Fiore Rosa - Homemade Italian in Doi Saket - Now closed

Dining at Fiore Rosa is like going to a friend's place for dinner...not just any friend though..a friend who can cook, and is passionate about cooking.

Roberto and his wife, Khun Dao makes a great team. As soon as we sat down, Roberto, the man behind the kitchen, started recommending and explaining recommended dishes straight away.

The first dish.. Beef Capaccio - I've had this before a couple of times at other Italian restaurants, but didn't actually know that Beef Capaccio is actually raw beef until Roberto told us, and the reality of its rawness dawned on me when the paper thin, super fresh, bright red beef slices came topped with cheese, rockets and I think, lemon juice (as opposed to lime). I never knowingly eat anything raw except for sashimi, so I told myself, I've eaten capaccio before..just eat it! ..And I was glad I did, because it was lovely! The cheese on the beef was very creamy and smooth, and the lemon added a slight hint of tanginess.  170 baht.

Mediterranean Salad - This was also beautiful in terms of looks and taste! Comprised of lovely salad greens, anchovies pieces which added a nice accent to the salad, fetta cheese (mmmm!) and olives. The dressing was lovely and light. 130 baht.

Fish Fillet in olive oil, vinegrette, lemon and almonds served on a bed of spinach. This was SO good.. very, very special. Never had anything like it before. Gorgeous and smooth with a lovely rounded fragance of what I think is almond and lemon wedge that has been placed in the pan with the fish.

Roberto explained that we should never squeeze lemon juice on the fish, rather, the lemon should be placed in the pan. Squeezing lemon juice on the fish will "kill" it. Wow.

Very good value at 160 baht.

Unfortunately, that's all us 2 ladies could fit in that night, well we did have some very nice house red wine as well. I guess we'll just have to come back. Would definitely want to have the fish fillet again, but also want to try other dishes to....choices, choices!

The other great thing about Fiore Rosa is the ambience... very casual and relaxed. You have a choice of dining outside or in an air-conditioned room indoors.

Getting there involves driving down a windy road passing through rice fields, which feels almost like an adventure!

Fiore Rosa
Opens: Mon-Sat 5:30pm-9:00pm
(It's a shame they don't open Sundays otherwise I would go quite often!)
Tel: 053 039 221; 085 032 5865

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Casa Diverso (Mediterranean and Thai Food)

I was kindly invited by Khun Oh, the ex-manager of Oyori The Grill to come and try out his recently opened Mediterranean and Thai restaurant in Chiang Mai's Old City. Khun Oh and his partner, Chef Lek have a lot of experience in the hospitality industry, having worked in Pattaya, Bangkok and Chiang Mai. Their  dream is to open their own restaurant one day, and Casa Diverso is that dream coming true!

The Casa Diverso is in a lovely spot, just around the corner from The Rim Hotel. There's a large outdoor dining area in the garden, and also a rather stylishly decorated indoors area, giving the restaurant a classy, but still relaxed and warm feel.

I was quite surprised by the menu offering both a large selection of European food and Thai food as I was expecting only European food. My friends and I all opted for European food, but I would think the Thai food would be good as well. I hope I'll have the opportunity to go back soon to try the Thai food and other items on the menu!

Some very nice bread with herbed and garlic butter was served.

A green salad was ordered as an entree....and it was... green!...comprised of various types of nice and crispy lettuce with balsamic dressing.

Bruschetta Mozzarella Cheese was highly recommended by Khun Oh. It was lovely with chunky pieces of tomato, mozzarella cheese, and pesto sauce. The bruschetta was quite large and a little hard to eat gracefully without using the knife and fork. 120 baht. 

For my main course, I chose the Grilled Pork Tenderloin (very, very juicy and tender!), which was topped with a blueberry gravy sauce. The gravy was cooked a couple of days in the traditional way, and the blueberry gave the sauce a slightly sweet tang. The potato wedges were great too! 320 baht.

I didn't try this one, but my friend reported that the slow cooked salmon was very good, served with horseradish sauce, as well as pesto sauce on the side. 340 baht.

I just had a little taste of the Spaghetti Alle Vongole - a very simple pasta with clams, oil, garlic and parsley. It was lovely and fragrant, and quite spicy! Very good as well. I wouldn't mind going back to have this all to myself next time!

For dessert, we shared a rather large Creme Brulee (120 baht) which was spectacularly "torched" in front of us by Khun Oh. It was nice, creamy and smooth, but unfortunately, quite sweet. I mentioned this to Khun Oh, and he was really happy to receive the feedback. He seems very dedicated to providing good service and making customers happy. :-)

We all had a very enjoyable time, and we all thought the food at Casa Diverso was great, and the prices very reasonable. Definitely a place we can go back to, and I'm happy we have another quality addition to the Chiang Mai eating scene!

Casa Diverso
184/1 Rachamankha Rd
Phrasing, Chiang Mai.
(Old City)
Opens daily: 11am-11pm
Tel: 084 174 0699




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