"Dining in a villa in a city"
Standing five floors above the city streets, come here for the Wood Oven Baked Fillet of Cod and the Rack of Lamb with Mint Crust. Combined with the great ambience from the beautifully designed interior, what else could you ask for? Here's the low down...
You get to dine in a nice cozy little Villa in the middle of KL. The interiors looks like a creative cross of Italian and Roman design with its beautifully painted ceilings and the dimly lit settings. Just alluring to romantics and private conversations alike. Villa Danieli has a good range of appetizers, soups and pizzas but we just can't wait to tell you about the rack of lamb and the cod.
Before that, one should try the Maltagliati here. Maltagliati means 'badly cut' which mostly refers to the randomly cut pasta in the servings or perhaps soups. Villa Danieli's version comes served with lobster ragout, fresh tomatoes and pesto sauce. Has a nice flavorful taste which is delightfully enhanced with generous bits of lobsters.
The succulent and flavourful Roasted Rack of lamb with mint crust is one of the chef's specialty. It's one of our favourites as well. The hauntingly flavourful tender lamb has the rosemary sauce enticing us even more and also comes served with roasted potatoes. It's a superb cut. The lamb called us for seconds and we took the call in for that second experience....juicy, tender and succulent...
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"Alas! We only possess one stomach each"
This lovely little Bistro is set deep in the heart of Bukit Bandaraya and only those who have been led here know of it. Set in a small strip of shophouses often missed due to the proximity to the suburbs, Opus always seems to be full whenever we visit it leading us to conclude how powerful the word of mouth is and how appreciative food lovers are of somewhere quiet to eat and talk. And of course...the food here is great too.
We sat down to Grilled Scallops and Rocket Salad. This is a tasty starter beautifully done, the peppery taste of the rocket goes well with the mellow taste of the scallops. This salad is an instant favourite. They have a number of salads here and on occasion, a tapas or two but all are in dainty portions, to whet the appetite so you definitely have space for mains and dessert.
We first heard about this place from one of our friends raving about the angel hair pasta. Not many places here do angel hair well and here it is just wonderful, sautéed with scallops, capsicum and a hint of lemon. The Spaghetti ala Opus too is a favourite with lots of seafood. We also tried a new concoction which is spaghetti with strong flavoured porcini mushrooms. Divine... we asked where they get it and the Chef just smiled enigmatically and said 'adalah...' The porcinis here are not dried and are brought in frozen to retain the freshness. A dish to try out for all you pasta fans out there!
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"The New Zealand mussels are a treat"
Mamma mia! Pizza! Spaghetti! Ravioli! If you are into Italian and don't have the bucks for it, perhaps Pizza Uno/Bella Italia in Centrepoint, Bandar Utama can help you. If you're planning to have dinner, come early as this place gets packed up rather early. People come here for their Baked Chicken and at the same time wallop some mussels and pizza too. A meal for three here is well below one hundred bucks which I am sure brings stomach growls to a lot of our readers out there . Now, now... don't get too excited yet, see what we have to say...
You get half a dozen New Zealand Green Mussels for about RM10.00 served in three different dressings. Sprinkle some lemon juice on the mussels and what more can you ask for? Great value. However, their Minestrone Soup was not a no no. Bad idea..
As for the pizzas, the Romeo Special (Large:RM22,00) is not too bad. Comes with a pan crust. Ravioli comes with chicken and mushroom stuffing in sun dried tomato sauce. At RM18.00, a good attempt. Not as good as La Risata with its Salmon sauce but a worthy adversary. Of course, La Risata's a bit more expensive.
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"Food is just flavourful without overpowering"
I'm taking you and a couple of friends of mine to venture forth into the realms of Jalan Ampang for another taste of Italian cuisine. The spot this time is La Risata- a suburban Italian cafe and restaurant in the heart of Jalan Ampang (also a sister outlet behind Victoria Station in Jln. Damansara). Tucked away at the back row of the double-storey shophouses along Jln. Ampang near the Middle Ring Road-Jln. Ampang flyover, it was surprisingly quiet and cosy despite the hustle and bustle on the main street. The brick oven at the entrance was engaging but could prove a little warm to the dining area when in use for baking the deliciously looking thin-crusted pizzas. The patrons were a good mix of nationalities (among their patrons include ambassadors, CEOs and also couple of Foodsters) and ages. Dinner is dressed-down and relaxed.
La Risata have got a great line of dinner menus ranging from pizza to pasta. For starters, we were introduced to La Parmigiana E Melanzane or baked aubergine with mozzarella, parmesan and grilled mushrooms with garlic for starters. We were hesitant on the aubergine in the beginning but the first bite had us clamoring for more. It was akin to a vegetarian lasagna. Yummy! The thought of it still brings about a growl in my stomach.
Next up, we have the Zuppa Di Pesce (House Speciality Seafood Soup). The tomato-based soup has a clear taste of the tomato puree used and can prove bland to taste buds which are more accustomed to savoury fare. Coupled with generous sprinklings of cili padi, garlic and parsley the soup obviously did clear justice to accentuate the freshness of the seafood in it. The chef decided to give us a little treat by throwing in generous helpings of large prawns, oysters, calamaris and loads of mussels.
With the soup 'done in' 5 minutes. we started with pizza Napoli (topped only with anchovies, tomatoes and mozzarella) and the house specialty, Ravioli di Pesce (ravioli pasta filled with fresh pieces of fish and immersed in a creamy salmon sauce, YUM!!!). The pizza was thin (almost biscuit-like) and crunchy and was lightly-flavoured by its toppings. The wheat used was fresh and clearly discernible above the stronger flavour and taste of the anchovies and mozzarella. Baked on top of a wood fire oven, this is quite superb! Although the wood fire is not pine (the best wood to bake pizza is pine), this is definitely worth a try as it is pure and simple.
The ravioli can prove a little creamy to the uninitiated but for aficionados of carbonara and alfredo sauces, the orange cream salmon sauce can only be described as divine. Neither too sweet nor salty, the salmon sauce complimented the fish-filled ravioli pieces perfectly. We actually found ourselves picking up our pre-starter bread bits to literally 'wipe' the plate clean of the salmon sauce and straight into our waiting chompers. YUM again!!!
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