A San Valentino Romance and more…
I
am smitten… totally smitten with La
Risata, an Italian restaurant that I discovered recently hidden in Medan
Damansara and a second branch in Ampang. La
Risata has been dishing out authentic Italian favorites since 1996. I
wonder how come I had never visited this Italian bar cum pizzeria before
because the food here is scrumptious!
My
first visit to La Risata, translate
as ‘The Laughter’, was an unforgettable
dining experience. The ambience resembles smart and casual Italian eatery with
a soft dim lighting, evoking much comfort with a little romance in tow. One can
choose from their indoor dining or their al fresco dining. La Risata has a long bar greeting everyone at the entrance and
followed by a view of the wood oven at the end of the room. Lots of wood with earthy
tones made up the rustic interior. It’s comfortable dining at a glance.
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We
were here for a peek at their upcoming romance menu themed San Valentino to be available on Valentine’s Day. The four-course Italian set menu is priced at
RM110++ per pax. The value for money Valentine set menu will have many hearts
fluttering with its take of an Italian romantic experience this Valentine’s
Day!
Kicking
off with an amuse bouche of Chilled Gazpacho, the evening took off
with a zesty and refreshing start.
The
Carpaccio di Salmone arrived, all
prettily arranged like art. Home-made Smoked
Salmon Carpaccio is served with the luxurious Avruga Caviar, rocket leaves,
fennel salad, boiled quail eggs, orange segments and cherry tomatoes. This
course is a medley if salty, sweet and tangy flavours beautifully married with
a light herb and oil dressing. I enjoyed the creamy rich salmon and pop of
salty caviars contrasting with the citrus segments. It reminded me that love is
a little bit of everything like its flavours.
The
second course was Raviolone, a traditional
Bergamo Raviolo stuffed with lamb,
pear, biscuit and cheese served in a butter and sage sauce with Mosto Cotto sauce or balsamic vinegar.
Sounds complicated but the dish is surprisingly light and rustic. The ravioli
was tender and very light. I enjoyed the gorgeous buttery sage sauce with a
light drizzle of rich reduced balsamic vinegar. The crispy breaded sage leaf
gave the dish a contrasting texture.
Guests
are to choose a main course out of the two choices available with one from land
and one from sea. The first one of Tonno
Rosso features seared red tuna loin served with leek risotto, rose jam and
black ink salted butter. The chef has cleverly paired all the ingredients
together to evoke the balance of flavours again. I really love the leek risotto
which was absolutely creamy and cooked al dente to my liking. The unique
luscious black ink butter gave the tuna a bold and oceanic flavour while the
rose jam brought sweetness to the overall dish.
The
second choice of main course was Ossobuco
alla Milanese, a very traditional Milanese style braised ossobuco served
with polenta ‘Concia’ and gremolata sauce. It’s a plate filled with bold and
rich flavours. The deep rich ossobuco was tender and well braised. It also came
with a luscious bone marrow made for digging. The dollop of polenta was a bomb
of flavours as it had loads of strong cheese like gorgonzola and parmesan in it
while the bright gremolata sauce had a good dose of herbs to cut the richness
of the meat and polenta. Though I am not much of an ossobuco fan, I enjoyed this
combination a lot.
Every
love story should have a sweet and sinful ending. The San Valentino menu ended
with Zabaione al Cioccolato, a cold
chocolate sabayon on strawberry salad served with whipped cream and hazelnut crumble.
Strawberries and chocolate are a match made in heaven so there’s nothing better
this Valentine that to enjoy the match as a sweet ending with your loved one!
Besides
the Valentine menu, La Risata’s
regular menu is a menu to watch out for. The menu is filled with their
handcrafted signature pizzas and pasta together with some Italian main courses
and a list of delectable desserts.
We
tasted their Antipasti Misti, a
platter of a bit of everything Italian. Beef
Carpaccio, Deep Fried Calamari Rings, Grilled Mushroom, Chicken Liver Pate with
Garlic Crostini is carefully
arranged on a platter. The small bites really whet the appetite. What stood out
among the plate was the magnificent Chicken Liver Pate which is silky smooth
and very luscious with a hint of buttery notes. It was so good, I wanted to
order more of this on its own.
