Invited Review : Spasso Milano @ Straits Quay, Penang

It was definitely a privilege to have been given an opportunity in sampling all the cuisines that the newly established Spasso Milano has to offer.

Spasso Milano opened its doors in the beginning of September, marking their venture in Penang after their first outlet in Ampang, KL. Spasso Milano aims to tantalize all the Italian food lovers with their sincere offering of a truly authentic Italian experience, through their head chef Felice Martinelli.

When I reached Spasso, Craig welcomed with all smiles and hosted me throughout the meal, and he was kind enough to recommend many of the palatable delicacies off the menu, which had been thoughtfully layout in categories.

First up, we each had a soup...

Porcini Mushroom Soup (RM 18.80)


This rich and delicious soup was made with 100% Porcini Mushroom which had been finely blended, and then drizzled with White Truffle Oil. The portion was definitely a generous one, and I truly enjoyed this aromatic soup that still had bits of Porcini mushroom evident in each spoonfuls.

Asparagus Soup (RM 16.80)

Asparagus soup, on the other hand, was lighter in texture, yet maintaining the zest of asparagus. Not to be missed by asparagus lovers.

Our soup was heartily accompanied by Homemade Garlic Focaccia (RM 9.80), which is a Focaccia bread that is homemade by Spasso, then topped with Butter and Garlic. The Focaccia was a show stealer, rather than being on the sideline of the soups. The bread was crunchy yet light and was filled with the aroma of butter and garlic. Great to have it just as it is, or dipped in the soups.

Smoked Duck Breast (RM 23.00)



When Craig recommended this dish, I shared with him that I am not a duck lover at all, as it usually comes with a smell when not being prepared properly. But since it was highly recommended, I gave it a shot. These were sliced home-smoked duck breast, served with avocado, and drizzled with Hazelnut oil. Boy, I was really dumbfounded when I tasted the first slice! The smoked duck breast, which I expected it to be rough and slightly chewy, was nothing like that at all. It was smooth, the texture was just right and most of all, it did not come with any duck smell at all. It was a sheer delight to enjoy this dish with avocado, and what's more, the hazelnut oil really complements the smoked duck breast well. The salad came with a thickened version of vinegar dressing as well. I was surprised that I finished 5 smoked duck breast slices! Highly recommended

Next, our Prawn and Asparagus Risotto was served (RM 32.00)

Don't be fooled by pale color of this risotto that is made with Carnaroli rice cooked with fresh asparagus, and then topped with pan-seared Tiger Prawns. Firstly, the risotto was very soft, very flavorful that I felt the risotto absorbing all the goodness of asparagus. As Craig does not fancy seafood at all, I was given the privilege to have the prawns all to myself! The pan-seared prawns were juicy, well flavored and tasted just wonderful.

Spasso Milano offers a range of Prima Pasta, which are imported handmade pasta with Durum Wheat. Guests now have the freedom to opt for the classic pasta range, or the Prima Pasta range, namely (from left to right) Orecchiette, Strozzapreti, Eliche, Paccheri and Fileja Calabresi


We had the Mushroom & Bresaola Pasta (RM 28.80) with Prima Pasta (RM 4) known as Paccheri, which is the broad cylinder type among the 5.


Bresaola is air-dried, salted beef that has been aged until it becomes hard and turns a dark red. It is made from round primal cut of beef and is lean and tender. Spasso Milano makes such a fascinating version of this - just check out the thin-ness of the Bresaola and the beauty of its texture. Though the prima pasta was broad, they were well done. Not only it came with the right al dente texture that all prima pasta should have, it basically soaked up the taste of creamy mushroom as well. The mushroom were plentiful and equally delicious, sheer delight to sample!



After all the hospitality of Craig and staff at Spasso, I was honored to meet up with Chef Felice Martinelli, who heads the team here at Spasso - with the sole purpose to delight us with authentic Italian delicacies. Chef Felice was very friendly, absolutely approachable, and he gave me a feeling of being very down-to-earth.


He was enthusiastically sharing with me his passion to deliver Italian cuisines which are authentic and mirror of what Italians are enjoying, without compensating the preparation and ingredients used to tune to local taste buds. It is very rare indeed to chance upon such an uncompromising Chef who wants nothing but the best for their guests. A light joke was initiated about how Craig asked Chef Felice on what are the Signature dishes here at Spasso, and Chef Felice simply emphasized that every dish featured on the menu are his Signatures. If they are not Signatures, they will not be on the menu! :)

Chef Felice and Craig insisted that I try out their desserts as well, so we had...

Tiramisu (RM 18.80)



Tiramisu is made up of Espresso soaked Savoiardi Biscuit & Mascarpone Cream. The version here is delicately done with the Savoiardi biscuit evidently visible, and I love how they top their Tiramisu with a good coating of cocoa powder on top.

Panna Cotta (RM 14.80)


Panna Cotta, which literally translates as cooked cream in Italian, is an Italian dessert generally made by simmering together cream, milk and sugar, mixing with gelatin and letting it cool to set.

