St Valentine Needs To Eat Too

January 29th, 2007

edit: Part 2 is over here!

last year i did a vday post on 12 different gifts guys could get their girls. this year, jonathan suggested that i do a compilation of the best and most romantic restaurants in kl to have a valentine’s day dinner. good idea, right?! soooo, here it is! in my humble opinion, 5 of the Best Valentine’s Day Restaurants in KL!

1. Ciao

the ambience of Ciao is so quietly sophisticated and demure, that once you’re inside, you wouldnt be able to tell that it’s situated right in the middle of the booming and bustling Jalan Tun Razak. a bungalow-cum-restaurant, Ciao is spacious without being bare, cozy without being crowded.

there are two parts to the restaurant, the first is the inside of the bungalow where everything is done up in hues of white, off-white and warm sandy colours. decor is minimal with only a few Renaissance-type artpieces adorning the walls, and some very tasteful lighting. the general feel here is neat and crisp.

the second part of the restaurant is the patio and garden area, where the chairs and floors are wooden. at night this area is lit with dim lights and candles, very pretty :) there’s a gorgeous stone fountain in the middle of the garden that lends tremendously to the romance of the whole place. Ciao is pretty famous for it’s exquisite garden weddings!

i love the food in Ciao and always have. the quality of the food there has never wavered. all their pastas are good - i generally prefer their pastas to their pizzas or meat dishes. the cream marinara, squid ink, pumpkin ravioli and pesto there is top notch. also, anything that comes with their capers garlic dip is worth ordering, because that dip is SO YUMMY. and the seafood soup is superb!!! correct or not, azlan! as for dessert, i would not recommend their Cassata cake, but their tiramisu is goooooood. go for their Tartuffo if you like ice cream.

for Valentines Day, Ciao is doing away with their usual fare. they are serving only their Valentine’s Day Menu, which goes for RM180 per pax. email me if you’d like to have a peek at their vday menu! :)

Ciao also has two sister restaurants - Ciccio in Changkat Bukit Bintang and Cipolla in Bangsar. if you prefer a more casual cafe-type environ but with Ciao’s menu, then those two are the places to head to.

Ciao (map!)
428, Jalan Tun Razak
50400 Kuala Lumpur
Tel : 03-9285 4827

2. Moussandra

nestled in a dark little corridor on the ground floor of KL Plaza is Moussandra, a snug and candlelit Mediterranean eatery with the best tapas you will ever find in KL. of the 5 restaurants featured here in this post, Moussandra would be my top pick for a Valentine’s Day dinner, simply because the food is superb, the ambience is superb, and the service is superb. plus the tiramisu and chocolate cake here is fantastic. i really could not ask for more :D

the very first time i went to Moussandra, i completely fell in love with it. the interior of the place is so rustic and earthy, completely unlike all the other loud and flamboyant mediterranean restaurants in KL. with its rough stucco walls and simple wooden furniture, stepping into Moussandra is like entering a bona fide spanish kitchen. it is intimate in all its rawness.

and the decor items here are so confusedly haphazard, it’s almost endearing! a grecian urn here, a shelf full of empty wine bottles there, copper pans all over the walls, and there’s even a kettle hanging from the ceiling. the yellowed posters and still-life art hanging on the walls, in all their awkwardness, successfully blend into the surroundings to create this totally unembellished and provincial mood. it’s all so weird, i absolutely love it!

this is a small place, so service here is always attentive and warm. one time i went around taking photos of the restaurant, and after a while, the manager approached me worriedly and said that i should return to my seat and take pictures later. ‘the saganaki you ordered must not be eaten cold!!!’ he insisted. hahaha. soooo cute.

food here is THE best. the saganaki that must not be eaten cold is yummy, but i would put that aside for their tapas. i havent had the pleasure of sampling their entire tapas menu, but all the tapas i’ve ever had here have been scrumptious. the spanish rice dish, paella, is sooooo tasty here, it’s all i ever order when i go to Moussandra. and their herb-encrusted dory fillet is so lipsmackingly deliciously garlicky and melt-in-your-mouth, it’s hard to refuse it when it’s placed in front of you. as is their moussaka. sigh! and oh, their tiramisu!! i believe it’s safe to say that their tiramisu is one of the best in KL.

for Valentine’s Day, Moussandra has a set menu that goes for RM98 per pax. the prices of their ala carte menu can be found on their website.

