My favorite Italian eatery in Bangkok

I love Rossano's. Both the food, the ambience, and the service. I first went there for my dad's birthday last week, and it was so good that I just went back there again for dinner with my dad. Rossano's is owned by the owner of L'Opera--an Italian restaurant in Sukhumvit 39 that has been around since way back when. I have been to L'Opera before, but I wasn't impressed by anything. Neither the food, the decor or the service. So I was pleasantly surprised to see that its sister restaurant has turned out so magnificently.

The private room on the second floor. I love the way the extra long bread sticks in the vase doubled as decorative pieces.

Bronze pots and pans (definitely imported) decorate the high walls. Very creative and adds a nice authentic touch

Rossano's was probably converted from a house, and stepping into the restaurant made me feel like I was stepping into someone's home in Tuscany. The restaurant has a very homey, warm and slightly rustic feel from both its decor and the color scheme of yellow ochre, bronze and dark chocolate.

Anyway, on to the food. The bread basket itself was already impressive. Not just because of the wide variety, but also because of how yummy each of the bread choices was. I personally loved the thin bread crisps the most. They're brushed with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkled with sea salt and thyme, then baked till brittle and crispy.

Next is another one of my favorite salads--Rossano's signature crab meat salad. It's really delicious, but in a very different way than Antonio's rich and creamy mushroom-truffle-gorgonzola salad. This crab meat salad was just very light and bursting with natural freshness from the cherry tomatoes, chilled avocado (the temperature here was the key to making the buttery avocado taste refreshing), and sweet crab meat. The dressing was probably extra virgin olive oil and white wine vinegar. The reduced balsamic vinegar was just drizzled on for an extra kick.

The crab meat salad beautifully plated above. By the way, this was just half the actual serving. My dad told the waitress to divide the salad for us. Imagine if I had to finish the entire salad myself!

The huge lump of fresh crab meat on top of a cute little avocado ball

Our second course was the porcini risotto. Many places make this dish, but few can make it so perfectly. At Rossano, the arborio rice was al dente (yes this rule applies to rice too, not just pasta); the porcini mushrooms were succulent and unbelievably fragrant (not like the porcini filling at Antonio's that didn't smell like anything); and the porcini broth melded perfectly with the starch from the rice to form a rich, adhesive sauce. On top of all that, Rossano's recipe called for 2 extra flavor enhancers: Parma ham bits and linguini-like strips of cheese. The end result was completely satisfying, although I must say that the first few spoonfuls were much better than the ones later...probably because the residual heat made the fragrance of the porcini and parma ham more obvious to my senses at the beginning, and as the heat wore down, so did the fragrance.

The porcini risotto with milky white strands of cheese and too-tiny-to-be-seen parma ham bits. Oh, and also the shadow from my head.

Finally, my dad and I enjoyed a bowl of potato gnocchi with fresh lobster in a stewed tomato-basil sauce. This is my favorite dish because it's so comforting...somehow potatos and most other starchy stuffs (except white rice) tend to have that effect on me. Plus, it was cooked so perfectly. I've had lots of gnocchi elsewhere, and this place seriously makes the BEST gnocchi. They're soft, smooth, and almost fluffy! Most other places would make gnocchi that are rubbery and flour-y (can't think of a better word to describe a dough that has too high of a flour-potato ratio).

I also love the stewed tomato-basil sauce that Rossano's chef paired with the gnocchi. I always found the typical four cheese sauce, or worse, gorgonzola sauce, too heavy and rich to accompany gnocchi. Stewed tomatoes and basil, on the other hand, made for a light and refreshing sauce that both contrasted and complimented these little potato dumplings.

The gnocchi that won a huge place in my heart. Love the fact that they were all irregularly shaped too--an unintentional yet effective way to scream "homemade!"

Can't wait to bring J here soon! I still haven't tried a lot of dishes...so I'll keep you guys updated on the other good eats in my future posts. =)

Rossano's

167 Sukhumvit 21/3

Tel: 02-661-7449