Da Vinci Italian Restaurant (Phuket)

There are several Italian restaurants in the Naiharn Beach area. Some good and some are not worth mentioning. Thank goodness that one of the best ones is next to where we are in Naiharn (practically five minutes away by car). The name of the restaurant is Da Vinci.


The restaurant is very nicely decorated and it is all open air. The restaurant is split into two areas. The fine dinning area is where the tables have white table clothes. The other are area is the pizzeria area; its for people who just want to have a pizza or pasta.


The first dish was carpaccio of octopus (sorry for the quality of the photo, I know the dish does not look very appetizing from the photo, but believe me, its very good). I rarely get this dish, even in Bangkok. So, whenever Da Vinci has fresh octopus, we order this dish. The octopus was tender and tasty. With a spritz of lemon juice and olive oil. This dish was a great starter.


The next dish was beef carpaccio. Another nice dish. The beef very fresh and sliced perfectly. The basil, parmessan cheese and the beef were made for each other. Again a spritz of lemon and olive oil and this dish is very nice.


The next dish was a quatre saison pizza. I am sure I will have some friends who will disagree with me when I say that this has to be one of the best pizzas around. The dough is always cooked perfectly. Even the center of the dough is crispy and not limp like most pizzas (I really hate limp pizza dough). The toppings of cooked ham, mushrooms and artichoke heart are of good quality and they make a great combination for a pizza. Though, I think Da Vinci is a bit stingy on the artichoke hearts. Nevertheless; I always have to have a pizza at Da Vinci because they are really really good. Another nice aspect for the pizza is the very spicy olive oil Da Vinci has for you to drizzle on the pizza. Yummy.


The first wine we had was a Guffens Jean-Marie Enfin rouge 2005, (40% Grenache, 40% Syrah, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon). Inspired by the Luberon terroir, this wine's aromatic profile is thick and loaded with plum, herb, rose and tar. The acidity balanced, the inky red wine had light tannins and it had a substantial finish.


All the waitresses at Da Vinci are always dressed in sexy black outfits, they are most of the time attentive and they offer really good service. Here they are trying to open our wine.


The wood fire pizza oven. You will be surprised that the superb pizzas are made by a young Thai female pizza maker. It is fun watching her toss the pizza dough up in the air when she is preparing a pizza.


The first dish was had was penne with tomato and basil. A good basic first pasta dish. The penne cooked al dente, the tomato sauce was light and the basil added another flavour element.


The second pasta dish is one of my favourite dishes at the restaurant. It is speghetti with minced seafood. I do not find this dish often, even in Bangkok. So, if we do eat at Da Vinci, I always order this dish. The pasta is always cooked perfectly. But, its the seafood ragu that is great. Thick, hearty and full of flavour.


The next wine we had was a Sancerre 2006 from Domaine Vacheron. The cousins Vacheron, dubbed the “Kings of Sancerre” brought us a beautiful Sancerre Blanc with notes of lemon, sea, and stones providing a base for mouth-watering citrus flavors.

Wine enthusiast with their biodynamic vineyards, it’s no wonder that the Vacherons are able to produce such intense fruit, even in their simplest wines. This is fresh but concentrated, with currants and pink grapefruit enriched by a firm structure.


The first dessert was the basic tiramisu. This was a great dessert. It had all the balanced tastes and textures that I look for in a good tiramisu.


The second dessert was called the 'Pope's Hat' because when the desssert is prepared, the end product apparently looks like the Pope's hat. However, this dessert was not my cup of tea. I did not like the flavours but the texture was like a sponge cake, which I did not mind.


The outdoor dinning area.


The indoor dinning area.

Please click here for directions to Da Vinci Italian Restaurant

The Supper Club (Phuket)

On Surin Beach area is a popular restaurant called The Supper Club. We have not been to it for about five years simply because it is too far from Naiharn Beach area. We have a friend who lives half way to the restaurant. It was he who suggested that we go to The Supper Club because it still had great food. How can we resist? So, we stopped over his place for drinks and then he drove the rest of the way to the restaurant.


The Supper Club interiour is dark and with lots of wood. It reminded me of an old jazz club. There are lots of black and white photos of the nostalgic days of hollywood glamour. The music in the background is a mix of Buddha Bar.


