Gorgeous all year round

People used to enjoy Italian cuisine at the Mandarin Oriental’s al fresco restaurant Ciao only from October to April, before the rains arrived. Now it’s a year-round treat, with that same refreshing “Hello!” in Italian.

Set against the garden of the Author’s Wing Lounge and on the bank of the Chao Phraya River with the illuminated backdrop of skyscrapers, Ciao has been refurbished with a younger look in predominant shades of red, black and white. 

Apart from the familiar 56-seat open-air terrace, Ciao offers two new dining options – a 15-seat bar to enjoy Italian-style tapas with cocktails and wines and the Chef’s Table in a sleek, air-conditioned room with an eight-seat dining counter. 

Florence native chef Luca Casini has trained closely with the hotel’s culinary director, Chef Norbert Kostner, to create a new menu with a modern twist. It’s complemented by some of the finest wines in town, with emphasis on Piedmont wines and the selection of sparkling prosecco and signature cocktails.

The Chef’s Table room is for advance reservations only with a minimum of two persons. Guests can gaze at the culinary teams preparing the finest foods in a truly magnificent workplace. The eight-course menu costs Bt4,000 per person or Bt6,000 with wine. You can tell the staff what you’re allergic to. The menu tends to change every month.

The complimentary black and green Cerignola olives make for a nice starter. This olive is big and nice in flavour and is grown in the outskirts of the southern town of Cerignola, from which it gets the name. The green olive is marinated with lemon zest, garlic, olive oil and thyme, while the black one is marinated in garlic, olive oil, rosemary and bay leaves.

With their similarity in culture of sharing, Italian and Thai dining both let you sit long and share many dishes with friends and families without feeling awkward. 

 

 

The chef's inspired starter is rabbit terrine for Bt350, marinated with salt, pepper, olive oil, white wine and thyme for 12 hours before going into the terrine mould and vacuumed at 60 degrees for about two hours. It is served cold and dressed with snow peas, baby carrot, pomegranate jelly and saffron dressing. 

For a classic starter, opt for burrata on a bed of thin slices of ox-heart tomatoes and wild rocket for Bt450. The outer shell of the burrata is solid mozzarella, but inside is soft mozzarella and fresh cream complemented with a dressing of olive oil and balsamic.

Chef Casini also introduces home-made spaghetti chitarra with string-like strands. Chitarra means guitar in Italian and this spaghetti is made with a guitar-like wooden machine that accounts for its form. This dish for Bt590 is cooked simply with clams, cherry tomato and zucchini, but the taste is pleasing. Equally tempting is bucatini amatriciana for Bt510, offering bucatini pasta with Italian sauce based on guanciale or cured pork cheek, cheese and tomato. 

Next dish is the main course of stew of braised oxtail vaccinara and lentil for Bt690. Casini maintains the classic recipe but presents it in a modern way. The shredded oxtail is boiled and simmered with large amounts of celery, onion, tomato and white wine and braised slowly for six to seven hours with a little bit of vegetable and meat stocks. It’s then cooked slowly for at least a day to get the smooth texture. 

It’s served on a veal bone cut in half length-wise and a bed of soft, nutty and earthy Umbria lentils from the Apennine Mountains of central Italy. 

Another good choice is ossobuco Milanese for Bt710, offering the regional speciality of cross-cut veal shanks braised with vegetables, white wine and broth on a bed of saffron risotto with veal sauce and topped with herbal condiment of gremolata. 

If beef is not your thing, opt for fillet of sea bass with seasonal sauteed vegetables and fennel dressing for Bt680. 

For dessert, start with the all-time favourite tiramisu for Bt280 to get a boost of energy thanks to the mixture of sugar, espresso and brandy. Or else there’s a new creation – trio of panna cotta for Bt310. Served in a separated glass, the first one is tangy strawberry and basil panna cotta, then comes apricot and rosemary and the last is sweet caramel and honey.

 

SAY HELLO

Ciao is open daily from 5 to 11pm. Make reservations at (02) 659 9000 ext “Ciao” or visit www.MandarinOriental.com.