Wine Connection BZenter Rawai — Restaurant in Rawai

Saying we’re regulars at Wine Connection would be an understatement. In Singapore we’d go once a week at a minimum. Here in Phuket, we thought we’d stumbled upon a familiar establishment with reliable wine so what could go wrong? Well, we were wrong. Walking in a large franchise with only a few tables occupied made us a bit skeptical but as fervent supporters of Wine Connection, and we are, we convinced ourselves ‘it’s just a rainy day’. We didn’t expect much food-wise. We ordered a tuna salad for appetizer, it was disappointing. The soup was forcibly satisfactory. The bread which we ordered separately was too greasy. But we thought - it’s a wine place so the wine must be palatable. The wine was served chilled, now we’re not WSET certified or anything but when it comes to wine, we’re definitely above average in every metric. The ladies shared a sword fish for the main course, ‘yummy’ is what they said and I’ll take their word for it cause you can’t go wrong with a steamed fish. My father ordered a pasta which he scarcely touched and that gave away everything. I had an upset stomach from another day, but that’s a different story. What I’ll say is that I’m glad I did, as I quite enjoyed my cup of peppermint tea. My father gave the wine another chance and ordered what they called ‘Cellar Selection’ - just a glass to satiate what the first bottle could not do, and a chance for Wine Connection to redeem itself. Well, they didn’t. And as it turns out I didn’t miss out anything during my day of...

We had a nice meal here. We sat inside in the a.c. because we didn't want our wine to get warm too quickly. The wines we recognized were not too overpriced, but definitely the cheaper wines on the list are nothing special. We didn't expect the server to spend all her time pouring for us and fussing over our ice bucket because really it's not that fancy. The servers were nice and efficient, but at no point did they give the impression that they knew anything about the wines. Anyway, it's just a franchise restaurant. It wasn't too expensive and the food all seemed quite fresh to us. Some of the dishes were more appropriate for warm summer weather than others; we had the duck leg, but we never would have ordered it if we had been sitting outside in the heat and humidity. I think because we don't have this kind of Western restaurant where we live, it was a nice treat, but I think there are probably other good and unique experiences...

I go here at least once a week when I’m in Phuket which is about half the year. The freshness and quality and the preparation and presentation are rare in this bustling commercial area in Rawai. Their lunch special is a super deal where you can get one of a dozen pastas and pizzas along with a beverage and a delicious green salad for 319 baht. In the evening it will cost a couple hundred baht more but still a good value. They feature a very good Italian menu but also serve delicious fish and meat dishes with super fresh ingredients and beautifully prepared. I highly recommend visiting the Wine Connection where they have a really good selection of wines from Europe and Australia in their small shop attached to the restaurant. They also have a small but solid deli selection of meats and cheeses...