Zanotti, Bangkok
“If you go to Zanotti’s, you can forget about other Italian restaurant in Bangkok.”
High praise indeed from my colleague, a Bangkok native and self-professed foodie. And so even before we had left the haze-filled environs of Singapore, I found myself on a crackle-ly telephone line to Zanotti to put down my name for a table and a plate of high expectations. The telephone call did not bode well. The girl on the other end was nice enough and spoke perfectly good English. But the roar of dinner conversation on her end plus the crackling connection on mine (was the haze creeping into the telephone system too?) resulted in the two of us shouting amicably at each other.
“Sorry sir, you say you want semi-freddo?”
“No, I said I’m calling from SINGAPORE.”
And so it came to pass that on a Friday night, our taxi dropped us unceremoniously on Saladaeng Road at the entrance of a dark, empty soi, the kind that always seem to boast either a hidden culinary treasure at the end or a dodgy go-go bar. Zanotti was a short walk down and was housed in a rustic brick house.
Open the doors and you immediately know you have entered an Italian-run establishment. You are greeted with a bar-cum-waiting-area, terracotta tiles and a huge brass plaque of a bull on the floor (in typical macho fashion, stepping on the shiny cojones is considered lucky and renders virility - why no one ever believes stepping on the head gives added intelligence is anyone’s guess), and a conversation din loud enough to drown out a drunk SPG.
As in almost all restaurants in Bangkok, we were met by a cheerful maitre d’ (if only Singapore could learn from this) who led us through the crowded restaurant to our table. The décor was modern classical, brightly lit and comfortable without being too homely, although there was a mandatory baked-bread centrepiece in the shape of the restaurant’s logo. A quick look-over the revealed an international crowd, ostensibly well-heeled and largely English-speaking.
An equally cheerful waitress attended to us, took our bottle of wine (corkage Bh300 or about S$15) and listed the specials of the day. This was what we ordered:
La Grand Humungossimo Big Platter of house appetizers: a selection of warm seafood salad, warm artichoke and parmesan cheese salad, pan-fried foie-gras, grilled vegetable salad, beef carpaccio with rocket leaves
Il “Interesting” ma Superba Handmade tagliolini with porcini mushrooms and mussels
La Stupendissima Roasted Pigeon with Red Wine Reduction
Il Delectissimo Roast Lamb cutlets
La Melt-in-your-mouth Really Really Good Vanilla pannacotta with strawberry coulis
Ok, the silly faux-Italian names are mine entirely, but you get the point. It was quite good. By the way, it’s definitely worth buying your wine at the duty-free before arriving in Thailand, because the alcohol tax there is very high.
The mezze platter was ostensibly on every table in the restaurant (starting at about Bh 350 or S$17 per person). It consisted of small tapa-like plates of various things, all of which were quite delicious. The fresh flavours were alive and sparkling, and the fact that foie gras is included made this irresistible.
Act II was recommended by the waitress; home-made tagliolini in an aglio olio sauce with sautéed slices of porcini mushrooms and - of all things - fresh mussels. This unlikely combination of the forest and the sea turned out to be a highlight, the salty tang of the shellfish nicely seasoning the beefy/woody taste of the porcini. The pasta was as al dente as they come, firmer than what most of us are used to - the centre just past crunchy - but I remember that the Italians actually do like it that way.
For Act III, darkobsidian was cajoled into ordering the pigeon even though he doesn’t particularly like the associated gaminess. What he got was 4 whopping portions of succulent, perfectly roasted birds without a hint of unpleasantness. I opted for the lamb cutlets which came nicely grilled and seasoned on a bed of what can only be described as a potential heart-attack - baby spinach leaves braised in butter - so sinful, but oh so good.
At Zanotti, even if you don’t order dessert - and you’d be silly not to - the waiter brings a plate of pasta ribbons that have been lightly deep-fried and sprinkled with icing sugar. It sounds quite jia lat, but actually it was as light as air and not greasy in the slightest.
Stuffed and verging on tipsy, we still felt obliged to order some kind of sweet, so we settled for the pannacotta. This turned out to be just the right thing - the custard was served free-standing like a jelly, smooth and creamy, while the strawberries provided the sugar fix and sour tang.
I can’t say for certain, as my colleague raved, that Zanotti has the best Italian food in Bangkok. However, as a combination of factors - the atmosphere, the service, the quality of the cooking - all conspire to make this a memorable dining experience.
Somehow we stumbled out to get to Sirocco at the top of the State Tower for the killer view, but we didn’t stay long - to us, the highlight of the evening had already ended.
