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Giusto
Authenticity is always an issue with ethnic restaurants found outside their hood, especially in Thailand where the ‘real thing’ is frequently a copy.
But with Giusto, the popular Italian place on Sukhumvit Soi 23, there is nothing to worry about. A restaurant with proprietors named Giulio (the manager), Fabio (the chef) and Renzo (PR and Marketing) has got to be genuinely Italian.
These fun-loving guys not only ensure Giusto’s authenticity, they give it quality and atmosphere seldom found in the Big Mango’s eateries. At Giusto you’re guaranteed good eats, plus a good time – especially if you end up chatting with one of the proprietors.
Giusto is located on a large piece of property that formerly was a snazzy residence. There is onsite parking and an attractive entrance with a massive door and a smiling hostess greeting customers. The restaurant is fashionable and elegant without being stiff and cold.
There are concrete floors, dark walls, floor to ceiling windows looking onto greenery and tables with white tablecloths and chairs clothed with white coverings. To the rear of the restaurant is the Glass Wine Bar, a beautiful long bar with a stage and waterfall at one end and numerous tables for drinking and dining on the other.
Eating and drinking at Giusto falls into four general categories: lunch, dinner, Sunday brunch, and drinking and snacking in the Glass Wine Bar. Here’s what you can expect in each of them.
Lunch
Although it isn’t located in the heart of a business district, Giusto is popular at lunchtime. The reason for this is simple: a high quality set lunch with bargain basement prices. You can start with a Prosecco or glass of excellent house wine at only B150++ and then move on to an antipasti buffet loaded with a variety of goodies, including smoked salmon, fresh seafood, marinated vegetables, insalata caprese (buffalo mozzarella, tomatoes and basil), sautéed eggplant, a variety of salads and much more.
If you are still hungry, you can add a dish of pasta, fish or meat; and if you still have room, you can add another course or dessert. The prices for all this are remarkable: B280++ for only the antipasti; B390++ for two courses (one of which can be the antipasti) or B450++ for three courses. The two and three course sets also include coffee or tea. Any way you look at it, this is one of Bangkok’s best dining bargains.
Dinner
The dinner menu at Giusto is filled with Italian specialties that vary as ingredients change during the seasons. It is also reflective of Chef Fabio’s personality and what is interesting to him at the time. “I get bored,” he once told me, “and like to do different things in the kitchen.”
On a recent visit I enjoyed several of his dishes. My favorite was a simple 350 baht Paparadelle with rabbit ragout in white wine sauce. Homemade paparadelle is traditional with rabbit and Fabio’s was nice and chewy. Glutton that I am, I would have preferred more rabbit in the sauce.
A dish reflective of Fabio’s imagination was the Swordfish carpaccio with green mango salad, olives and dried shrimp. This 560 baht mix of Thai and Italian was almost mysterious. The fish was sparkling fresh; the dried shrimp added crunch and the green olives gave the mixture an unmistakable Italian stamp.
The 560 baht Baked herbed Alaska wild salmon fillet en croute with fennel salad was a bit of a disappointment. Cooking fish en croute is always difficult because it is easy to overcook it (you can’t see it). And sure enough, this fish was overcooked a death knell for the delicate flavor of salmon.
My mild disappointment with the salmon disappeared as soon as I tucked into dessert: Brownie a la Fabio, Served with a dollop of ice cream, the brownie was encrusted in nuts, a snazzy twist on an old favorite.
Sunday Brunch
Bangkok is packed with Sunday brunches, but this is one you shouldn’t miss. Served from 11.30 until 14.30, the combination of topnotch Italian food and Giusto’s inimitable atmosphere make this brunch standout.
For baht 888++ diners get to graze at Fabio’s fabulous antipasti buffet that is spiffed up and enlarged from what it is like during the week. The cheese is particularly impressive and a reminder of just how good (and underrated) Italian cheese can be. There is also some Speck ham, a juniper berry flavored classic, on the ham slicer.
Once you fill up on antipasti, you progress to a main course of Pasta, Fish, Meat or Pizza that will be served to you at your table. These are dishes like those found on the regular a la carte menu and worthy of Fabio’s talents. I reveled in a Rigatoncini with spicy sausage and burrata cheese; a simple dish with many of the flavors that have made Italian food famous
If you still have room after the main course, you can finish things off with a dessert – I had a smashing Orange crème brulée – and some coffee or tea.
The Glass Wine Bar
Few of us need an excuse to drink wine and snack, but if you do, head for Giusto’s Glass Wine Bar on Friday or Saturday night from 21.00 to 24.00 when there is live jazz and blues. When we visited the music program was just getting underway, but the local performers were a cut above those performing in most places. Renzo told me, “Hey man this is just the beginning. I found these guys playing on the street. Things are going to get even better.”
Remember, however, that the Glass Wine Bar is open whenever the restaurant is open and that you can enjoy yourself even when there is no music; especially if you want to impress a special someone with good food and a classy hideaway. The restaurant’s entire menu is available in the wine bar plus a selection of Italian “tapas” designed by Fabio specifically for the wine bar.
The wine list at Giusto is massive with choices extending from baht 150 wines by the glass to a bottle of Chateau Petrus that costs over baht 100,000 for the bottle! During my visit to the Glass Wine Bar, I zeroed in on something a bit less expensive, a nice La Carraia Merlot that was only baht 190 a glass – less than a pint of beer at many of Bangkok’s pubs.
Bangkok is loaded with Italian restaurants and many, like Giusto, serve excellent food. But Giusto has more than just good food. It has ambiance, class and a ‘presence’ rarely found in local restaurants. This is a place well worth visiting.
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