Islamic Trattoria - II

A good restaurant deserves a second visit. This time, we went to Trattoria for lunch, where the crowd was a bit thin - but the staff was excellent. The maitre d' was very attentive to our enquires about the menu, and was bold enough to guarantee a refund if our meal was not up to standard. This was a nice touch, coming from a Bumiputra restaurant.

For lunch, Trattoria serves a few specials where you can get good bargains. For example, my mother had the pan-seared seabass which comes with rice, but she chose not to have the rice. The staff obliged, and even offered to take RM1 off the total price! This is a small gesture, but really means a lot to customers. They replaced the rice with a small bowl of soup. The seabass was also splendidly prepared.

Meanwhile, I had the pasta - this one the Oglio sauce and like any true Italian-themed restaurant, you can choose the pasta. If you are unsure, just ask the waiter for his suggestion. The sauce was creamy and tasty, but I think the portion was a bit too small.

As for my wife, she had the salmon in palpilotte, which means "in parchment paper". It is a method of cooking  in which the fish is put in folded parchment paper and then baked. See how the stock and juice just flows out of the fish. This was simply delicious.

And as for my kids, the Trattoria treated them to FREE ice-cream - totally unheard of in Bandar Baru Bangi.

This was the maitre d' (Opie) who was so helpful, kind and generous to us. Since this was our third time at the Trattoria, we complimented the restaurant's tasty menu and their approach towards making mid-level fine dining come through at last in Bandar Baru Bangi. Forget any other so-called Western-serving restaurants in BBBangi, head straight to Trattoria and you will not be disappointed. And what's more, they are launching their full menu at the end of October.

Stay tuned for that review!

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Islamic Trattoria

Where: Wadihana Islamic Trattoria, Jalan Medan Pusat 2D, 3B Curve, Bandar Baru Bangi.

What: An Islamic eatery which serves Italian-styled food and Western menu. This is Wadihana Islamic Kitchen's second restaurant in Bandar Baru Bangi.

Ambience: Brightly lit with minimal decor, but we like the many booths which will be perfect if you come in small or medium-sized group. There is a large clay and brick oven at the entrance of the eatery, which is used to bake their pizzas.

Menu: Basically, Italian-styled food are their signature dishes, so you can expect pizzas, pasta, risotto and panini. Also available are other Western food, such as the steak. It is also very refreshing to observe a mid-end Malay-owned restaurant divides their menu into starters, entrees and desserts. 

First on the table was the Pomodoro spaghetti, which we found a little bit average. The sauce was not generous and for its price, we'd expect a bigger portion too.

We also had the Australian Rib-eye steak, medium well, which comes with melted cheese as a side. The portion was just right. The beef was tender, juicy and cooked to perfection. The taste of the meat melts in the mouth, and it very,very seldom that a restaurant succeeds in getting the beef cooked just about right.

We also ordered the homemade burger, which was served with coleslaw and cheesy fries on the sides. The burger was one of the tallest I've seen, and certainly the best that I've tasted too. The homemade patties was soft and juicy and you'd get two of them in this burger - with a lot of salad, tomatoes and fried egg in between the buns.

Service: As the eatery was quite deserted when we ate there, naturally the staff were friendly and ready to assist you anytime. 

Price: The price would not classify this a low-end, but not so expensive as to warrant it a high-end eatery either. But some dishes, like the steak and burger, were definitely worth their prices for their excellent taste and generous portion.

Verdict: Perhaps next time we should have the pizza and the panini. We would recommed this eatery to anyone looking for a decent place to dine, and if you are looking for the best Western-styled food in Bandar Baru Bangi, this is the best by a mile. We'd give it a score of 9 out of 10.

Reported by : Jamal

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