Limoncello,
Lot 136, Ground Floor,
Suria KLCC, Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 603-2163 3188
Business hours: 10.00am to 10.00pm, daily.
Photos by RAYMOND OOI
The crowd consists mostly of the working class who want to dine with a view of the lush park.
Within the confines lies Limoncello – an Italian-inspired bistro and bar offering contemporary, yet casual all-day dining.
Limoncello’s lime-green interior is hard to miss. Upstairs is Svago – the fine-dining restaurant under the same management. So really, Limoncello is the fuss-free sibling.
The old fashioned-style mosaic floor and long curved bar give the restaurant its unpretentious ambience.
The food presentation is nice and executive Italian chef Felice Martinelli uses recipes from Milan for the menu.
“I avoid being too traditional because I think it is important to add a modern twist to the dishes to suit the Malaysian palate,” said Martinelli, who has headed the kitchen here for the past three years.
He started his journey as a chef at the young age of 14, when his family used to run a restaurant in Milan.
The pizzas in Limoncello, he said, were the best-sellers on the menu. The open-concept kitchen is where you can see his staff using their bare hands to roll out the dough, sans rolling pin.
We tried the two favourite pizzas on the menu, which were the Capricciosa Wood-Fired pizza (RM34.80) that had toppings of chicken ham, roasted artichoke, marinated mushrooms, olives, poached egg, tomato and mozzarella, as well as the Bianca Con Le Patate Wood-Fired Pizza (RM26.80) with rosemary potatoes, onion, mozzarella and oregano.
The poached egg in the middle of the Capriocciosa gave it that extra oomph and the flavours of the other toppings complemented one another. The Bianca Con Le Patate is a vegetarian’s favourite and comfort food at its best.
At Limoncello, they do not do set lunches or dinners because they prefer to give customers more choices.
At the table were appetisers such as Carpaccio Di Bresaola (RM32.80) – air-dried beef on rocket with cherry tomatoes and Parmesan flakes; Insalata Con Verdure Alla Griglia (RM18.80) – grilled vegetables with basil, garlic and olive oil; Melanzane Alla Parmigiana (RM24.80) – baked eggplant layered with tomato, mozzarella and Parmesan and Antipasti Misti or anti pasti platter (RM28.80) – a combination of calamari, fried mozzarella and polpettine di carne (meatballs in tomato sauce).
All these are great for sharing.
We also tasted soups comprising Minestrone Di Verdure (RM16.80) – tomato-based vegetable soup with pesto and Zuppa Ai Funghi (RM21.80) – mushroom cream soup, drizzled with white truffle oil. Both were equally tasty and perfectly seasoned.
The mains included Al Salmone (RM32.80) – alfredo cream and green peas topped with smoked salmon; Club Svago (RM32.80) – a sandwich with grilled chicken fillet, Italian vegetables, fried egg, tomato, lettuce and oregano; Petto Di Pollo Ai Funghi (RM38.80) – grilled chicken breast in mushroom cream, rosemary potatoes and buttered vegetables; Branzino in Crosta D’erbe Aromatiche (RM38.80) – herb-crusted sea bass and Stinco Di Agnello Brasato (RM68.80) – slow-cooked lamb shank on truffle mash potatoes.
I particularly enjoyed the fish and lamb, which had some really great flavours.
For dessert, we had Tiramisu (RM21.80); Botta Di Banana (RM18.80) – pancake smothered with creamy nutty chocolate topped with banana and cream and Gelato Della Casa (RM10.80 per flavour) consisting of fior di latte (milky vanilla), black sesame, macadamia, pistachio and chocolate served in a waffle cone.
Overall, the menu offers a variety of items without being too overwhelming.
This is the writer’s personal observation and is not an endorsement by StarMetro.
