Spasso Restaurant & Bar @ MyTown Shopping Centre, Cheras

Modern Italian and Spanish Delicacies

For authentic Italian and Spanish cuisine with a modern touch, look no further than our very own shore at MyTown Shopping Centre at Cheras. Spasso Restaurant and Bar opened in April this year at the new shopping mall located next to the new Ikea Cheras.

No stranger to the dining scene, Spasso is under the umbrella of Outto Dine group who also manages other popular eateries such as Limoncello, Svago, Weissbrau, Aka Chochin and Pascucci. Spasso offers modern European cuisine set in a casual ambiance.

 

At sight, Spasso has a smart casual ambiance set in lots of dark colours mixed with shades of wood. The restaurant is spacious and offers a nice bar as well as glimpse of the open kitchen. One can also see their wood oven in the kitchen, another plus point for pizza lovers.

Spasso is helmed by Spanish Sous Chef Iker Fernández Caballero who hails from San Sebastian. With over 20 years of culinary experience in Michelin-starred restaurants and luxury hotels globally, Chef Iker is aiming to garner swine lovers’ palate by putting together a sumptuous menu filled with porky delights as well as classic Spanish tapas to go with the wine list it Spasso has.

The menu is pretty solid with a good list of All-Day Breakfast, Salad or Soup, Tapas, Pizza, Pasta or Rice, Sandwich or Burger and Dessert. Since Outto Dine carries Pascucci coffee in their group, Spasso also serves Pascucci coffee and tea as well as a list of wines, champagnes, liqueurs as well as non-alcoholic beverages.

We started our lunch with coffee. Both of our Latte (RM13) and Iced Caffe Latte (RM15) was decent with quite perfect for our palates in terms of coffee aroma and flavours.

From the All-Day Breakfast list, we tried the Spanish Omelette (RM10), a potato and onion frittata that is popular in Spain. Light, fluffy and easy to enjoy, the omelette is packed with creamy soft potatoes and sweet onions. Served with side salad and toast, this dish even comes with free coffee or tea if you order this before 12noon.

We opted for Spanish Salad (RM15), simply because we saw it listed with poached egg. Crisp greens paired with ratatouille, olives and tomatoes in light tangy dressing, the salad was definitely made better with that beautifully poached egg with a flowy egg yolk center and crispy potato straws.

Moving on to the Tapas menu, we literally wanted to order almost everything because the list looked very enticing. Settling for Iberico Ham (RM23), it was certainly a great sharing platter when the dish was placed on our table.

Gorgeous cuts of Spanish Iberico ham is served with toasted sourdough bread and a light tangy tomato sauce. The ham literally melts-in-the-mouth with a luscious salty finish. Its quality cured meat at its best!

The next tapas of Garlic Prawns (RM38) already won brownie points when placed in front of us. Served in a hot stone bowl, the aroma of the sizzling prawns is tantalizing. The dish is one of our top favorites that day and is literally bursting with fireworks flavours of garlic, chili and herbs. Damn shiok, we were wishing for more toasted bread as well as another order of this succulent garlic prawns. A Must-order!

The Mussel Marinara (RM16) fair decent in my book. Nothing to fault but it didn’t leave us that firework of flavours like the Garlic Prawns. It is still cooked well with each tender mussel nicely smothered with lots of tomatoey goodness and served with toasted bread.

If there is one pizza to order, the Iberico Pizza (RM39) is your best bet. Beautiful thin crunchy crust smothered with deliciously flavourful tomato sauce and crowned with Iberico ham, fresh rocket leaves and generous sprinkling of parmesan cheese, it’s a pizza with classy flavours.

Another dish drool-worthy is the Seafood Paella (RM56). Best for sharing, the paella is served traditionally in the paella pan and comes with generous helpings of large prawns, mussels and clams with rice cooked in saffron laced seafood broth. Rice cooked al dente and beautifully moreish in flavours, we just couldn’t resist polishing this off happily. The seafood was fresh, succulent and cooked just right, elevating the dish to much satiation.

For lunch option, the Pork Secreto Sandwich (RM28) is a hearty and bulky sandwich for big eaters. Focaccia bread sandwiched with slow roasted pork loin, smoky and sweet grilled peppers, onions, tomato, lettuce and blue cheese is bound to make any foodie swoon. Comes with a side of crinkle cut fries, this is one sandwich to be taken seriously!

