Located
in the grounds of a converted Thai house
on Sukhumvit Soi 11, Zanzibar is a big,
comfortable restaurant with a spacious,
softly lit terraced garden of an evening,
and looks very “Paris” of a lunchtime.
The ground floor is usually loud and buzzing
with live music of an evening from Wednesday
night on, while upstairs is more mellow
with comfy seating. And despite the name,
this is an Italian restaurant but with Thai
dishes on offer prepared by the Thai chef,
and all mainly for Thai palates to be honest.
So you get pasta and pizza served with big
helpings of chili and garlic.
Operating on three levels, the second-floor
dining room is reserved for non-smokers
which is where we headed, not immediately
impressed with the chilled-out ambient groove
music. But the staff were on our case from
the word ‘go’ and that is essential if you
are looking for a relaxing dining experience.
They were not the best in town and you had
to keep on their case to keep things moving.
The restaurant offers a parking lot plus
convenient valet parking, but if you arrive
by Skytrain, it's only a 3 or 4 minute walk
along Soi 11 from the Nana BTS station.
An open glass panelled wall on the ground
floor faces the outside dining area on the
garden terrace and as you enter the restaurant
through the large sliding glass doors, there
is a feeling of spaciousness and some class
with the clean white walls and crisp linen
table covers helping to set the tone. And
the stage is to your right.
The levels above have wood plank floors, large windows
and each floor accommodates 10-40 persons. The higher
levels are popular for parties, meetings and banquets
with no minimum charge, the maitre d’ advised us.
As we made ourselves
comfortable, the live music kicked in down below
from the band, with some fairly laid-back, inoffensive
jazz from a group of very experienced Thai players
called Romeo.
Taking my lead from my dining partner who has Italian
connections, I had the lobster cream soup which
is almost a broth, and then an appetizer of smoked
salmon with crab roll. My pal had the Minestrone
soup and the Japanese-style salad comprising lettuce,
octopus, crab meat, shrimp eggs seasoned with sesame
oil and lemon.
The menu definitely favours Italian selections with
more than a dozen pasta and pizza selections and
even chicken, lamb and some mouth-watering specialties.
But with so many spicy soups, som tum and deep-fried
and grilled dishes and even stir-fried selections
on offer, the restaurant is very Thai indeed.
Acknowledging this reality and with both of us both
loving all kinds of food, we ordered the spicy garoupa
done in herbs, and delicious it was too! We also
ordered the lamb in mint sauce with roast vegetables,
all of which quickly vanished. A big plate of spaghetti
with seafood including shrimp, mussels, squid and
snapper in a tomato sauce, nearly finished us off.
But with ample beer and wine washing things down,
this meant we eventually had room for dessert (!)
and the crepe suzette and banana fritters were irresistible
among the other great choices.
There is a fine
selection of drinks with wine from Italy, France
and California with an adequate selection of beers,
including Bud and Corona and the usual line-up of
cocktails.
This is an interesting venue with potential in the
heart of the city, and the mix of music and food
are well matched. No prizes for either though, although
the place is very ‘chic’ to use a leisure industry
cliché. But we were not disappointed either and
the garden hang out is a great place to have a beer
any lunch or evening.
Prices were reasonable and ample portions that make
the meal reasonably excellent value.
We could not see all the bands on offer but suffice
to say that the place hires the best they can afford
so the music jazz/pop is never offensive even if
it is not quite your cup of tea.
