Tag: pasta

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.

Masterful execution and top-shelf ingredients at Otto e Mezzo Bombana Shanghai, at a price

Bombana is an Italian chef that made it big in Hong Kong: his restaurant in Central has three Michelin stars. From there he has been expanding in Asia: Macau, Beijing (where the restaurant is called Opera), and Shanghai.

I visited a couple of times the Shanghai’s restaurant (two Michelin stars) headed by chef Riccardo to better understand this Italian high cuisine. By the way, “Otto e Mezzo” of course is the title of a famous Fellini’s movie, but references to Fellini seem to end here.

The visit

This review is based on my second visit in April 2019, part of the ongoing Shanghai Michelin Scramble.

I had my reservation through Dining City (very simple) and I headed to the restaurant on a gloomy Sunday evening. It was a pity, because the restaurant also has a nice terrace and balcony on the sixth floor of a renovated building in the now called Rock Bund district.

The restaurant has an elegant dining room with tables reasonably spaced. To avoid bothering other guests I did not take a picture of the room, but you can check the restaurant’s website.

While I was still looking at the menu, I was served a welcome dish with three nibbles: a geometrically audacious pastry with diced salmon, another pastry with a sort of Russian salad, and half a cherry. I thought the staff was too hasty in delivering the plate or maybe it is their style. Apart from this, the service was spotless and all staff spoke English.

The bread basket was a bit underwhelming: white bread with olives, sourdough with sesame and corn bread. The sourdough was almost impossible to chew! Luckily, they also served some Italian grissini that were still warm and very nice.

There was another amuse bouche: a stracchino spuma with peas. The stracchino is an Italian cheese that I had never tried in this preparation that made it incredibly soft. It was a great dish and the peas felt very fresh and full of flavor.

The menu was divided in four sections: appetizers, pasta dishes, mains, and desserts. No appetizer stimulated my interest, but all pasta dishes looked great. I went for the homemade cavatelli (small pasta shells from eggless semolina dough) with seafood. There was king crab meat and two pieces of uni (sea urchin) on top. The dish was excellent.

My main was amadai fillet in a light coconut and shellfish broth with some fresh peas. The cooking fully respected the flavor and texture of the fish that came from Japan. Other mains available were lobster from Brittany, wagyu from Japan, and veal.

I ordered a dessert and before getting there I was offered a palate cleanser in the form of a very elaborated sorbet.

The dessert, called Chocolate Variation, was a small masterpiece. In a perfectlty coreographed presentation, the dish included a round hazelnut “moretto” (a homage to an Italian ice-cream), a scoop of chocolate ice cream, a ball of pistachio rocher (I guess using Ferrero Rocher material to enclose the pistachio) and, finally, two crispy tuilles cannoli with black and white chocolate. That was like a chocolate encyclopedia.

Before leaving, I was offered a final dish with pear jelly, pastry with cream and a “sandwich” with berries.

No wine for me, the still water was a Chinese spring water, Nongfu, that is also the best selling water in China. This came a bit to a surprise, as the water cost me 15 USD, for that money I would have expected some Italian bottled water.

The check

This three-course dinner cost me 1542 RMB or 229.5 USD.

Most appetizers and pasta dishes cost around 50 USD, a main costs around 100 USD and desserts around 30 USD.

All the dishes were perfect (apart from the bread). The ingredients were top of the top, super fresh and genuine. Was this worth the price? I do not think so. After all, these were not particularly innovative dishes, just very well executed dishes. I have no problems spending this kind of money for a meal, but I am seeking something more that I did not get in terms of creativity and surprise.

Where in Shanghai:
6-7/F, 169 Yuanmingyuan Lu
In Chinese: 圆明园路169号协进大楼6-7楼
Website: http://www.ottoemezzobombana.com/shanghai/

Authentic Italian restaurant in Phu My Hung

My assessment is that Ho Chi Minh City is full of Italian restaurants, but Italian food is very scarce. In my February 2019 trip I noticed that places serving questionable pasta mushroomed around the city. A new trend maybe? What is certain is that authentic Italian food is still hard to come by. On the luxury side I keep recommending R&J, but you cannot splurge every day. Hence, finding a mid-range restaurant serving authentic Italian food warrants a review.