The Panna Cotta here consisted of fresh cream pudding, topped with mixed berry coulis. Many might shun away from this dessert due to its sweetness, rich and creamy pudding texture. But being a super lover for pudding desserts, this just moved up my personal dessert ranking! The texture of the panna cotta as smooth as butter, the taste was rich and awesome, and it did not come across as overly sweet. The sourish mixed berry coulis complemented the creamy pudding like match made in heaven. Simply lovely.

We toured around the spacious and contemporary Spasso Milano and I learnt that Spasso boasts of its wood-fire oven which churns out delicious Italian wood-fire pizzas, as well as housing a full wine list with specialty wines that one cannot find elsewhere too.


The bar


Different table settings to cater for private groups, family, or romantic night out.


Spasso Milano houses many retail products that are fully imported, for example sweets, biscuits, jam, extra virgin olive oil, as well as premium tea.







What a great night it was - superb cuisines and friendly company. I was offered a refreshing orangecello to help digest all the great food in my stomach. Orangecello is a variation of limoncello which is an Italian lemon liqueur traditionally served chilled as an after-dinner digestive.


Thanks so much to Adrian, Craig, Chef Felice, Denver, Wayne, and not forgetting the hospitality of everyone at Spasso Milano for the great experience!

I'm already looking forward to tomorrow :)

SIXTY9INE Mansion @ Batu Ferringhi

After what seemed like ages, finally managed to have dinner with Peter. Had a good 'sial!' remark from him coz I didn't suggest a good enough place to eat so he suggested 69 Mansion instead.

For a drinker like him, he'd only been to this place for none other than booz so it's his first time to try their restaurant out along with my very first visit to this much hyped about establishment.

We set out with a pouring rain welcome once again (what's new?). The rain just suddenly started and there was no turning back.

When we reached 69 the car park was pretty much deserted (it was pouring remember?) and I couldn't believe my eyes and ears when the high class attendant seated within the premises asked for an RM 5 car park fee!! WHAT A RIP OFF! We're dining here and we have to PAY to PARK?

OUTRAGEOUS.

In we went to our table and it was just beside the POS system - fine. The lightings were totally club lighting and the table settings were definitely not what I had expected them to be - so UN-refined.


Check out the surroundings... (since it was raining outside I couldn't take pictures outdoor)


The table cloth was not secured and it made food serving challenging as it kept moving around.

The chairs definitely look like they are meant for outdoors?

The candle. This is the worst part. They're nestled within a Tiger beer glass which is in turn settled upon a JTI ashtray (-_-)" - what a turn off!

Table setting:-


We took turns having 'challenges' with the damn knife coz of its odd-shaped handle - i dropped it on the floor once and he dropped it into his main course plate twice (!) Annoying.

Whatever. Anyway - we had...

Drinker's Tiger Beer


My Orange Juice (which comes with a Hennessey + Soda stirrer *d'uh*)



His Clam Chowder


He said this is not bad though I didn't try it myself as he didn't want to spread his flu

My Lobster Bisque


Did not like it as the seafood smell was too overpowering. Soup was not thick enough as well

Peter's Lamb Shank with Risotto


"Risotto should be very creamy and should not be cooked with normal rice - this looked and tasted too dry" - that was from the guru himself :P


Lamb shank's meat was too hard to his liking too, though I liked the tiny portion I took as a sample from the other end of the lamb shank - it was tender

Risotto guru's rating : 5 / 10

My 12" Honey Peking Duck Pizza


This was what Peter said his friend said was nice. Kena duped. It was just alright for me.

The pizza was just special in a sense that it's made with Peking duck as the main ingredient. Other than that, it's just normal pizza to me. The crust was so hard (I was told they made it themselves) that the odd-shaped knife had no chance of cutting through it. I tried and tried then gave up. Used my bare hands instead.

My rating for the pizza : less than 5/10. His rating : whatever my rating + 1 point when added with generous amounts of Tabasco - ha!

The total damage was about RM 124+ - definitely not worth it.

Been so long since we took a photo... Thanks~~


I must mention our negative experience here which drew a conclusion that the staff here were dishonest.

Peter left a souvenir that I gave him within a white paper bag on our table and he only recalled when we reached Island Plaza :(

So I called up 69 in hopes that they would still keep it. The man (who was the one serving us earlier on) said he would look for it and will give me a call back.

Few minutes later he called back and said it was nowhere to be found. And he even added that they checked the dustbin and asked every server - Nothing.

I was sad but immediately my sadness turned into rage. This simply proved that someone who cleared the table must've taken the white paper bag. The other patrons wouldn't be the ones who took it coz our table was the furthest from all the other tables and all the nearest tables surrounding us were empty when we left. Nobody would know the content unless they were to keep it first with the intention of finding out what's inside later and keep it for good.

I'm definitely not making any come backs here - for the simple reasons of rip-off car park fee; dishonest staff and below-average food quality vs. the price

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Went Tutti Frutti afterwhich for dessert:-


It's a flavored yoghurt D.I.Y. establishment and we made our yoghurts:-


His Strawberry yoghurt with strawberry + kiwi + grapes topping

My Vanilla yoghurt with kiwi + longan + mango topping

The D.I.Y yoghurts are charged by weight and ours came up to RM 31 for both (!) Fancy healthy stuff comes with a hefty price tag these days