Seasoned Bangkokians will remember with a wince the state of Italian food in the city only a decade or two ago. Crusts were very much stuffed, al dente was a term used to describe the state of your scooter following a spill, and parmesan came in packets from Big C, not blocks from Lenzi.
If you wanted a ragu alla Bolognese, you were better off finding familiarity in a scoop of nam prik ong. The Pizza Company, of course, reigned supreme, and with the exception of a few stalwart eateries flying the flag along the lanes of Lumpini, things were, to put it mildly, bleak for Italophiles.
How times have changed. Bangkok now boasts some of the best Italian restaurants this side of Ontranto, with the list of genuinely excellent ones growing with each passing Songkran. This has made the job of narrowing things down extra tough, but we’ve slurped all the spaghetti, necked all the negroni, and buried all the bresaola (it’s a hard life…) to bring you this; our guide to the best Italian restaurants in Bangkok.
Appia, Sukhumvit
Ideal for Roman trattoria vibes in the heart of Bangkok…
We had to start here, at Appia, a faithfully recreated Roman trattoria which genuinely wouldn’t look (or taste) out of place in the Eternal City.
Opened in Sukhumvit in 2013 with chefs Jarret Wrisley and Roman-born Paolo Vitaletti at the helm, the restaurant truly is a love letter to Italy’s capital, with the Big Four pasta dishes so associated with the city all present and correct here. In fact, all present and utterly delicious here might be a more apt description.
Read: Exploring Rome by numbers
True to the unwavering ethos of the Italian cooking sensibility, a deep respect for ingredients and sourcing (Vitaletti is the son of a butcher) is clear in everything Appia does, whether that’s in the exquisite range of affettati made especially for the restaurant by the Cocchia family just north of Rome, or in the signature porchetta, which you’ll see gently rotating on a spit behind the bar each evening. Let us tell you; that is one inviting sight…
Also found on the business side of the bar, the wine list is extensive and keenly priced, with the guys behind Appia owning a vineyard back in Italy and the list brimming with small-scale, largely organic producers. These connections make the wine here surprisingly reasonable, when you consider Bangkok wine prices more generally – you’ll find a large glass of full bodied Montepulciano clocking in at under 300 Baht.
In short, if you’re to go to one Italian restaurant in Bangkok, make it Appia.
Address: 20/4 Soi Sukhumvit 31, Klongton Nua Watthana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand
Website: appia-bangkok.com
Peppina, Sukhumvit
Ideal for AVPN-approved pizza…
Onwards and upwards, in search of arguably Italy’s greatest culinary export, pizza.
We’re dining on Bangkok’s best version at Peppina (from the team behind Appia, incidentally), which was earlier this month named the best pizzeria in Thailand at the 50 Top Pizza Asia-Pacific awards.
Here, it’s real-deal Neapolitan pizzas, with authenticity the driving force behind the restaurant group’s continued success. In fact, Peppina is Southeast Asia’s only AVPN certified, Neapolitan-style pizzeria, with a fine selection of both traditional pizzas and some more inventive numbers (scamorza, zucchini and black mint, anyone?) making the restaurant a crowd-pleaser even for the more fussy, tradition-fearing eaters in your group.
Though it’s certainly most famous for its pizzas, the pasta at Peppina is excellent, too. Their house favourites, which include an excellent vongole veraci and a paccheri pasta with slow cooked pork cheek ragu, are both well worth the visit, even if pizza isn’t your thing.
Basically, if you’re not happy here, you need to take a long, hard look at yourself. You’ll be pleased to hear that Peppina’s restrooms have rather striking mirrors…
Address: 27/1 Sukhumvit 33 Alley, Khlong Toei Nuea, Watthana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand
Facebook: Peppina
L’Oliva, Sukhumvit
Ideal for bold and gutsy Abruzzese dishes…
Tucked away just off Thong Lor BTS, L’Oliva promises an authentic regional Italian dining experience not often found in this part of the world; a celebration of the cuisine and culinary traditions of Italy’s Abruzzo region.
Opened by Nicolino Pasquini, a native of Lanciano in Abruzzo, in late 2019, this “Italian oasis” (his words) offers a diverse menu that is characterised by its mix of coastal and mountainous ingredients indigenous to the region that lies just to the north-east of Rome, many of which are shipped in weekly especially for the restaurant.
It’s a beautiful room to sink into on the balmiest of Bangkok days, all floor to ceiling windows on one side and floor to ceiling wine walls on the other, with the AC pitched at a perfect 25°C rather than the oppressive, increasingly omnipresent sub twenties of many of Bangkok’s restaurants. That said, if you’re craving a little heat, L’Oliva also has an agreeable terrace outback and on top.
Back in the room and there’s a rustic charm beyond those wine walls, which are admittedly very well stocked indeed, with Pasquini’s wife’s artwork bringing vivacity to the dining room and a live pianist performing throughout the day, every other day.
Perhaps the standout dish is the chitarra al ragu’ Abruzzese, where hand-cut pasta made using a traditional Chitarra is paired with a robust tomato ragù of veal, lamb, and pork. The pasta itself is gorgeous – thick, bouncy and properly al dente, with the sauce clinging on for dear life as you slurp.