The visit

The restaurant is called La Forchetta and is located in Phu My Hung, in the Southern part of Saigon. It is run by an experienced Italian chef and his son. It could be best described as a one-man show.

The restaurant occupies part of the ground floor of a Phy My Hung hotel. Most of the tables are on an open veranda and an air-conditioned dining room is also available. I personally prefer dining in the veranda, even if sometimes mosquitoes can be a bit annoying.

For a small restaurant, the menu is impressively extensive. All Italian classics are there and much more: a long list of pastas, pizzas, meat and seafood mains.


A bread basket is always included in the price.

In one visit I had squid ink raviolis filled with sea bass and coming with a dressing of crab meat. They were handmade by the chef. It was a delicious pasta dish, difficult to find in Italian restaurants abroad.

Then I had an Italian cutlet. While the original Italian cutlet is made with veal as this kind of meat is difficult to come by in Vietnam, this was a generous portion of chicken cutlet.

On a second visit I had a cold meat platter. Very large, it had two types of salamis, hams, bacon, baloney.

Finally I had a dish of spaghetti with sausage, sprouts (usually is nuts, but they were finished on that day, during lunar new year), and cheese.

All the dishes were absolutely authentic and very tasty.

The check

My first meal cost me 370,000 VND (16 USD). The second one cost a little bit more (around 20 USD because of the cold meat platter, check not pictured). I see these prices as very reasonable considering the generous portions and the quality of the offering.

If you are after authentic homemade Italian food in Ho Chi Minh City, La Forchetta is worth a detour.

Where in Ho Chi Minh City:
24(R3-37) Cao Trieu Phat, Hung Gia 3, Tan Phong Ward, Dist.7
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/La-Forchetta-Ristorante-Italiano-1607187852881339/ 

Italian fine dining at its best at Romeo and Juliet (R&J) in Ho Chi Minh City

For years I had a recurring line with friends asking me to comment on Italian food in Saigon: “In Ho Chi Minh City there are a lot of Italian restaurants, but not really Italian food”. The joke illustrated the problem. Even the places run by Italians would be plagued by problems with personnel turnover and I found them very inconsistent and not going beyond the level of everyday cuisine. I can now confidently say that there is an exception to this trend and it is Romeo and Juliet (R&J) lounge and restaurant. And it is not just run-of-the-mill Italian food, but bona fide high cuisine fine dining (a rarity with Italian food in Asia). If you ask me what is my top pick for Italian cuisine in HCMC, R&J is now my answer.

R&J is one of the eateries of the luxury Reverie Hotel located in Times Square, one of Saigon’s iconic buildings, towering on two of the main central thoroughfares, Nguyen Hue and Dong Khoi. It features a heavily baroque dining room, but it is still intimate, with some booths for parties requiring privacy and the furniture is very comfortable.

Behind R&J, The Long and the other eateries of the Reverie and some sister properties there is a team mainly comprised of well-seasoned Italian chefs. Over the years I spoke, more than once, with their director, Giovanni, and I had a chance to speak to the new head chef of R&J, Enrico, that at the time of my visits had just overhauled the menu. Enrico hails from Capri, where he was working in a Michelin-starred restaurant.

The visit(s)

I visited R&J twice in July 2018. On my first visit I opted for one of their two set menus, Juliet. This was a five-course menu and provided a good introduction to the venue. On my second visit, I tested one of their lobster-based seasonal dishes. On both occasions, food and service were outstanding.

Let’s see what I got during the first visit. The service started with the bread basket and an amuse bouche. The bread basket alone is worth the visit! They have half dozen varieties of bread, all based on the Italian tradition, including delicious fritters with seaweed called “zeppoline” in Naples. The amuse bouche was also inspired by the flavors of Naples, admittedly one of the culinary capitals of Italy, and consisted in a bite of amberjack (“ricciola”) surmounted by zucchini and lumpfish roe, cooked in olive oil. Just delicious.

