Chiang Mai’s artisan gelato: The fabulous Jenny’s Ice Cream

Opened back in September 2019, Jenny’s Ice Cream has been an instant hit. Be it the charisma of the owner Jenny Sun or just the original and tasty flavors, this gelato parlor is a step ahead of the competition (and sadly in Chiang Mai there is a lot of ice cream, but not that good, certainly not real gelato).

The visit

I followed the recommendation of a local former ice cream maker and tried the place that defines itself Italian artisan gelato with Thai twist and is located close to the popular Tha Phae Gate.

It was a narrow and long space, partially shared with another company. I visited it in February 2020. I am aware that shortly after it undertook a renovation.

The centerpiece of the shop was the counter with twelve flavors (the limited number is a good sign of an artisan process behind). Along with classics like vanilla and chocolate (and the omnipresent matcha), there were a number of flavors based on Thai ingredients like coconut lemongrass, guava, and mango.

I went for one of their signature flavors, Thai Jasmine, and a classic strawberry. The flavors were very distinct. Especially the jasmine flavor really came out. It was less creamy than other artisan gelato I am accustomed to, but still excellent.

The almond cones should not be missed. Just have multiple scoops nicely stacked on a cone for an Instagram picture.

The check

Two scoops were 240 THB (around 7.5 USD). As a comparison, at 7 Senses gelato two scoops (bigger than these) at that time cost 159 THB and at Seasons ice cream just 70 THB. Still, its unique take on artisan gelato may justify the premium.

Where in Chiang Mai:
47/2 Mun Mueang Rd, Phra Sing, Mueang Chiang Mai.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jennysicecream.

Italian restaurants run by Italians in Chiang Mai

During my time in Chiang Mai in early 2020, I tried several Italian restaurants run by Italians (not necessarily always in the kitchen though… but you would hope that they at least provided some good training). Here’s a selection in no particular order.

Why Not

Located in the fancy Nimman area, but surprisingly not overpriced, Why Not is admittedly one of my favorite Italians in Chiang Mai and has a full review. Great pastas, great specials, amazing cold cuts and cheese; I would prefer these over their pizza. The tiramisu is superb. The environment casual, but modern and there is also a large garden for al fresco dining.

Address in Chiang Mai: 14 Nimmanhemin Road. – Soi 13.

Secret Learning Italian Restaurant

Located inside the Old City in an area that I would describe as as backpacker district in the making, this is a little cosy restaurant. It is only open after 6pm and serves a concise menu comprising mostly pastas, some salads, some appetizers (the Caprese salad looked good). The vibe is very informal: it is like dining in the cook’s living room. He is Italian and he will cook your pasta. I had a majestic bruschetta and their special pasta with homemade pesto and other secret ingredients and it was good.

Address in Chiang Mai: 25/1 Ratvithi Rd. Soi 2T. Sri Phum. 

Casa Restaurant and Pizzeria

Casa is an Italian restaurant in the Old City run by an Italian from Rome. When I visited I had to order something from his region and I went for Amatriciana pasta. It was very good and a big portion. It was also the only restaurant in Chiang Mai were I found a cutlet (with chicken, not the traditional veal though). It is a simple shop. Food seems authentic and solid. Read the menu for a long list of rules about Italian food. And if you try to charge your phone on an electric outlet in the shop, you will get fined 200 THB.

Address in Chiang Mai: 224 Ratchapakinai.

Giorgio Ristorante Italiano

Giorgio Italian Restaurant, is owned by Giorgio, an Italian chef from Vicenza, and open since 2001. The menu features a number of items from his region that are not often seen in Italian restaurants abroad. Very extensive menu. I went for pumpking raviolis (I wish the flavor had emerged more distinctly) and a seabass in a herb sauce (quite good). I was welcomed with a bruschetta (amuse bouche) and the bread basket was complimentary (the only Italian restaurant, along with the sister property Antonio, offering it free of charge among the ones visited in Chiang Mai). The environment really looked like an old-school Italian restaurant.

