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VOL. 12.7
 
Elegant Style, Elegant Dining at Baan Rim Pa
Tuning Out in Natural Style
Laying About on Koh Lanta
More Than Just a Pretty (Cliff) Face

Wrapped in Comfort at Le Meridien’s Portofino Ristorante

Seafood Paradise

A Visit from the Emperor God

Piercing – The Rite of Purification

The ‘Andamazing’ Andaman

Epat Diary: Dangerous Liaisons

 

ARCHIVES:

 
Wrapped in Comfort at Le Meridien’s Portofino Ristorante
 
By Gail Jones
 
It had been raining for days, or so it seemed. I was beginning to feel chilly, a rarity in tropical Phuket, and was longing for that ‘cosy’ feeling: being surrounded by warm furniture and indulging in some comfort food. Le Meridien’s Portofino Restaurant was just the place on such an evening.
 
Le Meridien has a number of restaurants surrounding its inner courtyard and pool; Portofino’s is but one of them. On this rainy evening, diners were taking shelter inside, letting the lustrous dark wood and tapestry-upholstered cushions wrap them against the storm. When not raining, the poolside tables are in big demand. Senior Sous Chef Massimo Marcato joined us as we sipped our cocktails and after much discussion of what would be a good example of the restaurant’s fare, we opted for a sampling of almost everything! A suggestion heartily endorsed by Massimo.

Soon a selection of appetizers arrived on our table. Beautifully arrayed on a large platter were slices of smoked turkey with tuna sauce, avocados stuffed with shrimp, prosciutto and Parma ham flanked by chilled melon balls, and thinly sliced beef marinated into melt-in-your-mouth consistency. We had to keep reminding ourselves this was only the beginning of our meal – there was more to come.

A sampling of pasta followed. “Portofino’s makes all its own pasta, except for a couple types,” explained Massimo, on one of his quick stop-bys to see if all was going well at our table. That explained the freshness of the dishes we sampled. Again, a large platter appeared on our table filled with four pasta dishes: seafood carbonara beautifully displayed in a shell-shaped lacy ramekin made primarily from cheese, gnocchi made from zucchini and mozzarella cheese in a delicate cream sauce along with spinach cannelloni and lasagne.

Seafood was the main course. We indulged in a delicious red mullet steamed with lemon and herbs, salmon a la proscuitto (which gave a nice salty tang to the salmon) and mussels baked in olive oil and white wine.

Finally a third platter appeared on our table. This time it was filled with scrumptious pastries and desserts that included chocolate-drizzled profiteroles, walnut cake, a pear tart and chocolate eggs.

Barely able to walk after our meal, we headed into the rainy night for the drive home, having been ‘comforted’ by all the right kinds of food.

Portofino’s at Le Meridien, Patong, Tel: 076 340 480-5.