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Rossano's Italian
....just after the bend in Suk 19 as it approaches Asok, on the right. An old friend and I (SD was helping out with Chinese New Year preparations elsewhere) had high expectations for this place as it was set up by the former owner of Opera, one of my favorite Italian restaurants. We weren't disappointed, but the meal had an uneven quality to it. OF had a simple green salad to start, iceberg lettuce, croutons, and parmesan flakes in a tasty dressing. Why a restauranteur would choose to serve tasteless iceberg when there are so many other more interesting lettuce varieties available escapes me. Maybe iceberg is exotic to Italians. I had the far more appealing, though nearly as simple, warm seafood salad. Clams, mussels, squid and scallops bathed in a light and lemony olive oil/parsley/garlic sauce. Fresh, delicious, very Mediterranean and very satisfying.
OF continued with ricotta-stuffed ravioli and I had the pasta in puttanesca sauce. Both were as freshly flavorful as one could ask for. The ravioli were in a light tomato basil sauce while my puttanesca was highlighted with a spicy mix of capers, black olives and a dash of red pepper in a tomato base.
Judging from the prices, I would say this place puts itself in the Opera-Zanotti-Bacco space in terms of competition and quality of preparation. Where it needs more work, however, is table bread: totally uninteresting cardboard pizza base and what appeared to be slightly stale pieces of loaf bread. The service was adequate, but our waiters were not 100% comfortable with the menu or English...except of course for the inevitable "...you wan' one mo' wine?" The decor is depressingly familiar Italian restaurant kitsch, detracting from the atmosphere of an otherwise well-organized layout of tables and open-view kitchen.
The house wine (at B180) was a pleasant red. Pastas ranged from B250-280.
Checkbin: B1500 (with 2 glasses of wine). Pricey, I know, but, imo, worth the expense.
We're definitely going back.
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Majestically enthroned amid the vulgar herd....
Last edited by tomcat; 2nd February 2008 at 18:04.
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