Address in Chiang Mai: 2/6 Prachasamphan Rd.

Antonio Ristorante Italiano

Antonio is also owned by Giorgio (but different name…) and is located in the ground floor of a villa with a spacious lawn (from November to February al fresco dining is possible). It is more intimate than Giorgio, but honestly very similar. I did not notice major differences in the menu. I had an heavy but delicious pasta with sausage and gorgonzola cheese and a seabass with herbal sauce (same as the one I had from Giorgio). Also here bread basket and an amuse bouche were complimentary.

Address in Chiang Mai: 11/1 Charoenprathet 12 Rd.

My favorite Italian restaurant in Chiang Mai: Why Not

It is not easy to find a good Italian restaurant in Asia. To my amazement I found a very good one in Chiang Mai, it is called Why Not and is located in Nimman area. I visited several times during my time in Chiang Mai at the beginning of 2020.

The visit(s)

The restaurant is located in Soi Nimman 13 (see picture above), but there is an entrance also from Soi Nimman 11 where there is a garden with al fresco dining. The place is usually busy for dinner, but I never had a problem finding a table.

The indoor dining room is modern and comfortable.

What I immediately loved about the restaurant was the display with Italian cheese and cold cuts (and some French and Spanish). That was an amazing selection, including many kinds of cold cuts that have seldom seen outside Italy, like Lardo di Colonnata, Strolghino, Soppressata… And you can order individual items in 30 grams or 100 grams portions.

The beauty above was a selection of coppa d testa (100 grams) and lardo di Colonnata (30 grams).

In my first visit I had their standard cheese and cold cuts platter that was fully satisfying: ham, mortadella, various kinds of salami, three types of cheese and even some olives made this platter suitable for three people. Very good value by the way.

On this occasion I also had another tasty appetizer, sausage with red wine sauce.

I tried many pasta dishes over several visits and they are all excellent and generously sized. In the picture above you can see the “fusillotti piccanti” a type of pasta with spicy sausage.

I finished with a iced-shaken ice cream. This was a bit under my expectations (maybe I picked the wrong flavor, I think there was some misunderstanding), but the other desserts are all great, I recommend the tiramisu and the chocolate mousse.

On another occasion I tried the classic carbonara that was really authentic.

The pappardelle (wide pasta) with duck ragout that I had on another occasion have my recommendation.

And I had a veal scaloppina with ham. This dish was also a bit under my expectations, but something to enjoy as not easy to find outside Italy.

I have been back so many times and always found new delicious dishes. Some home run were found in the “specials” list, for example a pasta with burrata and sausage (picture above) or an oven-cooked codfish. Also their pizza is legit, but it did not impress me.

The check(s)

The first check for what was a massive dinner was 1043 THB (33 USD). Considering just the cheese and cold cut platter, this was good value for money.

A check for a pasta and a “secondo” (meat dish) was 620 THB (around 20 USD). Again, I cannot complain about the check. And you are in Nimman, one of the most expensive areas in Chiang Mai.

Where in Chiang Mai:
14 Nimmanhemin Road. – Soi 13 (also entrance from Soi 11).
Webiste: https://whynotchiangmai.com.

Possibly the best ice cream in Macau: Lemoncello Gelato

Honestly, this is the only ice cream I tried in Macau. It is hailed as the best by many websites and it is even recommended by the Michelin Guide. I did like it.

The visit

I visited the main shop of Lemoncello Gelato (sometimes referred as Lemon Cello) on a Sunday evening. It is near Cathedral Square and Senate Square. Other outlets are in the ground floor of Lisboa Tower and in Taipa village.

They have a nice spread of flavors that are made fresh daily.

I tried their Ferrero Rocher flavor that was outstanding. It really tasted like the Italian chocolate candy. My friend had a sweet grapefruit that was also very good.

I am not sure this ice cream can qualify as gelato, but it is thoughtfully made.

This is the story… in Chinese.

The check

Two flavors cup or cone cost 40 MOP (5 USD). Honest.