The first dish was a burrata, on a base of tomato jelly and a piece of roasted tomato. Olive oil, oregano and basil completed the presentation. The burrata was imported from Italy and retained all of its flavor.

The second dish was an oyster on crème brûlée and salmon roe in a creamy and succulent fish soup. I wish soup was always so good.

With the third dish, the meal reached its seafood climax with a seafood risotto. This is a traditional Italian dish and there was a lot of seafood including prawns, squid, razor clams, a mussel and a clam.

The fourth dish was a slowly cooked piece of brisket (a cut that is not so common in Italy and it is a favorite of mine). The brisket came with a very rich dressing whose core element was mushrooms.

Finally, a very Italian dessert, a chocolate tortino and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. This kind of cake is served hot and comes with a heart of melting chocolate. I could not ask for a better ending.

The gallery below shows the individual dishes.

On my second visit I ordered à la carte. I wanted to try one of their seasonal dishes based on lobster from Nha Trang, a Vietnamese coastal city. I ordered three dishes.

The amuse bouche was an interesting combination of white asparagus, beef, a quail egg and sea grape. With my first dish, I sampled Vietnamese and French oysters. The French oysters were more meaty but the Vietnamese oysters did not disappoint. If you are hungry for oysters in Vietnam, go local. Then I had their octopus, imported from Japan and pan-seared, enriched by a lemony potatoes salad, salmon roe, and tarragon. Then, my main course was a special type of pasta, called “scialatielli“. This fettuccine-like pasta is typical of modern Campanian cuisine and became popular in the Eighties. Its main characteristic is that is is made with milk instead of eggs and with the addition of basil leaves, extra virgin olive oil and Parmesan cheese. The result is a velvety texture and a melt-in-your mouth effect. Apart from the half lobster, the pasta was prepared according to a modified Nerano recipe (Nerano is a city in Campania, an Italy’s region): basil, zucchini and shallot confit. All in all, this was a majestic lobster pasta dish.

Finally, during my visits, I was offered a chance also to try two other dishes: their lamb and their brand new fagottini. The lamb chop, coming from a fee range farm, was juicy and tasty and came with two potato mille-feuilles and spinach. It is a must-have of the Italian culinary tradition. The fagottini was a brand new dish. Fagottini is a type of filled pasta. In this case filled with lobster meat, dressed with caviar and sea grapes and enriched by asparagus and an extract of prawn. It was an incredibly rich and satisfying dish.

The check(s)

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first five-course dinner cost me 1,370,000 VND (around 60 USD), the second dinner with the lobster pasta cost me 1,492,000 VND (around 65 USD). I only had water, the cost of course can sensibly rise if you like a good wine pairing.

I found the pricing more than reasonable for what I got. In Vietnam this price point can be considered as luxury, but if you look at the wider region (Singapore, Greater China, etc.) this is actually great value for money. All the elements of a great dining experience were there: excellent service (with an Italian professional, Michele, overseeing the staff), comfortable environment, an optimal mix between local and imported top-notch ingredients, an equally optimal mix between creativity and respect for the tradition, masterful presentation of the dishes. This is fine dining at its best.

I have been in many Michelin-starred restaurants around the world. I can confidently say that R&J is on a par with many of the best restaurants I have experienced in my travels. I have to say that luckily the Michelin Guide has not come to Vietnam yet: as a result you can still find a team of chefs like the ones at the Reverie and at R&J that care about a great culinary product and are not just about getting stars from the Guide.

Needless to say, I highly recommend R&J for true high cuisine Italian style, something that you won’t experience anywhere else in Saigon. If you are looking for something more casual, The Long upstairs is also a great option (I recommend their original Naples pizza).

Where in Ho Chi Minh City:
The Reverie Saigon/Times Square Building (level B1), 22-36 Nguyen Hue Boulevard, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1.
You enter through The Long, the bar and restaurant between Times Square and Lucky Plaza (you can access it both from Nguyen Hue and from Dong Khoi).
Check R&J webpage to consult the menu and see what is going on.