When you enter the restaurant, a large bar is situated in the middle of the room. The dinning areas are either on the left or right side of the bar. We were given a table on the left side, which I preferred because there was less traffic than the other side.


The first dish was warm goat cheese on toast. One of my favourite starters and I was delighted that the Supper Club made a very nice one. The goat cheese was of good quality and had a very nice taste. It was baked just right and actually arrived warm to the table. I have had not so good experiences where the warm goat cheese dish was served room temperature.


The next dish was beet root soup. Simply Amazing and delicious. I have never had a beet root soup so when our friend highly recommended it, we could not resist. I never thought of making soup from beet root. But, actually why not? This soup was so rich in taste and flavour. The consistency was smooth and slightly creamy. And the colour was deep red almost burgundy. It was so good that I am inspired to make this soup the next time I find fresh beet root in the market.


The next dish was crab cake. A very nice dish because the crab cake had huge chunks of crab. It was fried nicely, making the crab cake golden brown with a slight crispyness to it. You could actually taste the crab. I normally hate the sauce that accompanies crab cakes, so I prefere just a squeeze of lemon.


The next dish was lamb. Cooked perfectly. The quality of the meat was very good. The meat was tender and juicy. The sauce was a red wine sauce. It tasted very nice and it did not overwhelm the taste of the lamb. A very good portion of mashed potatoes and grilled vegetables to accompany the lamb.


The next dish was yellow tail tuna. The chef really know how to cook his meats and fish. The tuna arrived cooked perfectly. Very good quality tuna and very good taste. The outer layer of the tuna was slightly herbed and spiced so there was no need for a sauce.


The next dish was mushroom risotto. I do love a good risotto. This was a good example of one. The rice was cooked perfectly. Just the right amount of cheese. The mushroom added another texture to the dish. The flavours of this dish was lovely.


The final dish was baby back pork ribs. The meat just fell off the bones. The meat so tender and tasty. I thought the sauce was on the sweet side, but my friends thought it was ok.


The dinning room was long and narrow. The room was very dark with the flicker of the candles on each table as the mood lighting. When the menu arrived, each menu has its own mini lamp attached to the menus so you can actually read it. A very good idea.


Please click here for directions to The Supper Club

Salaloy Sea Food (Phuket)

The day was passing by too fast in Phuket, before we knew it, it was lunch time. We decided we wanted a simple lunch and one of the nicest place to sit for a simple, cheap and delicious lunch in Phuket is Salaloy Sea Food restaurant on Rawai Beach.


This was the stunning view when we arrived at Salaloy. This is one of the reasons why we like coming to Salaloy. However, one of the reasons we hate going to Salaloy is how long it takes to get a waitress to take your order and how long it takes the food to be served.


There is something wrong in the Salaloy's kitchen. Either they do not have enough cooks in the kitchen to keep up with the amount of customers they have, or the cooks in the kitchen are simply the slowest cooks in Phuket. You can wait as long as 45 minutes to get your food. It's quite unbelievable.


The restaurant is open air with picnic style tables and benches. You sit next to the beach and you have the lovely view of fishing boats and/ or tourist boats come and go.


It is a mix of people who come to eat at Salaloy. Local families, expats and tourists are often seen at the restaurant. I can assume because of the fantastic view, very affordable and delicious seafood. It was late in the day, and we had dinner plans, so we did not want to each too much for lunch.


The first dish was shrimp salad with lemon grass, mint and chilies. The taste was very nice; but the very very disappointing thing about this dish was how ungenerous they where with the shrimp. I am not joking when I say that there were only SIX shrimps in this dish. There were two of us, that means three shrimps per person. That is a not good.


The next dish was a special local vegetable. A typical story at Salaloy. My friend is allergic to garlic; so we ordered this dish without garlic. And guess what? The photo is proof; they were not listening. The dish came with huge chunks of garlic. Of course, we sent it back and ordered another one. But, this dish was a disappointment. The vegetables were too fibrous to eat. It was almost like eating wood. I remember that this dish used to be much better. Too bad.


