the evening away. Has the new Brown Sugar finally arrived?

JAZZANOVA
1/18 Sukhumvit Soi 24
Open 6:30 pm – 1 am.
Tel: 02 262 0909 - 11