by Miss Terry Diner
Kanary Bay Rayong is an impressive enterprise
encompassing serviced apartments and residences on Beach Road. On the
ground floor is a restaurant overlooking the beach, with full glass
windows on three sides. This is Number 43 Italian Bistro.
With the high ceilings and the extensive use of glass,
the first impression of the restaurant is spaciousness. With cream walls,
white wooden louvres, latticework and white tiled floors, the next
impression is one of cleanliness. The tables are glass-topped with
comfortable cane chairs. The serving staff are also very well presented in
green, with traditional starched long white aprons. This visit to Number
43 Italian Bistro was after a two-year hiatus and I remarked that the
standards had not slipped in any way. A credit to the management team.
A new addition to the restaurant, since our previous
visit, was a sit-up bar at the far end, and a musical “nook” where a
duo plays easy listening music of the Simon and Garfunkel genre Wednesday
to Sunday evenings.
The restaurant has four to five special promotions
every year, drawing on the expertise of other chefs within the Kanary Bay/Kasemkij
conglomerate, with the next being a French theme during September, using
the French chef from the Cape Panwa Hotel in Phuket.
While mulling over our choices for the evening, we
chose a bottle of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo DOC wine. At 850 baht this was
on special and exceptional value. Try one if it is still available.
The menu is large in size, with the items in large
print, a veritable boon to those diners over 40 years of age! It begins
with Appetizers (B. 80-280) including Carpaccio and a Parma ham with
melon. Next are some small courses (B. 90-180) and then five salads (B.
80-160) and four soups (B. 80-120).
Pastas are up next (well, it is an Italian restaurant)
with spaghettis (generally around 180 baht) followed by ravioli,
tagliatelle and risotti (all around 250 baht). These are followed by main
courses with seafood choices (B. 190-320), meats (B. 180-320) and grills
(B. 260-580) covering imported beef items. Pizzas are next (B. 150-220)
and then a page of Italian desserts and cheeses.
While waiting for the first courses, hot toasted garlic
bread (from their own in-house bakery) was served, along with two small
bowls of a green and a red sauce. These turned out to be simply
sensational, spicy and so “more-ish” that both Madame and I pigged out
a little.
I had chosen a consomm้ with mixed seafood soup
as a starter and a plate, crammed with mussels, cockles, prawns and squid,
arrived. The base was sharp (and hot) and yet the cooking was such that
the individual items retained their own flavours. Madame had chosen from
the special Ligurian promotional menu and the vegetable cream soup with
basil was both flavoursome and filling.
For my main, the pan-fried chicken breasts in butter
and sage appealed and I was not disappointed. Two very large chicken
breast fillets with tender asparagus spears, but so large that I could not
get through it all. Madame’s saut้ed sea bass was also from the
Ligurian promotion but despite the exceptional flavour, the size of the
serving stopped her too! (The garlic bread and green sauce had been too
filling!) By the way, chef Antony Ardissone’s green sauce is made from
red, green and yellow bell peppers, chilli, vinegar, tomato sauce and
Tabasco. He would not reveal the proportions, however!
Completely satiated, we were only able to share a
grappa and pass on our congratulations to the young chef, who at only 24
years of age has a very bright future ahead of him.
The Dining Out Team on our previous visit had given
this restaurant top marks, and had no reservations about awarding them
again. This is an excellent Italian Bistro, and although a little under an
hour from Pattaya, it is worth the trip. You can combine the trip with a
weekend away at the beach for the family too!
Number 43 Italian Bistro, Kanary Bay, 50 Beach Road
Rayong, tel. 038 804 844, fax 038 619 019.
