Long-standing Italian fine dining at Athenee Tower with handmade pasta, truffle dishes, classic service and a quietly romantic atmosphere.
Gianni Ristorante is one of Bangkok’s great Italian fixtures – an elegant fine-dining room now housed on the ground floor of Athenee Tower on Wireless Road. Since the mid-1990s, chef Gianni Favro has been cooking classic Italian food here, building a loyal following of locals, expats and travellers who return for the combination of polished service and quietly confident cooking.
The menu brings together northern and southern Italian influences: handmade pastas, truffle dishes, grilled meats and seafood, plus a dessert list where Gianni’s tiramisu has become a small legend of its own. Add an Italian-focused wine list and daily lunch and dinner service, and you get a restaurant that still feels special without needing any gimmicks.
Gianni sits on the G floor of Athenee Tower, a short walk from BTS Ploenchit. Step inside from the office lobby and the mood changes: warm lighting, white tablecloths, deep red and brown tones and framed artwork that give the room a slightly old-world, European feel.
Tables are spaced generously, so conversations stay private even when the restaurant is full. The vibe is classic rather than trendy – the kind of place where couples celebrate anniversaries, executives host business lunches and friends linger over a bottle of Barolo. Regulars talk about it as their “reliable favourite” for important evenings: you know the service will be attentive, the room comfortable and the food consistent.
There are also more private corners and rooms that work well for small celebrations or discreet meetings, keeping the atmosphere intimate even in a fairly large dining space.
The kitchen focuses on authentic Italian dishes with an emphasis on clean flavours and good ingredients. Many guests start with the black truffle soup, seafood carpaccio or fritto misto, followed by fresh pasta such as carbonara, black-ink spaghetti or one of the truffle pastas when in season.
Mains span both land and sea: tenderloin steak, lamb shank ossobuco, Dover sole and daily specials built around carefully sourced meat and seafood. Portions are generous but refined, more in line with classic European fine dining than ultra-minimal tasting menus.
In white-truffle season, the restaurant often runs special dishes where freshly shaved truffle is finished at the table – worth asking about if you visit at the right time of year.
Lunch brings a set menu that makes Gianni surprisingly accessible for the level of cooking and setting, especially if you’re in the Ploenchit or Chidlom area for work. Dinner, by contrast, leans more indulgent: longer meals, extra courses, and a room that slowly fills with couples and families celebrating something.
The wine list is unsurprisingly strong on Italian labels, with plenty of Tuscan and Piedmontese bottles and Champagne to start – enough depth for serious wine lovers, but still approachable with help from the team.