For vegetarian option, one can opt for the Vegetable Pesto Risotto (RM28). Risotto rice cooked al dente and well flavoured with cheesy and nutty pesto sauce, there’s plenty of vegetables such as broccoli, zucchini, bell peppers, tomatoes and more to give the dish a healthy dose of greens.

Spain is famous for their dessert of Crema Catalana (RM8). The version here is sublime. Utterly luscious and creamy baked custard with a thin layer of caramelized top, the Crema Catalana is the perfect sweet ending to a meal at Spasso.

SPASSO RESTAURANT & BAR

MyTOWN Shopping Centre,

G-038, Ground Floor,

No.6 Jalan Cochrane,

Seksyen 90, Cheras,

55100 Kuala Lumpur

Website: www.out2dine.com.my

Facebook: www.facebook.com/spasso.mytown

Business Hours:

Daily 10am to 10pm

Prego @ The Westin Kuala Lumpur

Chef Ricky Parlanti Joins Prego as New Italian Chef De Cuisine

Italian cuisine has to be one of the warmest and heartiest cuisine I know. It is also one of the more popular cuisine that we enjoy often. For some of the finest Italian cuisine in the city, head over to Prego Italian Cuisine at The Westin Kuala Lumpur.

The Westin Kuala Lumpur welcomes Chef Ricky Parlanti to Prego. No stranger to our culinary scene, Chef Ricky Parlanti is the ninth generation of chefs in the Parlanti family. With over 35 years of culinary experience and numerous prestigious culinary awards under his repertoire, Chef Parlanti has also traversed across the globe with stints in various five-star restaurants and leading hotels. Not limiting to only cooking, Chef Parlanti has also added consultancy to his list of talents. He was responsible for overall designing and opening of restaurants as well as revamping concepts and menus for various famous restaurants internationally.

Perhaps one of his most recognizable effort in our culinary scene was his own multi-award winning restaurant, The Mangotree Restaurant located in Bangsar in his early years here. Besides that, Chef Parlanti has also managed other popular eateries such as Dining in the Dark KL, The Steakhouse KL and The Whiskey Bar.

In fact, one of the very first few chefs I have met when I started my blog was Chef Parlanti. That dining experience was one of the most memorable ones I have had since we dined in the kitchen itself where we got to see how Chef Parlanti whipped up his dishes from scratch at the Palace of the Golden Horse.

When asked on what he would describe as his cooking style, the humble and jovial chef retorted with cheeky grin of “My Own Way”. Growing up in Tuscany, cooking was the heart and soul of his family. It was everything he remembers and cherish. Despite having cooked for some of the elites of the world, Chef Parlanti concurred endearingly that he loves cooking for his family. In fact, his daughter also takes after his passion and is also a chef working abroad currently.

With all that said, Chef Parlanti aims to bring authentic Italian flavours to diners at the modern and contemporary Prego. With a motto of “Food should speak for itself as nothing can beat the quality of a well-prepared dish”, diner can only expect the finest ingredients coupled with Chef Parlanti’s culinary skills in menu at Prego.

The gorgeous modern and contemporary ambiance of Prego boasts of an open kitchen where diners can catch some live kitchen actions from the chefs and culinary team.

Bread always makes an appearance in every Italian meal. There’s nothing more satisfying that fresh warm bread served with butter or olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The house baked bread hits all the right notes of crusty shells with fluffy soft inside served with olive tapenade, extra virgin olive oil with balsamic vinegar and tomato jam. The other bread was a crispy thin flatbread smothered in aromatic herb oil that was so irresistibly yummy.

Burrata con Verdure Grigliate e Pesto alla Genovese

Lunch commenced with Burrata Cheese served with Grilled Spring Vegetables, Basil & Pine Nut Emulsion (RM65). Burrata or buffalo mozzarella is one of the greatest Italian cheese ever created in my opinion. There’s something so sublime in indulging in a ball of creamy oozing milk cheese that is utterly satiating. One can tell how fine this burrata was as soon as one cuts into it. That amazing oozing creaminess is gorgeous at sight as well as on the palate.