Zanotti
Reservations recommended
www.zanotti-ristorante.com
High praise indeed from my colleague, a Bangkok native and self-professed foodie. And so even before we had left the haze-filled environs of Singapore, I found myself on a crackle-ly telephone line to Zanotti to put down my name for a table and a plate of high expectations. The telephone call did not bode well. The girl on the other end was nice enough and spoke perfectly good English. But the roar of dinner conversation on her end plus the crackling connection on mine (was the haze creeping into the telephone system too?) resulted in the two of us shouting amicably at each other.
“Sorry sir, you say you want semi-freddo?”
“No, I said I’m calling from SINGAPORE.”
And so it came to pass that on a Friday night, our taxi dropped us unceremoniously on Saladaeng Road at the entrance of a dark, empty soi, the kind that always seem to boast either a hidden culinary treasure at the end or a dodgy go-go bar. Zanotti was a short walk down and was housed in a rustic brick house.
Open the doors and you immediately know you have entered an Italian-run establishment. You are greeted with a bar-cum-waiting-area, terracotta tiles and a huge brass plaque of a bull on the floor (in typical macho fashion, stepping on the shiny cojones is considered lucky and renders virility - why no one ever believes stepping on the head gives added intelligence is anyone’s guess), and a conversation din loud enough to drown out a drunk SPG.
As in almost all restaurants in Bangkok, we were met by a cheerful maitre d’ (if only Singapore could learn from this) who led us through the crowded restaurant to our table. The décor was modern classical, brightly lit and comfortable without being too homely, although there was a mandatory baked-bread centrepiece in the shape of the restaurant’s logo. A quick look-over the revealed an international crowd, ostensibly well-heeled and largely English-speaking.
An equally cheerful waitress attended to us, took our bottle of wine (corkage Bh300 or about S$15) and listed the specials of the day. This was what we ordered:
La Grand Humungossimo Big Platter of house appetizers: a selection of warm seafood salad, warm artichoke and parmesan cheese salad, pan-fried foie-gras, grilled vegetable salad, beef carpaccio with rocket leaves
Il “Interesting” ma Superba Handmade tagliolini with porcini mushrooms and mussels
La Stupendissima Roasted Pigeon with Red Wine Reduction
Il Delectissimo Roast Lamb cutlets
La Melt-in-your-mouth Really Really Good Vanilla pannacotta with strawberry coulis
Ok, the silly faux-Italian names are mine entirely, but you get the point. It was quite good. By the way, it’s definitely worth buying your wine at the duty-free before arriving in Thailand, because the alcohol tax there is very high.
The mezze platter was ostensibly on every table in the restaurant (starting at about Bh 350 or S$17 per person). It consisted of small tapa-like plates of various things, all of which were quite delicious. The fresh flavours were alive and sparkling, and the fact that foie gras is included made this irresistible.
Act II was recommended by the waitress; home-made tagliolini in an aglio olio sauce with sautéed slices of porcini mushrooms and - of all things - fresh mussels. This unlikely combination of the forest and the sea turned out to be a highlight, the salty tang of the shellfish nicely seasoning the beefy/woody taste of the porcini. The pasta was as al dente as they come, firmer than what most of us are used to - the centre just past crunchy - but I remember that the Italians actually do like it that way.
For Act III, darkobsidian was cajoled into ordering the pigeon even though he doesn’t particularly like the associated gaminess. What he got was 4 whopping portions of succulent, perfectly roasted birds without a hint of unpleasantness. I opted for the lamb cutlets which came nicely grilled and seasoned on a bed of what can only be described as a potential heart-attack - baby spinach leaves braised in butter - so sinful, but oh so good.
At Zanotti, even if you don’t order dessert - and you’d be silly not to - the waiter brings a plate of pasta ribbons that have been lightly deep-fried and sprinkled with icing sugar. It sounds quite jia lat, but actually it was as light as air and not greasy in the slightest.
Stuffed and verging on tipsy, we still felt obliged to order some kind of sweet, so we settled for the pannacotta. This turned out to be just the right thing - the custard was served free-standing like a jelly, smooth and creamy, while the strawberries provided the sugar fix and sour tang.
I can’t say for certain, as my colleague raved, that Zanotti has the best Italian food in Bangkok. However, as a combination of factors - the atmosphere, the service, the quality of the cooking - all conspire to make this a memorable dining experience.
Somehow we stumbled out to get to Sirocco at the top of the State Tower for the killer view, but we didn’t stay long - to us, the highlight of the evening had already ended.
Zanotti
Reservations recommended
www.zanotti-ristorante.com