Izzi Pizza, Pasta & Coffee

If you drive along Jalan Sultan Ismail, pass Sungai Wang .. you will come across a bright colored three storey building, almost next to Lot 10 shopping mall.

And if you stop your car next to the building, there's usually an guy in blue that'll run towards you. Don't worry, he's not about to mug you ... he's just the parking jockey for Izzi Pizza, Pasta and Coffee restaurant. And guess what ? It's free ... ! Yes, free jockey parking ... I think that scores, man. To have a restaurant along this ever busy street in Jalan Sultan Ismail ... it sure helps. And something else, the joint provides 'free wi-fi' too. I mean, yeah ... everyone does nowadays, but free AirZed .. that's quite cool. I could very very be posting this blog right from the restaurant...


And as you walk into the restaurant, you will probably like their interior decor and design. Simplistic furnishings and especially the bright blue glass ceiling makes the place look modern. As mentioned earlier, the restaurant has 3 floors ... and it comes with an ... elevator ! Gosh ... I mean, these Indonesians sure know how to enjoy life huh. Consisting of three floors, the place can easily accommodate more than 100 patrons. Their design concept is stylish, clean, artistic yet comfortable. The guests can even enjoy a rare view of the restaurant’s pizzaiolos (pizza makers) as they twirl and flip their pizza dough in the air from the show kitchen on the ground floor ... (that's pretty much like our local roti canai fellow)


Pizza or pizza pie is the name of an oven-baked, flat, usually round bread covered with tomato sauce and cheese with other toppings optional. While it is a typical dish of Neapolitan cuisine, it has become an extremely popular dish all over the world.

As mentioned in their tagline "Great Italian & Asian Cuisine", you will be expecting a great range of pizzas, pastas, local delights and even mee goreng !

Pollo Tropicale Pizza was the first order to arrive. Pollo Tropicale comes with smoked chicken, mushroom, red bell pepper, pineapple, garlic oil, dried chilli, mozarella cheese and tomato. That .... is a mouthful ! I am never a fan of pizza but I have to try some ... for sake of you guys, my readers. My first reaction ... it tasted good. I like the thin, crisp crust which is like .. super crunchy. But it does smell a little burnt. But for a non-pizza lover like me, it's got my vote.


After the Italian, it's time to make a comeback ... for oriental taste. It's the ever popular and favourite Mee Goreng (tasted a little like mee goreng mamak though). TO serve a popular dish such as this would require a certain amount of skills. The more popular a dish is .. the harder it is to meet the standards. Izzi prepares them well though ... very large portion and plenty of ingredients. A little squeeze of lime, aa few drops of sambal, and it's a complete meal ! Unfortunately, the chicken chunks were a little hard to swallow .. as it's equally huge ... otherwise ... a favourite.

Izzi offers a range of local delights in their asian menu. There's Ju Hu Char which is stir fried chinese radish, carrots, shitake mushroom with ginger sauce, served with crispy vermicelli and lettuce cup. There's also the local favourite, satay that comes in either chicken or beef meat. Deep fried Calamari with seasoning flour, served with Bangkok sauce and Izzi dressing sauce ... is something you shouldn't miss either. And then there's the Vietnamese Spring Roll ("po piah") which is Spring vegetable wrapped in rice paper, rolled fresh.

Spoilt with so much choices, sometimes it's quite difficult to choose. But comes Asian Platter to save the day .... it's a combination of all the dishes above served in a single platter. It's good, except that the calamari is a little ... salty for my comfort. Others may love it.

Izzi must love food fusion, from the example above. Another one is the Chicken Steak with Pasta. This is favourite in Izzi, noticeable from the thumbs up sign in the menu. It's Grilled Chicken served with mushroom sauce and linguine. I like the smooth linguine and the tender grilled chicken ... but the mushroom sauce tasted a little funny. Maybe I am not a mushroom fan but it tasted a little "slimy" ....

Pasta lovers would looooove the Fettucini con Funghi ... it's topped with olive and sun-dry tomato. The creamy texture ... with some parmesan cheese ... wouldn't it be heavenly ? Let's just say it's ... Creamily Delicious.

From the antipasti list, the Izzi Dough Balls are the perfect choice, especially when you’re starving and can’t wait till the waiter delivers your main course. The eight dough balls arrived freshly from the oven accompanied with garlic butter. The balls tasted a bit yeasty (no pun intended!), but the butter, which instantly melted on the smooth surface of the balls, added a delicious zest of garlic.


And here's what we had and the pricing :

• Fettucini Con Funghi - RM15.80
• Chicken Steak with Pasta - RM18.80
• Pollo Tropicale Pizza (regular) - RM21.80
• Asian Platter - RM20.80
• Mie Goreng - RM12.80
• Cheese Dough Ball - RM5.80
• Soft drinks (refillable) - RM5.90
• Strawberry Shakes - RM7.80
• Peppermint Tea - RM4.80
  

Here is our usual reviews.