The next dish was deep fried fish with tumeric. Absolutely fabulous! This fish alone is worth coming to Salaloy. I have not seen this dish anywhere else on Phuket. The fish is deep fried perfectly and the amount of tumeric on the fish is just right. It give it a nice and unique flavour. We actually ordered two dishes of this dish because it was so delicious.


We go often to Salaloy, simply because it has a nice atmosphere. But, we always get frustrated on the issue of how long we get our food after ordering.


A very unique aspect of Salaroy is that there is a major road between the kitchen and the dinning area. The wait staff have to carry the tray of food across the street, trying to avoid being hit by the passing cars or motorcycles. Its fun to watch.


Please click here for directions to Salaloy Sea Food

Crepes Village (Phuket)

Another lovely long weekend in Phuket. Beautiful sunny weather. Another place to for breakfast. Very close to our home; another breakfast place opened (they also serve lunch & dinner). We decided to try it. The place is called Crepes Village and as you may have guessed by now; their specialty is crepes.


The restaurant is in someone's garden. The set up is an eclectic bunch of tables and huts for the customers to sit. Since it was very sunny, we decided to sit inside a cabana.


One of the unique tables to sit and eat. Crepes Village had a lot of breakfast menus to choose from. My friend chose the egg breakfast set and I chose the crepe breakfast set.


We both first received our orange juice and coffee. I have to say; awful! We are in Phuket, where I am sure you can get plentiful of oranges to make fresh orange juice for their customers. At Crepes Village; they decided to use 'fake' orange juice. I am not sure if its from concentrate or a powder, but that was not a good experience. Then; to our horror, the coffee was equally bad. We noticed that they had a nice espresso coffee machine; but our coffee was either instant or something that was brewed earlier and has been sitting in the pot for hours. On top of this; they gave us packets of powdered creme for the coffee. This is where, I had to put my foot down and asked the waitress for fresh milk for the coffee.


Then we received cheap toast, cheap butter and cheap jam. I know; as a restaurant they want to save money by buying the cheapest products and try to make the price of the food as cheap as possible for their customers. But; when cheap equals bad quality, they might as well not do it. Because most customers will not enjoy the experience and not come back again. There are times when people are willing to pay a bit more or better quality.


The egg breakfast set. The eggs were cooked as asked and it tasted pretty good. The 'one' slice of bacon was horrible. It was mostly fat and cooked in a way that the bacon was not crispy but limp and oily.


The crepe breakfast set. The crepe was the only good thing I had the entire breakfast. The crepe was nicely made; fluffy and moist. I asked for honey instead of maple syrup and the combination of the honey and the crepe was nice.


All the cabanas in the garden for the customers to enjoy. Crepes Village has all types of crepes for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert. I would recommend anyone; if you decided to go here, stick with only the crepes. I noticed the owner was a French man. He really should know better than to serve such bad quality food & drink items. As an owner of any restaurant; you just simply have to ask yourself: "Would I eat this kind of food when I go out?" I really hope, he soon decides that the answer should be 'NO' and upgrade the quality a bit.


Please click here for directions to Crepe Village

The China House @ The Oriental Hotel (Bangkok)

Once in a while a group of my friends gather to have a wine dinner; where everyone brings a bottle or bottles they want everyone to taste. It can be a wine we never had before or a wine that we had and liked before. We chose to go to The China House Chinese restaurant at The Oriental Hotel.


The Oriental Hotel is the most famous hotel in Thailand and one of the best in Asia. The China House is in an old colonial style house. After the renovations, the 'new' China House looks stunning. We rarely come to the China House because it is a bit far from where we live; so we finally had good reason to do so.


The first dish we had was caviar. I know, its not Chinese. A friend brought this for all of us to taste. It was brought from Iran and it was about 8 ounces. We could not resist trying it. As usual, the service at the Oriental was amazing. They took the caviar and put it into a bowl of ice. They brought freshly made blinis and complements of minced boiled eggs, minced onion, chives and lemon. I do not like adding all those extra stuff on the caviar, it ruins the taste. Maybe a bit of lemon is all I add. The caviar was not pasturised; so it had a unique texture and taste.


