The Top 10 Italian Restaurants in Koh Samui

The smell of a wood-fired oven drifts down Fisherman's Village most evenings. Walk five minutes in either direction and you pass half a dozen Italian kitchens, each with a different take on what the cuisine should look like this far from the Mediterranean. Neapolitan pizza purists, regional pasta kitchens, family operations with tables on the sand at the waterline, polished resort dining rooms, and a clutch of newer venues built around cocktails as much as food.

Most of the activity sits along the Bophut and Fisherman's Village strip, where several of the 10 below are within a short walk of each other. Chaweng holds its own with longer-running resort restaurants and busy beach-road operations. At the northern end of the island, Bang Po offers something quieter.

Every venue on this list shares three things: handmade pasta or pizza, a kitchen led by Italian operators or chefs with serious Italian training, and a menu that reads as Italian rather than vaguely Mediterranean. Pizza-only operations, sit-down restaurants, and beach kitchens all qualify. Quick-service casual chains do not. Consistency across a year of visits matters as much as the food on any single night.

2 Fishes

Bophut beachfront, five minutes east of Fisherman's Village. High ceilings and a wide outdoor terrace looking onto the bay set the frame; inside, Chef Leandro Panza's open kitchen is the focal point. Handmade pasta, locally landed seafood, and premium Australian cuts. Antipasti for sharing, BBQ snapper, and vongole pasta are the orders regulars come back for. The pace is unhurried, the finish more polished than rustic, and the setting suits both a long lunch and a sunset table. The bar pours from an Italian-leaning wine list alongside a full cocktail menu.

• Bophut beachfront, east of Fisherman's Village
• Tuesday to Sunday, 5–10:30 p.m. (closed Mondays)
• Reservations recommended; beachfront tables sell first

Nonna & Son

A two-storey Italian kitchen on Chaweng Beach Road with a daily-fresh pasta board, a wood-fired pizza oven on the ground floor, and an upstairs terrace that lifts diners above the street noise. The menu spans brunch through midnight: mac and cheese, truffle fries, lobster pasta, lasagne, and Neapolitan-style pizza that comes out of the oven leopard-spotted. Service is unusually attentive for a kitchen handling this kind of volume. Weekend evenings book out fastest, and the upstairs terrace is the cooler seat.

• Chaweng Beach Road
• Daily, 10 a.m. to midnight
• Walk-ins fine off-peak; book ahead via Instagram for weekends

Prego

Set just back from Chaweng Beach within Amari Koh Samui, Prego has been serving Italian on the island since the early 2000s, longer than most restaurants on this list. The atmosphere is polished without feeling resort-stiff: an open wood-fired pizza oven anchors one end, and a spacious indoor dining hall opens toward a terrace that trails down to the sand. A dedicated Italian chef leads the kitchen, and the menu has one of the broader gluten-free and vegan selections in Samui's beach dining scene. Daily specials are worth asking about at the table.

• Within Amari Koh Samui, Chaweng Beach
• Mon–Thu noon to 10:30 p.m.; Fri–Sun until midnight
• Reservations recommended in high season

Vero Italian Kitchen & Cocktail Bar

A newer arrival in the centre of Fisherman's Village, opposite the 7-Eleven. Vero pairs handmade pasta and wood-fired pizza with a confident cocktail programme: Aperol Spritz and aperitivo plates pull diners in early evening, and on-site gelato closes the meal. The Sicilian influence is strongest in the small plates: truffle arancini and tagliatelle alle vongole among the regular orders. Live guitar music a few nights a week shifts the energy from quiet trattoria to something more sociable.

• Fisherman's Village, Bophut
• Tuesday to Sunday, 1–11 p.m. (Mondays from 3 p.m.)
• Reservations advisable for weekend dinners

Pepenero

Tucked off the main road between Mae Nam and Bophut, Pepenero is the rare Samui restaurant that commits to a regional Italian focus rather than a national one: Northern Italian and Lombard cooking, prepared with imported ingredients and finished by Chef Alain. Owner Paolo works the floor and shapes the menu. The wine list stretches to around 70 labels, with serious Italian names; Sassicaia and Ornellaia are both on it. The garden setting is intimate by design, and the Assassina pasta and beef ragu are repeat orders.

