Garibaldi.. Italian fine Dining.

It was nice coming in , sitting down and was handed a warm towel to "freshen up".
And the attended would place the napkin on your lap
(the kind you see in movies.*giggle*).

The restaurant is actually a two level restaurant, the one on the lower ground was actually and Italian lounge & bar where the food and prices were more affordable and more familiar flavour while on the second floor was the Fine Dining Italian Cuisine. They normally serve up dinner sets that would cost up to RM100-250 (from what i have read about in other blogs and reviews..=) ). However, if you are there on a weekday and during lunch time, they also have a more affordable lunch set deals about RM45-55++. Lucky for me, my aunt was meeting up a friend of hers and the friend decided to treat my aunt to an exquisite Italian lunch, since i was my aunts driver of the day she treated me too... lolz.. Lucky me ?? 

The moment we were seated, we were given the menu of the choices that were given for the set. While we make our choice, we were served homemade herb cheese sticks and also freshly made herb focacia with their olive oil and balsamic vinegar. You wanna know whats the best part?? The best part was that the bread was still warm and so soft that when you dip it into the oil and vinegar mixture.. It was delish...!!!!

These are the bread sticks and focacia bread... yummy..!!!!

After we've placed our choices for the day, i took the time to check out the place... I took loads of photos.. But i choose to share these with you... (you can double click if u wanna see it in a bigger size). They have this modern look to it. I love it that they decorated the room and made it airy and spacious but not claustrophobic. With the movable walls, they could make about 4 small private rooms... Cool eh? =).. 

 The designs and spacious dining place..=)

 Since there were 3(three) of us, some of the dishes, we choose different ones so we could try each others dishes (I know its not a fine dining attitude, but we didn't care.. lolz..).Ok, these were the dishes we all choose... =)... Some of the dishes were identical so i only displaying different ones that we had..=)

AMOUSE BOUCHE - Palate Teaser 
I truly forgot what's it was, but if im not mistaken its a pumpkin pâté with a white
chocolate sauce.. lolz.. oopsy sorry... but it was deliciously weird.. !! 

1st Course - Appetizers
Strudel DiVerdure Grigliatee Mozzarella
(Grilled Vegetables and Mozzarella in Crispy Fillo Pastry)

1st Course -  Appetizers 
Insalata Di Coscia Di Anatra Croccante
(Salad with Crispy Duck Legs Orange Segments and Tomato Confit)

2nd Course-Main meal
Barramundi Con Verdure Al Burro E Salsa Di Acciughe
(Fried Barramundi with Butter Vegetables and  Anchovies Emulsion)

2nd Course - Main meal Brasato Di Manzo Con Polenta
(Red Wine Braised Australian Beef with Polenta )

Dessert of the day 
A chef selection... I forgot what it was too, but it was a mixture of flavour. Raspberry coulée, Hazelnut mousse and a very nice caramel walnutty cake-like bottom. It doesn't look chocolatey, but it sure do taste like it.. Yummy..!!

Sorbetto - Sorbet (ice-cream)
If not mistaken it was a fruity Passion Fruit Sorbet. 

Sorbetto - Sorbet (ice-cream)
This was raspberry sorbet.. Sourly sweet that it cleanses the palate..

After our meal was done, we were served coffee and tea. Since the "adults"( hehehe i consider myself the child out of the 3 of us) wanted to have some time for themselves i decided to leave them to talk and have some adult time.. lolz... And lucky me, at the exact time the Italian chef came to our table and ask how we enjoyed out lunch. And after small chit chats, they invited me to a tour of their kitchen. And i agreed of course duh!!!

I was shocked to know that the tiny kitchen actually caters to both the restaurants (upstairs-fine dining and downstairs- lounge and bar). They are very organized and the cooking stations and sections were clean and fully utilized. I was truly amazed...!!! Hehehe, I even got the chance to take a some picture with the whole kitchen staff. They posed and some even did some awkward pose at the back of the photo.. lolz..

Meet the two cute Italian chef of Garibaldi
Andrea Genio (sous chef - left) and Giuliano Berta (executive chef - right)

Andrea Genio (sous chef)

We later went back to the table, and they asked how we enjoyed our meal and sometimes explaining to us how long or how the food was made. =)... After asking about food, the topic changed to holidays and places we've been. Im shocked to know that these two Italian chef have been to more Malaysian countries that i have... *cover face..malu!!* 

My aunts friend Bridget Welsh and my aunt Norani (MamaNoi)..=)

Soon , the bill came and the payment was made. I was truly astonished at how much it cost. But thankfully, it was a lunch meal promo, if it was a normal price I think I would've fainted.. lolz, ok Im not use to paying so much for food.. But i truly enjoyed my first time experience in a Fine Dining restaurant. Thanks to Bridget..!!! 