L’Oliva also takes pride in its gently inventive pizza offerings. The mortadella e pistacchio pizza is a highlight, featuring a hand-tossed sourdough crust topped with zucchini cream sauce, fior di latte mozzarella, mortadella shaped into pretty petals, mascarpone, crushed pistachio nuts, and rocket leaves. The crusts arrive almost comically canotto, promising a light, digestible dough. And so it delivers. This is a fine pizza and a fine restaurant indeed, and a welcome expression of an Italian region a little less explored in Bangkok’s ever evolving dining scene.
Website: lolivabkk.com
Address: Soi 36 Subsoi 2, Khwaeng Khlong Tan, Khet Khlong Toei, Bangkok 10110, Thailand
La Dotta, Sukhumvit
Ideal for quick and delicious pasta…
On those rare occasions in the world’s greatest city when you’re not in the mood for quick kanom jeen, yen ta fo, pad grapao et al, there are few places better to spend a long and leisurely lunch than sat at La Dotta’s convivial counter.
The proposition at this acclaimed pasta bar is simple, which can be a relief in a city so blessed with remarkable food options, and that’s – drum roll please – fresh pasta.
Rolled fresh every day, there are ten or so pasta dishes on the menu (plus a couple of starters and desserts) and that’s it, with the clarity of this vision letting the star of the show do all the talking.
Should you wish to have the decision making streamlined further, La Dotta’s ‘smart lunch’ offer of a starter, pasta and dessert for under 500 baht is a steal. That said, the whole menu is worth investigating; if the signature pappardelle with razor clams and broad beans is on the menu, do not miss it.
If you find yourself as enamoured with the cooking here as us, you’ll be pleased to hear that the restaurant has a grocery store, selling their signature sauces and dried pastas for you to lovingly recreate at home.
And, to top it all off, they’ll even let you have a cappuccino after your lunch…. Well, we did say it was convivial.
Address: Thong Lo 9 Road, 161/6 ซอย ทองหล่อ 9 Khlong Tan Nuea, Bang Na, Bangkok 10110, Thailand
Website: ladotta.co
La Bottega Di Luca, Sukhumvit
Ideal for premium imported Italian ingredients treated with respect…
From the humble proposition of fresh pasta perched at a bar to something all the more indulgent…
At La Bottega Di Luca, on Sukhumvit 49, the focus falls on luxury ingredients served on a gorgeous open-air terrace (well, not on the terrace, but rather, on plates) with chef Luca Appino (formerly of the city’s revered Enoteca) coaxing quiet alchemy from a string of both imported Italian D.O.P ingredients and premium produce from France, Japan, Australia and beyond.
So, that’s Hawaiian amberjack crudo or foie gras with pistachio and pistachio to start, followed by tagliolini served with Brittany lobster, and a headliner of wagyu tomahawk, naturally. The wine list is, unsurprisingly, vast and effusive.
Yes, we said it’s indulgent, but if you’re looking for a blowout in the City of Angels, La Bottega Di Luca is one hell of a treat.
Or, to experience chef Appino’s cooking (or, at least, his recipes) in more street level surrounds, look out for his Pizza Massilia food truck, which can even be booked for private events and parties.
Address: Terrace 49 Building Terrace 49 2nd fl, Soi Sukhumvit 49, Watthana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand
Website: www.labottega.name
Via Emilia, Sathorn
Ideal for the famed dishes and hospitality of the Emilia Romagna region…
Next up we’re heading to the city’s Sathorn district, to Via Emilia, which aims to faithfully recreate the food and hospitality of Italy’s famous Emilia Romagna region, all in the heart of Bangkok. It’s pure escapism, and sometimes, after a hectic and hot day here, it’s just the kind of place you want to sink into.
Though this tribute to a region that encompasses the foodie meccas of Bologna, Modena and Parma focuses on all the main food groups (pasta, risotto, cheese, salami… You get the jist), the pizzas at Via Emilia certainly aren’t an afterthought.
Made in the Bolognese style (no, not topped with ragu, but rather, with a thin base and crisp crusts), the dough is naturally leavened and left to ferment for 72 hours, resulting in an enjoyable lightness and depth of flavour. The parma ham and burrata version, the latter added fridge-cold once the pizza is cooked and subsequently as refreshing as it comes, exemplifies this light touch. Delicious.
That said, it’s for the strozzapreti con le canocchie that we keep returning to Via Emilia – hand twisted pasta with mantis shrimps in tomato sauce, and just about as decadent tasting as it comes. The tagliatelle positively brimming with shellfish isn’t half bad, either.
Address: 1040 Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra 17, Lane 5, Thung Maha Mek, Sathon, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10120, Thailand
Facebook: viaemiliabangkok
Il Bolognese, Sathorn
Ideal for Italian comfort food in escapist surroundings…
Speaking of nominally regional Italian restaurants that do a mean pizza, Il Bolognese is – and does – just that.
