Verona Trattoria @ Seksyen 17, PJ

Verona Trattoria is a cosy Italian restaurant located in the depths of Seksyen 17. We nearly could not find the restaurant as it was located in a secluded area and facing away from the road. It is best to make a reservation as the restaurant was quite full even on a week night.
     

       

              

Remembering the awesome French Onion Soup I had at Logenhaus in Taipan, I decided to order French Onion Soup here to try. Unfortunately it was quite a letdown due to the different cooking method. The soup had a thin consistency, almost like bouillon and the lone crouton floating on the soup was hard yet soggy.
               

Jamie Oliver rocks!

               

This is THE most awesome black pepper ever and it's thanks to Jamie Oliver that we got to try it. Seriously I'm just going to stock my kitchen with lots of tellicherry black pepper. I can't even begin to explain how good they are but Jamie's website describes them as having a rich and fruity flavour. The chef probably regretted putting it on our table when we requested for black pepper as we sprinkled liberal amounts onto all the dishes =P Be warned though that a little of this pepper really goes a long way...

               

Pizza Quattro Stagioni (RM 38.90)

                   
This thin crust pizza was topped with grilled capsicum, mushrooms, ham and pepperoni. The ingredients were definitely fresh and you can taste its superb quality. The picture does not do it justice as the place was quite dim.

                   

Lasagna (RM 29.90)

           
The Lasagna was very delicious with a rich and meaty sauce. The lasagna sheets tasted freshly made and were absolutely tender.
               

Calzone (RM 29.90)

             
Doesn't the Calzone look like a giraffe? =P I like how it looks like a giant curry puff and am always sad to see it deflate with the first cut =( There was a generous amount of chicken ham and black pepper pepperoni in the calzone. The sliced capsicum and button mushrooms all tasted extremely fresh even though they have been baked in the oven. The calzone itself was cheesy and the crimped parts as usual always tasted much better.
           

Goodies in the puff

           

Warm chocolate cake with vanilla ice-cream (RM 17.90)

       
Actually I'm not too sure if this is a warm chocolate cake or the molten lava cake as we were billed the molten lava cake but this warm chocolate cake did not yield any flowy bits. Irregardless, this cake was AWESOME!!! =D It was warm, and chocolatey and moist and definitely one of the best we've eaten!
              

Porky people rejoice! for Verona Trattoria is a non-halal joint =P We have been meaning to return to try the other items in the menu because looking at other bloggers' pictures of the food just makes me want to head there immediately, but the location really is quite out of the way. Do make a trip here and I promise you won't be disappointed (just don't order the French Onion soup =P).
   
         
PawPoints: 4 Paws
Pawket: Olive
                   
           
Verona Trattoria

8 Jalan 17/54
Petaling Jaya
Tel: 03 7960 2890
Wed - Mon: 12pm - 2.30pm, 6pm - 10pm

Kingyo Japanese Restaurant @ Life Centre, KL

Kingyo is the new Japanese restaurant in Menara Life Centre, taking over from Munakata. It is a relatively quiet restaurant, even more so on a week night. Here's our review of their Teppanyaki Course Menu.

       

          

Menu

           
The choices were quite good and we had a tough time deciding which to go for. In the end, we had Course B and Course E.

                  

Nice ceramics but not the best I've seen

                

Salad

           
The salad came in a chilled bowl which meant that the vegetables were extra crunchy and refreshing. The salad sauce was very creamy too.

              

Zensai

               
The appetizer consisted of a maki which was coated in very crunchy salmon roe but its taste was average, marinated jellyfish and blanched prawns that were sweet and crunchy. Seems like a lot of items at Kingyo are crunchy huh? On a side note, wonder if they reuse the decorative chrysanthemum flower? =P

               

Teppanyaki condiments

             

Butterfish and Oyster Teppanyaki

             
The butterfish was naturally sweet and its flesh firm whereas the oysters were just cooked and retained a hint of rawness. 

                   

Salmon sashimi

           
The sashimi were fresh and juicy and each slice was thick and chilled.

               

Clockwise from top: Salmon, Vegetables, Oyster and Squid Teppanyaki

           
The grilled salmon flesh was moist but the skin was very crispy. The oysters here were juicy and fortunately, the squid was not tough. I love the vegetables which had a crisp texture.
                 

Beef and Vegetables Teppanyaki

               
The grilled beef was very good - nicely done and not tough at all.

              

Tempura

             
Tempura here is good with a light and crispy batter.

               

Miso soup, rice and pickles

             
Love this combination - I should try just eating these 3 items for breakfast like normal Japanese =P There were 3 types of pickles which I enjoyed thoroughly. Unfortunately, the same can't be said of the miso soup which was salty by my standards (which means it may be very salty for some) and had no seaweed!! Only a few blobs of scallion and tofu were floating about in the soup.

                 

Fruits

              

Overall, I quite enjoyed the food at Kingyo. I liked that their teppanyaki items were all generously sauteed in butter and had the delicious fragrant melted butter aroma. The waitresses however don't seem to be very experienced.
           
         
PawPoints: 4 Paws
Pawket: Cheese
                    
Kingyo Japanese Restaurant

G-05 Ground Floor
Life Centre
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03 2163 7888
Daily: 12pm - 2.30pm. 6pm - 10pm