Entree Kibbles: Massilia Italian Restaurant - Ranked 4th on the 2025 Best Pizzas in the World @ Bangkok in Thailand

Monday, July 21, 2025

Massilia Italian Restaurant - Ranked 4th on the 2025 Best Pizzas in the World @ Bangkok in Thailand

I am not that big a fan when it comes to pizzas but even then; I can't resist clicking the link when it was said to contain a list of 2025 asia pacific's top 50 pizzerias!

The top ranking pizzeria in Southeast Asia hailed from Bangkok (ranked 4th on the list) and since I was in Thailand's capital city in March, we made a special treat down to Massilia Italian Restaurant (established in 2015), a short walk from Phloen Chit BTS station.

Framed certificate that's proudly on display. Now, my expectation was high since the top pizzeria in Singapore was ranked just 13. Having said that, many of us have preferences when it comes to pizzas, especially dough, and I am not one who blindly follows authenticity.

Wood-fire oven (said to be crafted in Naples, Italy) with light bouncing off the glistening, golden mosaic tiles, reflecting opulence as compared to the ones we saw at Pizza 4P's near Ben Thanh Market in Vietnam.

Seating wise, there were alfresco seatings which I thought would be suicidal in the hot weather at Bangkok, and we were there for lunch! Maybe only more bearable at night.

Air-conditioned space would be much preferred and it also helped that the interior was almost like a European palace with antlers lights, wooden dining chairs, patterned wallpaper etc.

Even this faulty clock looked antiquated! Anyway, coming back to food, we were stuck as there six signature pizzas, and 11 classic pizzas, and there were even vegan, gluten free pizzas! Damn, which one should we choose?!

Singha Beer - whatever the case, a glass of ice cold beer would always be welcome on a hot day!

Welcome Bread - complimentary bread and I never said no to free stuff so long it's not bribery! Served warm, with saucers filled with what appeared to be coarsely diced tomatoes.

Hm..... not my cup of tea. The tomatoes were lightly seasoned but strangely, there was a fishy taste to the bite, as if fish oil was added. Honestly, I would be happier with just bread and butter.

Calamari Fritti - I am guessing fritti means fried stuff and you know what goes best with beer?! Fried squid, although sometimes,it's quite frustrating to be served frozen, tasteless squid, which wasn't the case at Massilia!

Let's douse them with lemon juice first!

Mmmmmm so good; freshy fried, hot and with a thin batter, each bite had texture that wasn't rubbery and so full of the deliciously sweet and natural squid flavour! This is a must order in my honest opinion!

Lasagna - if you ask me, I prefer lasagna over pizzas although it's much easier to find a lousy lasagna! But for such a high class restaurant, I doubt it would be a disaster.

Sadly, it was for me. The lasagna was noticeably burnt, resulting in a bitter aftertaste. In addition, there was just too much meat filling, resulting in excessive salty savouriness that failed to balance with the taste from the layers of pasta!

Black Truffle Pizza - woah.... I have only seen these on television and on the web, never right in front of me with my own eyes! Yes, they were truffles, said to be the most expensive fungi in the whole world!

So expensive until I could only afford its shavings; no wonder it cost 1,290 baht! My bad though as the menu clearly indicated "black truffle freshly shaved".

Completed picture of the black truffle pizza, said to contain truffle shavings (duh), pork jowl (looked like ham to me), mozzarella (from cow's milk), extra virgin oil, Italian basil (not Thai basil) and cherry tomatoes.

Being ignorant, I first took a slice of the truffle shaving. It's like parched paper with a wee, subtle aroma that's way less impactful than the cheaper truffle oil; even the cheese appeared to taste richer of truffle! Pizza dough was chewy with pockets of fluffiness, and had that smacking good yeasty pizza dough taste!

Pork jowl was too oily and fatty; I think I have cheapo taste buds as Italian hams and salami don't appeal to my taste buds. Alex had it worse; he literally removed the truffle shavings from his slice of pizza and wondering why had to pay so much for this.

Best thing on the pizza; the sweet, cherry tomatoes!

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It was just too much pizza for just the two of us and while I am glad that we only had one pizza; it's unfortunate that the lasagna was a great disappointment. Would I be back? Maybe for the four cheese pizza and also a serving of fried squid, with a glass of beer.