Contact Details
Izzi Pizza, Pasta & Coffee KL
44-2A, Jln Sultan Ismail,
50250 Kuala Lumpur
Tel : 03-21415808

For Delivery and Reservation Call:
Delivery No: 1-300-88-5555
Reservation No: 03-2141 5808
Events/Functions No: 03-2141 4111

Ratings
OVERALL RATINGs : * * * (Generally a nice family place)
Environment Ratings : * * * * (Effortlessly worthwhile)
Food Ratings : * * (Only selective ones are good)
Service Ratings : * * (Inconsistent, I do get different comments)
Value Ratings : * * * (Average pricing for a cuty restaurant)

Operation Details
Average Price : RM20 & above
Business Hrs : Monday - Friday: 11.00 am - 12.00 am, Saturday - Sunday: 11.00 am - 1.00 pm
Accepted Cards: major credit cards accepted

Miscellaneous Details
Halal : Yes
Dining Method : Dine in, take-away and delivery
Food/Cuisine : Italian and Asian, Fusion
Ambience/Features : Modern and cosy
Reservations : Yes

Restaurant Capacity
Restaurant size : 305 m2
120 seats (including bar)
Full bar set up

Italiannies Pasta Pizza & Vino

Fine dining restaurants are easy to come by these days, drive around Bangsar, Sri Hartamas, TTDI, Damansara ... and they are dotted all over the place. Italiannies Pasta Pizza & Vino is such a place and that's where we will be discussing today. Their tagline says "So Much, So Good, So Share" .... means the food portion is HUGE ... so share your food. I couldn't really imagine how big the portion was until the food was served. And, yes .. it was enormous !!! Ok, enormous means really big, enough to feed 2 persons or more... not 15, so please don't quote me if your Fettuccine with Shrimp in Carbonara sauce can't feed your whole family.

Italiannies is very well decorated ... very Italian, I would say. Ok, I've never been to Italy ... but the setup in Italiannies reminded me of something out of The Godfather movie ... complete with plaster walls etched with wise words such as "Eat Well, Live Long ... and wooden panels, dimmed lightings and whispering waiters. Suddenly, you heard a gunshot and some men in black suit rushes out from kitchen chasing ... ok, ok ... I was hallucinating a little, my imagination ran wild.

To cut the story short, it's very Italian.


Anyway, the place was crowded ... just check out the queue. The ambience is nice ... if it's a little more quiet. You could bring your partner there for a quiet dinner for two, dimmed lighted .. some fine Italian music ... yeah, you could do that. But, please, please .. make your appointment on a weekday. Trust me.

Let's switch the scene to the food. To begin with, your will be served fresh bread or Ciabatta with Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar. Ciabatta is an Italian white bread made with wheat flour and yeast. In Italian, ciabatta means ‘slipper’ hence the loaf is somewhat elongated, broad and flattish: of course cut when served. I can't remember if I am hungry then, but the ciabatta tasted deeeelicious! when dippied in the olive oil with balsa vinegar. As I stuffed myself with the italian bread, I almost choked ... fortunately my Strawberry Colada arrived. Ahh .... the most feminine beverage I've ever ordered... complete with a little strawberry and a slight piece of banana, perched on the rim of the glass ... don't ask ... I just need to get in touch with my sensitive side and hoping the Strawberry Colada might help.





As I was 'unchocking' myself, the waiter served the Spaghetti Meatball ... admittedly some of the 'huge'st meatballs I've even seen ... not to say I've 'seen' many. They were pretty much the size of a tennis ball ... so, go swallow on that ! Despite the 'monstrosity' .. the meatball was actually very good, meaty and juicy .. as some would comment ... and the spaghetti ... perfetto, perfectly boiled.

We continue to 'down' the balls and proceeded to the next course which was the Lasagna. Yeah, Garfield would kill to get near this next course. What better way to have your Lasagna, than to take it with seafood .... Yummy !!! The thick, smooth and creamy top is irresistable and of course ... we we all ready with our fork and knives as the waiter serve the course. And gosh ... it was quite a record time for us to relieve the Seafood Lasagna.

As we watch the waiter clear the empty Lasagna platter ... we were already quite stuffed ... not to mention some of us had this bottomless Ice Lemon Tea .. you know, the ones where you're allowed to refill your drink.


Marsala Mushroom Soup, from what I found out ... is mushroom soup with Marsala wine. Marsala is the name for a wine produced in the region surrounding the Italian city of Marsala in Sicily. You may have heard of Chicken Marsala and Mushroom Soup with Marsala .. hey, that's my first experience ... and may I say, a very good one too.


The last course for the day ... is Spaghetti & Artichoke Fomrmaggio which is Parmesan cheese blended with spinach, artichokes and mushrooms. Served with toasted homemade garlic bread. Although this course is listed under the Starters section, it's quite a serving ... considering the 7 pieces of garlic bread.

Finally, from a dear friend's blog ... I read about this special dish which is not orderable from the menu. Apprently, look for KC ... and ask for Insalata ala Ringo & Jasiminne. Sounds delicious, don't you think ? Read more here ... Cheeserland on Italiannies

Anyway ... I'd say, generally the place is cool for ambience, nice food and decently priced.

Here's what we had to pay for our last visit.

Bottomless soft drink (RM6.80)
Strawberry Colada (RM7.90)
S & R Formag\D (RM28.90)
Seafood Lasagna (RM25.90)
Spaghetti Meatball (RM29.90)
Marsala Mushroom Soup (RM11.90)

Total Bill for 6 person (RM143.70 tax inclusive)

And here's my review ....

Contact Details
Italiannies Pasta Pizza & Vino
F355/356/357, 1st Floor, Rainforest,
1 Utama, Lebuh Bandar Utama, 47800 Petaling Jaya.
Tel : 603-77271399
Fax : 603-77103411



Ratings
OVERALL RATINGs : * * * * (Good balance of food, value and ambience)
Environment Ratings : * * * * * (Italiano ... Ciao)
Food Ratings : * * * * * (Excellente ..)
Service Ratings : * * (food may take a little while to get prepared if crowded)
Value Ratings : * * * * (Share the portion, share the bill)

Operation Details
Average Price : Slightly below RM30
Business Hrs : 11am - 12pm daily 7 days a week, kitchen closes at 10:30pm
Accepted Cards: All major credit cards

Miscellaneous Details
Halal : Yes
Dining Method : Dine-In . Takeaway
Food/Cuisine :
Ambience/Features : Italian Restaurant ala cottage
Reservations : Yes