The proliferation of dining fads on show at this glasshouse bistro looks straight out of Thonglor or Silom. But here on the leafy, residential Soi Yen Akat, the arrival of chopping boards as plates, dangling factory lights and more red brick than a British industrial town is also attracting a big neighborhood clientele.

 

Infusion’s menu of dry-aged beef burgers, seafood-heavy pasta, sticky ribs and dry ice-spewing cocktails are proving bonafide crowd pullers compared to the always sadly-empty French bistro, Le Petit Zinc, that it has replaced. Dipping into one molasses-black, overwhelmingly sweet onion soup (B200), we can’t help but wish the kitchen had back Le Petit Zinc’s authentic Gallic touch, but that’s not to say that dinner here is a disaster.

 

The showpiece burger, even in its simplest B285 guise (other models can be specced up to B425 with bacon, mushrooms and onion jam), has an intensity that lives up to their dry- aging claims. Some might find it overpowering. We find it juicy, fatty and ground to ensure proper, steak-likebite—all cooked to a happy medium pink. The pillowy-soft sesame bun is excellent.

 

Infusion’s crab spaghetti in a “bisque reduction” lacks the flavor-punch of a properly good seafood stock, but nonetheless comes with plentiful, sweet chunks of crabmeat that make the B395 price easy enough to swallow.

 

Less successful is the calamari (B210), which on our last visit arrived wet with oil, the batter all but dropping off some pieces of squid.

 

Take solace in the fact that the jovial, talkative head barman can whip up a good, bourbon-strong, frothy whiskey sour (B220), which is joined on the booze menu by a selection of big-ticket American craft beers (B210-245) as well as plenty of flamboyant, fruity cocktails.

 

With a burger that satisfies any greasy craving, as well as 1kg tomahawk steaks currently on at a discounted B2,800 (regular price B3,800), it’s easy to see why so many people take up pews in Infusion on a Saturday night. But that’s about it.