La
Risata makes possibly the best pizza I have tasted with its signature thin
crust and filled with hearty toppings that impressed us all upon arrival. We
savored Pizza Frutti Di Mare, Pizza D’Anatra
and Pizza Pera E Gorgonzola that evening
out of their choices of 19 pizzas.
Pizza Frutti Di Mare has whole prawns, squid, garlic,
basil, tomato and mozzarella while Pizza
D’Anatra has smoked duck, rocket, anchovy, caramelized and mozzarella and Pizza Pera E Gorgonzola has pear
shavings, rocket salad, gorgonzola, mozzarella and walnut. I didn’t bother
trying to choose a favorite as all three were my favorites that night.
Each
pizza has its own unique flavours and is bold and delicious. High points goes
to the how chunky the filling is, making the pizza utterly irresistible. It was
high ravings among all of us that evening for these pizzas!
From
the pasta section, we had the Capellini
Al Nero Con Frutti Di Mare, angel hair pasta with prawn, squid and roasted
cherry tomatoes in a squid ink sauce. The pasta is aromatic and cooked well.
While most places also tend to cook the seafood in the squid ink sauce, the
seafood here is cooked separately, making it prettier at sight. The pasta is
very tasty with the interesting oceanic black squid ink sauce while the seafood
is cooked well.
From
the main course sections, we had Pesce Alle Melanzane Piccante and Agnello Alla
Griglia.
Pesce Alle Melanzane Piccante is pan fried fillet of barramundi with sautéed
eggplant, anchovy, garlic, chili and pine nuts while Agnello Alla Griglia is grilled Australian lamb tenderloin with a
fennel and black pepper crust served with mashed chickpea and vegetable
caponata and a red wine reduction. Both dishes does have a lot of ingredients
on a plate but they paired well together. The barramundi had a good crusty skin
with tender sweet flesh. I like it paired with vegetables and pine nuts because
it had a good lightness for easy savoring. The lamb tenderloin is so tender and
delicious as well.
Our
evening ended with more desserts from the a la carte menu. From Sicilian Bombe to Cannoli, Zucotto and Panettone
Bread & Pudding, there is a sweet list of desserts to please everyone.
Our
Sicilian Bombe stole the limelight
with its brandied flaming action. Once the flame has died down, we dug into a
thick sweet meringue to unveil liquored sponge filled with lemon cream brought
together with the brandy. Sinful and sweet…
Cannoli is Sicilian fried pastry shell
filled with a sweet ricotta cream dipped in chocolate and pistachio. This
dessert never fails to remind me of a precious moment in my life with someone
special. The cannoli here is pretty authentic and so good!
Panettone Bread & Butter Pudding was also another favorite of mine.
I am a big fan of bread & butter pudding and this one was light as it uses
Italian bread panettone. It is nicely
studded with raisins and drizzled with caramel sauce for extra richness and is
served with vanilla ice cream. Yum…
Another
Italian dessert of Zucotto tasted as
good as it looks. A wedge of Liqueur dome cake filled with chocolate and
vanilla cream with almond, hazelnut and chocolate bits does wonders for the
taste as the combination is pretty much classic.
La Risata also has a long list of wines and
other beverages in their menu. As most of us decided to go the no alcohol
route, we opted for their Italian sodas instead with Passionfruit Cream Soda, Apple Juice, Tangy Blush and Melon Kiwi Soda.
La
Risata is my new
Italian love this season. There’s a reason why it is still around after more
than a decade. Serving up authentic and rustic Italian food with a reasonable price,
the bar cum pizzeria is definitely dishing out great pizzas, pasta and other
Italian dishes to many foodies like me. I am already planning to head back for
their pizzas and pasta with my family…
LA
RISATA
128 Jalan Kasah,
Medan
Damansara
50490 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-2095-9572
Website:
www.la-risata.com
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/larisatarestaurant
Lunch: 12.00pm –
2.30pm
Dinner: 6.30pm –
10.30pm
Excellent post! After getting my Italy Tourist Visa, I started searching for some interesting travel blogs that will share insights about Italy tourist destinations, their gastronomical delights and other unique experiences. I am glad to have come across your blog as I get to check out more about Italy. The unique experiences, personal insights and suggestions might just help me prepare a better travel itinerary and use it to experience the best that Italy has to offer.
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