Jamie's Italian @ Pitt Street

I seem to be posting one post per year these days. Hopefully things will change in the coming year. Yep, that should be my New Year's resolution (that I hope I won't break in coming months).

I have seen Jamie Oliver's restaurant for a while now and it is always packed and there is always a line. Today, we wandered into Jamie's due to a slight hiccough in Fratelli Fresh (we greedy buggers were way too early).

Nice little signage in front.

Internal decor made out of various hanging spices and I believe a haunch of pork (fake I hope). 

Drinks for us. Since it's a Monday, we went totally virgin. On the left is a ginger mojito and the right is a mixture of soda, cranberry juice and other delicious fruity goodness that right now escapes my recollection.

We started with a selection of anti-pasti.

This is the three cheese gnocchi. I, for one, hate gnocchi after an ill made choice in Il Divo back in KL. However, this proved that not all gnocchis are made equal. It is soft chewy and cheesy. A definite win in my books.

This love morsel if call aracini which is basically deep fried rice balls the Italian way. Delicious and soft.

Fennel salad with blood orange. My first time eating fennel and I think it's forgettable.

Here come the mains. Linguini Vongole. It's light and fresh with a flavourful broth finishing off the dish.

Black angel, squid ink pasta with scallops. Stronger taste than the linguini and I am totally in love with it. I finally know what fresh pasta taste like.

Blue cheese ravioli with walnuts and pistachios. This is the best dish of the night but of course with the strongest flavour. I will definitely come back for more of this in future.

We finish off the night with a light dessert of trifle. It packs a fruity punch and not overly sweet.

Walking away from Jamie's Italian,I can only wonder how could I have missed fresh pasta. How did I survive before I met you??

Address: 107 Pitt St, Sydney NSW 2000

Phone:(02) 8240 9000

Hours:

 11.30am to 11.00pm daily

Il Lido @ Jalan Yap Kwan Seng

After hearing so much about Il Lido, I knew I had to give it a try to see what exactly the hype is about. This is a little late because I will be blogging about their festive menu, which they served in December 2010. My bad :)

Nice bright shiny menu, waiting for us.

While waiting for the Degustation menu and the Festive menu, we were served some really lovely bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

The amuse boucher. I'm not really sure what this is, but it's lovely and crispy.

Crab Salad with Avocado and Bisque Jelly. It tasted fresh and good.

Seared Wagyu Beef Carpaccio with Truffle. My first try of truffle and I loved it. It has a strong smell but it went well with the rather raw beef.

Hand-dived Scallops with Aged Parmesan Cheese Fondue and Green Asparagus. The scallops were absolutely fresh and delicious.

Pan Fried Goose Liver with Saba Wine Must and Sweet Potato Galette. Did I mention how much I love goose liver?

Homemade Porcini Mushroom Cappelletti with Saffron Foam and Hazelnuts. This is where the meal started to slide downhill. I wasn't too sure about this dish. It tasted fine but to me, it wasn't exactly memorable.

Tagliolini with Lobster ‘Amalfi’ Style. I enjoyed the pieces of lobster but I didn't think the taste of the pasta was all that good.

Roasted Suckling Pig with Plum Sauce. I had high hopes for this with all the good reviews I have read on other food blogs. However, it turned out to be a big mistake. It was very dry and not crispy enough.

Turkey Supreme Stuffed with Goose Liver, Truffle and Orange Sauce. The turkey was very dry and crumbly. It was really hard to chew and swallow it.

Molten Lava Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream. This was very good. Moist and warm, the chocolate was flowing and the ice cream a good company to the warm chocolate.

Chestnuts Tart with Mandarin Liqueur Sauce. Thick and rich and not too sweet. I love the fresh fruits sprinkled on top.

Complimentary petit fours.

And we finish with coffee.

While there were highlights in this meal and dishes that were good, there were also misses that made me rather disappointed. I wouldn't exactly be jumping to return to this place but I am willing to give it another try if the chance came up.

il Lido Italian Dining + Lounge Bar

Jalan Yap Kwan Seng
50450 Kuala Lumpur
03-2161-2291

Bounasera @ SS2

I know I have been remiss in updating my blogs and for that I am truly sorry. I'm posting a restaurant today which I have been before prior to this but I'm putting in this dinner first because my friend would kill me if I didn't.

It was her bridal shower and we wanted to go somewhere special and to try something special, so I contacted the chef at Bounasera for a special menu just for us.

Taylors Shiraz, one of my favourite medium range wines.

Complimentary bread for the night. Freshly toasted and dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. An excellent start to the night.

The first course of the day is the Italian Antipasti Platter. Filled with olives, sausages, parma ham and rock melon.

Our second course of Onion Soup. Light and very refreshing.

Salad with fresh mozzarella cheese. The chef came by and drizzled 75 year old balsamic vinegar over it. That seriously changed the entire dish. The vinegar was thick like ink and gave off an intense sweetness that complimented the normally light tasting mozzarella cheese well.

Foie Gras on a bed of spinach with 48 hours reduction duck sauce. Can you say decadent? 

We had two mains for the night as some didn't eat beef. This was cod fish that was light and flavourful. Delightfully moist and delicious prepared.

Everyone else had this, Angus Beef Wellington served with 48 hours beef reduction sauce, baby chat mash and white asparagus. The beef was lovely pink and the pastry light and fluffy.

For me this was the fun part. Dessert was a lovely, smooth and rich hazelnut chocolate tart. It was served with vanilla ice cream and a huge dollop of whipped cream.

We couldn't leave an Italian restaurant without at least trying the tiramisu. Now that would be an insult to my sensibilities. But, oh my god, was it good. The flavour of Baileys Irish Cream bursting on my tongue. The best I have tasted to date.

Buonasera

42, SS2/66 Petaling Jaya. (The row of shops behind Pelita)
Tel: +603- 7877 8586 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              +603- 7877 8586      

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Grappa @ Avenue K

My aunt pointed out to me that Grappa came to Avenue K and that's a place that I really need to try. Armed with such glowing recommendations, I stalked in there one day after I made a mistake in my appointments.

Full points for ambiance. The restaurant gave off a very warm and comforting feeling.

Fresh bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The bread was soft and fluffy, not to mention deliciously warm.

Seafood stew. A tomato based stew filled with squid, prawns and really, really teeeeeeny clams. The seafood added amazing flavour to the broth but the freshness of the seafood was off. I was glad the tomato covered the shellfish somewhat.

Tenderloin with chips. I wished it was with mash or a baked potato or something. The chips really threw off the dish for me.I wish I could wax poetic of the meat and pepper the description with tonnes of superlatives, but sadly, it was a normal hunk of meat. My medium rare came as a solid medium, so I wasn't entirely too happy.

I wanted something sweet to end the (rather disappointing) meal with and I asked the waitress for something chocolaty, but she insisted I try their Tiramisu. It's apparently specially made by their own chef. It turned out to be a huge disappointment. It lacked alcohol for one and all the coffee pooled at the base of the glass. That means as you eat it, you can only taste the cheese and suddenly you get a mouthful of bitter coffee. I would give it a miss in future.

Grappa

Lot G-10, Ground Floor, 

 avenue K No 156 Jalan Ampang, 

50450 Kuala Lumpur

Tel : 03 2166 8088