By: MICHAEL WELBECK Published: 1/05/2009 at 12:00 AM Newspaper section: Realtime La Villa is indeed a villa, one with an unusual 1930s modern architectural style. From the main dining room in front of the building, corridors lead to private rooms on the ground and upper floors, to a small, open air terrace beside the pond and Club Nove, a spacious, blue-white, arctic-cool room with stylish Italian furniture that is hired out for receptions. Warm tuna in sesame crust with Mediterranean vegetables. As you enter La Villa you face a long, marble-topped bar partly separated from the dining room by rows of shelves. Beyond the bar is a walk-in wine cabinet with a selection of Italian wines. La Villa does set lunch, a set menu for dinner at 1,250 baht including a bottle of wine for a table of four, and offers daily specials. There's also a pizza oven and a list of 16 different pizza. The spacious La Villa with a 1930s modern architectural style. From the a la carte menu's list of starters we chose warm tuna in sesame crust (450 baht) and pan-fried foie gras with sweet wine sauce and poached apple on toasted home-made brioche (580 baht). A wedge of sashimi grade tuna was seared at high temperature and cooked through rather than being left raw on the inside. It was placed on a Sicilian sweet and sour caponata with diced aubergines, sweet peppers, tomatoes, onions and small, sweet olives from Liguria. This juicy mixture with plenty of extra virgin olive oil was a good foil for the meaty tuna and its tasty sesame crust. the stylish, arctic-cool room Club Nove. PHOTOS: ANUSORN SAKSEREE The rich savoury nature of the foie gras was tempered with the rich sweetness of the wine sauce and a touch of sharp apple, and with both these appetisers we were recommended a very good red wine from the wine by the glass list, a Refosco from Friuli. It had a soft edge of tannin and flavours of stewed fruit and Chinese dried plums. This would be first class with pasta, I thought, and on the strength of that ordered maccheroni with Italian sausage and porcini mushrooms with a parmesan cheese sauce. Lots of robust, tangy and earthy flavours here, combined with the small, curved tubes of artisan pasta. Maccheroni with Italian sausage and porcini mushrooms. I was after fish for my main course, and chef Armando recommended baked cod fillet on spinach in lemon parsley sauce (680 baht) while my companion opted for grilled lamb chops with rosemary (650 baht). With this, we had a glass of Dolcetto di Dogliani, a velvety, fruity wine from Piemonte with a lot of charm. It comes from the same area as Barolo, but is a much more friendly and accessible wine ready to enjoy when still young. It was in its element with good lamb chops, four of them, medium rare and well singed from the grill. A mixed plate of desserts including pannacotta and tiramisu. While I've always thought the phrase, 'cooked to perfection' was pretty meaningless as it's so subjective, I'm bound to say that the cod fillet, beautifully moist and falling into smooth flakes, conformed to my own idea of what perfection could be. It was served on a bed of spinach, which can sometimes be bitter but here was beautifully buttery, and young green asparagus whose gentle flavour was absolutely right. A lesser known but very attractive white wine was served with this, Lugana Ca' dei Frati. Baked cod fillet in olive crust on spinach with lemon parsley sauce. When it comes to dessert, I admit to being a bit of a traditionalist and when I see smoothly chilled, creamy pannacotta (220 baht) I look no further.This was enhanced with a red wine caramel sauce that enhanced its cool, refreshing lightness. My companion chose the tiramisu (250 baht). La Villa is not the place to discover experimental cooking or intriguing fusions. Here you'll find the kind of cooking that first made Italian food such a big and enduring hit in Bangkok: tasty, uncomplicated, with good ingredients and always under the benign influence of mamma.