Located on the second floor of the very small, low-key community mall, Baan Ekkamai, Felice sets a low bar for itself, which ends up being both a good and bad thing. The tiny venue, consisting of a handful of tables, a couch and a cute coffee bar, behind which much of the prep work also happens, is the sort of place you might take a gorgeous, new flame with strict, hawkeye parents. Still, it’s not casual when it comes to service: the small staff is smiling and attentive. The menu is brief covering around 15 dishes, but their relaxed concept means they can get away with dishes other restaurants won’t touch because they’re too simple, like the fettucine with spinach sauce and soft-boiled egg (B220): competently-handled pasta, coated in just enough flavorful, non-oily spinach pesto and topped with an egg whose thick yolk breaks onto the pasta to add a rich, velvety touch. It’s the sort of dish your Italian grandmother might fix when you come home from working the fields (OK, we’re fantasizing). The rocket salad with balsamic dressing (B180), although made from three basic ingredients, is a revelation with a super-fresh, generous bed of greens generating a lot of crunch. The tortilla with mushroom and onion (B180) is yummy with plentiful mushrooms and well-carmelized onions. Catastrophes do happen, though, like the large slab of overdone, completely tough and chewy rib-eye (B890) that’s an utter waste of money. Given the home cooking concept, we suppose that sort of misfire should be excused. But the hefty pricetag of the dish, coupled with other, less savory aspects of casualness, like the unidentified young woman, who on our last visit, lay across the couch, chatting to the chef while she waited for her to get off work, mean we’re not sure how much slack to cut Felice. Still, if you live in the area and want a good pasta at the end of a tiring day at work, without having to change your clothes, Felice is a good option.
