aly's wonderland

“There is nowhere like Neroteca in the city.”

– www.neroteca.com

I completely agree. Located in a long narrow lot at the base of Somerset Condominiums in the the Changkat Bukit Bintang area, Neroteca is not somewhere you just ‘drive past’ and think: hey, that looks like a nice place, let’s eat there!‘

You have to seek it out.

Initially a branch of the original Nero Vivo, Neroteca has gained a reputation for being one of the best Italian Restaurants in town. In fact, in the recent Miele Guide Awards 2009, it was voted 3rd best restaurant after Senses at Hilton Kl, which came in second, and Sage at the Gardens Residences, which was voted number one.

I had the priveledge of being surprised with a ‘romantic’ (ahem) birthday dinner there last month. Walking through the doors brought me back to many memorable meals in tiny little delicatessens in Italy, the  heady scent of ham, garlic and wine lingering in the air.

Wall to wall shelves stocked to the brim with bottles of wine, hanging ham and copper pans over the deli counter, and tables jammed so close together overflowing with boisterous customer having a good time. Oh yes, even half the clientele seemed to be authentic Italians (which is always a good sign) with raucous laughter and shouts of Prego! echoing across the restaurant.

Tearing into a basket of freshly baked bread, my eyes scanned the menu for familiar favourites. Grumble grumble… That is the sound of my empty tummy telling me to order everything!

Everything looks good, just order! it screamed!

Torn between the fresh and healthy  Prosciutto e Melone – parma ham & melon, and the Speck – smoked ham & buffalo mozzarella antipasto, we decided to be reasonable and order a starter, a salad and a pasta to share.

Not heeding warnings from friendly manager Alex, we ordered the Gran Tagliere Neroteca – combo sharing starter with assorted cold cuts, cheeses and antipasto at RM 98. On the menu it says its serves 2 persons. So we’re two persons right? And we’ve got big appetites. So no problem, we told him. We’ll have a salad and a pasta as well.

He said “OK, but don’t say I didn’t warn you”.

How big can it be?

Capital B-I-G.

A very generous serving for two, even for us with our (what we thought were) bottomless pits.

Along came the Genovese salad – mesclun and rocket salad in ‘espelette’ chili mustard, asparagus, prawns, roast capsicum smoked salmon, codfish, tuna and cherry tomatoes. This was a great salad, fresh, cooling and very tasty. My only disappointment is that we noticed there was no tuna or cod. Don’t get me wrong, the salmon was delicious and more than enough to satisfy our appetites, but I’ve found this happening more and more often recently.

I ordered a salad in one of my favourite lunch places, the main reason being that it had pine nuts, which I love. Of course, the salad came without pine nuts, and I sent it back. The wait staff then informed me that the chef had just told him they were out of pine nuts. I’m a reasonable person, and I would have ordered something else had I been told that before. I guess it’s just a matter of communication, between wait staff and the kitchen, to make sure the information filters through to the customer.

Don’t ever underestimate the importance of letting your customer know you’ve run out of something. Hey, it happens. It’s better to let us know than to serve it anyway and hope we won’t notice.

Moving along and ignoring the lack of cod and tuna because I was already in love with the food, the ambience and the Chianti, our next dish arrived. This was the chef’s special Seafood Spaghetti. Delicious, perfectly cooked pasta with fresh prawns and clams. Of course, our meat platter was still staring at us, mocking us saying eat me, eat me! so we sacrificed some pasta to make space for the salami and cheese…

Alex came over and asked us how our meal was. Lil Chef said, “Yeah you were right. It was big. We should have listened to you! But it was worth it…”

With no room for dessert, we knew there was plenty of time for that. We would go back, and we did, one month later.

We returned with a vengeance and a vow for Lil Chef to have his Tiramisu. This time learning from our previous mistake, we still ordered meat to start, but in a much more manageble portion of the Tagliere Neroteca.

A full selection of cold cuts (mostly salami) from the display for one person (that means it’s good for at least 2 of you, if not three!) at RM 37.

Delicious, as was the full bodied Chianti, and the warm bread with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and friend garlic chips. It was quieter this time round being a Sunday, but still bustling with activity from the open kitchen and a few lazy Sunday diners. We tried the Piemontese salad – juicy mix salad in creamy caper vinaigrette, grilled chicken, mushroom ‘trifolati’, half-dried tomatoes, parmesan and rosemary croutons.

I didn’t see any half-dried tomatoes, but instead juicy chunks of fresh tomatoes. Po-tay-toe- Po-taa-toe, I guess. Or in this case, To-may-toe-To-maa-toe…

All in all, I thought this salad was particularly good, mixing crisp fresh leaves with pan fried mushrooms and succulent slices of chicken topped off with a generous sprinkling of ripe parmesan cheese.

We both felt like tomato based pasta dishes, and Lil Chef opted for the Pappardelle ‘Neroteca’ – wild boar ragout pasta . I really wanted linguine and I wanted prawns, but I didn’t see that on the menu so made a special request for the Linguine Pesto with Prawns to be made with tomato sauce instead. No problem said our waitress, with a smile, and off she went to place our orders.

Our dishes arrived and we weren’t disappointed. Lil Chef’s dish was robust and meaty, with broad, lengthy strands of parpadelle while mine was simple and classic with a hint of garlic and fresh herbs.

Mopping our plates clean with the remainder bread, we looked at each other and knowingly said at the same time, “No Dessert!”

I really, really like Neroteca. It’s very cosy, very warm and very welcoming, and there’s just something in the air that makes you feel like you can disappear into your own little world. Diners at the next table? Who cares? The only people that matter are at YOUR table. That’s how the staff make you feel, and that’s definitely how the food makes you feel.

I’m looking forward to visit number 3.  I was already eyeing the Porcellino Arrosto (roasted suckling pig) and Porchetta Calabra/Rustica (stuffed suckling pig baked) which you need to pre-order at least 24 hours in advance and it’s recommended for 4 or more diners. I guess they mean 8 really.

It shouldn’t be a problem to gather up some people – anyone want to join me? Maybe then Lil’ Chef will finally get his Tiramisu…

Contact:

NEROTECA

(Non-Halal)

Ground Floor, The Somerset, 8 Lorong Ceylon, 50250 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 03-20700530
Fax: 03-20702530
Email: info@neroteca.com

Opening hours: 10am – midnight (Daily)/ 6pm to midnight (Tue)