Invited Review: Restorante Bravo Italiana

My ratings: 4 Stars

Cuisine: Western/Italian
Location: 1-01-11, Complex I-Avenue, 11900 Bayan Lepas, Penang
Pork Free
RM20-35 person
Contact: +604-641 0499
Open daily except Mondays 11:30am - 3:00pm (Lunch) & 6:00 - 10:00pm (Dinner)

GPS coordinates: N 05*19.945 E100*17.603

Craving for authentic Italian food? Last week I wrote of authentic Bulgarian food, this week it's Italian. Restorante Bravo Italiana is one of a few places in Penang you can soak up the taste of Italy, from Tuscany to Sicily. Here you can enjoy pasta, pizza, salads, soups, anti pesto, zabaglione and the all famed Tiramisu dessert, all in the comfort of this quaint little restorante.

The interiors are decked with posters and beautiful pictures of Italian landmarks, all taken by the owner and chef Lim Fung Chin who worked in Italy and has travel the whole length of the Italian peninsula. Chef lim who has more than 15 years of culinary experience under his belt, has worked in many places including the city Bologna and on board an international cruise ship which sailed around Europe and the Caribbeans.

Chef Lim believes in cooking the best for his customers including using the best ingredients like Extra Virgin Olive Oils and fresh herbs. His pizza base are hand tossed and the sauce are home made. Baked to perfection, Chef Lim's pizza creations must be one of the tastiest pizza I have ever tasted. (The Pizza ala Sicilian is a must try (contains beef pepperoni))

Restorante Bravo Italiana is also well stocked with your favourite Italian vintages. However, the most favourite accompaniment to your meal would be the desserts after meal. Again Chef Lim made the desserts himself. The most popular and signature dessert in the restorante is the Tiramisu , made to perfection. with its soft creamy center. Other desserts like the key lime pie, Italian mousse, Bravo zabaglione, sweet pumpkin pie are also favourites

Bravo Italiana also offers affordable set lunches (dine in only) includes Chicken Parmigiana, served with soup of the day, garlic bread, iced lemon tea and ice-cream starting from RM13.80. The restorante is suitable for all ages and whatever the occasions may be.

Maakoa - Live Fearlessly!

Caffe Strada

My rating: 4 stars

Cuisine: Western/Fusion

Location: Krystal Point (center point),

Bayan Lepas

Pork Free

RM10 - 25 per person

It is such a refreshing change to have a cafe that offers good simple fare in a relaxed environment where friends and family can spend together on this side of the island.

It's white decor gives a sense of sophistication, style and yet simplicity with a hint of European feel. Their staff is fresh and friendly, eager to serve to the delight of the customers

The moment I stepped into the cafe, I felt at home and at ease. The cafe serves a good spread of buffet for lunch and dinner with a selection beverages from cappuccino's, smoothies to milk shakes to iced latte and exotic drinks like the blue ocean float (pictured). You have to try their coffee, made from freshly roasted beans (yes, they roast their own coffee!) and freshly grounded to give their coffee the justice it deserves and I must admit, they serve of the best coffee. Their buffet lunch is RM19.90+ with complementary drink from their ala-carte menu while dinner is RM23.90+ with complementary drink

Caffe Strada also boast a wide selection of cakes (RM6.90 per slice) to accompany the nice cuppa of coffee from Tiramisu to Cheesecake to Belgium white and black chocolate cake freshly kept in climate control pantry. For those who fancy cakes, they serve savoury finger foods to cater to every taste buds and appetite like spicy chicken wings

That's not all. The cafe offers a relaxed atmosphere in both indoor and outdoor environment and a wide selection of local and international beers. Friends and family can enjoy each other's company with TV projection of your favourite sports and MTV. But the best of all, they do offer live band music occasionally (check with the cafe on band schedules)

So check this cafe out. I am sure you will love it. I did. They are have a grand opening on 11June 7:00pm. There will be lot of activities lined up. They are offering membership on a pre-loaded value on a card where the cafe will add on extra 15%. So this mean, if you load RM100 on the card, you get RM115 value which you can redeem from the cafe's menu. On the opening day, you get extra 25% value on your pre-loaded value. Now that's a great offer!

Call Micheal (+6016)-4953186 for reservations. Opens 7 days a week till late (2am)

Strada

My Ratings: 3 Stars

Cuisine: Western
Location: 238, Burmah Road (opposite Tan Mark Bookstore in Pulau Tikus)
Non Halal
RM40-50 per person

I came across a newspaper cut-out offering a 10% discount for diners who bring along the cut-outs. Great! I read in the newspaper couple of years back about the opening of this restaurant and it is not to far from where I live but all these years, I didn't have the opportunity to visit it and I did hesitate a bit coz I dun like to walk too far from where I parked until now.

My first impression of the restaurant is that it is a very cozy, quiet and dark coz the business is so slow. We were the only table dining for almost the length of our dinner there and it was a Friday night! and the lighting was at a bare minimum. The cake display is almost empty.

But hey, look at the bright side. It can be an ideal place to unwind, de-stress and consolidate your thoughts and life goals or hide from your fans. It has a chic boutique-like decor which is pleasing to the eye and comfy chairs to relax with a magazine.

About the food, we ordered a classic set meal coz we figured it was the best value. Here is what was on the classic set menu (RM35++ per set):-

• Calamari served with tartar sauce &
• Cream of pumpkin soup or tomato carpaccio with mixed greens
• Roasted chicken roll with balsamic reduction or
• Seafood Paella or
• Linguine with scallop and asparagus &
• Dessert with freshly brewed Americano/pot of tea
  

I chose the Seafood Paella with pumpkin soup while Amanda had the Roasted Chicken Roll with Tomato Carpaccio. The appetisers portion is small. My Paella is more like fried rice but the roasted chicken roll was a bit better. The dessert was a chocolate brownie for both of us.

Strada was the creation of Siew Chin who is a Penangite who had previous stayed, worked and married (to Patrick from Hong Kong SAR) in Canada but returned to Penang to call the state home. Trained in Canada as a chef and pastry chef, Siew Chin has single-handedly managed to whip up a comprehensive menu with a variety of food selection (meats, seafood, pasta, burgers, pizza) and cakes that can cater to every taste and wimps

Go to their website http://www.strada.com.my/ and check out their menu. They also do catering. You can print out a 5% discount voucher from the website and bring along when you dine there. Clearly, Siew Chin is a very talented chef and certainly her love for food and the restaurant business is clearly reflected in her style of cooking with quality ingredients and posh restaurant setup. What is needed is more awareness about this restaurant and more patronage. Parking is limited during lunch time but should not be a problem for dinner. Opens daily 12:00 noon to 10:30pm daily. Call 604-2290882 for reservations