We first had a bottle of champagne; Francoise Bedel, 'Entre Ciel et Terre', Brut. A nice champagne with delicate and small bubbles. As usual, its always nice to start the evening with a glass of good champagne.


The first dish was deep fried string beans with sesame seeds and chili. Nicely deep fried to a golden brown, a nice thin coating to give the beans a good crunch and the bean had a very nice taste. A very nice starter and it went well with the champagne.


The next starter was a vegetarian spring roll. Instead of having rice paper as a wrapping, the chef used cucumber. A refreshing dish, but actually had no taste to it. Lots of crunch from cucumber, carrots, lettuce and sprouts. The ginger and soy sauce on top of the spring roll was the only touch of flavour.


The next dish was glazed chicken with glazed peanuts for extra flavour and texture. A very nice dish. The glaze was subtle and not overly sweet. The meat was tender and juicy.


The next bottle opened was a 2002 Juve y Camps Cava Reserva de la Familia. I am a big fan of Cava, especially after taking drinking so much of it in Spain. So, I was disappointed that the Juve was a bit strange tasting. I could not really say why or what was disturbing, but it was not a good addition to this dinner.


The next dish was Peking Duck. One of the deadliest dishes on earth for the heart and cholesterol. But, it happens to be one of my favourite dishes as well. I cannot resist a couple pancakes stuffed with the peking duck. It is always fun to watch the 'duck expert' artfully carve the duck skin off the duck.


The 'duck expert' preparing the pancakes after carving the duck skin.


The pancake was also stuffed with a slice of cucumber and green onion and a dash of hoisin sauce. The combination of the tastes and textues are amazing.


The next dish was sauteed beef filets. Absolutely delicious. This had to the be star dish of the night. It was so good that we ordered another one. The beef was so tender. We were not sure how 'chinesie' this dish was, but we gave them the benefit of the doubt. It could have been fusion. But, we did not dwell on it too and enjoyed it fully.


The next dish was chinese spinache with out garlic. We have a friend who is allergic to garlic. Chinese spinache always has a nice flavour with a hint of bitterness. This was a good dish because the chef did not over cook the spinache and it was not overly oily as well.


The next wine was Brancaia Ilatraia (forgot the vintage). Nice aromas of blackberries, raspberries and hints of tar, was followed through to a full-bodied palate with good tannins and a long finish. Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese and Petit Verdot. But it was way too oaky for our taste. Over whelming the drinking experience.


The next dish was a fish lightly steamed with light soy sauce, ginger and green onion. We have friends who are very sensitive to the way a fish is cooked. It better be a bit raw in the center of the fish near the bones. Many restaurants still over cook the fish and boy does that irritate my foodie friends. Luckily for the China House, they did not disappoint. The fish was cooked nicely and the sauce was light and full of flavour.


The next dish was noodles with seafood. An ok dish; but, I thought it was lacking something. Spiciness was missing as well. A bit bland for my taste. I had to ask for chili oil to add some uummph to the dish.


The last dish was the duck meat de-boned, chopped into small bite sizes and stirred fried. The duck meat was layed on top of a lettuce leaf. A very nice dish. The flavour from the duck was lovely. The lettuce added freshness and extra texture.


The next wine was L'Esprit de Font Caude 2002. 70? Syrah/ 30% Mourvedre; long maceration and 34 months in barrique. Seductive, herby, liquoricey nose with some sweet fruit and a bit of spicness and earthy complexity. Slight tannic, in a rich a savoury style. Quite a big wine with a touch of alcohol on the finish. This is quite a serious wine.


For dessert, a lovely bowl of fresh seasonal fruit. The presentation of a large bowl full of ice and fresh fruit laying on top of it was lovely. Fresh fruit is always a nice way to end a wonderful meal.


I really like what the Oriental did for the renovations to the China House. It's a retro/ Shanghai in the 2o's feel and decor. Modern, moody and dark. Colour theme throught out is Red, Black and Gold with a dash of White. Great lighting, so everyone looks good. The volume of the bar/ lounge area is amazing and the private dinning booths and dinning rooms are intimate well thought out. The service at the Oriental is always perfect.


Please click here for directions to the China House @ The Oriental Hotel