Hua Hin Today had the chance to indulge in a late lunch at Da Mario’s Italian Restaurant and Pizzeria. The restaurant is situated near the fishing pier in Hua Hin. It has a pleasant interior layout with a real pizza oven adding to its authenticity and seats facing the main road allowing views of the harbour. The restaurant has been open since 2007 and Christian serves Italian cuisine from all the Regions of Italy.
I had heard from many friends of mine that he had excellent pizza and so I was very excited to finally to get to try some. First we just had to sample an appetizer. Christian recommended that we try the Carpaccio Di Pesce Spada. A Carpaccio, for those of you who haven’t tried it, is a dish of raw meat (usually beef ,salmon, or tuna ), thinly sliced and served mainly as an appetizer. In this case Christian used thickly sliced Sword Fish garnished with pepper and parmesan.
Delish! My companion and I scoffed this dish in a matter of seconds and my only regret is that I had to share. Sorry, it was that good. This is a perfect refreshment dish for a hot day, absolutely heaven in its simplicity. Afterwards we shared one of Da Mario’s wonderful pizzas. In this case Pizza Tropicale; a pizza with a thin crust topped up with Cheese, Tomato, Pineapple and Ham. Once again I learnt something new.
I always thought that I did not like pizzas with fruit or too many vegetables for that matter but this was very good. I believe that the success of the pizza is in the tomato paste and of course the crust. In this case both are as they should be and the dough is authentic Italian. I am sure the oven makes it just as a great pizza crust should be.
After the pizza we had a problem. We had stuffed our faces (as we always do) and we had two more dishes to go. But when Christian’s staff sent out a plate of Spaghetti Scoglio Marinara and Fettuccine Salciccia Funghi of course we had to eat it all. Did I mention before that there were only two of us…? Spaghetti Scoglio Marinara is pasta with seafood and a white wine sauce. The seafood was very fresh and the whole dish just was perfection. It seems like most Italian dishes rely on relatively few ingredients but they are top notch and then you add a good chief. Voilà you have Italian food!
The Fettucine Salciccia Funghi was creamy and just right. It reminded me of the food I had tried in Northern Italy though I am not sure if the recipe came from that Region. It is a shame there are not more restaurants serving such authentic recipes. How can you not eat Italian food with sausage, mushroom and truffle? It doesn’t matter if you are ready to explode you have to eat and if nobody is looking lick the plate as well.
We didn’t lick the plate as there was a couple next to us…next time.We left when we had eaten more than our fill and I have to say it was delicious. We already knew that Christian was a lovely guy but now we also know he is a lovely guy that really knows his food. Everything was yummy-delicious, but a stand out and a must try is the Carpaccio Pesce Spada and any pizza on the menu! Grazie Da Mario Staff & Christian!
Da Mario Pizzeria & Ristorante Tel No: 03253 0170 www.da-mario-huahin.com
