Neroteca @ The Somerset, KL Italian Meats and Wines and a PORK feast!

In celebration of Chinese New Year and the 2012 auspicious Year of the Dragon, Neroteca presents a range of Italian meat delights, with authentic flavors of lamb, pork and beef based cuisines.

Now, porky Italian joints are not many, and good ones are even fewer and far in between.

That was probably the reason why Neroteca remained popular although Italian restaurants are sprouting up like fungi in KL. I remember how fellow foodies would always recommend Neroteca whenever the debate of which is a good Italian restaurant in KL came up in conversations; and how recently, the feedback was more of Neroteca was so good back then, but now ahemmm..

To be honest, I have visited Neroteca on my own accord somewhere last year after hearing all the glowing reviews. Unfortunately, my experience wasnt exactly memorable.
Needless to say I havent been back.

The good news is, The Nero Group had recently roped in a new chef for Nerovivo (post HERE > Christmas comes early to Nerovivo) while simultineously implemented a management team shift.
My experience at Nerovivowas assuring enough, and I looked forward to this session at Neroteca, more so since it is a porky-licious outlet, as how a real Italian food joint should be.

This was anexclusive preview of Nerotecas Year of the Dragon Meatilicous January and I was thrilled for the opportunity ofsavoring Italys best meats & wines specially flown in for this wine pairing & tasting session!

The savory 7-course meal aims to please meat enthusiasts, where each dish is creatively designed and paired with selective prosecco and wine.

We started off with some top notch selection of cold cuts, namely Prosciutto di Parma, San Danielle, calabra piccente and mortadella.
I arrived late, and missed the opportunity to snap a picture of the cold cuts platter. Thankfully, I managed to sample each of the cold cuts and I find them superb! Most importantly, they were not too salty and has a good cured flavour.

Below: Chef Lorance Abusang preparing our next course The Steak Tartare.

I cant begin to tell you how much I love Prosecco. The italianProsecco di prosecco Conte Neri was excellent, light, fruity and very easy to drink, exactly how I like my alcohol.

Below: Our Steak Tartare, made from Angus beef sirloin.

Starter: Beef Tartare with Butter Lettuce and Rustic Bread.

Im a huge fan of tartare, since most of the time I like my meat almost raw and Im not squeamishabout eating raw meat or seafood.
However, I find the tartare that I was served with that day a bit oily; and I would have preferred it creamier. Perhaps more yolk might have helped.

Entree: Pappardelle Neroteca (Papardelle pasta with wild boar ragout) and Stozzapretti Nduja (Homemade curl pasta cooked with rare salami).

Wine: Valpolicella DOC Corte Giara.The red wine was a superb match. I liked it as it wasnt dry and tannic, a commoncharacteristic ofmost reds. Its slightly spicy notes on the palate at the throat gave it a bit of heat.

Yes, this was a very agreeable red, smooth and easy to drink, which was a surprise, as I never had a red that I actually enjoy and would consider buying for further consumption.

Our pasta came al dente, as it should. My preferance was for theStozzapretti Nduja, a curl ! pasta wh ich was a bit chewy (Leon thought it was a bit undercooked). Anyhow it was the slightly spicysauce that I liked; which I thought gave it abit more punch flavour-wise.The papardelle was more bolognese-based, hence more familiar, with its sweet and fresh tomato-ish flavour.

The meal was proceeding smoothly, me happy with the prosecco and the red wine while waiting eagerly for the main, which was a trio of 3 different meats, a bonus for any carnivore, such as myself.

Main Course: Porchetta (Deboned suckling pig stuffed with sausage and capsicum).Grilled sliced beef sirloin top with sauteed spinach and potatoes. Grilled lamb rack with garden salad and balsamic reduction sauce.

The best of the platter was thebeef.
Beautifully succulent and impressively juicy, it was full of flavour. We (Leon and I) thought it was worthy of praise. Dismally, the suckling pig fell short of expectations. It nearly choked me with the gamey and strong aftertaste.I have no idea what could have happened and had to ask around the table if the other thought the same way. Naturally we were all stupefied.

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But the lamb was alright; nicely pink and juicy but it was really the beef that stole the show.

Costa di Nugola Syrah Toscana.

This was another marvellous red, even more so than the one previously. My dining companions around me concurred wholeheartedly that it haswonderful body and wasnt dry at all. We love how smooth and drinkable it was, with sweet and floralnotes. Even for non-red wine lover like myself, I drained my glass.

I thoughtRM198++ was a steal for the menu as above. What do you think?

For reservations:
Ground Floor, The Somerset,
8 Lorong Ceylon,
50250 Kuala Lumpur.Tel: 03-20700530
Email: info@neroteca.com
Opening hours:11.30am to 11.30pm (Daily)

We ended our meal with more alcohol, a specialty from Neroteca itself. I didnt quite got the name of this liquor but its heady stuff! Alcoholics rejoice! :)