Via Pre needs no introduction. Located
along Weld Quay, this restaurant is a popular choice for people who love
authentic Italian food; local or tourists alike. We made our reservation weeks
ago, and had our dinner at Via Pre last night.
We were there at 7.30 and there were
already a number of patrons having their dinner. There restaurant gave out a
warm ambience although not as romantic as QE II. The waiters were polite and
courteous, and we were immediately seated. Prior the visit, hubby and I have
browsed their online menu and have decided on what we wanted.
We were served a basket of bread with olive oil-balsamic dip.
Our drinks; strawberry soda (RM 8) and Corona beer (RM 18)
For antipasti (Italian starters), we
ordered ‘Tre’ which came with 4 succulent prawns wrapped with bacon laid on top
of grilled eggplants, tomatoes and salad drizzled with a kind of spicy sauce.
The prawns and bacon combination, together with the spicy sauce was excellent.
I love this to bits. I definitely would recommend this.
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| Antipasti 'Tre' (RM 26) |
The Del Porto salad was served shortly
after the antipasti. This salad contains both lettuce and rocket leaves with
prawn (1 pc), smoked salmon, capers, artichokes, mushrooms and olives with
lemon & chives dressing. The salad is a refreshing twist to the usual
salad. It was light, yet bursting with flavor.
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| Del Porto (RM 28) |
We ordered pasta for main course. I had the
Spaghetti Al Ragout Di Chinghiale E Funghi (Wild Boar Ragout & Mushroom
Pasta) while hubby had their Spaghetti Alla Carbonara.
My pasta came with generous chunks of
well-marinated wild boar meat, mushrooms and cauliflower florets. The portion
was just nice. In my opinion, the pasta sauce itself was rather bland. I am not
sure if the sauce was meant to be slightly bland so that we can savor the
marinated wild boar. I would prefer a stronger tomato flavour and more herbs in my
pasta.
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| Spaghetti Al Ragout Di Chinghiale E Funghi (RM 28)
Hubby made the right decision to order the Carbonara pasta. Although traditionally Italian Carbonara is not creamy, this one was slightly creamier with egg sauce, pecorino cheese and crispy bacon. The combination was Ooh La La..delicious!
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| Spaghetti Alla Carbonara (RM 23) |
For dessert, we ordered Via Pre’s Grand
Marnier semifreddo and their famed tiramisu. I do not know how Grand Marnier
tasted like but the semifreddo definitely did not have any hint of alcohol,
which I was hoping for. It was sweet alright, which was a bonus which
complimented the tiramisu. It was like after a bite of tiramisu, we took a
spoonful of semifreddo to get the bitter-sweet ending.
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| Grand Marnier Semifreddo (RM 9/scoop)
Now, the tiramisu was a letdown (in my opinion) because it did not contain any liquor. The first tiramisu we had at Pisa, Italy contained alcohol at the base (mixed with the mascarpone cheese). The tiramisu we had at QE II was superb because it has alcohol in it too. I did a quick read-up, that actually classic original Italian tiramisu does not contain liquor. Oh dear…this means that because I'm used to having liquor in my tiramisu, liquor-less tiramisu is just not as nice. Oh well, that’s just my opinion. Let me know what you think if you've tried their tiramisu.
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| Tiramisu (RM 16) |
The total bill came up to RM 160.10 (10%
service charge + 6% govt tax). I used the groupon voucher
purchased last month. The corona beer was not covered under the voucher, and it
cost RM 20.90 extra.
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| As usual, selfies after a lovely meal |