Where in Macau:
6 Tv. do Bpo (Main shop).

An evening celebrating Leonardo Da Vinci at Va Bene in Shanghai (closed)

An Italian friend of mine invited to a dinner organized by the Association of Italian Academics in China and the Shanghai chapter of the Italian Cuisine Academy in an Italian restaurant in Shanghai, Va Bene, to celebrate Leonardo Da Vinci. 2019 marks five centuries from the death of this boundless genius.

The dinner menu was designed by the chef of Va Bene and inspired by Leonardo and his time. Before the dinner proper, an Italian professor based in China, Andrea Baldini, spoke about Leonardo and his relation with food. There was a lot to be said. I am reporting what I heard from the professor. (He also framed his remarks within the context of creativity theory, but I will skip on this aspect since the focus here is food.)

To begin with, Leonardo is believed to have invented the saffron rice, a typical dish from Milan. While working for Milanese and French royalty, Leonardo was often involved in the organization of banquets and he invented a number of tools to expedite the work in the kitchen, including some pasta grinding machine. Leonardo was very much interesting in what we call today “plating”, that is the aesthetic presentation of food. He even started his own restaurant in Florence in cooperation with another illustrious artist, Sandro Botticelli. It was specializing in frogs, but it did not survive long (perhaps being ahead of his time). The table napkins are another invention ascribed to Leonardo.

The president of the Shanghai chapter of the Italian Cuisine Academy tried to argue that Leonardo may have been the illigimate son of a Tuscan nobleman and an Asian slave. So chances are that Leonardo was half Chinese! But do not quote me on this.

The dinner

The dinner and the presentations took place in the Va Bene restaurant in Xiantindi. They prepared an impressive table occuppying the all length of the dining room located on the second floor of a traditional shikumen house.

The dinner started with three type of canapes: cucumber with delicious cream cheese, lemon and mint; a creamy cod puree on a crispy semolina cracker; a small pastry filled with lamb ragout and cinnamon. I think they did a very good job with these amuse bouche.

The break basket was also there.

The appetizer platter included three items: chicken liver pate in a sourdough bread “oreo” with some orange jelly (top); a classic bruschetta with a piece of finocchiona (a type of Tuscan salami), Parmesan cheese foam and onion jam (creating an interesting mix of sweet and sour, pictured on the left); a fantastic porcini mushroom flan with sweat garlic cream on top (right). I appreciated the creativity of these appetizers and how the references to Tuscany and flavors of another time were gradually introduced.

The first main (“primo”) was the classic saffron risotto with a boost of bone marrow. This dish could not be missed since Leonardo is believed to be the father of this quintessential Milanese risotto. It was very good, I would say perfectly executed.

The second main (“secondo”) was a very inventive dish: roasted pork filled with beef, figs, and foie gras in a sauce made with egg yolk cream and anchovy mayonnaise. Two small boiled chestnuts completed the ensemble. This dish was inspired by a popular practice in banquets at the time of Leonardo that we might call “recursive filling”: the idea of filling a type of meat with another type of meat also filled with a third element. Strangely I did not find the dish very flavorful, but I really appreciated the inventiveness.

Before the dessert, we were offered pecorino cheese (both spicy and sweet) with fruit mustard. The cheese and mustard were excellent.

The dessert included a glass of vin santo, a typical dessert wine from Tuscany.

The dessert was one of my favorite dishes because it was delicious and made full use of the ingredients and cooking style of five hundred years ago. It was a very soft bread cake with raisins, Elderflower rosemary with almond milk.

Wines were a big part of the dinner with a selection from Tuscany and Lombardy, the two Italian regions more connected with Leonardo.

The check

The price of the dinner was 700 RMB. I wish there was a price for people like me that did not drink wine. Not a cheap dinner, but I appreciated all the organization and creativity behind. Certainly I do not regret attending and learning more about Leonardo Da Vinci in the kitchen.

Where in Shanghai:
Xintiandi, 2/F, North Block,
Lane 181 Taicang Lu.
In Chinese: 太仓路181号2楼新天地北里, 近马当路.

