.. Posted November 19, 2008 Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 Chappy's review reminded me I had to do this one, since he dined with me. Chappy, add your thoughts. ++++++++ Enoteca. A bit hard to find, but well worth it as this is easily the best Italian in Thailand. I know that's a strong call, but I'll stick by it. Afterall, how many have a chef who learned his trade from a Michelin 3-star? This is an old home stuffed back on a sub-soi of Suk 27, completely residential. Great Italian country home feel. Kinda small, about 25 seats (plus a private room). Unreal wine selection. 300+ labels, all Italian. We had two different Sicilians, at ~B1900 ea. I chose one and the owner chose the other for us. Awesome...I just wish I could remember the names (I don't know much about Italian vineyards). One was Tri-something and the other started with a C. You'll be able to tell from that if you look at the wine list. You start off with a small appetizer (free): a Parmesan cheese puff, a dollop of pate (with a hint of anise), and some other yummy but unidentified thing. The menu is ala carte, so you can build your own feast. I like that. I had a bowl of tomato soup. Very complex and delicious. We all three had salads, two Caesars and a rocket. Chappy said the rocket was excellent. The Caesar dressing to me needed a bit more anchovy, but was very tasty regardless. Next was a pasta course. We all had the Sicilian spaghetti with the burratta cheese. The tomato sauce had a nice hint of spice. Lovely. For the mains, we had a) mussels, in a spicy tomato sauce (Chappy said excellent); MrBang had wild boar in a cocoa sauce (melt in your mouth goodness, I had a piece); and c) black olive encrusted red snapper over acid-washed potatoes: inspired, is all I can say about that (I still dream about it LOL). The owner kept extremely unobtrusively coming over and checking on us. The rest of the service was absolutely perfect. Things happened (plates cleared, wine refilled) and you did not notice they were happening. It did not hurt that the gal waiting on us could have been a Miss Thailand contender! Yowza. Stunningly cute. We all agreed that this is what a restaurant should be: we all like to cook, but could not begin to figure out how any of that was made! MrBang ordered a creme brule, cuz he can never pass it up. When it arrived, it was wrong. The crust too hard and the creme too watery. The owner came over, and before MrBang could say anything he said "Oh...that's wrong; let me get you a new one." Service, baby! As we were finishing our espressos, the owner came over and offered us a grappa or a limoncello, gratis. This is a slow food place. They say so on the menu. We got there about 1945 and did not leave until 2200. We never felt rushed -- they appear to do only one sitting a night. You just could not have a better experience. And it is repeatable -- I've been to a private party there and another dinner. Exactly the same. As one would expect, perfection is not cheap. But it is not expensive either, especially as compared to a dinner like that in NYC or Tokyo or Roma. Total bill for all that, out the door with the wine & 10% tip was B10.2k. Worth every satang. And then some. Cheers, SD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samak Posted November 19, 2008 Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 have been there a couple of times; first time around 3 years ago. they are number one in LOS for italian cold cuts (prosciuto, salami, mortadella, salsiccia etc.) and cheese. they have one of the largest and best selection of wines. kitchen is good, but not always stable. I would not rate it as number one italian kitchen in Thailand but among the 10 best! and yes slow food is a very appropriate description! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.. Posted November 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 I've only been going this calendar year, but my experience had been very repeatable. I'll stick by the best in LoS IMHO. Cheers, SD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rchapstick Posted November 19, 2008 Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 Got to concur with Suadder's review. It was a memorable meal all around. I was very impressed with the wines. I don't know Italian wines at all, but ~1800 baht per bottle for the two we had were excellent values. Service was topnotch. Yes it was slow, but very appropriate for this restaurant. Wine and water glasses were always kept filled, and the owner kept a watchful eye on things without being overly intrusive. The food really was outstanding on all fronts. Not exactly for the faint of heart price-wise, but a good value for what it offered, IMHO. Thanks for the write-up SD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Munchmaster Posted November 19, 2008 Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 I'm surprised you went to an expensive restaurant with that bad cold of yours! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samak Posted November 19, 2008 Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 it is not really expensive, Munchie! real value for money in comparison to the roof top restaurants Sirocco or Vertigo, Oriental's Normandie and Shangri La's Angelini! and a good italian red wine is a good medicine against a cold! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Munchmaster Posted November 19, 2008 Report Share Posted November 19, 2008 What I meant was, you don't normally go to a good restaurant when you have a bad cold as you can't appreciate the taste of the food properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.. Posted November 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2008 I went long before I had the cold. I'm just late in putting up the review. Cheers, SD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dumsoda Posted November 20, 2008 Report Share Posted November 20, 2008 ...know a girl like that.... she's really 'hangin'...to be "Late"...... Hmmmmm cheers DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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