April 27, 2005

Number 43, Cape House, Soi Langsuan

Number 43,
Cape House,
43 Soi Langsuan
Bangkok 10330
Tel: 02 658 7444

I am always a little suspicious of restaurants that are part of serviced apartments. They are seldom much more than a dubious eatery surviving off the laziness of the people who live in the apartment. Of course in this soi there are enough food options to make certain that the sub-standard has little chance of surviving unless that block is full of limbless sloth’s. So rather than being an ordinary restaurant, Number 43 is a serious Italian operation.

The restaurant features a good food display topped off with some nice high flowers. There is normally some anti pasta dishes displayed here, although I have never actually seen anyone taking from them. There is also a big basket of bread, suggesting that all that good looking bread is made here. It is.

I always get into a muddle with the menu because the anti pasta section starts of by suggesting that everything in that section is a kind of brucceta made with forcacia. In fact it is only the first three items! And as usual I ordered too much and received one of these offerings which was a full round of plain pizza bread with tomato and anchovies in olive oil on the side. Very pleasant, but I fear not as described and certainly not as I expected. The other starter I had was carparccio of beef. I thought a touch too much lemon juice went on mine. My friend had minestrone soup which looked very good.

For mains I as usual avoided all the pizza and pasta options, and since I had feasted too well on starters, decided I would just have a risotto. It was described as coming with saffron and Italian sausage in a Parmesan cheese basket. I had been told the sausages here are home-made and very good. Well they are, and this was a first rate risotto. I really wanted to gobble my way through the entire basket bit but settled for only about half! This was a great dish which showed a lot of attention to detail and skill in the kitchen. The ossobucco of my companion was equally well received.

Yet another very good Italian restaurant in this remarkable soi. I suppose the reality is that in Soi Langsuan there is so much competition, no restaurant can afford to be anything but good.

Posted by Sam at 2:31 PM | Comments (0)

Via Vai on Soi 8 Sukhumvit

Via Vai
25 Sukhumvit Soi 8
Bangkok
Tel: 02 253 1200

A couple of people had told me about this new Italian restaurant near the top of Soi 8, but they had not told me the name. When I finally trundled along I looked at the sign only to exclaim “I know that name!” I thought at first it must be part of a restaurant chain, but then I was chatting to one of the bosses and it all came back. The other Via Vai is in Chaweng high street on Koh Samui, and I have been there.

The Bangkok version is a large restaurant in a purpose-built building with a good little garden area outside. It is by the roadside, but since Soi 8 is a dead-end, the soi gets very little traffic. There are some big overhead fans in the garden area, so it is useable even now in the hot season. I would think in the cool season it would be a good spot in the evening.

The menu is all about pizza and pasta. There are 44 pizza options listed and just to totally confuse us, there are 24 pasta sauces with various different types of pasta, including five fresh pastas as well as several dry versions. I have never been a great pasta person, but I was impressed with the depth and variety on offer. And I suppose a change to any of the pizzas would not be a problem as they are all clearly made to order. I suspect most of the pasta sauces are too. Of course, there are also a good range of starters, some interesting salads, fish and meat options.

To start I opted for the seafood soup. I have a fairly clear idea what I expected but got nothing like it! Not that I am complaining as it was a very pleasant surprise. The soup came in a large oval dish covered with pizza bread. The waitress insisted upon peeling back half the bread to reveal less of a soup and more of a seafood stew. Unlike seafood soup that tends to have a certain thickness to it, this was very light: a broth indeed. However that was more than made up for by the prawns, including one large tiger one, the mussels, the clams and the calamari. I suppose it could almost have been called gumbo. And it was very good and a vast starter.

For a main I had settled on one of those unknown (to me) sauces - Boscaiola - which was described as ham, mushrooms and peas in a creamy sauce. With fresh spinach fettucinni, it was a good mix, even if the portion size was more than adequate. The nice boss person came along to gloat as I was nearing the end. I think he really expected me to be defeated by the various mountains of food I had had. I finished off with a nice little dessert.

This is a friendly Italian diner with good basic food and none of the pretensions of some of their Sukhumvit brothers. And one point of interest is that it is open from midday to midnight, thus suitable for a light lunch or more!

Posted by Sam at 2:22 PM | Comments (1)

Paparazzi, Chateau de Bangkok, Soi Ruamrudee

Paparazzi
Chateau de Bangkok
29 Soi Ruamrudee
Bangkok 10330
Tel: 02 651 4400

I am not sure I would be putting this review on the site if it were not for the fact that Chateau de Bangkok and Paparazzi are operated by Accor. I have a great respect for that company and apart from anything else they will understand any criticism I may make.

Paparazzi is on the first floor of this classy serviced apartment block, and that I think goes a long way to explaining the problems. Clearly this was set up as a top restaurant but I suspect that now the business is not quite what was expected. The result is it is all a bit stale. And to me the main problem was the staff, particularly the guy who served me. He had that supercilious attitude that goes with thinking you are bomb proof and knowing it all anyway. He did nothing wrong just……………………!

The menu is on a clipboard with a fork at the top. A nice gimmick that goes with the mock strip of film that separates the tables. I could not help but reflect that film is now passé, but only a few years ago we were all avidly consuming it. The central part of the restaurant is a serving area with a salad display. However it also looks like it was once a food prep area. The buffet menu is available at 250 Baht and includes the Soup of the Day. There were a fair range of starters without all the usual Italian culprits dominating. However I settled for a go at the salad and that came with corn soup. In a more expansive mood I might have gone for the goose liver.

For mains I was impressed by a couple of dishes. The mare e monti with lamb chop and rock lobster among other ingredients caught my eye and tempted me, but in the end I went for the Cervo ai fungai porchini which was described as roasted loin of venison served with porchini mushroom sauce with polenata and Italian cheese, tomato and onion. This dish persuaded me that Paparazzi is worth a write up. I like game anyway, but this was served pink as requested, the sauce genuine and the polenta with a strong cheese sauce really hit the spot. This was a really pleasant surprise and made me think that the cooking here is of a high standard. Indeed even just the look of the buffet pushed me in that direction.

There was another nice touch in that the wine list was reasonably comprehensive in a limited sort of way. Inevitably it was certainly not cheap. I had a bottle of Muscadet to start with and then noticed on the table a Romanian wine. It was a Muscat priced at 530 Baht. I asked about red and they had a Pinot Noir on display on the next table also at 530 Baht. I ordered that to go with my venison and it did go very well. That is not the first time I have come across cheap Romanian wine in a good restaurant. I do know if the price was to sell it off, it was a 2,000, but I certainly would drink it at a higher price and against several better known (selling) wines.

So my summary is good food, shame about the surroundings, the staff or therefore the atmosphere!

Posted by Sam at 2:13 PM | Comments (1)