Chef Parlanti did divine justice to this fine ingredient by adding sweet and smoky grilled eggplant, bell peppers, onions, zucchini, spring onions, basil and pine nut pesto and finished with quality aged balsamic vinegar. The dish epitomize flavours as well as colours of Italian in very bite. Simply divine!!

Zuppa di Funghi, Aromatizzata al Tartufo

My bowl of Truffle Scented Cream of Field Mushrooms (RM42) was brighten up with a yellow ray of sunshine, a dollop of cream, crouton and sprig of chervil. Even before the soup was tasted, the air lingers with aromatic truffle note that teased and tempted my sense of smell with gravity-defying force of attraction. The soup was beautifully flavoured, rich with earthy mushrooms, particularly porcini mushrooms that stood out in boldness with truffle oil. So luscious, not a single drop of soup was left.

Adding a little tug of fun in welcoming Chef Parlanti, there was a pasta showdown with new Italian chef de cuisine, Chef Parlanti and the hotel Executive Chef Rudy Junaidie. We caught actions of the heat in the kitchen with the individual’s pasta cook off and couldn’t wait to try both pastas after the aromas of the pasta wafted through the air.

Chef Parlanti whipped up his signature authentic Carbonara e Castelmagno while Chef Junaidie whipped up a fusion twist in Gamberetto Aglio Olio e Peperocino. A cheery pose when both chefs were done with their cook off. Perhaps the ones that really revel in the friendly pasta showdown had to be us diners!

Carbonara e Castelmagno

Chef Parlanti’s Prego’s Special Carbonara (RM68) with beef bacon, egg yolk, cream and parmesan, finished in Castelmagno Cheese Wheel, was cheese haven on a plate. Its carbonara elevated with cheese to the max. The homage to cheese was truly what makes this carbonara pure indulgence. Thick, silky and utterly luscious, the al dente penne pasta was also finished with crispy beef bacon, shavings of parmesan, freshly cracked black pepper and fresh herbs. Pure comfort food at its best and also my preferred dish if I have to choose between the two pasta.

Gamberetto Aglio Olio e Peperocino

Chef Junaidie’s Asian Style Pasta, Prawns, Fresh Coriander, Garlic & Herb Crumbs also won many votes that day. Inspired by his wife’s favorite ingredients and flavours, he infuses strands of al dente pasta with lots of spicy chili garlicky goodness and lots of fresh herbs to heighten its aroma and flavours. Prawns were plump and juicy, adding more succulent oceanic notes to the dish.

Duetto di Branzino e Manzo “Prego”

Our final main course of the day was land and sea Duet of Wood Oven-Baked Salted Seabass & Grain-Fed Angus Beef. A beautiful piece of beef, cooked medium and served with rich beefy jus on a bed of wilted spinach is the perfect companion to the paper wrapped seabass perfumed with lemon, fennel and thyme, finished with dill sauce. Both are priced RM94 for seabass and RM286 for Angus beef for individual full portion.

While the steak was delicious, the fish was scrumptious with bright citrusy herb flavours that really accentuated the soft sweet fish beautifully.

Tiramisu Tradizionale

It only makes sense to end our Italian soiree with Chef Parlanti’s Mascarpone Trifle, Espresso (RM26). Generous portion of light fluffy mascarpone cheese with bold hits of espresso, cocoa and fluffy lady finger biscuits is available in an alcoholic or non-alcoholic version. The dessert was a perfect ending to our Italian lunch that day.

We were told that Chef Parlanti loves to cater to the various palates of his diners. Should you catch him in Prego on a less busy day, he may just be able to design a Menu Sorpresa or surprise menu with your preference of customized dishes using your favorite ingredients.

Make your reservations by calling 03 2773 8338 today.

PREGO ITALIAN CUISINE

The Westin Kuala Lumpur

199, Jalan Bukit Bintang,

Bukit Bintang,

55100 Kuala Lumpur

Website: www.thewestinkualalumpur.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/westin.kl/

Business Hours:

Lunch: Monday to Saturday, 12.00pm to 2.30pm

Dinner: Monday to Sunday, 6.30pm to 10.30pm

Brunch: Every Sunday, 11.30am to 2.30pm