Appia is a Roman trattoria that has been one of the most consistently praised Italian restaurants in Bangkok since opening on Soi Sukhumvit 31 in 2013. Chef Paolo Vitaletti, a Rome native who grew up in a family of butchers, runs the kitchen with a focus on handmade pasta, slow-roasted meats, and the kind of hearty cucina romana you would find in a neighbourhood osteria near the Appian Way. The room is warm and rustic, with timber floors, an open kitchen, and a salumi counter where house-cured meats hang in full view of the dining room.
The restaurant built its reputation on provenance and restraint. Vitaletti and co-founder Jarrett Wrisley opened Appia to fill a gap in the city for unpretentious, regionally specific Italian cooking, and the menu has stayed close to that brief for more than a decade. Pastas are rolled daily, porchetta is stuffed with fennel pollen and rosemary and roasted whole, and the wine list leans into small Italian producers. Bangkok food critics at BK Magazine, Time Out Bangkok, and Fodor's have repeatedly named Appia among the city's best Italian kitchens.
Expect a lively, slightly noisy room that fills quickly at both services. Reservations are strongly recommended, especially on weekends.
You enter through a low-lit bar area before the main dining room opens up around the salumi counter and open kitchen. Service is warm and informed, and the staff are happy to walk you through the daily specials board, which usually features a seasonal pasta or a cut from the whole-animal butchery programme. Tables are close together, conversation levels are high, and the pace feels closer to a Roman trattoria on a Friday night than a hushed fine-dining room.
You should plan for two courses plus a shared antipasto if you are hungry. Portions are generous by Italian standards, and the house-made pasta is the centrepiece of most meals. If you are visiting for the first time, ask for a glass of something from the Lazio section of the wine list to match the cooking.
The Cacio e Pepe is the dish most regulars order without looking at the menu, built on tonnarelli rolled in-house and tossed tableside with Pecorino Romano and cracked black pepper. Carbonara follows the strict Roman template with guanciale, egg yolk, and more Pecorino, and it is one of the few versions in Bangkok that resists the temptation to add cream. The grilled octopus arrives charred over wood, dressed simply with olive oil, lemon, and herbs, and it is a reliable way to start a meal. The porchetta, stuffed with fennel pollen, garlic, and rosemary and slow-roasted whole, is widely cited as a signature and often sells out at dinner. Chicken liver crostini from the antipasti list is another long-running favourite.
Appia sits on Sukhumvit Soi 31 in the Khlong Toei Nuea area of Watthana, a short taxi ride from BTS Phrom Phong. The stretch is quiet and residential, so the trattoria feels tucked away despite being close to the main Sukhumvit corridor.
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