One of Bangkok's famous Italian restaurants of fifteen years, La Bottega di Luca, launched its new à la carte menu for lunch and dinner. The menu features a tasteful selection of delightful "crudi" (crudités), nourishing appetisers, soups, homemade pasta and main dishes.
Chef Marco Avesani, La Bottega Head Chef since 2022, brings something new, like blending ingredients from Italy with ingredients from Japan and more, to this institution that has served authentic Italian-flavoured food with new approaches and creativity, giving its guests exceptional Italian culinary experience.
The restaurant is situated on the second floor of The 49 Terrace, on Sukhumvit 49. The place's architecture is modern. However, the decoration is traditional Italian.
Chomp was delighted to be invited to taste the new menu. As soon as we sat at our table outside, the waitress offered us some bubbles, bread sticks and focaccia. We spotted some national celebrities that night, and they genuinely enjoyed the food. From how they seemed comfortable here, La Bottega could be their regular dining.
Our dinner began their meal with a delicate Akami Tuna Tartare. The Akami tuna from Japan was fresh, full of good fat, and juicy and sweet. The base was made of courgette, bell peppers, herbs and vinaigrette. From top to bottom layer went well with the fresh tomato, celery, capers and crusco pepper sauce. It was flavourful and refreshing.
Served at the same time as Akami Tuna Tartare was Cantabric Anchovies. The anchovy dish comes with grilled sourdough, green olives, butter and salsa verde. The anchovies were obviously briny. However, these anchovies from Spain had layers of slight sweetness and umami. Put it on a piece of buttered grilled sourdough and salsa verde or green olives, or combine everything together, and the experience will be an explosion of flavours.
Another dish that accompanied the previous two dishes was gently heated Japanese Hamachi swimming in light cream sauce and herb oil and topped with toasted almonds. It was creamy but not too rich or heavy. The aroma was subtle, which made it delicate and appealing.
Moving on to something slightly heavier on the pasta and risotto section, La Bottega's baked Cannelloni "in Bianco" was filled with butcher's cut bolognese sauce, bechamel and tomato sauce. Everything was so balanced. The meaty bolognese, the creamy bechamel and the savoury tomato sauce gave this dish range of flavours. The noodle was al dente. It gave the dish a nice chewy texture. The combination of the noodle texture, the meat texture and the semi-thick sauces, this dish stimulated our tongue.
Risotto "alla pizziaola" was a creamy risotto topped with chunks of raw Akami tuna and lines of sauces; Piennolo tomato sauce, burrata sauce, Taggiasca olive pure and green herb sauce. It was flavourful, but nothing tried to over shine each other.
The main dish was Codfish Served with Roasted Jerusalem Artichokes, Tonka Bean Cream Sauce and Parsley Oil. The fish meat was firm and juicy. Its natural sweetness coincided with the tonka bean cream sauce and perfectly roasted Jerusalem artichokes, balanced by the parsley sauce.
After the main dish, they served us a tower of confectionery bites. Chomp recommends that these bites of confectioneries are perfect when paired with Amaretto if you wish to enhance the flavours, but if you wish to balance the taste, limoncello is the choice.
The peachy White Peach Bellini Sgroppino was refreshing and not too heavy or sweet. Its silky texture tickled the tongue.
Torta Migliaccio is an Italian cheesecake, made of samolina and ricotta. La Bottega's Torta Migliaccio is served with caramel pear sauce. The cake itself was firm and dissolved inside the mouth. The caramel pear sauce gave the cheesecake dimension of sweetness, a slight burning aroma and refreshing.
La Bottega makes homemade ice cream, and pistachio flavour is one of the most beloved.
Drop by La Bottega if you love authentic-flavoured Italian food with a twist and interpretation. La Bottega di Luca
Open: Monday - Sunday, 11:30 - 14:30 and 18:30 - 23:00
Reserve: +6697 114 7342 Website: https://www.labottega.name/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/labottegabangkok/
Location: Terrace 49 Building Terrace 49 2nd fl, Soi Sukhumvit 49, Watthana, Bangkok 10110