Best Restaurant of 2009 contender: Photo Album
Telephone: 076 341676
Open: 4pm-11pm, closed Mondays. Happy hour with set menu until 8.30pm.
Address: 4/3 Siuriraj Road, Patong Beach, Kathu, Phuket, 83150.
Style: Italian
Price range: Moderately expensive. bruschetta (160 baht) deep fried mixed seafood (430 baht) homemade gnocchi on tomato and basil sauce( 280 baht) lobster and spinach ravioli in prawn sauce (480 baht) fettuccini with crab meat (360 baht) ravioli ricotta and spinach with four cheeses (290 baht) veal escalopes topped with italian parma ham (600 baht) asparagus with butter and parmesan cheese (180 baht) deep fried mixed seafood with tomato sauce (480 baht) marinated beef fillet with lemon juice celery and parmesan (380 baht) fresh tuna carpaccio with capers (350 baht) baked eggplant with mozarella tomato sauce and basil (260 baht) norwegian smoked salmon with lemon (350 baht) tirimasu (180 baht) singha beer (90 baht) glass of house wine (200 baht) irish coffee (200 baht) fruit shakes (100 baht)
Specialty: Italian
What the manager/chef says: ''The food is traditional Italian with no compromise for quality or taste. Our wine cellar is a walk-in cabinet where you can go in and choose your favorite wine.''
What Phuketwan says:
The Patong version of Salvatore's replaces the homely gingham check feel of the long-established Phuket City version with a modern glass and timber concoction, all white napkins and hanging red cylinders of light. It's part of the Phuket Palace Resort, and the location seems to distance it from any sense that it's part of the Patong beach experience. The food is excellent, probably rivalling the best Italian food the island has to offer, but it may not be what diners have come to expect in Patong. A glass of beer went tumbling across the table, spilt by a guest, but the staff obligingly moved us to another table promptly. Specials chalked on blackboards on a wall offer an alternative to the menu fare. We couldn't fault the food on taste or texture. In an attempt to be a litte different, some of the plates have large lips. That would be fine, except it seemed impossible to balance cutlery on the large lips. There is no passing parade of tourists here, and it's also attractively isolated from the rest of the resort, so Salvatore's Patong probably does not attract the number of customers that it deserves to have for the quality of the food alone. How to find it: On the main road from Patong to Karon beach, soon after turning out of Patong. Close to Phuket Simon cabaret.
Parking: A couple of spaces directly out front. Provision for parking, plus a short walk, in the resort.
The meal was paid for by a generous chianti-loving visitor from Perth. Phuketwan restaurant reviewers usually pay for their meals. If someone else does, we tell you so
