La Casina Rossa Italian Restaurant in Phuket

I have long been a fan of Italian food. I visited Italy a couple of times in the 1990s - friends of mine had (and still have) an Agriturismo farm in Tuscany and I learned to love Italian food even more! Here in Phuket, I think you have to be careful if looking for a good Italian restaurant or a good pizza. Many Thai restaurants advertise pasta and pizza, but finding proper Italian food in Thailand is rather hit and miss. This is Thailand, not Italy! Good Thai food is easy to find :) Over the years I have found several good Italian places and it helps that a friend of mine (Diego from Easy Day Thailand) is Italian and certainly knows what's worth eating.

La Casina Rossa is a small restaurant by the roadside on the backroad in Kathu between Patong and Phuket Town. It's not far from Kathu Temple and not far from the road up to Kathu Waterfall. It's not been open too long, but I have been a few times already with family or friends. It's only about 5 minutes drive from home and, much as I love all kinds of Thai food, I do like something Italian now and then. And I like something better than the pasta that I cook myself at home. And I like pizza, which I can't cook at home. Finding a good pizza can be hard work here. I can't stand the efforts produced by chain restaurants like Pizza Hut or Pizza Company, especially the latter which should not even be allowed to use the word pizza!





(above) La Casina Rossa restaurant.

We'd driven past a few times before having dinner here on my birthday a few months ago. We found it very friendly and the prices are what we expect to pay for "foreign food" here in Phuket. Pizza starting from about 200 Baht (a bit less for a basic Margherita), plus we had lasagna (290 Baht) and pasta dishes from less than 200 Baht. All tasty and the restaurant is well presented too, looks like a little Italian restaurant in Italy.



(above) Bruschetta for starters.

I am glad to have 2 kids who will eat almost anything from spicy somtam to boring English eggs and beans on toast! On the birthday visit, our daughter had lasagna and our son went for pizza. The pizza was a bit too big for him to finish alone - actually a bit too big for me too .. I think my stomach has shrunk over the years, preferring smaller portions of Thai food with rice and less of the bread / potato based European food.



(above) Pizza Margerita .. the colours red, white and green like the Italian flag.

I was just back at La Casina Rossa this weekend. They have now opened up a new backroom with aircon, and are open for lunch. In the evening, sitting outside is better for me. The road here is not very busy.



(above) Table at La Casina Rossa.

Met with friends for pizza this weekend. And we plan to meet again this coming weekend as the owner has promised to make some Southern Italian fried pizza - this is not on the menu .. and I have never heard of it before, sounds more like a Glaswegian thing! See update below!



(above) My favourite pizza diavola.



(above) There's a giant pepper grinder if you want a sprinkle of pepper on your pizza.



(above) Or be very Italian and pour some olive oil on your pizza!

They seem to be fairly busy, always people eating there when we drive past. Glad to have found good pizza and Italian food near our house! And I notice that they'll do pizza delivery too .. :) There's a Facebook page that seems to be updated now and then - see La Casina Rossa.

Update ... another visit. This could become a habit. Good Italian food within a 10 minute drive of home :)

So I tried the Napoli style fried calzone - see photo below. Stuffed with ham and mozzarella. Almost too big for me!



A light starter and a normal pizza might be the way to go next time ... the tomato and mozzarella salad looked tasty ...



We also had a coffee (and a limoncello) this time to help digest the giant fried pizza ...



La Casina Rossa - Location Map