Little Italian restaurant

I was hungry when i last looked through this site and i saw the Posts for the Little Italian restaurant, and so, I went along and, being an opinionated sort of chap, well, here is my review !

It is located in Soi Katoey, a soi opposite the public university. First time i had been down this Soi, "lots of lively restaurants, it says on my map". Well, unlike other posters, I found the location of Little Italian restaurant was easy to find, SO the red , white and green decorations were a bit of a give away. Being slightly out of the way for most Udonite farangs, it needs very good marketing and repeat customers , and i am sure it will be successful in that. Finding the restaurant ! Ah that was the easy part over, the next thing was, i couldn't find the door entrance! No, it wasn't the neighbouring hairdressers, or in the Alley, but duh, eventually i slid back a handle in a smoked glass frame, and ah ha , there was a small Italian country looking restaurant with the red gingham table cloths, the works !

I did arrive at a strange time of day (i did say that i was hungry). and the welcome by the Italian owner was warm and has already been described by other posters. The Inside decor was ok, definitely not "VIP", but not "threadbare" like other posters have written.

The usual Italian food is on the menu and the menu can be found above here. There are a few daily specials on the board too, including gnocchi in Gorgonzola sauce. which sounded as if it may fill me up. No pizzas though !

The owner is chatty and creates a good ambience. So i had the lasagne and home made bread, as proposed by the owner. I thought 10 baht for bread made in a home breadmaker was a little steep !! 20 baht gets you a huge Thai noodle Quettiow soup in the streets outside ! It was not even Foccaccia or Ciabatta bread, just an english-type thick slice from the breadmaker !

The owner went back to his house to microwave the lasagne, it was all a little amateurish really.
Ah the food ? I almost forgot. Yes it was pretty good, made with the usual Italian ingredients, Bechamel sauce, mince beef, Ragu, yes it was pretty good, but not excellent. It was something that you could have made yourself, at home really following a good recipe with good ingredients (if you can find them in Thailand). But it did taste quite good, i must admit ! Not enough herbs or condiments though were my only comments about the lasagne. The portion was very large, i was pleased as i was so famished. All in all , it was better than lasagne from PIzza Company at Robinsons !

As dessert, I chose the Italian cake , it was made and served by the waitress. Being an Italian restaurant, the female workers are chosen mainly for their attractiveness not intelligence (she served me simulataneous 2 glasses of water) and are usually blonde in other parts of the world, but this is Thailand, so i suppose it woud be hard pushed to find attractive blond here , so attractive black haired lady it was ! Well she did a good job, the cake was very pleasant, chocolate and typical Italian flowery flavours and attractive design. Good sized portion. Very good, something hard to find here.

Water is free, as well as fixed internet while you wait, coffee not as good as i expected in Italian eatery, not served in an attractice cup Italian style, but OK all the same and cheap .

All in all, good friendly place to go, a little out of the centre with quite good, real Italian flavoured food. I would return, and it is definitely better than Pizza Company pasta .Ileft happy and full, well what more can you ask from a restaurant ?

Here is our spaghetti all'amatriciana from roman recepe (bacon, fresh tomatoes) 120฿

Hmmm, my mouth is watering, 10.000 kms away.
I'll have a pizza verdura at my local italian Thursday (cooking my own meal tomorrow) absolutely the best pizza around.
On a plane to Bangkok Sunday and to Udon Monday morning.
Not sure yet I'll go for the lasagna or the spaghetti amatriaciana, but I'll be there monday around noon

This is the sort of customer service one can expect. I sent a complaint via PM (I hope you don't mind me sharing on the open forum):

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l.italianrestaurant wrote:I am so sorry sorry very much.I only realize later I have been looking for you here and around. Please come here to have a full free meal. I am so sorry really.thanks to send a private message You are a real lord.

Hey, stuff happens. No big deal. I was so impressed with your concern that I recently returned (yesterday, actually). The meal was disgustingly delicious and you have won a (hopefully) regular customer!

Please let me know the day when a fresh dessert is made and I will be sure to stop by again.
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Now THAT, my friends is what I call customer service! Customer service is not what you get when everything goes right; it's what you get when something goes wrong.

Many thanks again.you can come anytime so i will have the opportunity to excuse myself again ,offering the best of our menu.

Here is our fried Basa fish with boiled tomatoes or spinach or both. 150฿

Thanks for last night,everything was good and thank you for explaing me about the thai tones.Paul

The new Menu

At Little Italian Restaurant our family of four (OK 2 of them are toddlers) just enjoyed a complete lunch of Lasagna, ample mixed salad, spinach, and a plate of breaded tomatos, 240 baht all in, plus another 120 baht for two pieces of irresistable cake and a home made ice cream.

The owners Alberto and his wife are always so gracious.

As promised we stopped by at lunch time flying in from Europe.
Lasagne was excellent, wife had spaghetti amatriciana but made error by replying yes to spicy?
The spaghetti was really spicy....ouch ouch

Tomorrow 9th june and the 10th till 5pm will be closed. Thanks

In this Italian restaurant we can see the wonders of the restaurant because of some dining foods. It's great to know that you having a experience through this restaurant and I hope that I can enter into that restaurant as soon I visit it with my family.

if you have lost a sim card t mobile from UK you can come to get it here.it was under a table.

here is our bruschetta made with our homemade bread,olive oil, fresh tomatoes,basil and a little garlic. 30฿

outside and inside