Casa Restaurant and Pizzeria — Restaurant in Chiang Mai Province

Probably one of the worse dining experiences we’ve had in Thailand so far. We arrived and were told the menu was online via a barcode, so immediately had no other interaction with staff; they then hid behind the bar or in the kitchen. This meant we got no social interaction or could ask anything about the menu. It just also takes away the personal nature of eating out. I understand due to covid businesses made changes, but I saw reviews and photos of menus from 4 months ago that suggest this is a new addition.

We started with a cold meat and cheese board. The board was left with no explanation of ingredients, and with 3 small slices of bread. For a sharing board, especially as there were 2 of us, this seemed strange. There was no chutney, salad or any kind of oil/sauce, which meant it was incredibly dry. The cheeses seemed incredibly old, one was a bizarre brown colour with mould. We got up to ask for butter, salt and pepper and we had no condiments on our table. The person who I presume to be the owner, huffed and stopped putting his stock away to walk off into the kitchen. When bringing the butter back he said “in Italy we don’t use butter”. If everything hadn’t been so lacklustre and dry, we wouldn’t have needed butter. We then asked the young waitress for extra bread who clearly hadn’t understood (which is completely reasonable we are in a foreign country), but instead of seeking help she ignored us, so had to go up to the bar again to ask. Once at the bar there where oils/condiments and salt and pepper which they hadn’t bothered to give us. In total with the extra bread the board cost 310 baht.

The pasta and pizza were underwhelming and under seasoned. The pasta we ordered had “Italian bacon” which could barely be found. The pizza was the best out of a bad bunch, but nowhere near as good as we have had elsewhere on our travels. Sauces lacked flavour and seasoning, tasted like sauce from a jar, and on the pizza the tomato base tasted like tomato purée.

The low score is for how we felt during our dining experience, the bland food and general lack of care or interaction with us as customers, we didn’t have a single person ask us how our food was even though multiple people were working. We We had to get up more than twice to ask for things, as the end of the bar hid our table and no one bothered to come and check.

Really expensive for a rubbish dining experience, I’d avoid...

Very disappointing and surprising experience a few days ago. I have travelled to over 100 countries around the world and am always on the hunt for authentic pizza joints, however I have never come across one like this before! They will take every opportunity to squeeze more money out of you (even worse than those huge chains like Pizza Hut and Dominos!) - extra payment for tomato based pizza, extra payment for adding a topping, extra payment for drinking from my own water bottle (because I had purchased it from outside), extra payment if you want to take away, etc, etc, etc. Ludicrous! I needed the toilet but didn't dare ask to go in case there was an extra charge for that too, lol! I asked for a soft drink, to which I was told they were out of stock or didn't have. Totally understandable. However, when I went to buy the fanta from the shop next door, I was banned from drinking it in the restaurant and had to stand on the road to drink after my meal! Never experienced "service" like this before in my life - simply appalling.

Unfortunately, the pizza itself was crusty with burnt edges. The staff behind the till (possibly the owner) comes across as quite arrogant. However, to be fair another staff member cleaning the table was friendly and pleasant. And also, to be fair I understand being charged for an extra topping, which does incur a cost for the restaurant, but would they reduce the price of a pizza if I asked them to exclude a topping I didn't like? I think not.

Had I not been running out of time to catch my bus to Bangkok, I would have gone somewhere else to eat. A decision I regretted as the experience just got increasing worse as the evening went on. It's not just the food I am disappointed about - it's the owner, their attitude and the principle of having all these extra payments for such simple stuff that is usually part of the expectation of other authentic pizza places around the world. It is not usually the norm to have these rules in other family run authentic Italian restaurants - and I was shocked to discover how this restaurant has unfortunately...

2 stars because I'm in a good mood. Nice little venue, cosy with plants. This is my second visit, the first being the following review for a pizza which I gave 4 stars : I had the pizza, didn't come pre cut which was a challenge with the crusty base. Food was good, service ok. Now, today's 2nd visit some 4 months later: Bad ambience about the place, staff come across as aggressive in their actions, no smiles, run over to you if you get up from your seat as if they think you are about to run away without paying. So today I checked the menu and found bolognese, so I proceeded to order Spaghetti Bol only to be told that Bol cannot be served with spaghetti, why? They have spaghetti but you can only have Bol with Fettuccine or some other egg noodles that I did not recognise. The actual food was ok, a little too much sugar and salt for me and the tomato base appeared to resemble tomato ketchup which I believe is used to bulk up the sauce. As soon as I finished my last mouthful, within 10 seconds the plate was whisked away and that does with the ambience, the staff watch your every move, making me feel uneasy. No wifi. No water given with the meal. The bill was thrusted upon me as I reached over to the bar to get myself a toothpick as none are available on the tables. When I paid the bill, it was 205 baht, I didn't think it was that expensive when I arrived and perused the menu, so as I left I checked the menu and sure enough, Bol is quoted at 180 baht, so they overcharge too. I didn't even want to go back in and tell them about the overcharging because of the ambience. Never again, you've lost me (and my friends whenever I'm dining with them) as a local...