• Off the main road, Mae Nam / Bophut border
• Tuesday to Saturday, 6–11 p.m. (closed Sundays and Mondays)
• Reservations essential; small room, deliberate pacing

Gusto Italiano

An Italian family business in Fisherman's Village, Gusto operates two adjacent venues on the same stretch of sand. Head Chef Gianluca Cervellieri leads the kitchen, turning out fresh daily pasta, Neapolitan-style pizza, and seafood with imported core ingredients. Owners Roberto and Marco are usually somewhere on the floor. Tables sit on the beach at the water's edge. Seafood risotto, puttanesca pasta, and burrata are the dishes people come back for. Closed Tuesdays.

• Fisherman's Village, Bophut
• Mon, Wed–Sun, 1:30–10:30 p.m. (closed Tuesdays)
• Beachfront tables: book ahead via WhatsApp or phone

Riva by The Deck

A more recent addition to Fisherman's Village, Riva is paired with the boutique property The Deck Cottages and serves breakfast through dinner. The dining area sits just off the beach rather than directly on it, with a shorter, more focused menu than its neighbours'. Caprese salad, lobster pasta, and truffle chicken pasta are the regular orders; grilled squid rounds out the top picks. Cottage guests can also order to their rooms, which gives Riva an easier in-and-out feel than a typical evening restaurant.

• Fisherman's Village, Bophut
• Daily, 7 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
• Reservations recommended for dinner

Pizzeria Sorte

Thailand's only Pizza DOC certified Neapolitan pizzeria. Sorte's Bophut branch keeps a single-craft kitchen with the ritual that implies: 24-hour leavened dough, San Marzano tomatoes, imported Italian flour, and owners who travel back to Naples each year to keep their technique current. The space is functional rather than scenic, with full air-conditioning indoors and outdoor seating for evening breezes. Margherita DOC and Napoletana are the orders to start with; large pizzas at around 290 baht, which is unusual value at this level.

• Bophut, near Fisherman's Village
• Tuesday to Sunday, 1–11 p.m. (closed Mondays)
• Walk-ins generally fine; WhatsApp the venue for weekend tables

Sassy

On the second floor of the Haven Samui mall, a short walk from Chaweng Beach, Sassy is best understood as an Italian wine bar and grill rather than a beach restaurant. Handmade pasta, Australian steaks, and fresh local seafood share the menu with a wine list built around a strong glass-pour selection. The space is contemporary, fully air-conditioned, and built for the evening rather than the lunch crowd. Service is attentive, and a loyal following from an earlier sister venue keeps regulars coming back.

• Haven Samui mall, second floor (near Chaweng)
• Daily, noon to 11:30 p.m.
• Reservations recommended in high season

Villa Luna

The northernmost venue on this list. Villa Luna sits directly on the quiet sands of Bang Po Beach, looking across to Koh Phangan. The kitchen is French-Italian, with a wood-fired oven driving pizzas and slow-cooked meats, and homemade ravioli on the regular menu. Tables can be set on the sand at sunset. A rotating evening programme of live music, jazz, and themed events makes some nights livelier than the location suggests. Getting to Bang Po from Chaweng is a deliberate choice.

• Bang Po Beach, north Samui
• Daily; check the evening programme before booking
• Phone or walk-in; advance booking advisable for sunset

A Lombard wine list in a hidden garden. A Neapolitan oven keeping monastic discipline on dough. An Italian family setting tables on the sand at the waterline, and a French-Italian kitchen at the quiet end of the island. These 10 venues agree on almost nothing except that Italian food on Samui is worth taking seriously, and worth eating through.