Just Jazz At Jesters – The Room With A View To Die For

Once in a while we head for the higher ground for the simple reason that we all need to know where to go on that special occasion, or where to take ‘Her Highness' just to impress her, all the while not abandoning of course the need for quality live music.
And let there be no mistake, Jesters at the Peninsula Hotel is higher ground of the loftiest standards and a hotel that reeks of class coming as it does as offspring of the Kadoorie clan's stellar sideline enterprise – the original and wonderful Peninsula in Kowloon . That old Dame still boasts the finest afternoon High Tea in Asia frequented by the likes of Jackie Chan et al, and the Bangkok edition of the Hong Kong original is in our book at least a six-star hotel.
Five stars just do not do this noble pile justice, given that each room is virtually a suite and there are only a dozen or less rooms on each floor. Add to that the awesome facilities such as the space-age gym, Jacuzzis in the rooms, its own tennis courts and you get the picture. This is a hotel designed in Hollywood and you have to say the fact that the hotel has its own helicopter too, speaks volumes for the kind of service standards it has in mind.
Jesters is a chic, finely-drawn restaurant that will take your breath away of an evening. It is designed with a view across the river the likes of which you only ever see in movies. But there, through the huge glass window is the silver river with its picturesque traffic picked out with the help of the glorious backdrop of all the other hotels on the other bank of the river, lit up in all their incandescent splendor as if in homage to their glorious leader the Peninsula, splendid in its isolation across the shining waters.
The restaurant too is faultlessly lit and designed to hold only a few dozen diners giving it a very relaxed feel. It serves wines of the highest caliber and food to die for, all priced in the region that this writer must normally avoid to stay solvent, but no doubt my colleague and fellow bon vivant Sam Worthington will do this place justice one day.
The award-winning food available here is described as cuisine of the Pacific Rim and as you might expect, includes dishes from East to West with the emphasis on stylish, contemporary versions of classic ideas. I went ‘mixed' and had a steak and Thai soup starting first with sushi, and what a glorious meal that was – pleb that I am.
The service from the small staff is faultless and they never miss a chance to make you welcome and comfortable.