Made for Lingering
Savour heartfelt Italian feasts at Prego Samui.
One of the top Italian restaurants on the island, Prego Samui offers unbeatable wining and dining in a chic, contemporary setting right on Chaweng’s beach road. A perfect spot for lunch or dinner, this stellar Italian restaurant promises to please all its diners.
The menu lists an entire spectrum of moreish treats that range from starters, through soups, wood-fired pizzas, handmade pastas, risottos, then fish and meat main courses to desserts. Naturally, there are wines to go with every dish, and the list consists of selections from all major wine-growing regions, not just in Italy but France and the new world as well.
This is rustic Italian dining at its best. It’s exactly like eating in a laid-back restaurant in Italy, one where you can come casually dressed yet enjoy the most professional Italian cooking.
As in Italy, a good many of the dishes are specially made for sharing with friends or family. Notable amongst them is the Antipasti, which features a gorgeous medley of delicacies. It arrives at your table replete with items such as the very best Italian cheeses and cold cuts, smoked salmon, fresh tuna tartare, tomato-mozzarella skewers, mussels, prawns and more.
Some of the most beloved treats at Prego are the simplest. Take the pizza, for example. As you walk into the restaurant, along the right, you’ll see Prego’s authentic wood-fired pizza oven, which guarantees the yummiest of delights every time. The restaurant incidentally bakes its own bread, and when you sit down you’ll be brought a selection along with a variety of dips.
Recommended main courses include the succulent Grilled Australian Beef Tenderloin, with sautéed asparagus and truffle taleggio or Oven-baked NZ Lamb Chops, with fresh herbs, sautéed spinach and grilled tomatoes. Seafood lovers will meanwhile enjoy Pan-roasted Sea Bass Fillet, with pumpkin mash and butter caper-berry sauce or the Baked Salmon fillet, with baby spinach and lemon cream reduction. Many diners opt for the Seafood Platter at 1,800 baht net, which includes rock lobster, salmon, prawns, squid, tuna, sea bass and mussels.
Prego first opened in 2003, and since then it has been helmed by the same executive chef, who is largely responsible for the excellent reputation that the restaurant enjoys. As warm-hearted as the food he makes, Chef Marco Boscaini is an approachable figure, and always brings a personal touch to what he does. He ensures that no corners are cut at Prego and that cooking is done in the old, well-tried ways that make Italian food so popular. Many of the recipes have been handed down generation-to-generation and they are guaranteed to please. Try Chef Marco’s signature Pici, a traditional beef ragout and pecorino with Prego’s own hand-made and rolled pasta, or perhaps one of his renowned risottos, which are famous amongst connoisseurs.
Rather than being ensconced in the kitchen all day, Chef Marco is frequently seen in the dining room, and always ensures his guests enjoy the dishes they’ve chosen. Apart from this, staffs at Prego are also worth mentioning for their competence and warm hospitality, making Prego the kind of place where you can simply relax and linger over great-tasting food with family and friends.
Chef Marco also stages different kinds of gatherings and events, yet you will hardly be aware they are taking place. That is because Prego boasts two separate air-conditioned dining rooms where you can have your special events bespoke the way you would like them to be. For Marco, it is a pleasure to put together menus from scratch.
Incidentally, he is able to cater for vegetarians, vegans and anyone with food allergies and intolerances. Most dishes on the menu can in fact be made with vegetarians in mind. There is also an entire vegetarian and gluten-free menu available, along with a range of vegan cheese and cream. Try gluten-free pizzas, for example, and be prepared to be wowed.
Desserts are in a class of their own, and each on the list is a classic Italian favourite. Try Chef Marco’s own take on tiramisu. Eat once, crave forever - or at least till you come back to Prego.
Every Friday night from 7:00 pm until midnight, enjoy Italian tapas and free-flow Peroni beer at only 990 baht net per person for two hours, while you enjoy live music by a local duo band.
At Prego, it is definitely time to splurge, as prices are very affordable. How they keep them down is a bit of a mystery, since the ingredients are of such high quality, allowing you to choose what you would like from the menu and simply sit back and relax, worry-free.
Dimitri Waring