Moussandra (map!)
Sub Lot B-8, Mezzanine Floor, KL Plaza
179, Jalan Bukit Bintang
55100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel : 03-2144 0775

3. Cafe Cafe

since i blogged about Cafe Cafe a while ago, i’m going to make this one short. in a nutshell, Cafe Cafe is a completely gorgeous French restaurant with the most beautiful and opulent and chic decor ever. this place is almost magical in its beauty, and it looks like a Victorian painting come alive. it’s a pretty crowded and lively restaurant, with lots of chatter and laughter amongst tinkling of cutlery. however, if you wanna pick this place for your Vday dinner, come here for the ambience, not the food. the food here isnt that great for the price you pay, about rm100-150 per head. besides their ala carte menu, there are also several different set menus here. a must have is their warm chocolate cake! :D

Cafe Cafe (map!)
175 Jalan Maharajalela
50150 KL
Tel : 03-2145 8141

4. Tamarind Hill

this gorgeous Thai restaurant is designed in a way that the entrance itself whets your appetite. from the moment you push past the wrought iron gates, you’re holding your breath in anticipation. shady trees sway quietly above the entrance into the restaurant, there are pebbles beneath your feet, and your view of what is to come is blocked out by tall white walls. calm sounds of rushing water and a symphony of crickets surround you, and candles illuminate your path. you climb a few steps, and here you are. the beautiful Tamarind Hill awaits :)

like Ciao, Tamarind Hill has the bungalow-cum-restaurant concept going on. you can choose to dine in the bungalow or on the patio, but i usually opt for the patio. the open wooden patio of Tamarind Hill is really the most alluring part of the place, with its rattan lamps hanging from the beams and simple woven tapestries on the walls. there are also flowy orange organza curtains all around that give the patio a nice splash of colour and vibrancy, nicely offsetting the browns and oranges of the table settings. it’s all very honest and natural with a touch of class.. very very pleasant.

the Tamarind Hill bungalow sports an unfinished, raw, colonial look with its white walls and dusty corners. it’s nice in all its art-gallery charm, but kinda makes me feel like i’m eating in a museum sometimes. haha. which is why i always pick the tables at the patio.

service here is neither bad nor good. the staff here arent particularly quick or good in conversation, but they’re polite and helpful. food is just alright, not the best Thai in KL, but good enough! they tend to go a bit overboard on the taste, though. totally for you if you like your food with a lot of kick in it. i recommend the fried fish with cashewnuts! and the huge giant prawns with tamarind sauce. and their spring rolls with this superb peanut butter dip! as for dessert, the dragonfruit with rum&raisin ice cream is the best.

price-wise, Tamarind Hill can be a little expensive but you can cut corners if you dont order their ridiculously expensive prawns and crabs. tentatively, for 2 people the bill should be about RM180-250. also, they’re not offering any Valentine’s set menus so if you choose to dine here, there’s only the ala carte menu. and if you prefer Indochinese cuisine and a slightly quieter but similar environ, check out their sister restaurant Tamarind Springs, which is not too bad either!

Tamarind Hill (map!)
1, Jalan Kerja Air Lama
68000 Ampang
Tel : 03-4256 9100

5. Cava

Cava is my newfound love! it’s a small and cozy Mediterranean restaurant in the shoplots of Jalan Bangkung of Bangsar, just a few doors down from Attic and Opus.

the interior of Cava is classy and modern, with it’s smooth parquet floors, warm yellow walls and quirky paintings. one entire wall is covered with several shelves lined with empty wine bottles, and one section of the restaurant can be lent some privacy with the help of a plush red velvet curtain. Cava’s charm lies in its sleek and simple design. there’s something almost easygoing and relaxing about the place. it’s all so casual and laidback (yet maintaining a certain polished look), that you feel like you could sit there for hours just chatting or reading a good book.

major props to Cava for having the best service i’ve had the pleasure of encountering in a long time. i always thought the staff of Opus had hospitality down to a perfect science, so i wasnt very surprised when i was told that Opus and Cava are in fact sister restaurants. both places have the friendliest and warmest and most polite waiting staff you could ever hope to find in KL. or maybe even Malaysia. i totally love the fact that they are so open to people taking pictures of their restaurant and their food, i mean wtf is up with this no-photos policy that some establishments just love to have these days? a lot of places could learn a thing or two from Cava’s hospitality.

a must-try in Cava are their 4 specialty drinks. the Sangria here is bloody fantastic, but my favourite is the Cava #1, which is a deliciously tantalising mix of white wine, apple juice, lemon juice and whiskey. can we say YUM??? i hear the oxtail pasta and paella here are pretty good too, though i havent tried them for myself. but oh my god, have i tried their warm chocolate cake. oh my god oh my god oh my god. it is to die for, end of story. wine lovers, for its uber extensive range of wines, Cava is the place for you.

aside from their usual menu, Cava will be having a Valentine’s Day 5-course set menu for RM120 per pax. the prices of their ala carte menu is on their website.

Cava (map!)
71 Jalan Bangkung
Bukit Bandaraya
59100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel : 03-2093 6637

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okay, that’s it for now! heehee ooh how i love Valentine’s Day :D

click here for Part 2, another 5 more vday restaurants!

Entry Filed under: Food, Reviews