Via Emilia Italian Restaurant
1040 Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra 17, Lane 5, Thung Maha Mek, Sathon, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10120
Lead with the tortellini. The Tortellini Artusiani at 430 baht is the dish the restaurant is named after, pork-filled in a creamed Parmigiano-Reggiano sauce, and it tells you everything about how the kitchen handles the basics. If you only have one Italian dinner south of the river this month, make it this one.
You step in off Naradhiwas 17 and the room is warm and small, set up like a neighbourhood trattoria rather than a destination dining room. The menu opens with Emilia-Romagna, a strip of northern Italy that runs 260 kilometres along the old Roman road the restaurant takes its name from.
Order the Tortellini Artusiani first. Pork-filled pasta in a creamed Parmigiano-Reggiano sauce, 430 baht, and it sets the bar for everything else. The Lasagna Bolognese comes built on spinach pasta with bechamel for 390 baht. The Tagliolini Al Tartufo is the splurge at 890 baht, homemade egg noodles tossed in truffle and butter.
The Cotoletta alla Petroniana is the headline plate at 990 baht: breaded veal layered with Prosciutto di Parma and Parmigiano-Reggiano, a Bologna dish you almost never see in Bangkok. The kitchen leans heavily on imported Italian ingredients (Parmigiano-Reggiano, Aceto Balsamico di Modena, handmade pasta) and the wine list runs to Lambrusco from the same region.
Kitchen closes at 10 PM even though the dining room stays open until 11, so plan to order before 9:30 if you want the full menu. Reservations are smart on weekends. The Michelin Guide and 50 Top Pizza both list the restaurant, and dogs are welcome.
Come with at least one other person and share. The pasta portions are sized for a proper antipasto-primo-secondo arc, and a single diner walking out with one bowl of tortellini misses the point of the kitchen.