All 3 (three) of us after the delicious lunch courtesy of Bridget..

All in all- it was a great experience... And truthfully, I didn't know who Bridget Welsh was. But now i do... lolz, I would keep im opinions to myself... As i do not wanna speak politics here...=) But, She is truly an awesome, inspiring and strong woman. God bless Her always ...=)

Hopefully, there will be another time for me to review a Fine Dining restaurant, till that moment arrives, enjoy my other experience in and about Malaysia..!!

Till next time ~~Toodles!!

Wanna give this place a try ??
Garibaldi Italian Restaurant and Bar
Lot. 10 & G22, Bangsar Village
Jalan Telawi 1
59100 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
03-2282 3456/57

BBQ Potluck & A Surprise!!

Hubby and I really wanna have a moment with our besties, so we decided what better way then to have a fun BBQ party at our place. Since my dad wasnt around, it was the perfect weekend time to plan this party. Since it was my first time planning this sort of party, we decided to just try out with just a few of our close besties, and since it really did well we will next time hopefully get a chance to make a HUGE one..!!=)

Luckily, we have all coordinated the dishes everyone will be bringing.

So, everyone wont be stress out about making everything and no duplicate of food..=).

See what everyone brought,

Me & Hubby = Grilled Chicken, Beef Skewers and fried Spagetti.

Melissa & Steven = Mash Potato and Fruit Salad.

Gary & G-jaar = Beef Cake and Cheddar Cheesecake.

Amly = Beef and Lamb burger patty .

Eddie & Eika = Dominoes Pizza

 Gary, G-Jaar, Hubby and me Grilling the chicken and beef.. 

What was suppose to start about 5.30-6pm, but except for Gary and G-Jaar others called to say they were arriving about 630pm. So the four of us decided that we will start grilling the meats, so that when the others arrive its ready for everyone to start eating.  And soon everyone came and the potluck begins..=)..

My fried spagetti..
Slightly overcook but tasteful.. I hope!!

G-jaar's Beef cake..
I think its a meatloaf kind a dish..=)

G-Jaar's yummilicious Cheddar Cheese Cake..!!

This was what i took on my plate....
oooo , its soo fulfilling!!

The foods that were served..

 It was sooo nice when i looked around the table and see that everyone truly enjoy all the food that everyone brought to the dinner. Although it would've been awesome if we had some green vegetables to balance the all the meats that we had. I think it was satisfying to hear all the "Um...", "Yum...", "Ngam" ... And the priceless faces of content and with a full tummy ..! 

 Wanna know whats the surprise?? Well, since Amly birthday was coming up in a few days time.. I kinda asked permissin from G-jaar if i could take one cut of her cake to kinda surprise Amly with a Birthday song.

Ok..ok.. why i didnt make or buy her a cake ?? Well, i actually wanted too, but with cleaning the house for guest and also preparing all the beef and chicken, i was too tired. So i took the easy way out... Oopsy, but it did make her smile.. That counts the most!! ..=)

Surprise Amly…!!!!

Thankfully i had some writing icing and also a birthday

sign and extra candle from previous cake purchases.

Actually after dinner, we brought out the cards and started playing Monopoly Deal and also "ChoTaiTee" or "Big2".. The games has many names , but it was fun cause everyone had their Pokerface on and  trying their best to win without anyone suspecting that they were. But it was painful when me and G-jaar taught Amly, Melissa and Steven to play monopoly deal.. and they won again and again.. and again... *covering face* ... Lolz... it was embarrassing..

Pretty soon, it was time for everyone to go home. Since the potluck bbq was done on Monday (Public Holiday), everyone wants to go home early so they could get an early start the next day.  But i was truly happy that everyone came and enjoyed themselves. Since it was a Potluck, there wasn't much things to clear up... *looking up and thanks god*... hehehe .... 

Im happy that there werent much leftover either.. 

Just a few pieces of pizza, some cheesecake, some grilled chicken.. 

Just to name a few..But it was Gratifying that most of the food finished..!! 

Cant wait to plan for the next meetup

Yippee..!! Till next time... Toodles~!!

Fish & Co...@Paradigm mall

Hungry and waiting for our order to be taken...

