Italiannies, The Gardens, Mid Valley City

The first time I ate in Italiannies was when they first open in 1 Utama. Back then a friend and I ordered a stuffed mushroom, a soup and a plate of angel hair pasta in tomato sauce. It was a mistake because only when the pasta arrived that we know that the portion can feed more than four people. Hence you'll see motto inscripted in the wall of an Italiannies restaurant like the one below:

Last Saturday, I was invited by Nuffnang and Italiannies to get to taste first hand some of the item in their new menu. One of the special introduction is the Bowls of Pasta. From 10 different pasta, one can choose 4 pasta, each pasta will comes in a small bowl. The 4 bowls is nice portion to be shared between two people but if you're big eater like me, I can finish all 4 bowls. So now, one can enjoy 4 different variety of pasta with just Rm 29.90 ++.




Okay. Back to the food tasting session. The other bloggers that were there too are Ringo, Cynthia, Cindy, Iza, and of course Yee Hou. This is the second time I come to the outlet in The Gardens. The first time was just 3 days back during Nuffnang 3rd Sharing Session. Usually, I'll go to the outlet in the Curve or 1 Utama. I think this outlet is the newest outlet in Klang Valley.

House baked breads, and balsimic vinegar in olive oil.

As usual in Italiannies, I will start of by whacking the complimentary breads which will be eaten not with butter but with the aromatic balsimic vinegar and olive oil. The first time I ate bread this way is in Italiannies.

My fresh watermelon juice. It's freshly made.

While waiting for food. By the way, the table is made of solid wood.

First, we were served appetizers. Californian Shrimp Salad and Quottro Platter.

The Californian Shrimp Salad is a very refreshing salad because it not only comes with vegetable like baby spinach and romaine lettuce but also have mangoes, oranges and tomatoes. Orange vinaigrette is the dressing used. I especially like the the seasoned grilled shrimp which is so springy when I bite into it. It's like the shrimp is dancing in my mouth. Mixing the cream cheese with the fruit and vegetable also create a new kind of taste. Kind of like a new age salad moving away from the traditional Caesar's Salad or Nicoise Salad.

Rating: 3.75/5


Californian Shrimp Salad

The Quottro Platter is a combination of deep-fried risotto balls, calamari, stuffed mushrooms and zucchini fritte. Comes with marinara sauce and alfredo dressing for dipping so that you don't have to ask for ketchup. This is the first time I heard of risotto balls. Pop one into my mouth, and wow, creamy cheese just squish out from the center of the risotto ball. For added flavour, dip it in the marinara sauce and you'll get cheesy inside out. The calamari is fried with the right amount of batter which is not too thick and of course it's crispy. Al dente. Everyone's favourite, especially Yee Hou is the zucchini fritte, thinly sliced zucchini and then fried. The taste is like onion ring but sweeter.

Rating: 4/5

Quottro Platter

One of the mains that day is Italiannies Lamb Shank, which is also my favourite. Braised lamb shank with a medley of herbs, red peppers and tomatoes. Served with garlic mashed potatoes and brown sauce. The lamb shank is cooked right until it is tender yet juicy. One don't have to use a lot of strentgh to cut through the meat. I can easily deboned it using the knife provided. It was marinated nicely that I eat it without even dipping any of the brown sauce. The mashed potatoes is very finely mashed and it tasted so good that I clean out the plate. I leave no mercy as I finished the tomatoes and red pepper too. First time that I ate red pepper that is so sweet and soft.

Rating: 4.75/5


Itallianies Lamb Shank


The stars of the day, 10 stars to be exact are the Bowls of Pasta. Normally, you can only choose 4 out of these 10 pasta, which consist of:

Clams & Beef Bacon
Beef bacon strips sautéed with fresh clams, onions & clam broth. Served over fettuccine.

Chili Shrimp
Lightly sautéed shrimp with dried chillies and garlic over linguine.

Classic Carbonara
Fettuccine pasta tossed in light parmesan cream sauce with smoked beef bacon and fresh button mushrooms.

Shrimp Linguine
Linguine pasta with sautéed shrimp and served with our marinara sauce.

Angel Hair Pomodoro
Angel hair pasta with chopped red tomatoes and sautéed with garlic in a light tomato basil sauce.

Salmon & Lemon Aioli
Baked salmon flakes tossed with chilled lemon aioli mayonaise and baby spinach over shell pasta.

Chicken Coronation
Grilled chicken tossed with sliced apples, raisins and mayonaise with chilled shell pasta.

Chicken & Mushroom
Shiitake mushrooms sautéed with chili chicken tossed with cherry tomatoes & rocket lettuce. Served with spaghetti.

Chicken Lasagna
Layers of lasagna pasta, creamy cheese sauce, marinara sauce with melted mozzarella cheese and baked until golden brown.

Fussili Pesto and Mushrooms
Pan-seared shiitake mushrooms served over chilled fussili basil pesto pasta.

Clockwise from the top: Chicken Lasagna, Classic Carbonara, Chili Shrimp, and Angel Hair Pomodoro.

Choosing some favourites among the 10 pastas is really kind of hard because the pastas were all cook al dente. Not too soggy nor too hard. So, it all comes down to taste and preferences. Ladies might prefer the chill pasta such as Salmon & Lemon Aioli and the fruity Chicken Coronation.

My own favourite is of course the Chili Shrimp with the ever so springy shrimp and linguine is cooked in a simple yet flavourful way. Angel Hair Pomodoro is another favourite of mine, the aroma of the garlic and light tomato basil sauce is just so nice and combines very well with the angel hair pasta.

Top: Salmon & Lemon Aioli, Bottom: Clams & Beef Bacon fettucine.

For those who like cheese and cream will probably opt for Chicken Lasagna, Fussili Pesto and Mushroom (there's Parmesan cheese sprinkled on it) or the Classic Carbonara. So, it will be kind of hard to rate it pasta by pasta. So, overall:

Rating: 4/5

Last but not least, is the dessert. We had Italiannies Chocolate & Hazelnut Cake. Rich, moist chocolate cake with hazelnut served sprinkled with sugar icing, which is my first time to taste it. The chocolate is rich and dense, there's no doubt about it. Hazelnuts crunch in between. If not for the softer texture, I would have thought that I was eating hazelnut chocolate. Such a good way to end our meal.

Rating: 3.5/5

Italiannies Chocolate & Hazelnut Cake


Italiannies Ambassadors?

Yes, I had lunch with these four leng luis.

Thanks again to Nuffnang and ChasWood Resources Sdn Bhd (the company that owns TGIF, Italiannies and surprise, surprise, Teh Tarik Place) for inviting me and my friend to this wonderful tasting session.




Addresses:

Italiannies The Gardens
Lot s209, Second Floor, The Gardens
Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra
59200 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 603-2283 3675

Italiannies 1 Utama
F355/356/357, 1st Floor, Rainforest, 1 Utama
47800 Lebuh Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya
Selangor Darul Ehsan
Tel: 603-7727 1399

Italiannies The Curve
Lot G75 & G76, Ground Floor, The Curve
No. 6, Jalan PJU 7/3, Mutiara Damansara
47800 Petaling Jaya
Selangor Darul Ehsan
Tel: 603-7728 1715

Italiannies Sunway Pyramid
Lot OB3-G-5,6,7 & 8, Ground Floor
Sunway Pyramid
No. 3, Jalan PJS 11/15
46150 Petaling Jaya
Tel: 603-5631 8661

Other ppl's view:

Lot's of Craving
KampungBoyCityGal