Italiannies @ The Gardens, Mid Valley City

 

Like clandestine gems hidden at the first floor, the Italiannies outlet at Mid Valley Gardens has a rather cozy and elegant interior. Coupled with the warm lightning and magnificent view overlooking the city, it does enhance the romantic ambience of this cozy little restaurant.

Joe, Yee Hou and us were here to sample Italiannies’ new menu that will be fully launched at the 6^th of November.So they said, “At Italiannies, our food is designed for sharing”. Still remember those family style big portions that can probably feed more than two famished guys? With Italiannies new promotion “Bowls of Pasta”, small eaters/ladies get to sample four types of pasta at only RM 29.90.

Grape Shake and Strawberry Shake

Clock Wise
Chicken & Mushroom (shiitake mushrooms sautéed with chili chicken tossed with cherry tomatoes and rocket lettuce and served with spaghetti). Angel Hair Pomodoro (angel hair pasta with chopped red tomatoes and sautéed with garlic in a light tomato basil sauce). Chicken Lasagna (layers of lasagna pasta, creamy cheese sauce, marinara sauce with melted mozzarella cheese and baked until golden brown). Salmon & Lemon Aioli (baked salmon flakes tossed with chilled lemon aioli mayonnaise and baby spinach over shell pasta)

Clock Wise
Fussili Pesto &Mushrooms (Pan-seared shiitake mushrooms served over chilled fussili basil pesto pasta). Classic Carbonara (fettuccine pasta tossed in light parmesan cream sauce with smoked beef bacon and fresh button mushrooms). Clams & Beef Bacon (beef bacon strips sautéed with fresh clams, onions and clam broth and served over fettuccine). Shrimp Linguine (linguine pasta with sautéed shrimp and served with marinara sauce).

Chili Shrimp (lightly sautéed shrimp with dried chilies and garlic over linguine).

My favourite would be the classic carbonara, angel hair pomodoro and shrimp linguine. The classic carbonara is sinfully rich, with egg, cream, butter, parmesan cheese all in one smooth creamy concoction but I’m not complaining! Simplicity can seem ingenious, as in the angel hair pomodoro and shrimp linguine which combined fresh pasta with tomato based sauce to mellifluous advantage.

Other than “bowl of pasta”, we also tried a new salad item – Californian Shrimp Salad with baby spinach and romaine lettuce tossed with Italian dressing topped with seasoned grilled shrimp, mango strips, orange, tomatoes & cream cheese. Being on medication (cough* cough*) has suppressed my appetite but this light and fruity salad is indeed comforting enough for those dreadful dry throat.

Drool flooded my mouth as the Quattro Platter wafted into my face. It consists of thinly rolled pizza dough topped with Philadelphia cream, mozzarella, parmesan and gorgonzola cheese over Italiannies herb oil. The fried dough was flawlessly crispy with melt in your mouth cheese bursting with a wonderful taste.

Another interesting new item would be the Italiannies lamb shank. This looks wonderful and I love lamb when it’s fall apart tender with plenty of fat innervating the meat. Even KampungBoy reckons that this fares better than any other version that he has tried.

Chocolate and hazelnut cake. This is a very rich and dense (almost flourless) chocolate cake but it was too sweet for my liking.

Last but not least, the infamous New York Strawberry Cheesecake arrived. “Only cheesecake that I would eat”, says Yee Hou. So you can gauge how good is it huh? The cheesecake boasts a velvety texture but is lighter than the usual cheesecake that we usually have. Drizzle it with plenty of strawberry sauce and you are in heaven.

It was an enjoyable lunch overall, with good food and good companion. The rest of us were entertained by listening to Yee Hou and Joe’s camera talk and their act of flashing and caressing their tools (toys).I think that with constant somber musings on recessions, downturn and credit crunch playing over our ears every day, it is time to tighten our belt a little bit. No more fancy/fine dining but for that little treat of a hearty Italian fare that is light on the wallet, Italiannies would be the obvious choice.