Gusto Site

Sometimes all you want to do after a hard week's work is to relax... Well, may be not just sometimes! So after a crazy week of work, eating (of course!), a bit of drinking and live music was in order.

I live out on the Outer Ring Road (121) and although it's not that far away, going into town or Nimman feels like a bit of a hike, and I didn't fancy going through the traffic (and looking for parking!). Fortunately, there's a cool little restaurant / cafe on the New San Kamphaeng Rd, just only about 10 min from my house. The traffic, and parking, was a breeze!

Gusto Site. A newish (about 6 month old) restaurant on the New San Kamphaeng Rd.
There's plenty of parking!

The ambience is lovely. There's a big garden and seatings inside and outside the restaurant. There's live music on Friday and Saturday nights. I've been there on a couple of Saturday nights and the band played great easy listening music. A really nice place to chill out.

The atmosphere of the restaurant / cafe. 

The food here is pretty good too. Gusto Site has mainly Thai dishes,Thai style pasta dishes, as well as various great looking desserts.

The Deep Fried Pork Belly with Galangal Chilli Dip was lovely. The pork was well seasoned, and the chilli dip was very refreshing. It's like the northern green chilli dip (Nam Prik Noom) with galangal. An interesting twist. (95 baht)

Deep Fried Pork Belly with Galangal Chilli Dip, an icy glass of Heineken.. Mmm
BTW, thanks Zalora for the green bag that I took to the restaurant. 

The Deep Fried Tilapia (Tabtim fish) with Garlic. This is also quite good and nicely done.The fish pieces (not fillets as the pieces still had bones in them) are very nicely fried with light crispy skin, and pillow soft on the inside. It comes with a sweetish sauce with galangal (I think they really like galangal here!). I found I only needed a bit of sauce on the fish as the sauce is quite sweet. 185 baht.

Deep Fried Tilapia (Tubtim) Fish with Garlic. Served with a sweet galangal sauce. 

Gaeng Ratajuan with Pork Ribs. This is quite a lovely, interesting "curry". It features a lot of the usual suspects of Thai herbs (lemongrass, kaffir lime, and other herbs) as well as shrimp paste, which makes the soup/curry really smooth with earthy flavours. Westerners may not appreciate this as it is a bit of an acquired taste due to the shrimp paste. 95 baht

Gaeng Ratajuan with Pork Ribs

What I really love most at Gusto Site (that also helped to replace the calories burnt from that morning's kickboxing session), were the desserts. Oh well, that's one of the benefits of exercising, I guess.. so we can eat more!

The French Toast is really lovely. There's a thick, buttery, slightly salty toast that contrasted well with the scoop of strawberry sorbet (which was.. wow! .. it was full of strawberry flavours). There was also half a mango and various fruits served with the french toast as well. 165 baht.

Loved the French Toast!

Their signature dessert is the Little Bear Chocolate Mousse Cake. Very cute.. and tasted great too (I love chocolate!). My friend wasn't too fussed about chocolate so I ended up eating the whole thing myself (too good to waste!). The mousse was lovely, creamy and soft, not too sweet, and very chocolatey. 95 baht.

.. and the Little Bear Chocolate Mousse Cake! So cute (and decadent)!

I really enjoyed my time chilling out and eating at Gusto Site.

The restaurant seems quite popular with local families from near by moo baans (housing estates). Worth a try if you're in the area!

Gusto Site
T. Ton Pao, A. San Kamphaeng
GPS:18.744124, 99.077092
Tel: 087 657 9889
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GustoSite

Great live music

Enoteca Italian Restaurant & Buonissimo Food Affairs

A fellow foodie friend was really excited when he told me that the former executive chef of Le Meridian has teamed up with Buonissimo to open a new Italian Restaurant, Deli and wine shop at Fifth Avenue (near Meechok Plaza).

Searching for a place to eat one day, I was driving in the area and a thought, "let's drop in and see if they're open", and yes, they were. It was their 3rd day!

We were warmly welcomed by the staff. The downstairs area was quite cold (as it's also the wine shop and deli). There was a very big selection of wine, and in the deli counter, lots of cheeses, and dessert.

If you're someone like me who feels the cold (the downstairs area need to be the right temperature for the wine), you might want to head upstairs, where the temperature is a bit warmer, and where you'll also find the open kitchen, and tables with Doi Suthep view.

The menu at Enoteca is quite varied, and has interesting dishes (at least I haven't seen them before), including the Marinated Eggplant Rolls Stuffed with Cream Cheese and Sundried Tomatoes. This turned out to be a rather decadent starter. It is exactly what was described in the menu. The more earthy flavour of the eggplant was highlighted with the tartness of the sun-dried tomato, and complimented well with the creaminess of the soft cheese. Lovely. 140 baht.

The Insalata Con Feta salad ordered was lovely and fresh, simply dressed with lemon juice and olive oil. I thought the fetta was a bit hard though (I prefer the softer variety). 180 baht.

My favourite for the meal, the "handmade" lasagne, was a dream. The chef said it was done to his mother's recipe. The pasta was so soft, and the filling full of cheese and beef flavours. I think it might have been one of the best lasagne I've had (although I must say I'm no lasagne expert!). 190baht.

I must say I'm quite impressed with Enoteca. The food and ambience is lovely. I like the decor too - simple and stylish, and the staff are very friendly. Will definitely be back to try other dishes.

Enoteca (Great Fine Wine)
555/148 Fifth Avenue
T. Nongjom, A Sansai, Chiang Mai 50210
Tel: 093 272 2406
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatFineWine