Cipolla

i went for dinner yesterday at this place in Bangsar called Cipolla. quite by accident too - we were actually supposed to go to Flams (really good place too, just beware this one perverted waiter..) but coz we parked near Cipolla, and coz i think restaurants with those little chalkboard signs are soooo cute, we went to Cipolla instead!

it’s a new restaurant, been open for only 4 weeks. went in and found out from the manager that it was a sister restaurant of Ciao! Ciao is like one of my favouritest italian places ever. a full perusal of the menu (i love looking through menus!!! it’s so exciting. practically the best moment of the dining-out experience) revealed that the dishes were pretty much similiar to Ciao’s. but nvm lah. Ciao’s food good wat. zomg their cream marinara.

for starters, we had the wild mushroom soup and the seafood soup. mushroom soup was good but not great. tastes like what you’d expect from a place like this - creamy, rich and with lotsa mushroomy bits! the seafood soup is exactly like the one from Ciao and i ended up hijacking it from my date cos Ciao has the BEST seafood soup in the whole wide world! still have yet to find one that can beat it. it has the perfect texture and is just soooo full of flavour. and the shrimp in it is so GOOD!

they took ages with our mains cos they messed up one of the orders, and so they placated us with free bruschetta. haha how cute. and the bruschetta was actually pretty good for a tomato concasse topping! they put some leafy herby thingy on it, and garlic butter spread on the bread. and if their most basic bruschetta is good, i’m guessing the others that they have on their menu is going to be even better.

for mains - the Ravioli Zucca was simply amaaaaazing. it’s pumpkin-stuffed ravioli with slices of beef, in a light butter cream sauce. the pumpkin filling is so fantastic - it’s slighty sweet and soft and goes with the sauce and beef like you wont believe. there was supposed to be chopped almonds in the sauce, which were missing, which is a pity cos i think the almonds would have made this dish absolutely perfect.

when i asked the waiter which was better - the pumpkin ravioli or the porcini mushroom ravioli, he actually got really excited about the squid ink ravioli and insisted over and over again that i must try it. i was like, erks but it’s going to be black and so unappetizing! i mean i have trouble eating nasi kerabu (blue rice) already ok. but he was adamant that the taste would completely eclipse how weird it looks. actually he doesnt even think it looks weird, but whatever. anyways next time i go there i’m gonna try that. or if any of you go there before i do, and are willing to try it, tell me what it’s like okay!! i would so appreciate it.

their salmon main was actually not very good. the fillet itself, though very succulent, had next to no taste, and the pesto sauce was mediocre at best. the portion was very generous though! bigger than most places serve their fish. and it looked very nice and cute on the plate too. hehe. the superficial me likes.

for dessert, i made the wrong choice! i ordered this ice cream cake thing which sounded so nice on the menu, but was just alright. i’m so super fussy with my desserts so when i get one that i dont like i actually feel slightly upset, hahaha. anyways it’s this vanilla ice cream cake thing, with bits of sponge cake in the middle, with candied fruits (urk) and dark chocolate pieces as well. didnt really like. shoulda ordered the tiramisu but i have that all the time at Ciao. so next time i come back here i’m gonna try their chocolate mousse. ah, chocolate mousse! i’m still depressed that i never got to try Le Meridien’s during prom. it was supposedly super orgasmic :(

my date had gelati, the flavour of which i got to pick!!! hehehe. of course i picked bacio, which is the flavour everyone must love. it’s sorta like a ferrero rocher flavour - chocolate and hazelnut. very yummy. this one was lighter than the one i’m used to (Lecka Lecka!!!!! <3) but it was good all the same.

decor in Cipolla is nice. hock chuan, you will approve! or maybe not. (note to all : hock chuan is the worst person to go for dinner with, because everywhere we go, we cant eat without him criticizing at least 3 aspects of the decor. damn architects) the floor is polished concrete and there’s this funky brick wall on one side of the room. the bar looks nice too, and there’s this long basin that lines one wall - with very cool stone waterspouters in the shape of lion heads. the whole place is more casual than Ciao is, though. has a very laidback bistro feel. there’s even a little section at the back next to the winestore where the pizza chefs make pizza in the open!

service is great. the waiters really know their stuff. how knowledgable the staff of a restaurant is important, and if they cant tell which of their food is better than which, that says a lot. our waiter told us that he wouldnt really recommend the ice cream cake, but i went ahead and had it anyway. he turned out to be right! and he was also right about the gelati, and this other waiter about the ravioli :) they’re really warm and friendly too, though still maintaining waiter professionalism. oh and they gave us bruschetta on the house! that was really nice.

price-wise, it’s about rm20ish for their pizzas, rm30+ for mains, rm16 therabouts for dessert.

i like this place :) am definitely returning to try their squid ink ravioli. i guess it’s good after all to judge a restaurant based on whether they have cute chalkboard signs or not! :D

Cipolla
(same row as La Bodega)
4, Jalan Telawi 2
59100 Bangsar Baru
Tel : 03 2287 2628

Comments July 16th, 2006