An Italian Dinner in Heaven: Assaggio Restaurant

The places that make you feel at home are so valuable.

 

Especially if you travel a lot!

 

Because if a hotel frustrates you when you’re about to have a good rest after a busy work day, it could be a real cause of unhappiness which will eventually end up spoiling the whole trip.

For all these 15 years of being a regular customer, I call Mandarin Oriental Munich as my second home. As it once had been independent from the original Mandarin Hotel but offering the same cozy, quality atmosphere, it was eventually bought by the company and has become almost the European equivalent of the original. From then on, I definitely can say it’s been one of the “valuable” places I just mentioned.

 

The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group came to life when The Mandarin, opened in 1963 in Hong Kong, and The Oriental Bangkok, opened in 1974, merged into one in 1990. The chain has been starting to grow ever since.

 

With its “hand-fan” logo, The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group made its first European resort venture in Bodrum, Türkbükü this summer and took its first step in the Turkish market. I was also invited and joined the opening ceremony in the month of July so as to closely inspect the hotel.

 

As we passed the lobby which was decorated in a way suggestive of its Far-Eastern background, we faced the wonderful tranquility of Cennet Bay (Paradise Bay) and spotted the “relaxing lounge” where I and my friend Mares (Operations Director - Europe, Middle East and Africa) and Sarp (Area General Manager, formerly working for Singapore’s Mandarin) had a long pleasant chat about the hotel, mentioned the fact the hotel still seemed to be lacking a few things although it definitely has a potential to be one of the best resort hotels in Turkey considering the great investment behind it.

 

As I’m planning on another visit to the hotel in the next month, I believe everything will be improved until then. That’s why I’ll be waiting for the month of September to share my detailed observations about Mandarin Oriental Bodrum.

 

Today, I’d like to introduce you to Assaggio Restaurant located in Mandarin Oriental Bodrum, serving its impressive Italian dishes.

 

An Italian in Bodrum

 

There were two thing in the hotel that attracted my attention:

 

One of them was the “Kurochan” restaurant of the Australian Chef Scott Hallsworth, serving Japanese cuisine. With its tasting menu we luckily found the opportunity to try altogether, I totally found the restaurant better than Nobu. It’s worth a try!

 

Another one was “Assaggio” where you can enjoy the Italian cuisine accompanied by the scenic view of Cennet Bay.

 

The restaurant has such a minimalist design that you won’t be distracted taking your eyes off of the bay. But of course it does not mean the restaurant looks ordinary or casual at all. Despite its basic design, it doesn’t lack a single thing. If no one brings it up, you won’t realize that the starched and ironed table cloths are missing; otherwise you would hope to see them in another restaurant. In addition, there is no way not to realize the quality material the tables and chairs were made of. With its magnificent view and the al fresco design in the ceiling, the restaurant looks like an eagle’s nest. While its cleanliness is more than satisfactory, the good servicing is another thing to appreciate.

 

The chef of the restaurant is Roberto Stefani, who was born in Brescia, a small city in Italy, and managed to have lots of fine work experiences despite his young age of 32. He worked for “Il Pelliano” a Relais & Chateaux for 4 years and then for “Gualtiero Marchesi” the first three-stars awarded restaurant in Italy for 3 years. Following his work experience with “The Marc” in London, he finally wore the chef’s hat in Mandarin Oriental Bodrum. The Chef Stefani has a humble and kind character, and the Italian dishes he serves makes you feel like you’re eating in Italy. Hopefully s venture in Bodrum will be permanent.

 

We made the start with panzanella, which included a refreshing nice gaspaccio accompanied by panéed goat cheese on top of some plum slices.

 

Another starter we tried was grilled octopus which was accompanied by some citrus fruits on top of mashed potato. It tasted as good as it looked. I can say the grilled octopus is the best I’ve had in Turkey so far!

 

Beef carpaccio was accompanied by some warm risotto which also included parmesan cheese. With some pepper in it, the risotto was comparable to the one I had at Rainflower Neil Morris in Zorlu Center. It was such a successful and scrumptious dish.

 

Lobster tagliolini was another dish I chose from the pasta and risotto. The large and crispy pieces of lobster were appealing both to the eyes and the palates. When I looked at the linguini my daughter ordered, I saw the spaghetti was also successfully made.

 

Sea Bass was composed of spinach cappari, baccalà foam, delectable tomato wedges and a bit lemon and orange sauce to flavor. With a sprinkle of couscous-like “fregola” from Sardinia on the top, the taste of the sea bass was up to the standards of the Italian restaurants.

 

The meat in beef tagliata was diagonally chopped. It was also enriched with the balsamic sauce. It was so tasteful that I wouldn’t need to go to Italy to enjoy a fine beef tagliata.

 

As I said before, I don’t have a sweet tooth. The mille-feuille we had that night was again another dessert that I’m not that into. The only mille-feuille I found pleasurable was the large one with some ice cream served at Robuchon au Dôme Macau. Again, based on the remarks made by my daughter Ceylan, it tasted fine with pistachio filling.

 

The following dessert was raspberry sorbet. With its satisfactory sugar balance, it was a refreshing choice to end the night in the hot weather of Bodrum.

 

It Deserves a Try!

 

As it didn’t start to serve the public, lots of things were missing in Mandarin Oriental Bodrum. But the huge investment behind it and the results I saw were the evidence of how it’s going to bring new life into the vacation concept in Bodrum and Turkey.

 

I visited Assaggio Restaurant the very first day it started to serve and I was rather satisfied with it. I strongly recommend you to have a try at Assaggio since it already ran against the common belief that “The first days of the restaurants don’t offer a good experience!”

 

It is a must to visit the restaurant again in order to see its development and understand whether the quality they’ve already achieved is permanent or not.

 

But for now, all I can say is that Mandarin Oriental Bodrum and Assaggio Restaurant deserve a try!

 

Bon appétit and enjoy the taste of life!..

 

Assaggio Restaurant

Mandarin Oriental Bodrum

Cennet Koyu Çomca Mevkii Göltürkbükü

Bodrum, 48400

Muğla / TÜRKİYE

+90 252 311 18 88