Sometimes when you’re in Bangkok, the need for comfort food strikes. Comfort food is subjective, of course, but for us, it’s often Italian food; warm and hearty, with lots of carbohydrates (hello pizza and pasta, or as we like to call them, mood food).
Indeed, whether it’s a deep ragu that’s been simmered on the stove for hours, a blistered pizza just out of the oven, or a even creamy and dreamy classic tiramisu, the Italians have comfort food down to an artform.
If you’re in the mood for homely Italian food when you’re in the city, look no further than Il Bolognese. 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.
Contrary to what you might think, 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.
The selection of pasta’s here reaches around the regions of Italy. We adore Il Bolognese’s version of linguine alle Vongole, originally from Campania. This clam pasta’s simple majesty gets us every time; briny bivalves, freshly cooked, the crisp acidity of white wine, a touch of chilli and garlic heat, and a slippery emulsified sauce of clam juice clinging to strands of linguine. Our mouths our watering as we write.
On our last visit, we were particularly enamoured with the restaurant’s take on the classic Roman pasta Amatriciana; where a pasta of your choice gets smothered in a lightly spiced tomato sauce with cubes of rich guanciale and tangy Pecorino Romano. Although we have yet to try it, the cappellini al granchio intero (angel hair with whole crab garlic-chilly-oil sauce) comes highly recommended.
The pizzas here are great, too. Indeed, you may well forget you’re in Bangkok during your leisurely lunch here, with the Partenopea pizza (essentially, a margherita) a relative steal at under 400 baht. Whether or not you actually want to forget you’re in one of the world’s most exciting cities is another matter.
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.
Il Bolognese is open daily from 11:30 to 14:30 and 17:30 to 23:00. If you book in advance, ask for a table next to the wood-fired red brick oven, set right up front.
Address: 139/3 ถนนสาทรใต้ ซอย 7 แขวงทุ่งมหาเมฆ เขตสาทร Bangkok 10120, Thailand
Website: ilbolognesebangkok.com