Venue closed in early 2020.

Yummy Italian comfort food at 365º Neapolitan Pizza in Thao Dien

During my summer 2019 trip to Ho Chi Minh City I was invited for lunch to 365º Neapolitan Pizza in Thao Dien. The good went beyond my expectations. The owner is Vietnamese and this eatery is part of a wave if Italian restaurant started by Vitnamese in Ho Chi Minh City. This is actually a positive development. While you may not expect the authenticity of Italian-run restaurants like Into the Kitchens (or Romeo and Juliet on the very high end), some of these restaurants is actually pretty good and shows how the restaurant scene has developed and become more international, with many locals becoming passionate about foreign cuisines and learning the skills.

The visit

We were seated in an air-conditioned room that we had all for ourselves

After we placed our order the dishes started to come very quickly. The service was very attentive throughout the meal. The first dish was an appetizer, a delicious tuna carpaccio.

Another appetizer was a dish of deep fried calamari.

Then we had three types of pasta. An excellent porcini risotto. Porcini is the most popular mushroom in Italian cuisine.

A pasta with a massive lamb chop.

Finally we shared two pizzas. One was a margarita with basil leaves that is their signature.

The second pizza had a generous topping of sausage and artichoke. The pizzas were good, baked in the oven with a nice crispy crust.

Finally we were offered a scoop of ice cream.

The check

No check because I was treated by my two hosts (not related to the restaurants)! I think the prices are reasonable and they also are present on delivery platforms. I enjoyed the great company I had during the meal and the yummy Italian food that was served in a friendly atmosphere.

Final note: when I was in Saigon I noticed they were also operating a food truck nearby on Xuan Thuy street.

Where in Ho Chi Minh City:
50 Ngo Quang Huy Thao Dien.

Curated Italian cuisine at Into the Kitchens in Ho Chi Minh City (closed)

During my summer 2019 trip to Ho Chi Minh City I was recommended to check out a new Italian eatery in District 1 called Into the Kitchen, started by the former Italian chef of a high-end restaurant in town.

The visit

I went to the restaurant for a late dinner.

The restaurant is located inside a courtyard.

It is a casual restaurant including a bar.

They gave me a complimentary basket of flat-bread with a nice tomato sauce dip. My order was handled by a very professional Vietnamese young lady that knew about Italian cuisine and service.

The menu was intriguing. Instead of the classic headings (appetizers, mains, pasta, etc.) they had the dishes mixed in different categories such as hearty food, Mediterranean and veggies, from the sea, from the grill, etc. A lot of meat is available, including an interesting veal skirt and baked pumpkin flowers.

I had their pici (a type of eggless pasta you do not find often in Asia) with duck ragout. I enjoyed very much! This type of pasta has a velvety texture that makes it very distinct.

As I was still unsatisfied by the cockerel that I had at Quince, I ordered their rotisserie baby chicken (a whole one). It was marinated and rubbed with honey and ginger. It came with roasted potatoes and chily gravy. It was excellent (even if my best chicken of the summer was the one in Chiang Mai).

The check

The check was 610,000 VND (or 26 USD). I cannot complain. Everything from the food to the service was to my satisfaction. Definitely a place to visit again.

Where in Ho Chi Minh City:
158/5 Nguyễn Công Trứ
Visit their Facebook page to see the menu.

Update 2020: sadly the restaurant is now closed. The chef moved on and took up a position at the Caravelle Hotel.

Because brunch at Aqua restaurant in Hong Kong

I had had a dinner at Aqua restaurant 15 years ago. It may have had a different name, but the concept was the same as today: Italian and Japanese food under one roof. They are my favorite cuisines, so it seemed a good idea to go back at least once. I went for brunch on a Sunday in June 2019 that they call “Because”. Why I cannot say.

The visit

The restaurant is located on the 29th and 30th floor of One Peking, a skyscraper on 1 Peking street in Kowloon. It sports a beautiful view of Victoria harbor.

