Yummy Malaysiana: Italian Delights @ Nerovivo, Jalan Ceylon, Kuala Lumpur

Italian Delights @ Nerovivo, Jalan Ceylon, Kuala Lumpur

Nerovivo is a lovely Italian restaurant housed in a refurbished bungalow off Jalan Ceylon. I was here last month for the first time to sample their new menu, launched on January 9th. As well as the new menu, Nerovivo also has a new chef (who joined the restaurant in August 2011) and the restaurant has been recently remodeled (larger al fresco dining area outdoors and some changes to the bar area indoors).

I have met Chef Paolo Petris during MIGF, and though the meeting was brief, I remember him being friendly and chatty. It was nice to talk to him again after our meal here at Nerovivo, an extremely nice man who is very passionate about food and cooking.

About 75% of the menu are new items created by Chef Paolo. First, we started with the octopus carpaccio (RM36) - a beautiful vibrant dish, don't you think it looks very pretty?. (Oh did I not mention that Chef Paolo is very creative with his food presentation?)

Octopus is a popular ingredient in South Italy, whereby it is boiled and served as chunks with olive, capers and potato to make an octopus salad. However, this dish has been refined here, sliced thinly for a tender bite and served with black olive tapenade, basil oil, capers cherry tomatoes and herbs.

Carpaccio di Polipo

The strozzapreti with clams and porcini is a dish unique to Nerovivo, Chef Paolo mentioned that there are no other restaurants in KL serving this kind of pasta (at time of tasting). The pasta has more of a bite compared to say, fusili or spaghetti, I liked the flavourful sauce it was served with - made with clams, white wine and fresh tomatoes. This is a pretty light pasta, not the creamy type.

Stro zzapreti con porcini e vongole (RM38)

Nerovivo is currently running a Tuscany and Umbria promotion, bringing several dishes from this two regions. These two regions are famous for their wild game and white meat, we got to try the pappardelle with rabbit ragout (RM42) from the Umbria region. To be honest, we couldn't remember if we have ever eaten rabbit meat, and we were trying to compare it with any other meat we've eaten. I said it tasted most like pork and Hubby said beef, what do you guys think?

Pappardelle con ragu di coniglio

The next dish was the baked red snapper with zuchinni, potatoes and cherry tomatoes. The broth is made of stock, white wine and lemon juice and then baked briefly in the oven. This dish reminded me of the "ham choi steamed fish" you can find in Chinese restaurants (the fennel looks a little like "ham choi"), very comforting.

Dentice al forno (RM52)

Our favorite dish of the afternoon was the pan seared Australian beef ! tenderlo in served with roasted potatoes, green asparagus, shallot and red wine reduction. The beef was absolutely tender and juicy, and cooked to a perfect medium rare. One of the most attractive steak dishes we have been served too, with all the bright colors from the vegetables. ;)

Filetto di Manzo (RM78)