On paper, Sfizio sounds a lot like Pala Romana: they both have a deli counter, they both cure their pizza dough for 72 hours, they’re both in Asoke. But the new boy in town still manages to do its own thing.

 

Laid out galley-style, with a long bench seat stretching from one side of the space to the other, it definitely feels more like a café than a restaurant, but still, the care, thought and flavor packed into the brief menu (little more than salads, starters, pastas and pizzas) is right up there with the crema of Bangkok’s homey Italian New Wave—we’re talking Appia and Peppina, here.

 

Take the Romana salad (B260): fatty lardons of crisp pig cheek, sharp artichoke hearts and walnuts, all doused in olive oil and served with plenty of greens. It’s definitely not the most delicate dish in the world, but boy does it pack some flavor.

 

Things go from good to great with the potato gnocchi in wild boar ragout with smoked ricotta cheese (B360). It eats as well as it reads thanks to the earthy, rich, stew-y ragout and unctuous gnocchi. Again, it’s not exactly elegant—a symphony of brown, topped by a visible film of fat—but with flavors this bold, you don’t really care.

 

And then there’s the pizza, which in its simplest, Margarita form (B240), competes on the same, fluffy, charred-crust footing as Peppina—yup, that tasty.

 

Our only real gripe is that, in contrast to the simple pleasure of that wild boar ragout, there’s a fancy touch to some of what they do—sauces brushed onto dishes, sorbets served in little columns and salads plated in knowingly asymmetrical lines. It doesn’t really need any of this, but rest assured it’s not at the expense of flavor. This is a restaurant that makes you wish it was in your neighborhood: friendly, well priced and, for the most part, totally unpretentious. Judging from the clientele, the local Italian crowd think so, too.