The brunch started with a dish of Italian cold cuts and roasted vegetables. Quite good.

There was also a bread basket with a nice hummus dip. It was not replenished during the meal though.

The second appetizer was a generous portion of burrata cheese. Also very good.

They had a station where the burrata was prepared on the spot.

One oyster.

More sashimi: botan ebi, salmon, hamachi, kampachi, a futomaki roll. Good quality. I am not sure that they also included the diced tuna with caviar that was included on the menu (I am noticing this only now that I am writing the review).

Then there was a truffle risotto with Grana Padano cheese. This tasted a bit weird, too sour. I am not sure if this was the expected taste.

The cheese was grated from a big cheese wheel.

Back to Japanese cuisine, with a pair of pan-fried gyoza. Quite forgettable.

Next was prawn tempura (really basic) and an acceptable lamb chop.

The dessert platter was quite nice, it included also a couple of ice cream scoops.

The check

Final check 647 HKD (82.50 USD). There were some good dishes, but most of them were actually pretty mediocre. So the check is not really justified if not for the view. At least water was included.

I was really hoping Aqua would challenge the law of heights in restaurants: the higher you go, the more expensive the check and worse the food. It is a pity because if they had invested just a little bit on one or two dishes, it could have been a good brunch overall.

Where in Hong Kong:
One Peking Road, TST.
Website: aqua.com.hk.

East meets West at Camillo Lasagneria in Seoul

I ended up eating at Camillo Lasegneria by accident and I was intrigued by its format blending Italian and Korean elements.

The visit

On a Sunday, I reached the restaurant for a late lunch but it was still full. I had to wait 10 or 15 minutes. They had a bench in front of the restaurant for people waiting for their turn. The staff was super friendly, they even offered me a glass of water while I was outside. It was not an issue. Inside there was a long counter that accommodated most of the guests, plus a few tables. It felt to be in a kappo restaurant. The Italian owner was not there, but his staff seemed to know what they were doing.

The menu was quite simple. The main attraction was the lasagna offered in three versions: the classic, chicken, and seafood (chicken and seafood were their own creation, not something you would find in Italy). They also had some other types of pasta.

The lasagna (the classic in the picture) came in a set with some salad, rice, and pannacotta.

I was invited to add some of the lasagna sauce to the rice. This was a nice fusion touch.

I was so pleased that I ordered a second lasagna, a chicken one. This however was a disappointment. The chicken was nicely layered along the other ingredients, but it had cartilages that made it very unpleasant.

The check

The check for two portions of lasagna (one coming in a set) was 29,000 WON (24 USD). It was reasonably priced. Aside for my dislike for the chicken lasagna, the overall experience and the classic lasagna were excellent. It is certainly recommended for something different in Seoul. The owner also operates another Italian restaurant specializing in stews just around the corner.

Where in Soeul:
382-13, Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu.

Italian artisan gelato in Singapore: Alfero

When I learnt that in Singapore there was an Italian ice cream maker, I knew I had to check it out (I already have reviews about Italian gelato in Saigon, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, Guangzhou)

The visit

Unfortunately at the time of my visit Alfero only operated a shop in a residential area off-the-beaten-path. Took me a while to get there and find the place in the courtyard of a residential complex.

Just across the gelato shop there was an Italian restaurant. I bet they were related.

I just ordered a scoop made from a flavor called “Bacio” (“kiss”). Bacio is an an Italian chocolate cookie with the same name (it is famous because it comes with a slip of paper with cheesy quotations about love and life). I must say that I was not particularly impressed, the flavor of the original cookie was hardly there. But this was just one scoop on a random day, so my comment is not necessarily representative of the whole offering.

The brownies also looked very good.

The check

One scoop was 5 SGD (3.60 USD).

I wound not recommend to make the journey just for the ice cream. But if you happen to be around in the area, check it out.

Where in Singapore:
81 Macpherson Ln, Shop #01-37 (look for the building below facing Macpherson street).
Website: www.alferogelato.com.