Hey peeps, recently a new mall has just open its door here in Kelana Jaya with this catchy name Paradigm (say it like PA-RA-DIME... ).. Not like the radio ad that made fun of themselves with people finding ways to pronounce the name of the mall.. the most memorable one was PA-RA-DI-GAM.. with a stereotype indian accent lolz...=)...Btw, this is just a funny and a bit sexual induce way to explain how is the proper way to say the malls name 

Well, my office is actually in Ara Damansara and Paradigm mall is literally about 10minute drive from our office. So,my colleagues and i decided to check the mall out. However, since it was our lunch hour, the first thing we look for is a place to NomNomNom...=)... And the first thing we saw was Italiannese, Tgif, PlanB, and many others but since non of us have tried Fish & Co, we decided this was the time to try. 

Upon first walking into the premise, we were happy to see that the restaurant was full but it was a bit off putting when we saw quite a lot of table trying to get the servers attention, some tables were not cleaned, and it clearly to see that a few tables have been waiting for their meal for quite some time. But the moment we were seated their food arrived and it look good and they did look content. That kinda gave us a bit of a positive feeling and proceed to order our meal.=)

Parames and Mervyn... humouring
me by allowing me to take their photo

Me trying to take a picture that
shows the logo of the place

After looking through the whole menu we were kinda spoilt for choices, with the name Fish &Co.. its obvious that it was all gonna be seafood.. But we were spoilt for choices of style of cooking, taste, sauce and combination of seafood in a meal. After flipping through the menu , and since there was 3 (Three) of us, we decided to take Feathers and Fin which was a seafood combo that was meant for 2pax and a Creamy Chili Prawn Spagetti... Rather than paying about Rm6-9 for just a drink. We took the add-on of one drink (passionfruit/fizzyCola) plus one seafood chowder for only an addition Rm7.50 was awesome..!!!

This was the unique placemat

Their very own Newsletter
"The Of-fish-ial Catch"

This was the add-on that we took Chowder/Soup + Drink only for Rm 7.50.

After placing our order, we slowly saw that the place was slowly filing up fast. Thank god we manage to place our order. However, it took about 15mins before we got our drinks, and soon two bowls of chowder arrived at our table. since we ordered 3 add-on meals , we assume the third one was on its way.. Mervyn being the gentleman that he was gave Me and Para the 2 bowls that first arrive, we were halfway through the chowder only to realize that Mervyn has still not yet received his.. We kinda had to remind twice before his chowder finally was placed in front of him. 

Just when we were almost done with our chowders the server placed this gorgeous plate of delicious saucy spaghetti, and it definitely looked mouthwatering. The portion for one was  enough, but since we were there on a sharing basis we  were all excited to give this dish a try. We were all thinking that we'll wait for the Feather & Fins Platter for two to arrive, after waiting for about 15 mins after we finished our chowder we were only informed that the Platter would take another 20-25mins before it can be served. So what did we do ??=)... We attacked the Spaghetti.... hehhe and we truly enjoyed the taste, it wasn't the typical creamy sauce, the chilli balance the dish perfectly... !!!

After enjoying with the spaghetti, we still had to wait another 15-20minutes for the platter to finally arrived...  Have u ever feel soo hungry that u just wanna order everything but when u have a bowl of soup or a small portion of bread or appetizer and you just get full .. That u kinda wonder if u could eat anymore...=) ..So when it actually arrived to our table we were already half full, but teh food did looked delicious that we powered on and finish it.. Check out the Platter,

Introducing The Feather and Fin Platter (for 2)

Look at the size of that...=)....

Garlic Mussels

Peri-peri Prawns

Slow Roast Chicken with
Peri-Peri Sauce

Dori Fish with Butter
 Herb Sauce

It comes with paella rice,
mash potato & salad.

We were truly full from the seafood lunch, I guess it kinda was worth the wait .. The total time that were there was about 1hour45mins. From ordering, to finish the dinner and majority of the time we were busy talking and waiting. All the time waiting i couldn't help but eyeing other tables orders... I KNOW, im definitely coming back to try their fish and chips as it looks huge and about RM17 with a lot of choices for sauces... So, look out for my next blog on the fish and chips...=)

Me with the Platter.. Huge huh?? *Grinning*

So far i kinda enjoy the food but hate the waiting..=)

But there definitely be a next time..

Till then...Toodles~!!

Wanna give this place a try??
Fish & Co.Paradigm MallLot CF 53, Level C (nearby brands outlet)
No.1, Jalan SS7/26A,
 Kelana Jaya,Petaling Jaya, 
Selangor