This trattoria has been a stalwart of the Bangkok dining scene for over a decade, knocking out Italian comfort food, top-notch pizza, pasta, risotto and the rest, and pouring very drinkable claret to the weary masses, all in an elegant dining room that feels like a film set, so faithfully furnished it is.
In fact, the menu at Il Bolognese isn’t particularly focused on the food of Bologna, but it does have a hearty, healthy Northern Italian accent, and it’s these dishes on which you should lean. The ossobucco alla Milanese is particularly luxurious whilst the porcini-stuffed ravioli – generously lathered in a brooding truffle sauce – is a decadent affair, indeed. Sure, you may need to be carried out afterwards (or, more likely, slung on the back of a Honda Wave), but it will all be worth it.
A final word on the beer. The Peroni on draft here pulls off a trick rarely found in the kegs and beer taps of Bangkok; it’s neither flat nor is it eggy, instead being properly effervescent. And that’s reason alone to visit, we think.
Address: 139/3 ถนนสาทรใต้ ซอย 7 แขวงทุ่งมหาเมฆ เขตสาทร Bangkok 10120, Thailand
Website: ilbolognesebangkok.com
Gianni Ristorante, Lumphini
Ideal for a taste of Bangkok’s first Italian fine dining restaurant…
We couldn’t write an article on where to find the best Italian restaurants in Bangkok, fine or humble, without mentioning the esteemed Gianni Ristorante.
Chef Gianni Favro has been cooking refined Italian food in Bangkok for almost three decades, which makes him one of the doyens of the cuisine in this part of the world, make no mistake.
At his restaurant, now in a new home full of brightness and brio in the Athenee Hotel on Wireless Road, the plates follow a fine dining formula without feeling stuffy or superfluous. As always, it’s the ingredients that do the talking, whether that’s in the signature beef rossini or the chef’s masterful shellfish risotto.
Service here is particularly attentive, in a starched-white table cloth kind of way, but sometimes, after a string of meals spent slurping noodles on stools, there’s nothing better than getting the five star treatment under some equally gustful AC.
So, if it’s old school Italian you’re after, with heritage, history and a keen sense style, you’ll find it at Gianni’s.
Address: Athenee Tower, Ground Floor, Unit D 63 Wireless Rd, Lumphini, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
Website: giannibkk.com
Nonna Nella By Lenzi, Lumphini
Ideal for the freshest of ingredients in a light and breezy dining room…
As we near the end of our list and legs begin to tire, you’ll be glad to hear that it’s only the very briefest of walks along Wireless Road from Gianni’s to our next entry, Nonna Nella By Lenzi.
Whilst the older sibling of the restaurant group at Lenzi Tuscan Kitchen is no doubt an excellent restaurant, it’s the charming new addition to the family over at Nonna Nella that we’re particularly enamoured with.
Named after chef Francesco Lenzi’s grandmother, this casual sister (enough with the extended family tree metaphor) restaurant is an open, welcoming space that focuses on the deli side of things; everywhere you turn produce hangs from the ceiling and adorns the walls, and it’s difficult to leave without a paper bag full of goodies under your arm.
Unsurprisingly, then, and without wishing to repeat ourselves, it’s the quality of the ingredients here that sets Nonna Nella apart. All the hams and cheeses are produced on chef Lenzi’s farm, and other ingredients such as the tomatoes for the superb pizzas are 100% organic and hand-selected by the chef himself.
Those pizzas, by the way, boast a thinner, crisper crust than their Neopotlian counterparts, and are generously adorned with that excellent produce from the Lenzi family farm. Also excellent are the salads, which are light, plump and verdant, and almost as refreshing on a balmy Bangkok day as the city’s beloved som tam. Almost.
Address: 83, ออล ซีซั่นส์ เพลส, 20 Wireless Rd, Lumphini, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
Website: nonna-nella.com
Antito, Sathorn
Ideal for a flamboyantly porcine spread…
And finally, as we run out of both appetite and adjectives, to Antito, one of the newest – and best – additions to the Bangkok dining scene.
The menu at this flamboyantly-hued restaurant trots the entirety of Italy, both in the sense it covers various regional cuisines and in that it focuses heavily on the more porcine culinary traditions of the country.
On our last visit we particularly loved the ‘pork chop pizzaiola’, which was a bashed and breaded affair bathing in a rich tomato sauce and covered in a blistered, hard Swiss-style cheese, Lo Doi Pao, which is lovingly created using cow’s milk from Chiang Mai.
Don’t miss Antito’s pizza fritta, either, which manages a lightness only found in the very best streetfront stalls of Naples. The sweet versions topped with the restaurant’s signature gelato are a real treat!
Address: 33 โรงแรมอีสติน แกรนด์ ชั้น14 1 S Sathon Rd, Yan Nawa, Sathon, Bangkok 10120, Thailand
Facebook: antitobangkok
And with that dessert, we’ve found the perfect way to round off our list of Bangkok’s best Italian food. Now, we need a bit of a lie down and to ponder tomorrow’s lunch. We’re thinking Southern Thai food in Bangkok.