COCONUTS HOT SPOT – Even after last year’s “wine bar” craze it still isn’t easy to find a decent restaurant serving a good selection of quality wine in a pleasurable setting—let alone at fair prices.
Bellino, a new wine room & boutique on Thonglor 13, is a welcome addition the immensely popular Seenspace soi. What Bellino brings to the scene is an original aesthetic and a selection of bottles characterized by a high value ratio, and of course incredible Italian food.
Despite being only the size of a small bedroom, Bellino packs a lot in to its modestly sized indoor dining area. The eatery doubles as a small clothing boutique, currently selling a ladies capsule collection of white summer linen clothing designed by the shop’s owner. The racks of clothing peppered around the interior blend seamlessly into the décor, as the entire café has a rustic, Mediterranean vibe. The attractive wait staff is clad in the aforementioned boutique garbs, modeling the trendy threads and reinforcing the Amalfi Coast vibes.
They also stock Carthusia, a perfume that was formerly only available on the Isle of Capri before.
We’ve seen decent wine paired with barely edible fusion food, we’ve seen overpriced wine paired with decent Italian food, but the combination that Bellino has created—value oriented wine and Nonna’s Italian comfort food—is a home run. There isn’t a printed menu here, instead the menu is written on a chalkboard and changes daily depending on what ingredients are delivered the previous day. You can always count on a few staple items, like the meat and cheese platter, to be served consistently. Expect everyday Italian fare like meatballs, spaghetti, lasagna, Penne Arribiata, and even the occasional risotto dish.
Good Italian begs to be consumed with a glass of wine, and this is where Bellino hits the mark. They have a sizeable selection of bottles coming in at under 1000THB, like the best selling Tierra Del Fuego Cabernet Sauvignon, a Chilean vino priced at 600THB. The cocktail menu is heavy on the Italian liqueurs as well; make sure to give the Godfather a try, a manly mix of Amaretto and Whisky.
Find it!
Bellino Wine Room & Boutique
251/2 Soi Thonglor 13
Sukhumvit 55, Bangkok
